Driving dangerously!
Trip Start
Jul 24, 2008
1
7
22
Trip End
Ongoing
Umalas,
Indonesia
Monday, August 25, 2008
So have settled in school and at home. Have successfully found my pimbantu, (maid, translates as helper, sort of) Who comes Monday to Saturday for about 3 - 4 four hours. She cleans up after me and does a bit of shopping as needed but at the moment is not too much for her to do, (apparently she has a pretty sweet deal with me, but still feels a bit odd having someone to do that stuff and anyway when someone else is staying she will have to work more so don't mind paying her a bit more than other people). Her name is Ketut, (which actually means 'fourth' Bali is filled with Wayan's, Made's, Nyoman's, and Ketut's! It is tradition to name your children according to their order first, second third and fourth! Odd to get used to but a nice tradition I think). She is married with a three children and she pimbantu's for at least one other house as well. I pay her 500000Rp a month.
I have rented a car, a tiny little Suzuki is the car of choice her, they are nicknamed 'Jimmy's' and work quite well despite having been produced in the seventies. They are so well maintained here they work perfectly. The seatbelts have to be manually tightened and the suspension died long ago so driving is like a free rollercoaster ride! But the radio and A.C. work fine so... baik-baik. It costs 1500000Rp a month but they come and service it each month and it comes with insurance, I am assured (cough)!
Driving here is gila, (crazy!). The rules are... keep driving. There are lights but quite often they are set to flashing orange, which literally means... keep driving. As long as you keep your speed to about 20mph then it is all fine. Motorbikes give way to you, you give way to trucks it's all a size priority thing. Don't think motor bikes are the answer for me as they seem to be very dangerous. The roads have massive bits missing, which apparently gets worse during the rainy season! But all in all I feel both safe and happy driving around in my Jimmy! If you are coming to visit this is what I will pick you up from the airport in and um... well you'll have an experience!
Used the car to drive to Carrefour and stock up on some groceries, however... whilst selecting my produce I failed to follow one simple guideline - do not purchase any sexually suggestive vegetables. To my horror on seeing a zucchini, (courgette) in my basket the lady packing my shopping dissolved into hysterical laughter. I looked questioningly at her only to have her make an obscene gesture with the vegetable and ask me if I like Basar zucchini, (big courgettes!) nervously I smiled and attempted to stuff the offending article away, but no. That would be far too dignified, the packing lady had other ideas and no joke, spent the next 10 minutes, (while the rest of my shopping was processed and I paid) continually pulling out the courgette and announcing to passer-bys, other staff, etc her hilarious comments, all in Bahasa! Obviously I turned bright red, being an easily shocked and embarrassed soul, having led a sheltered and virtuous life hitherto. The ordeal ended as my bill was printed. I decided I had to do something, so I foraged through my limited Bahasa and as I left shock my head sadly and announced 'Kamu gila ya?' The woman who clearly then thought I had understood everything she had been saying, looked shocked whilst the crowd which had lingered to watch the hilarious sport laughed even louder... Honestly!? What the hell did she think she was doing?? All very embarrassing and bizarre. Poor, poor, minority group, me!
Until the next weird installement I leave you with my love, best wishes and a lingering feeling that you shouldn't eat courgettes anymore!
Ixxx
