Here is a thought worth contemplating

The earth has no deeply satisfying thing but the continual pursuit of the Truth of God.

Eins, zwei, drive, fear, fun

I really, honestly cannot do justice to describe the experience of driving in Bali. My best parallel is that it is like American business, like big business, like the floor of the markets, like the competition of capitalism. It's packed. Tons of people trying for the same goal/destination. You see an opening, you exploit it for all it's worth. You gotta get what you can out of that gap cuz it might not be there for long. Maybe there's someone right where you need to be. Do they show weakness? Yeah, they can't really hold their position, put on a little pressure, see if they buckle. Seize their position and move on. I don't believe there are actually rules, I mean there are, but if you can get away with it, does anyone really care. It's only illegal if it's enforced right? Red lights? More of a suggestion. Don't want to stop? Make it through that intersection if you have forged nerves and a propensity for weaving. I think the painted line in the middle of the street means a few things- a. lane suggestion b. a place to allign the center of your car c. somewhere to park d. a cozy place for a dog to sleep. All true, and maybe more beside. When it means what, I'm still not totally positive. Lanes, hmmm, lanes on the highway- if you can fit three cars with two scooters abreast each side, each loaded with a family of four (yes the scooters) then it really doesn't matter that there are just two lanes. Oh, to make things a bit more interesting for the new driver (read me, or your odd westerner), the wheel is on the right and the driving is on the left of the street. Not a good thing to randomly forget. And it's a good thing to remember that your wide side is on your left. Clipping the man peddling a cart full of balinese knick-knacks on the shoulder can be quite a concern for the Swiss girls in the passenger side of your car. Swiss-german cuss words- ear piercing at the right volume. I will try to snap a photo that captures some of the intensity, but the magic is in the motion really.

German Musings

And for my first post in Bali, a diatribe on Germany. Or Germans. Or really the German language. So you know, I'm pretty much alone. That is to say, at the camp I'm staying there are only German and Balinese speaking people. I constantly walk into situations where people are speaking a language of which I have no understanding. But I'm the shit cuz I'm from California. But then again this comes to terms with the fact that I'm from America. It's a tough little equation, but I think in the end I come out ahead. Oh yeah, and I'm kind of a goober, factor that in on the American side. A thought- if I created a German chess board, the surfing Californian would trump the harbinger of compulsory democracy. And the pawn would be a goober. Total goober. But Germans are incredibly nice. Seriously, nice like I never would have guessed. They are teaching me German. Not why they're nice. Mostly surf terms right now. Learning. Slowly. Such an ugly language. Not a creative thing to say I know, but really-- I mean, it's like half of what I hear all the time. It sounds like they're trying to get peanut butter off the roof of their mouth. Honestly. Drink some milk people. Milk is hard to find in Bali. Damn. Ok, really I'm just jealous. I've been going to markets trying to find peanut butter before my surf sessions. Helps me communicate better. I'm tired of everyone coming down to my level to speak English. Always paying me a favor to speak in my native (read only) tongue. Except I feel pretty smart, cuz their English is somewhere between 1st and 5th grade level. I'm smarter than 5th graders. I think. Although, have you seen those spelling bees? Pretty sure if it weren't for auto-spell check there'd be some confusion on the page. What is true is that I've started speaking English in the most broken grammatically incorrect way. For example I found myself saying today "Wave is good, yes?" Wtf? Really? Yes, it will take some work, but hopefully when I come back to the states I will still be able to converse normally. We'll see.