Saying Goodbye to Bamboo Village

Last month we hit the bamboo village wall – or lack thereof. It quickly became time to move on. After what felt like a lengthy search we found an amazing house. We moved last Friday, June 1st. Our new house feels pretty dreamy. Of course, like all things, it has some pros and cons. The cons have yet to unearth themselves so I’ll keep thinking of housing nirvana and cut to the chase – we’re in a small ‘villa’ tucked into the rice paddies of Ubud with a view of Mt. Agung, an incredible garden and a swimming pool! We are sleeping in air conditioned bedrooms and we have returned to the land of flush toilets. There are a total of six individual houses on one big property with a shared pool. Each house will hold a Green School family. Some homes are occupied by Green School teachers, other homes have sabbatical parents on extended leave in Bali. Almost everyone has kids ranging in age from 3-10. Our new neighbors are from USA, Canada, Holland, Indonesia, Portugal and Brazil. Everyone is pretty physically active (quite rare here!) and generally into cycling. Again, in our minds = housing nirvana. The reality will, of course, unfold over the next few months with fantastic moments and probably a few not-so-wonderful times. For now, though we have high hopes of building a positive, supportive and fun community with our neighbors in our new digs. As I have realized with overseas living (an a lot of situations in general), when I am “in” the situation, I try to appreciate what is good (on the good days) and work hard to change or accept what isn’t so good on the other days. Sometimes it is a struggle, but that’s the overall goal. However, once I am on the way “out”, I give myself a few moments to focus on what I have been enduring and I really get into letting it bother me because it is about to be a thing of the past. Don’t get me wrong - Bamboo Village is an amazing place. For many months I couldn’t think of any other place to live. Being outside all the time, the built-in community, the 5-minute walk to work on a jungle trail, the full on Swiss Family Robinson adventure of the whole affair had me for most of the year. Then Chad got sick with Dengue Fever, he tried to ride it out at home for a week or more and suddenly the house became the swamp witch from the bowels of the jungle - a sweatbox with no escape, and while he recovered quite comfortably at the Marriott Hotel near the International Hospital, he came home weak, beaten up and ready for a change. So, having made the mental shift out of BV, I happily said goodbye to the following things last weekend (in no particular order): -Stepping in gecko poop at home (although this could likely happen in our new place... hmm...) -Stepping in rodent poop at home (hmm, could also be an issue at house number two.) -Pooping in a bucket. -Peeing in a bucket. -Hearing my neighbor singing “Age of Aquarius” into a fan at 2 am. -The sweaty, oh so sweaty walk home from work. -The natural stone road into the village (aka: ankle twisting trap). -The stench of the cremation fire from the temple up the road (yep, not frequent, but not good). -Bizarre skin rashes that ooze and lead to fevers. -Fevers, fevers and more fevers (we remain quite hopeful and perhaps stupidly optimistic that our move will improve our overall health). -The mold : moldy clothing, moldy puzzles, moldy dolls, moldy toothpaste tubes, wet stinky sheets on the rainy days, moldy roof, moldy front steps, moldy canvas ‘wall’, all the disgusting stinky mold! So, goodbye BV – don’t let the bamboo door (uh, barn gate) hit you on the way out! If any of you have considered visiting us in Bali but felt a bit squeamish about our accommodation, squirm no more – come and experience it for yourself!