Hi Gram,
The roosters woke me again this morning, but it was just a few minutes before my alarm would have gotten me up anyway. I packed up and headed to chat with my FI friends before they took off. We all had breakfast while recounting our stories from our scooter adventures and their car tour yesterday. The tiny cat kept a close eye on us the whole time, hoping for some scraps of our omelets and pancakes.
We hugged our goodbyes, got some more pics of the scooters and sculptures, then their driver whisked them away. The $lackers are headed back to Nusa Dua today to catch their flights back to the USA in the morning. Dash and I are taking a local boat back to Lembongan to meet up with Nicole, Tania, and Kara to lounge by the pool and listen to the waves crashing. I’m nervous about getting on and off the boat since I face planted in the water on the way here. I think I’ll be fine, though. I’ll just give my bags to the boat captain and use my hands to steady myself instead of trying to balance all of my luggage while dancing off a swaying vessel.
Our car arrived and took us to the port, where we waited for a few minutes while they waited for enough passengers to arrive. The captain loaded up our luggage and selves on the boat, balanced the passengers front to back and side to side, then cranked up the dual motors. We sped off across bay, dodging other boats and crashing through their wakes, spray flying in our faces. In a few minutes, he backed our boat up to shore and offloaded everyone. A taxi driver shouted to us before we were ashore, so we went directly from boat to taxi truck to our hotel in an instant. When we walked in, we saw Tania and Kara finishing their breakfast, so joined them at their table.
The next couple of hours were a blend of deep conversation, laughter, sharing pictures, and making plans. Hungry, a few of us headed out to Mushroom Bay to find some lunch and scenery. The walks here are definitely different from back home. Roads are narrow, made of often broken pavement, with no real sidewalks. A route that the map app suggests might feel like it cuts through an empty lot or between buildings but then you turn a corner and a large commercial beach reveals itself in front of you. Large boats are tied up, heaving with the waves while tourists sun themselves. People walk along the shore, timing their steps so an anchor line doesn’t raise up to trip them as the surf recedes. We crossed the hot soft sand and ended up at a beach club looking out across a swimming pool at the beach below.
Gathering three chaise lounge chairs under umbrellas, we plopped down and enjoyed a little shade. The waitress made sure we had cool drinks to quench our thirst, followed by a salad and sandwiches to fill our bellies and coax some blood from our brains to digestion. After lunch, the ladies swam while I played a little sudoku and napped. They returned from the pool just in time for my brain to get going again at a speed that insisted I go back to the hotel and get some chores done. After a little trouble with my laptop, I decided that the chores could wait.
The day was hot and Dash had just woken up from their nap so we all headed to the pool. I don’t like being wet, but I dislike being hot and sticky even more. I’ve been wanting to push my comfort levels with being wet, but in a controlled environment. A warm pool with a couple of friends to distract me, waves crashing nearby, and my cabana a few steps away gave me enough courage to give it a try. I learned that I don’t want my face to get wet and I’m okay with the rest of my body being submerged if I have friends to keep me company and keep my mind off the fact that I’m standing in water. Being wet in a wet bathing suit, though, is more than I can handle. I couldn’t pay attention to anything else once I got out of the pool, so I hurried off to my cabana to change back into dry clothes. When I re-emerged, the sun was threatening to set and talks of dinner had started bubbling up.
We all watched as the sun dipped below the horizon, then followed Ashley as she led us to a restaurant down the street. David stopped and said goodbye to his cow friend with the rough tongue, then we continued on our way.
The food here is always delicious and artfully prepared, so it was no surprise when we enjoyed our meals over fun talk and laughter. David passed around his “happy soda”, which looked like pepto bismol and tasted, I’m told, like sweettarts candy. I politely declined his offer to taste it after seeing some of the faces of my friends after they’d tried it. He finished two of them before we left, probably just as much for bragging rights as taste. After dinner, we said goodbye to Samantha and wished her luck getting home on her scooter, then a few of us sat having the kind of deep talk that seems to emerge when FI friends get together. We were open and raw in a way that is difficult to reach with friends, but in a way that was comfortable and authentic. The clock ticked and and reminded us that dawn would be here sooner than we wished. We said our goodnights and each headed off to find slumber.