terraces of Bali
I am sitting in a little cyber café in the village of Kintamani on my final wrap-up in Bali. Tomorrow I go to the airport and fly out just after midnight for Winnipeg. Today as I rode my motorbike across the island for the last time I tried to place my different thoughts into perspective. I decided that this might also be a good day to write one last “Asia blog” before I left Bali.
Today I purchased and ate one last durian before leaving – one
the infamous durian - banned in public places
last, lingering treat. Even here in Southeast Asia where durians grow they are expensive, and are a major treat. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the durian, it has been compared to eating rancid, foul-smelling custard in a putrid outhouse. Personally I think that comparison is a bit harsh, and I do not find the smell to be offensive in the least, and I find the taste to be divine.
I am pasting a couple of excerpts from the internet just to give you “the flavor”:
“Widely known and revered in Southeast Asia as the “king of fruits”, the durian is distinctive for its large size, unique odor and formidable thorn-covered husk. The edible flesh emits a distinctive odor, strong and penetrating even when the husk is intact. Some people regard the durian as fragrant; others find the aroma overpowering and offensive. The smell evokes reactions from deep appreciation to intense disgust, and has been described variously as almonds, rotten onions, turpentine, and gym socks. The odor has led to the fruit’s banishment from certain hotels and public transportation in Southeast Asia”
Here are some of the ways that the smell of durian has been described:
- fermented onions
succulent, delicious and smelly
- overripe cheese
- rotting fish
- unwashed socks
- a city dump on a hot summer day
typical market scene
Historians report that Sir Stamford Raffles, who established Singapore as a British trading post in 1819, held his nose and ran in the other direction if he caught even a whiff of the dreaded fruit.
Another former British governor likened the stench to carrion in custard.
French naturalist Henri Mouhot wrote: “On first tasting it I thought it like the flesh of some animal in a state of putrefaction.”
But, for those of us who like it, it is a little kiss of heaven!
…so apart from durian, let me try to formulate some of my feelings as I say goodbye to Bali.
First of all, I am very happy to be returning to Theresa. I have been gone for a long, long time, and we both need time together again. As you are aware by now if you have been keeping up on my occasional blogs, this summer has not at all turned out as we had planned. For a variety of reasons the timing of everything was stood on its head. Theresa and I had committed ourselves to be with James and Jessica over this time that he needed to be away from her and the boys doing his Masters research. Our original plans were that I would be with James here in Bali from mid May through the end of August. This was to have almost taken him to the end of his work here. Theresa would have been with Jessica, the boys and our other children in Winnipeg while I was with James in Bali. Upon my return there was to have been only days or weeks left for James to be away from Jessica.
Of course, this plan did not work out. I am returning tomorrow and
preparing field for rice planting
James still has until at least the end of October in Indonesia in order to complete his research. In order to fulfill our commitment to them we have promised that Theresa will stay in Winnipeg to help until James returns. This will mean that I will need to go to Mexico alone until sometime in November when Theresa can join me there.
Jessica will be coming to Bali for two weeks at the very beginning of September in order to be with James. In fact, she will be arriving in Bali just days after I leave. During this time I will remain in Winnipeg to help Theresa with the boys, and of course to reconnect with family and friends. Then, probably very soon after Jessica returns to Canada, I will need to leave for Mexico. This will be hard, but we are committed to fulfilling our promise to them.
Steve joins musicians
The time here in Indonesia and Thailand has been a time for me to refocus and look at the situation with the work in Mexico “away from the grindstone”. That is what sabbatical times are all about I suppose. I feel refreshed and as if I return with new ideas, new perspectives and new vision which I have gained while away. It is too early to talk about these ideas now since they will need to be discussed thoroughly with all the players involved. I will share them when the timing is correct. I spent a very valuable two weeks in Thailand and bring a new perspective from the work there as well.
While here in Bali I made some good Hindu friends. I was able to
proclaim my faith to some of these. I was able to become a part of a little Christian church (two actually), and was able to take the Sunday morning preaching service in the little congregation in the town of Lovina since one of the young women could translate for me.
I was able to spend a month with my adult son and learn to know him as a grown man. We both made the transition over our time together of learning what it means to be in a father-son relationship as two adults. It has been good month with him. We were able to talk, dream, work together, and enjoy being together.
I have seen a different aspect of the human journey into spirituality as has been described in my recent blogs. I suspect that this inner revelation could not have happened had I not been here, or at least away from my normal day-to-day work life.
I have enjoyed a beautiful island called Bali. I have been able to see its good and bad sides over the past months. As anywhere, Bali has both beautiful parts to it, as well as a seamy underbelly. My time here has shown me both.
I leave with a certain sadness to say goodbye, but I am now ready to go home. I will land in Winnipeg on the evening of the 29th of August and can hardly wait to see the woman that I love again.
This will by my last blog from Asia. Thank you for praying with me over these somewhat turbulent months while I have waited for James to arrive, and while I have been trying to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit in the stillness of his voice, and trying not 
to be sidetracked by the lightning, thunder, earthquakes or other distractions around me.
Blessings until later,
Steven
