Tuesday April 12 – Low on Energy

We were awakened this morning by a loud croaky “uh o, uh o, uh o”. We couldn’t imagine what it was. It sounded right in bed with us. Then we remembered Geoffrey telling us about the large lizards that lived in the corners of the roof and sometimes came down the walls into the house. Ray followed the sound to the foot of the bed, and gently pulled back the wall hanging on the wall opposite the bed.. And there he/she was! And in a flash was gone. Back up the wall to the corner of the ceiling and out!!! We had heard the smaller lizards before in Sabah but this was the first time we had heard the big ones croaking!

Gade, the house manager, came and introduced himself in the morning and we had a nice little chat. Shortly after he  left us we were heading out when the house went into blackness. The sky was already dark, The staff sprung into action. Jero and Kadek closely examined the meter. We had only that morning added some more electricity by purchasing units on a SIM card and inserting the number issued for those kilowats into the meter. They determined that something in the meter was burning, or had burned, so Gade was called back again. There was nothing to be done except call the “government”, which Gade did. We sat with him outside in the garden beside the silent koi pond. Next thing we knew, we were being pelted by the heaviest rain storm I have seen in a long time. Large heavily laden drops of rain battered  the garden, the pool and koi pond. Even the fish were alarmed by its intensity. Gade showed us how to pull all the bamboo blinds down to protect the various sections of the house and garden. And we waited, first for the rain to stop, then for the “government” workers to show up. Things must work differently here in Bali, because probably an hour or two after they were contacted, two electrical workers with hard hats (to keep the rain off??) showed up. The meter had to be replaced, and in no time at all, the house was purring along at its usual energy level.

We went out for our walk and investigated more of the lanes. They are such fun. In one spot we were accosted by a breast-baring woman no bigger than about 4 feet 8 inches tall and weighing probably about 90 lbs. Her hair was wild and her eyes dark and intense. She babbled on at us in some dialect which of course we didn’t understand. We shook her hand, smiled a lot, and then tried to leave. She followed us hurling instructions which fell on uncomprehending ears. Some of the local woman in the area around us were yelling at her. Again we had no idea what was being said. Probably some little old lady who was living in another world in another time. When we came back, she was down in the rice paddy tending the crops.

In the evening we wandered down the lane for dinner. Ray had noticed a “special” – chicken mango curry plus a desert for 85,000 rupiah – about $8.50. It was delicious! The desert was like a crepe rolled up tightly and filled with shredded coconut soaked in honey. Yummy!!!