I Think I'm Stayin'

My week on the beach has been exactly what I wanted it to be. Me. On the beach. The End.

I’m sure there are other things I should be doing while here but somehow I just don’t care. This is exactly what I wanted to do when I envisioned coming to a beach in Indonesia: spend all day in a bathing suit and sarong, never venturing farther than the walk from my swanky room to my favorite thatched roof hut, listening to the waves, reading, swimming, drinking fresh fruit juices, walking along the beach, reading some more and watching the sun set. It has been glorious.

This is pretty much how my whole week has looked. Thatched
roof hut, fresh fruit juice, Kindle, beach. What else
could you possibly need?

Sweet little Ana

I recently saw a list of the friendliest places in the world to travel and Indonesia ranked among the very highest. From the little experience I’ve had here so far, I would have to agree. I’ve noticed that everyone you pass, every single one, says “Good morning/afternoon/evening” to you. Here you don’t just walk on by someone like in the US, you look them in the eye and smile and greet them. I dig that. At first I thought it may just be something the workers here at the hotel are required to do but throughout the week I’ve seen the same thing from everyone I’ve encountered along the way. It’s often followed up by a “How are you?” or “Where are you from?”. It’s amazing to me how such small gestures, knowing that you’re seen by the people around you and that they’re curious about you, can make you feel so welcome and not so alone in a place. I love that.

I’ve also noticed that it extends beyond basic courtesies, that exchanging names and using them often in a conversation is common. Almost everyone gives you their name and asks for yours in return and then they use them often. Even if it’s just someone walking along side you on the path for a minute or two. And, more remarkable to me, they remember them. People that work here, people I’ve met on the beach, everyone remembers your name and when they see you again, call out an enthusiastic “Hello, Katy!” (although more often than not, mine gets turned into Kelly or Kitty… seems Katy is a toughie for them). Again, I love it. It’s such a small thing, really, but once you’re around it, you realize that it’s actually quite a big thing. It makes things personal and tells you that you’re seen and valued as a fellow human being. I never really thought about how little we do that in the US until I started noticing how much they do it here. Love, love it.

This is my view over my morning coffee every day.
Not too shabby, eh?

While I was here, I expected to have the occasional local come up and try to sell me things. What I did not expect was the complete and utter inundation that would be from the first minute I set foot on the beach (literally). I had no sooner stuck my big toe in the water than I had two little girls on top of me, trying to sell me bracelets. I thought I would politely decline and that would be that. But no. And while in some places it could be utterly exhausting and annoying, here it is mixed with genuine kindness so it’s hard to get too ruffled by it. What gets tricky is how, based on their seemingly inherent tendency to make friends with everyone, they just start asking you questions (“Where are you from?”, “How long are you here?”, etc, etc) and you don’t want to be rude and not respond, so you do. But once you do, you’ve now begun a conversation that will not end. And once names are exchanged, look out! It’s a tough balance because I really do just want to sit and read and not be bothered every 10 minutes (and I’m speaking literally) but on the other hand you don’t want to be dismissive or rude, but as soon as you start talking to one, five more materialize from out of nowhere.

And if you show even the SLIGHTEST bit of interest in what they’re selling, oh my. Suddenly there are whole groups of them, all trying to sell you whatever it is they have. And they make themselves comfortable. They plunk themselves down and settle in and suddenly you’re sitting there trying to read while you have 10 people sitting around you, staring at you. Literally. And they have no qualms about it (apparently, I’M the only one who finds it awkward) and will just sit and stare at you for long, long periods of time. But I just want to read my book, dangit!

I quickly got used to it and learned to navigate around it… until the guilt trips started. I’m okay with and understand their wanting to sell me things, but I don’t respond well to guilt. So when I started hearing things like “You’re rich, you should buy from me” or “If you buy something, we’ll leave you alone” or “I have no business, you need to give me business” or “I have no business, you rich so you need to buy something from me”, that is when I’m done with the situation. Even more so when two tiny little girls started rolling around on the ground, whining “But it’s not faaair”. Sigh.

There was, however, one little girl whose smile melted my heart: Ana. She was the very first person to approach me and she came back several times a day, just to chat. She quickly knew I wasn’t going to buy anything but still she came back, just to say hello and to chat. We talked about her life, she asked me questions about the US, she looked through my pictures (she was pretty fascinated by them) and, above all, she flashed that smile at me. She told me how nice I was, that I smiled a lot and, even though I didn’t want to buy anything, I was nice to her and didn’t yell at her like so many other people do. She was interested in my white skin and regularly would touch it and say “You very white”. She said she loves white skin and wishes she were white. I told her I thought her skin was beautiful. She said “Really? You really think my skin is beautiful?”. It was heartbreaking. It also makes me sad that kids her age are in a situation where they have to be out all day, every day selling wares to foreigners to help their families get by. It made me even sadder when she said that girls starting at 14 or so (and even some her age, 12) are regularly married off and have several children by the time they’re 20 (she was stunned that at my age I am not married and have no children). Beautiful little Ana.

How DO they do that??

My biggest "excitement" thus far surrounded buying my next ticket, to Bali. I found a local little airline that does the flight several times daily for the incredibly low price of $20. Twenty dollars! I was beyond excited and went to book it online. After repeated attempts, and MUCH wasted time, the system kept coming back saying my card could not be verified. I tried to call the airline, no answer. No big, I think, just a glitch and I’ll try again in the morning. Same thing all over again. Slight panic sets in as my flight back to Seoul is from Bali so I HAVE to get there. I finally reach a person only to find out, long story short, that the system doesn’t accept credit cards online (despite having a whole process for paying by credit card). Okay, no problem, I’ll book over the phone, I say. We go through the whole deal, get all the details and, at the end, when I’m ready to pay, she tells me they don’t process credit cards over the phone either. Um, I don’t understand the system then. She informed me that I would have to go to the airport to pay as if, duh, this is the way it’s done everywhere. So I can just pay when I get to the airport to take the flight, I ask? No, you have to go by 8 pm tonight. Awesome. I check at the hotel desk and find out it will cost me not only precious beach time to make the trip to/from the airport (2 hours or so) but will also cost me even more than the actual ticket in taxi fares! Sigh. I was just about to have her call the car (why fight the system?) when she says “Or you could just ask the transportation person here and they’ll book it for you and you can pay them back”. Just like that. So some random dude makes my reservation and pays for it for me within 5 minutes. Done. He did, however, charge a “service fee” of approximately $3, which he apologized profusely for. Uh, no problem Random Guy Who Just Bought Me a Plane Ticket. Hands down the best $3 I’ve spent on my whole trip!

This guy made the mistake of showing interest in something
and soon half the village was all over him.
Rookie mistake.