Darma picked me up to take me to the villa of a British man who I am working with on the festival. I have never met him, but he offered to let me stay at his place while he is out of the country. What a kind and generous offer.
We drove about 20 minutes outside of Ubud and as the road got narrower and we drove further and further into small villages, it occurred to me that I had no idea where I was going, who the people were who were taking me there and no one knew where I was going. I didn't panic, but rather had a feeling of calm come over me and I knew I had to trust that everything would be alright. I knew it would
We pulled up in front of the place and got my bags out. Some cute boys from the road came over to see who this blond haired stranger was. They were so cute and shy they wanted to talk but we didn't know each other's language. But it was a nice welcome.
The villa was so incredibly beautiful. It's big and spacious with a huge living room, a great pool, another living room that was sunken down square with comfortable pads for conversation, two outdoor showers, kitchen, master bedroom and my room which was upstairs and had a wonderful balcony overlooking gorgeous rice fields.
Darma told me to make myself at home and I did so by first having a delicious nap. I was still sort of in a daze from my morning at Bodyworks with Sri Guru.
When I got up I went out by the pool and started writing as the orchestra of frogs in the rice fields started up and the light from the fireflies twinkled around me. I wrote 8 pages in my journal as I was processing the events of the day. It was very cathartic. After a few hours, a man arrived sporting a New Zealand accent, and introduced himself as Manny. He was a friend of Sacha and was staying there for 2 more days before going home. He had been in Bali for 3 weeks. Manny and I got along great and had long talks into the night about Bali, world events and spirituality. He is a wealth of knowledge and a very kind person. He is a painter, an assistant cameraman (he worked on Lord of the Rings) and has purchased a ticket to go into outer space in 2012. Not many people can say that.
When I woke up the next morning after a very restful sleep, I heard a strange sound outside of my bedroom. When I walked out, I saw a small monkey tied to the post. He was very jittery and going crazy running around at the end of his short leash. What a strange site to see. I wasn't sure if I was awake or still dreaming about monkeys in the Monkey Forrest. I found out that the monkey's name is Cosmo and he is a pet of Sacha's, along with the 3 dogs and 3 cats that live there as well. The cats and dogs love visitors and insisted on sharing my bedroom with me. I spent some time with Cosmo talking to him and was happy when he would calm down and just look at me as we chatted. He would make funny faces and open his little mouth in a wide grin. As soon as I would get up to walk away, he would become very agitated again and start running in circles around the post. It reminded me to stay calm, take it easy, and not run around like a monkey on a string myself.
I made some tea in the kitchen and had the place all to myself most of the day. I had a hard time with no internet connection and no phone and no way to get to town, but I decided to just relax and enjoy a few days of being disconnected. It was so wonderful. I swam, read my book (titled A House in Bali) and watched a movie on my computer. It rained very hard much of the day which made it so nice to be inside and quiet.
That evening Manny came back from a surf trip and we talked some more and had some noodles and tofu and cold beer. There was quite a bit of commotion in the lane outside and we later found out that the man who lives next door had died. He was an older man and wasn't expected to live long, but he was also an important elder in his community. The village came together and had him cremated within hours of him dying, which is unusual. But it happened to be a good day spiritually and astrologically for it.
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