INDONESIA | Thursday, 20 June 2013 | Views [261] | View Smaller Image
To escape the bells and whistles, I spent one month living in a small villa in a quiet local area of southern Bali. With bits and pieces of my novice Bahasa Indonesia, I befriended this shy but friendly family who came knocking on my door in search of house-keeping work one day. Though my villa required little maintenance, I invited them to do some cleaning in exchange for a small fee. Even though they had offered their services, I felt inexplicably unsatisfied with the arrangement. Along with their monetary payment, I rounded up a bag of clothes, notebooks, pens, candies and rice, and offered it to them with more compassion than gratitude. This was the day that I realized Bali isn’t just a wonderland of self-indulgence. More than a tourist playground, it is a homeland - a reality that is too often overlooked.
