Saying goodbye to friends

Mom and her honorary grand-daughters (Esty and Illo)

Monday and Tuesday flew by.  I can't even remember what happened on those days.  At some point, River moved in with us upstairs so that mom could sprawl out downstairs in order to start packing.  We have spent most of the week trying to figure out how to say goodbye to this place.  

I have never been to a place (a house or a country) with so many wonderful and kind people.  I am not sure if I have made it clear how many friends we have made here, but I would like to share pictures of many of our friends below.

On Wednesday, Made told me that we were having a party to say thank you to the guests and his family.  He told me that he and I would pay and he would take whatever donation I wanted to give and he would cover the rest.  He suggested suckling pig for the main-course and we agreed.

The funny thing is that even though it was supposed to be a thank-you meal, where we honored the staff, they had to do all the work and they did everything they could to make it special for us.  

I honestly was not a fan of the pig, which was served already cut-up so we didn't see an apple in its mouth or anything.  It was fresh, though, as I found a piece of mine with hair on it still, like actually attached to the edge.

Made's family came (parents, wife, children, and nieces), and he said kind words in English and Balinese about our family.  He then had the children bring the mothers plates of food and then had everyone else eat after we were served.  Mothers hold a very special place in this culture, which Made has tried to share with River, although it is hard for him to think of his parents as differing in their value.

During the dinner, Made made everyone roll over laughing by trying to get mom to say certain phrases to his mother in Balinese.  They were phrases like "how old are you" and "what is your name" but mom's pronunciation was apparently quite funny as it made everyone roar with laughter.  He would try 5 or 10 times and then change to a new sentence, each time making her repeat him to the best of her ability, which was quite amusing to everyone, including her and us even though we couldn't fully understand how wrong she was.

Later, he had his mom do the same in English, and she did much better, although her phrases were emphasized all wrong, at least you could make out the words.

Mom and Made's mom have really hit it off.  They have depended on others to translate but have been really close.  She has even asked mom to come stay for a year with her.  In fact, just about everyone here has invited mom to come live with them if she comes back.  Made has said, just save up for the airfare and then you will be taken care of!  They often joke about mom calling him from the airport to say "I'm here!  I need a ride now... and a place to live!"

After the party, we opened gifts from the staff to us.  They gave me a red flowered jumper which I surprisingly like quite a bit.  I wore it the entire next day and was comfortable enough to walk a mile to a massage in and back.

They also gave me matching red flip-flops.

They gave mom a tie-die cotton night gown and flip-flops. 

They gave River a balinese-decorated batik shirt and shorts to match.

They gave Mat a similar shirt to River's and a very nice, light and airy, fedora that is perfect for him.  It will go well with Mat's 500 other hats in his collection!  

On Thursday, our old driver Adil, the one who took us on the first few trips, came by to see us before we left.  He brought his wife and his youngest boy Ketut.  Ketut played with a bunch of toys which we had brought to give away (and had done given some at the beginning and then forgotten).  We gave him as many as his parents would take.  He was so cute, we were all in the main room and he was around the corner in the nook with the toys.  He came out with both hands full of balls of one sort or another.  Now mind you, there was every kind of toy to choose from; cars, robots, yoyo,  figurines, jacks, etc., and without hesitation, he went for the balls.  This felt like a nod to (or from) my dad.

Adil brought us a couple carved hibiscus masks as gifts.  He didn't carve them himself, although they were like things he could have carved.  The masks were beautiful and if I hadn't already packed them, I would show them to you all.  Instead, you will just have to imagine a cherub-like face with a bird across one eye, all in a mostly white, but slightly green wood.

Today,  we worked some and finished packing.  We also managed to write a thank you letter to the staff.  Tomorrow morning, before we leave, we will go print it and give it to each of them.  It has our contact info and some pictures of us all on it.  I also will print that picture of Made and River to give Made as a gift.  We gave Octa and Gun each a hat from Mat and River to remember us by and they both seemed thrilled.

Mom loaded Esty up with gifts for her and her mother. Mat gave her a handheld game system that he had brought to give to her brother.  It was one that he had one in a claw game and it was like a ps2 knockoff.

Ni Wayan took some of the toys for her son and then Ketut (the original masseuse) took the rest of the toys for her 3 kids.

Yanti, our other masseuse, came over today to give us our last massage from her.  We both did a  90 minute Thai massage and both of us felt like today's was better than ever.  She really put a lot into it and we came out of it feeling fantastic.  Mat got her laughing as we said good-bye by saying "if only we weren't both already married"

Later, I got a massage from Ketut, as I needed my goodbye massage from her as well.  I got a nice relaxing massage and almost fell asleep.  However, right after it, my mom told me that the airport was closed due to the volcano and we didn't know if we would fly out tomorrow!  I love it here and honestly would be ok with a few extra days, but it is hard to change your mind-set from excited to go home to excited to stay again. Then back to excited to go when they told us that the airport should be open tomorrow.  We are planning to call again in the morning to confirm that it is still open, but I am hoping it is so that we can just go on home as planned.  Saying goodbye all week has been extremely moving, but also exhausting, and if we have to do it all over again because we have to stay a couple more days, it may just wear me out!

Ok, so now for pics.  I am too lazy to put them in order in the text above, so I will just caption each.

Gun with the kitty.  He offered to be in charge of its care after we leave.

Mom and Made's mother, BFFs

Gun with the "We Love U" flower arrangement that he made for us

Quite a spread!

Mat and Peace Pilgrim, aka Cat...

The three high-school girls that are working here during their summer break.

Made's mother with the sweater that mom made and a hat that mom gave her.

Mat sitting with Made's eldest daughter (in White), his nieces (to her right), Oca (in blue, he works next door but is always around and always has a smile), and Gun.

Kadek and Illo (not sure on the spelling of Illo, but these two are just extremely sweet girls.  Illo is Made's niece)

Made's father and not sure who the boy is, probably a nephew.  Oh, and the cat, who was very social the night of the party.

Mom and cat.

Our house in the twilight...

Ketut, our first masseuse.

Gun and River

Yanti and I (the masseuse who does Thai massage).   Yanti and I became very good friends!

I snuck a pic during Mat's last Thai massage today.

Made goofing around.

One of Made's paintings

Another One of Made's paintings.  I think we are bringing this one home.  We wanted to buy (or exchange for donation?) the other one that I posted a while back from his other villa, but it already found a home with the pack of french boys that were here for 10 days.

The painting that Made is currently working on.  This is how the above ones began.  This is all from his imagination.

Made painting with a stick-brush.

More of Made painting with stick-brush (it is a stick that he frays the end of to make it almost like a brush)

Me and Made's wife.

Octa!

River, deciding if he likes suckling pig :)

Still unsure...

Mom with Made and his wife and mother.

Made telling mom what to say in Balinese

Mom said something understandable!

Attempt 3 at some Balinese phrase.

Attempt 12?!

More of Gun's "We Love you" presentation

Mom and Esty

Lovely Esty

Everyone! (Oca, Gun, Illo, Ni Wayan, Mom, Esty, Kadek, high-school girl, some boy in red, River, more high-school girls, me!) (Made took the picture and Mat was getting a massage from Ketut already)