Back to Bali (By Myself)

Tentena Good-Bye

Family Farewell Pic

I’m typically not an emotional good-byer, but my final Tentena departure had some surprising moments.  One was when 4 different adults started to cry all at once as I was leaving.  None of them were me.  2 of them hadn’t even had that much contact with me. It sort of touched my heart.  Another was when Sondang agreed to hug me during her send off.  (Huge!)  A third was when I was sitting at the Makassar airport Starbucks, between my flights from Poso and to Bali, and I started to think about Sophie and all her moments of glory, and realized I was going to miss her and everything around her, a lot.  There’s nobody at home that agrees to consistently call me Putri Tentae Hanna (Princess Auntie Hanna), though when you think about it, it’s alarming that I’ve ever answered to anything less. 

Thanks, Elly, for all the WiFi
you provided for Jai & me!

Also, even though there’s still so much to be done with Lian and Mosintuwu and I am confident that our working relationship has a lot of life in it, it’s always strange to live a place unsure of if and when you will return to it again. 

Loka Pala Again

Now I’m back here where I started in Sue’s home of Loka Pala, mainly by myself again.  Sue was here for the first day and a half, but has since fled to South Bali to reunite with her new Jewish Chilean lover.  Everyone’s jealous.

I’ve been a bit sick since arrival so I’ve spent the past few days doing little else aside from poolside lounging, reading Game of Thrones, eating, strolling, and some lowkey yoga.  But, one HUGE development:  I got a pedicure!  I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen so much dead skin come off of one person’s body before.  Astounding!

Also, I managed to make it out to a major cremation ceremony that happens here once every three years.  Or at least I sort of did, before I got hot and tired and decided I need to go find a refreshing juice drink.  Can you believe that these guys actually carry these behemoth creations on their shoulders??  

And Now It’s Over!

It’s a strange/exciting reality to face, but today this Indonesian whirlwind adventure is coming to an end.  I leave for the airport in 4 hours and after that, all the stands in the way of me and my cellphone service again is near 24 hours of travel.  For my SF loves, I’ll touch down there mid-afternoon on August 4^th. 

Looking forward to all the reunions there are to be had and those reunions will start with you, Mama Bear!  See you at Tom Bradley so soon!  










To everyone else:  Thanks for reading! It's been a pleasure getting to document this time with all of you.  xx