I arrived in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia on Wednesday 19th of October, 2022, after flying for two days from Boston, MA, USA. I was greeted by Jaedy, holding a sign with my name. His father, Rudi, owns Air Ubud, the Artist Residency properties. Rudi was waiting for us in the car. I was warmly welcomed, my suitcases were wheeled into the car and they offered me a bottle of water to drink. I took in all the sights on the way to Ubud, despite it being dark and the fact that I was jet lagged and exhausted. We finally arrived at the garage and they took out my suitcases. I could not understand what was going on. It turns out that the car could not go any further because of the rice fields. They had arranged for three scooters to come and meet us there, each one carrying one suitcase. I refused to climb onto a scooter so Putu,
Rudi’s wife, walked together with me until we arrived at Air Ubud. My suitcases were delivered to my room which was quite large and comfortable. I had to ask them to keep the two cats away from trying to constantly sneak in, by lying in front of my door. I finally unpacked my carry-on case and decided to take care of the rest the following day. I could not sleep because I was so tired; it took a while to relax from the exhaustion. There were chickens crowing in the morning and dogs barking. I pushed my earplugs in further and was able to doze off for a few hours before breakfast. Breakfast was an absolute delight every morning at 9 AM cooked by Wayan Nano. It consisted of a vegetable omelette, a piece of toast, a potato pancake, a fruit bowl and two cups of coffee. This kept me going until the afternoon. I walked everywhere every day, at least two miles. I was determined not to waste any of my precious time and just explore more and more of everything on my four-page list of "to do's." The city looks very old and it looks like it needs a good paint job. However as soon as you take a peek into the alleyways, you are in for the most pleasant surprise. Spirituality is everywhere. As soon as you enter each alleyway, there is a sculpture of Lord Ganesh. I mean absolutely everywhere! The Balinese believe that Lord Ganesh removes all obstacles and negativity.