photos in the next one

Balur here is very different than in Jakarta. Raina is my main balur tech, she is a muslim and speaks English well. There is a lot of talk about how they do it in Jakarta vs. here and I think Raina thinks her way is better... I do like it here and Raina seems really tuned in when she is baluring me..It took about 4 hours today...But I am not sure what was so different except the pace and how long it takes to smoke. We blow smoke 3 times and I blow the 1st time only...There are 3 ladies and 2 gentlemen blowing me and it takes forever...but I was thinking ...well, what else would I rather be doing anyway... When I got home we were so hungry so we tried to eat at a street place near the new guest house but when I ordered what seemed to be the only thing they were making ... corn on the cob, they guy gestured to a sauce and I said yes thinking yeah, I want to eat the real stuff like the people here ... I thought the sauce was going to be hot but we got 2 ears of grilled corn covered in a dark sauce which turned out to be chocolate.

Yeah , chocolate corn. So we went to a restaurant that looked western-ish called Amsterdam steak house and we rode in ridiculous man powered bicycle taxis... then we ate crappy food and waited for a taxi for half an hour and then the waiter said no taxi can come so we got 2 more bicycle taxis home... it is kind of terrifying in that thing... they merge into oncoming traffic in 4 way intersections with what seems like a " fingers crossed " attitude... I screamed a little.

We are nestled into our guest home... it is like a study of taking away... what else can I live without? Only 1 english channel on tv... no soap or shampoo or room service. I think I love it here... I haven't used deodorant or face cream in a month. Ok... upstairs to bed in mosquito net...

xxxooo