Left and leaving*

Tomorrow, we depart Ubud, making our way to the airport and a plane
bound for the city-state of Singapore.

Leaving our quasi-home of Padangbai was difficult. Leaving Bali will
be, too. Our last morning in Padangbai was spent making the rounds,
saying farewell to our friends and the places we frequented, the
places where people knew us by name. We took some photographs with our
new friends, keepsakes to hold them and our time in Padangbai in
memory until our return, who-knows-when. Farewell Martini, and Regig,
and Made, and Nyoman, and Ayu, and Kesni, and David, and Wayan, and
Rini. Until we meet again.

Ubud, for its charms, did not quite fit as comfortably (for one, it is
far more touristy), but it too will be hard to leave. I made some new
friends here, too, especially a fabulous group of expat and Indonesian
film lovers (more on that to come). We have said our farewells to the
monkey forest, to our favorite local spots, and to a few dollars for
some clothing (though reasonably well-suited to the motorcycle
journey, I am officially done traveling in screen-printed T-shirts for
a while) and Balinese TLC (a facial for Julie and a massage for me).

I feel changed by our time here in ways I can't yet find words to
express, and also by the richness of an experience in a place that
previously had been only a blank spot on my mental maps. When I
reflect on the transitional trepidation I felt leaving New Zealand for
Indonesia -- followed so quickly by a sense of familiarity with this
place, then appreciation, then true affection -- it makes me eager to
find what awaits us in all the other unknown-to-us destinations ahead.
And it makes me eager to come back.

Thanks, Bali. Terima kasih and selamat tingal.

_______

*Thanks to one of my favorite albums of the Weakerthans for the title.