Bali Belly
New adventures, new medical providers.
Needless to say, the flight to Bali was a bit of a blur. Our new flights left extremely early on Friday morning and we wanted to be there even earlier in case there was trouble with our luggage. We bought extra luggage allowances, which meant that we had tons and tons of suitcases with everything from a years worth of contact lenses and prescriptions to the few remaining winter clothes that we plan to wear when we visit the States this Christmas.
Bob had ordered transport to the airport, but I don’t think he realised it was shared. We were the last people on the van, and I felt so sorry for the other nice couples who had to wait for us to pile all of our luggage on top of theirs into the trailer. I’m sure they thought we were crazy. And of course we had to unload everything again in order for them to be able to retrieve their things! It was definitely a three ring circus.
At the check in desk, there was a bit of a scuffle because of the children’s recently renewed passports. If you exit Australia on a different passport than the one you entered on, you have to get an additional OK from border security. But it was no big deal and I figured that was probably going to be the red-tape surprise of the day.
Once we made it through security, we thought we would grab a little bite for breakfast. Every airport has a coffee stand or at least a newsstand with snacks, right? Not today! Everything was closed except Duty Free, and the shelves of chocolates and candies were all stripped completely bare. Of course, we could have bought any assortment of hard liquor, but somehow that didn’t feel like a good breakfast, especially for the kids.
Bob found a vending machine and we all had candy bars for breakfast. Nobody complained.
The flight itself was fine. It really is just a short hop back to Darwin, which feels good in case we ever need something uniquely western that we aren’t able to access here.
Our arrival in Bali was a bit dodgy. Because of the whole passport renewal palaver, the processing of Bob’s work visa has been delayed. Don’t worry, everything is on the up and up and will work out in good time, but for now we have had to enter on a different kind of visa. Unfortunately, that visa was accidentally processed under the children’s old passports and so we were held up in immigration for quite some time. Because adults go through separately, Bob went through first with no problems. I was the one with the children and therefore I was the one that got singled out for questioning.
Everything was fine, but it was certainly a bit nerve wracking for a few minutes. Hopefully, the remaining paperwork will go through quickly. Otherwise we may have to go travel for a bit and re-enter.
Our school was kind enough to put us up in a hotel for a few days so that we could find our feet before moving into the new house. It’s a lovely place (Bob and I both stayed there on earlier scouting visits) and it was wonderful to be able to relax and just let the children spend all day in the pool. The owner of the school and some of her staff were there to greet us, have lunch, and make sure that we were settled in properly. They are just such lovely people and I really think Bob is going to enjoy his time here.
On Saturday, I took Bob and the kids to the new house. I guess technically it’s a “villa” but that just sounds so terribly pretentious. Also, the house we are renting is not in a neighbourhood where expats usually stay, although in the past it has been rented out to expats for both long and short term stays. It’s a very nice neighbourhood, mostly Balinese, and it’s quiet and safe, but it’s not really close to any shops or cafes that westerners frequent.
On the one hand, I really like that about this villa. It would be foolish to come here and not make any attempt to learn more about the culture and integrate respectfully into the community. There are certainly people who have been here for years and hardly learned a single word in Bahasa Indonesia or set foot outside of the expat areas.
On the other hand, it’s a bit scary to be so isolated, and because there don’t seem to be any other expats in our neighbourhood (at least that I’ve met so far) it can be tricky to find someone who can tell me where to buy certain things, etc.
Also, the layout of the house is more traditional. At least I think so, anyway. Either because of that, or perhaps because it is kitted out for hospitality, there isn’t much in the way of storage. There are four bedrooms, two on each level, and each bedroom has a full bathroom attached, but there isn’t a single closet in the house. Unless you count the seventh toilet - which I will get to later.
The furniture is traditionally Balinese as well, and it’s very lovely but it is also very big. All of the beds are kings, except for Fletcher’s which is a queen. There isn’t much space for anything in the bedrooms except the beds and a small wardrobe to serve as a closet.
Anyway, we will adjust, and the house probably deserves its own post.
After seeing the house, we had dinner at a local restaurant that I thought looked nice and wasn’t very crowded. This was probably my undoing, although I will never know for sure. I’ve learned that you should only eat at the places that are crowded, and I will be sticking to that logic until I know more.
On Sunday, I woke up feeling yucky and grumpy, but I didn’t really think much of it. After all, it made sense to be tired and bit down in the dumps with all of the challenges ahead. I wrote my post about Coober Pedy that morning and I was having a hard time feeling enthusiastic about things.
That afternoon we decided to go out, have lunch, and walk home through some of the streets in Seminyak while doing some window shopping. It was about a 20 minute walk, and right after we left the restaurant it hit me that something was very, very, wrong.
Let’s just say that it was a quick walk home, and whenever Bob or the children would stop to point something out they got a “Shut up and keep walking!” from me.
After that, everything is a bit of a blur. I had a high fever and chills and my hands went entirely tingly. It was a bad afternoon and a bad night. I just couldn’t maintain any hydration at all. I knew in the middle of the night that I was going to need help, and probably the sooner the better, but I was actually too weak to wake Bob up enough to communicate this information to him. Besides, it would have scared the kids to death and I really didn’t want that.
The next morning, Monday, Bob and I were supposed to go to school in order to get help with setting up our bank accounts and mobile phones. Once he let them know what was going on they sent help right away.
The most lovely doctor in the world and his nurse showed up at our hotel room and managed to find a vein and start some fluids and antibiotics. This man was like an angel from heaven, because by then I really couldn’t do anything but lie there and mumble. He’s a former director of emergency medicine at the hospital but now runs his own clinic, and he is definitely going to be our new family doctor.
If you have ever had a iv, you know that sometimes the fluids are cold and can make you shiver. He noticed that my hands were getting cold and took the bags to warm them under hot water so that I wouldn’t be so uncomfortable. And massaged my arm to help the veins open up and move the fluids through more efficiently.
They were there for several hours, because I needed three bags of fluids and I was still pretty sorry-looking when they left. But my fellow Americans, can you believe that two incredibly qualified people came to my hotel room, stayed at my bedside for hours, and left me with five or six different medications and antibiotics, and the cost of all this was well under $500USD out of pocket? And two top it off, while they were there Anna managed to get a tiny paint chip in her eye and Fletcher got stung by an ant, and he took care of them as well!
As I mentioned in my last post, we didn’t go through specific testing to identify which parasite or bacteria was trying to kill me because the treatment was more or less the same. “Bali Belly” happens to almost everyone at some point during their time in Bali, but it isn’t always that bad. For example, Bob had his first go a few days ago and he was uncomfortable for an afternoon with no major drama. I’m just lucky.
That afternoon we were scheduled to check out of the hotel and move into the villa. I’m still not sure how I managed that, because I had to be practically carried into the GoJek (the local equivalent of Uber). It was a very dicey twenty minute drive.
To be perfectly honest, the next few days are really just a blur. I really couldn’t tell you what happened. I know Bob took the kids out to do some shopping and to visit Anna’s new school and purchase uniforms. While they were gone a man came to the gate with the bill for the internet installation, and I managed to stumble out and explain in passable Bahasa that my husband was not home but would take care of it when he returned.
Once I was upright, we started the process of getting oriented and setting up the house to meet our needs. Just like in Australia, it’s taking some time to find out where to find certain things because shops just aren’t organised in the same way. (For example, I kept going to different bookstores in Australia looking for a specific magazine, only to find out that you can only find magazines at the newsagent!)
At some point, we hired the most lovely human being to help us with the house and the children. Her name is Wayan and I realised yesterday that I actually can’t remember meeting her for the first time! She has been amazing. She has helped other families at the school before. She’s from a village and not from Denpasar and doesn’t know the neighbourhoods very well, but we are learning together. She’s already figured out where to have the laundry done locally and helped me organise the rubbish pickup. She doesn’t speak perfect English, but between her English and my Bahasa we are doing fine and teaching each other.
I haven’t talked much about the fun stuff, so I will tell you about the kite festival in Sanur we went to on our second weekend in Bali when I was feeling a bit better.
Kites (layang-layang) are a big deal in Bali, and when the winds are good you will literally see hundreds of them in the sky. It’s like looking at stars, the more you look the more your vision adjusts and the more you see. Many of them are very, very big. Traditionally, they were flown over the rice paddies to ask the gods for a good harvest.
We were in time to see the yearly kite festival, called the Piala Gubernur Festival Layang-Layang. Teams from all over come and compete to see who can fly their kites for the longest, etc. Because some of the teams are so big, the teams are quite large and they all work together to hold onto the string. Sometimes they even get out into the water together (it’s held at the beach).
The giant poles lining the beach were huge windmills, and there were spinning incredibly fast and making the most amazing sound. I honestly have no idea what they were for, and my Google search didn’t turn up anything so I will have to ask some of our Indonesian friends the next time I see them. I’m wondering if they were there to help the contestants judge the wind or were perhaps an offering of some sort. Bali is very big on offerings, which I will have to write more about later.
It was really something to see. It was also blazing hot and there wasn’t a scrap of shade left. Everyone who had come for the festival, mostly locals, were packed into clumps under trees and anything that provided cover from the sun.
We decided to enjoy the festival from a distance and walked up the beach towards Sanur. Sanur is an older neighbourhood and a bit quieter. There is a nice promenade that runs along the beach and is lined with hotels and restaurants and little shops and food carts. There are also lots of wooden swings hanging from the trees that grow along the beach, and rows and rows of beautiful coloured fishing boats. We stopped and had a light lunch before going home.
So that’s a little bit about the not-so-fun times and the great times. Even at the worst of it, it is still an adventure and I am really glad we came. I have so much to write about; it really is just about finding the time to get it all down! And I won’t forget to finish up Australia, either.
Thanks again for sharing this journey with us. I so appreciate the comments and encouragement. I hope all of you are well, and I look forward to sharing more soon.
Best wishes to you all,
Sarah K
Oh wow! I don’t think I knew you were in Ethiopia. That’s so interesting! Yes, it’s a bit intimidating health wise. We are really careful about water and sanitizing everything we can, but sooner or later it catches you anyway. I’m hoping we can avoid Dengue but that seems unlikely. 🤞
this reminds me of our adventures living in Ethiopia in 1971. we did not have children but did have frequent intestinal issues and other strange maladies.