sixteen -- what is international?

that's a picture of sari organik, the place we ate today. it's in
the middle of a beautiful nowhere... nabbed the picture from a
website, of course. interweb connection still too slow for anything here.

Today, we finally toured Bumi Sehat, the organization I talked about in an earlier (somewhat frustrated) post. Their facilities are really good and the volunteers there are very committed to a gentle birth. A Western couple gave birth to their baby boy there just last night during the island's blackout -- thankfully, there was a generator. You can read more the GIEU blog, where Jenny and Hannah blogged about Bumi Sehat. Afterward, we drove a bit and walked through a gorgeous winding path through rice paddies (like a postcard) to Sari Organik, a gorgeous organic restaurant in the middle of nowhere, really. There is a huge, growing organic movement in Bali and it's very interesting to go to these delicious places. We gorged on just the most satisfying food in the world. I personally had pesto pasta and tropical iced coffee. Mmm. At the restaurant, only the indigeneous and nutrititous red and brown rices were served... we literally had to spend a half-hour lounging in the open-air restaurant to digest all that good food.

Next, we went to observe different arts and crafts specific to Bali - bamboo instruments, weaving, and painting. Rather than participate, I just watched and took pictures. There was so many of us and I just don't think I ever do these things well... Anyway, we got to talking to a father and two kids who were leasing the place of the director of Cudamani, the gamelan/dance group that is sponsoring us here.

The father, who graduated from UC-Santa Barbara, got into coaching high school wrestling and teaching for four years, before deciding to go into International teaching. He's taught in Venezuela, Taiwan, Pakistan, Indonesia, and probably many other places. It's a view into the expat life here in Bali. The International teaching trade is where the money is at -- you're teaching in international schools, in english, to rich(er) kids and other American children abroad. You're provided with a house and sometimes a car with a driver... and it's still cheaper to live abroad than back in the United States. You can buy local handicrafts and sell them for higher prices to specialty stores in the U.S. There's no need to attempt to learn the native language - after all, in an international school, you just need to know English.

I know I'm coming off a little bitter, but it's a little disappointing when people don't take the time to learn a country's language. We just always expect them to know English. International school teaching isn't like WorldTeach or Peace Corps -- going to schools and places that need a certain kind of help, unfortunately. That's probably the one thing that bothered me, though the man and his cute kids (3 and 6) were just delightful to talk to.

... and though I had a motorcycle ride down a mountain in Yogya, I really want to have a motorcycle ride through the narrower, crazy streets of Bali...

Peace, Love.