My Bali Story (Chapter 4): Humble Beginnings

Where did we leave it? Click here to read the past chapter.

First night in Bali

We were to spent our first night in Wisma Udayana, a kos owned by the University of Udayana. I shared a room with Fio and Davos. After settling in, I was extremely hungry. It was around 9pm, dinner time for spanish people. I guess for mexican too, because Davos was starving. Fio decided to stay in the room.

We got out of the kos and it was completely dark. It was a residential neighborhood a bit far from the center. Me and Davos were clueless as to where to go eating. Still outside checking our phones in total darkness, another person came out. He looked familiar. I had seen him in our plane from Jakarta, so probably he was a student as well.

He introduced himself as Mike. Blond and with blue eyes, short and strong. From his accent I guessed he was dutch. So he was Maik, not Mike. Same same but different. Like Roni, he was also a Bali & Indonesia expert. Maik had been many times to Indonesia and his family owned a villa in Ubud. He spoke the language flawlessly. Shit, the fucker was carrying a huge book of "Learn Balinese"!. For the record, balinese is totally different from indonesian. It is written in a different alphabet which comes from sanskrit. It is a whole different language. Just so you get a hint of how much of an expert Maik was.

Maik was a soft-spoken, suave and cool guy. You had to listen to him when he spoke. Measuring his words and gesturing, he reminded me of a politician. He convinced me and Davos to go eat. Of course he knew all the good places around. After walking around a bit, he taught us the firt word in indonesian. We saw a sign that said "TUTUP". He said:

Ok guys, pay attention. This is a really important word. You see that sign, TUTUP? Well, it means "closed". It is good to use it when you enter a place. Just ask: "Tutup?" And they will invite you to come in if it is open.

I'll never forget his little speech. Me and Davos were fascinated. He lead us to an amazing warung, where we ate ayam kremes. He also taught us to eat with our right hand and only with our right hand. Then we walked around a big park and he told us the story about it and how now it had become a place for teenagers to date and fool around.

We said goodnight and went to sleep, excited for Day 2 of our Bali adventure.

"I like the smell of plastic in the morning..."

An intense stench of burning plastic woke me up. It was really sunny so the light was flooding the room. I looked out the window and I saw a scene that would become far too common: locals burning trash. I opened the window and made the "No" gesture with my finger. They responded making the ✌️✌️✌️ sign and laughing.

Clearly another cultural shock of many to come 😀. Trash burning is common around Indonesia. It is seen as a natural and healthy way to dispose of trash. Because if you burn it, it goes away. Right? Yeah... Trash management in Indonesia deserves a blog post by itself.

After brushing my teeth I remembered the situation again. We arrived to Bali yesterday and they drove us to a student residence where I shared a room with Davos and Fio. Many of the other students had arranged accomodation for their first nights. Some of them had not. Guess who? The only three spanish-speaking students. The latinos. The laid back ones. The lazy ones.

Oh shit! I just realized there was one other student who came with us to this residence. He slept in a room by himself. A mysterious indian guy. His name is Amit Kumar. Don't forget this name... I know I never will...

Amit Kumar

Amit Kumar is really the first person I met in this adventure. Flashback to the opening gala dinner of the Opening Ceremony in Jakarta, before Bali. I was alone. Jet-lagged. Shy. I just wanted to eat and sleep. Of course I felt weird seeing how everyone was already making friends and cheering and laughing. You could feel the excitement in the air. The atmosphere of bringing together 800 students from all over the world under the same roof.

Somehow, I just wanted to eat and go away. I figured I would meet people when I felt like it. The dinner was a huge buffet of Indonesian dishes. Everyone was queueing and standing around. I filled my plate with everything I could gather. Happy, I found one of the few dark and isolated corners of the room.

Finally! Alone, quiet and with my food. Alright, time to sit down and take my first ever bite of nasi goreng...

Hello! What are you doing here? Come over man! By the way, my name is Amit Kumar I am from India.

Suddenly I heard this words. Looking up I saw this Indian guy offering me a handshake. He was wearing one of these full-body orange silk dresses you see in Bollywood movies. I was ready to give him my best "leave-me-the-fuck-alone" faces. But when I made eye contact with him I saw he was smiling broadly. We looked at each other, his handshake pending for what seemed like an eternity. Finally I took his hand and he helped me stand up.

Man, why are you here all by yourself? Join us, I will introduce you to my friends... Look!

He motioned to a group of people dressed the same way as him and waving Indian flags. They were cheering and waving at us. Amit noticed by my expression that I was not in the right mood to join that crowd. Before having the chance to verbalize it, he said:

It's alright. We can stay here. So where are you from?

And then he carefully listened to my words. It was as he was analyzing every word I was saying. He told me I was the first person from Spain he met. For me it was also the first time meeting someone from India. After a few minutes talking, I felt really comfortable. I had a strange feeling. Didn't feel jet lagged, or hungry, or tired. Why? Because I had officially made my first friend in this journey, and this friend was Amit.

Since that dinner until we landed in Bali, we did not separate. I still remember how he offered me indian nuts and cookies on our bus ride from the hotel to the airport in Jakarta. He struck me as a humble, caring person. A pure soul. Nowadays it is far too common to expect something in return when you give; or to do actions following an agenda. Amit was not like that. He was a genuine good person.

In that bus ride I also discovered Amit's natural talent: storytelling. When he told stories he had a drive, an intensity and a showmanship that made people to shut up and listen. Even if his English was not the best, he definitely had a way with words. I remember lots of parties and gatherings where he was telling a story and we were all sitting and listening like kids with our teacher.

Amit's favorite subject was India. He was extremely passionate about his country. Also about the roots of Hinduism and its ramifications. Some of the stories still echo in my mind, because he often liked to repeat those stories. The good thing is that he knew his audience and he gave it a twist depending on who was listening. He absolutely loved to speak about Moksha.

You know, in India...

When you heard this words coming out of his mouth, you knew it was story time. Amit took his time. He absolutely loved to talk and hipnotise people with his stories.

I will tell you more about Amit soon. Let me just say I even had an outline to write a book about him! But let's get back to the story...

The Oasis

Amit, Fio, Davos and I had spent the first night in Denpasar. That first day Amit abandoned us. He found a really cheap place in the heart of Denpasar called Ary's Garden. Many generations of Darmasiswa stayed, stay and will stay there. Like its name implies, it is a huge garden whose owner is Ary 🙄. Ary's Garden was like an oasis in the middle of the concrete jungle of Denpasar. Because believe me: Denpasar is crazy. Traffic, people, ceremonies, smoke, smog, etc. You cannot live there unless your house is a bit isolated from all the noise. Which is exactly what Ary's Garden provided: peace and quiet right in the center of Denpasar.

Amit and many other students had made a wise choice. The only caveat? That they signed a one-year contract with Ary and were legally bound to Denpasar. Read this again: legally bound to Denpasar. Holy shit. I could not imagine something worse. Luckily Fio, Davos and others agreed. One of the best things about Bali is that there are unlimited options for accomodation and you can pay weekly and monthly. Perfect for moving around.

So the three latinos we roamed around Denpasar by foot. Yes, by foot. We did not have motorbikes yet and we wanted to reach Bukit as soon as possible. So after sweating our asses off in Denpasar, we just decided to take a taxi to Bukit. I spoke to Havid, the owner of the Kutilang house and made an appointment to see it. He told me we could go there anytime, his wife Nuri would be there. Just after making the call, Davos was already whistling for a taxi in the middle of the road.

During the ride we realized it was far away. It took us more than one hour. When we arrived, we took a look around the neighborhood.

It had a really local vibe. Chicken, cows, dogs and kids were out on the street roaming around. We barely saw tourists or expats, which was a good sign. From outside, the house looked giant. After making sure it was the right one, I entered. I vividly remember the image. I heard the gentle hum of the pool filter. I saw the pool, full of white flowers. Nuri was standing at the end of it chatting with another woman. He motioned for me to come in.

Kutilang was also like an oasis. But literally: the huge swimming pool was surrounded by two giant palm trees. The stories from Alberto came to my mind. Yes, this was the place. I could feel it in my veins. A huge grin took hold of my face. I was almost crying of joy imagining my life in this house. I got out of the house and asked Fio and Davos to come in. Their faces were like those of gold diggers that just found a gold mine. Davos started shouting. Fio could not stop laughing.

They ran to the second floor to check the rooms and in two minutes they had already decided which room they were gonna take. I did not have to ask them anything. It was obvious that we were staying. It didn't matter we were only three. We would find more people later.

And thus it began...