Hi Gram,
We had another fun-filled day today! I woke and did part of my morning routine, then we headed to breakfast and grabbed our laundry. I can really get used to the idea of dropping off my laundry and picking it up the next day, washed and folded. We dropped the laundry back at the house, then headed over to our favorite wellness center, Golden Hands, where we each got a foot massage to start the day. It felt great to get the knots worked out, hearing the ladies sing little songs to themselves as my mind wandered. Relaxed and ready for the day, we stopped for lunch at a little warung we’d passed a bunch of times when we were walking up and down this street. Normally we would be alright with their slow pace, but weren’t expecting it today and realized almost too late that we needed to hurry so our driver could pick us up. They boxed up the food and we rushed back to the house, dropping the food in the fridge just before meeting our driver.

I got to practice my Bahasa Indonesian with him while he took us to Five Arts Studio for our Batik Painting class. He was as friendly as you can imagine and offered us his services as a driver, teacher, or rent us some scooters before dropping us off. We walked back to the school, which was nestled behind a pig, some chickens, a set of buildings and a yard. Our teacher greeted us and brought us upstairs to the studio. After a basic introduction, we each selected the design that we wanted and sat down to trace the design onto fabric. I took a little longer to choose my design, so Dash got a head start and finished their tracing first. He moved them to a different area to get started on the next phase as I wrapped up my sketching, then I got to join them as we covered our pencil lines with wax.

They had a cool contraption set up that melts the wax, and a pen that holds the wax in a little cup and trails it out an opening at the front of the pen. Our designs were held in a hoop to pull them tight, letting us rotate the hoop so we could pull down with the pen on the lines oriented in the right direction. A couple shifts of the hoop and our signature on each one and we were ready for the painting The fabric was then stretched in a frame and balanced on two tables so we could paint the background first, then the pattern. The fabric absorbs the paint, but the wax keeps it from bleeding across the lines. It’s a little like water painting with guard rails. While we painted each area a different color, the teachers gave us tips on how to blend colors, create gradients, and choose colors. They helped with the process a little, but left us to do most of the work.

Once they were painted, the instructors took them away to dry the paint, then we watched them as they dipped each fabric canvas in a series of pots to set the ink, remove the wax and rinse them. We asked about other classes they offer as they went through that process, decided to come back for more fun and learning, and soon everything was laid out on the lawn to dry a little. The sun was behind the clouds and not drying them very quick, so we eventually bagged them up, still a little damp, and headed back to the house to lay them out to dry. Back at the house, we scarfed down the lunch we missed earlier, then David and I went out to buy tickets to the fire dance show that we planned to attend that evening.

We marched down the road looking for where we were sure we saw the place, agreeing that we weren’t quite sure where it was but it must be a little bit further, and realized just before we got there, about a mile away, that we were walking to the wrong one. We were headed to the one that does the shows on Monday and Friday, and we needed the one that did them on Tuesday and Sunday. We turned around and headed back to buy the tickets at the correct one, then continued past it looking for the scooter rental place that I remembered. We chatted as we walked but this too was further than I remembered. When we got to the spot that I remembered, the guy wasn’t there. We asked around a few other places, but they all eyed us up and decided they could jack up their prices. We didn’t need the scooters today, so we just headed back to the house to clean up and decided to look for scooters tomorrow. Clean and hydrated, the three of us closed up the house and headed to the first dance.

As we approached, a woman was sitting on the sidewalk trying to put a sheet of paper in our hands. Conditioned to the street hawkers that try to give you brochures or business cards, we ignored her and headed inside. We later realized that she was trying to give us a description of the story line that would be unfolding. The result was akin to going to an Italian Opera. We enjoyed the chanting and costumes, had a vague idea that there was a story, but weren’t really sure what it was. Nonetheless, it was enjoyable to watch and the chants were hypnotizing.

Once the performance was over, we headed back toward the house along a different route with fewer cars. We discussed what we each thought of it until we found a random restaurant that served pizza, Indonesian food, and coconut pie, amongst other offerings. Everything was once again delicious, providing a great backdrop to planning for the next day. We again sat there waiting for the bill before remembering that, over here, you go up front to pay. After paying our bill, we walked the rest of the way home, enjoying the scenes all around us and dodging traffic. I must say, Ashley is getting much better at crossing streets. The traffic never really stops or leaves a large gap, so you just have to step out and weave between the cars as they’re paused in the always stop-and-go flow. She was nervous when she first got here and we would have to walk down to a crosswalk (which everyone in the cars and scooters ignore anyway) where she’d cross holding David’s hand, but she’s gotten a little bolder each day and is navigating like a pro. We got back to the house, all agreed that we were worn out from our exciting day, and headed to bed to recharge for tomorrow.