The Plunge

I think we heard a rumor somewhere that money was going out of style. That's how we've been spending it these past few days anyhow. We got a cargo agent--they are everywhere here--via our beloved driver Made, who has a friend.... but also took pains to say we should shop around and only use his friend if he had a good price. Well, I had shopped around and his friend had a very good price, plus was highly organized, had sample pictures of how things get packed and crated, etc... They make it so EASY here. You just go into a store and buy some stuff and get an invoice. You just leave the stuff there (we take a photo) and give the invoice to the 'cargo'. They go and pick it up and pack it up, anywhere in Bali! And the weight doesn't matter--big stone statue? No problem. Once it's all ready they take it down to the port (which I think is on another island?) and find space with someone else's junk, to fill a container load. Onto the freighter and out to sea. Shows up in Oakland or San Francisco a month later.
That's the part that scares me! Customs and all. But people do it so it CAN be done. We'll figure it out when we get home.
So we went shopping yesterday. Did I mention big stone statue? Yes. Much stone. And we bought a piece of furniture. A very old one from Java. Very carved and weird, with huge ornate feet and bevelled glass in the doors and sides. Not huge. Dresser size. They had another cupboard I guess you'd call it, about 9 feet tall!! It was freaking huge! Beautiful too. They legs had it at least a foot and a half off the ground. About 6 feet wide. Crazy.
Our treasure was 3 million rp. I just hope it makes it home alive.
The stone for the stone carvings we bought also came from Java, as does most of the raw wood for new furniture and such. It makes me fear for Java. I imagine a big hole in the ground or a lot of old fancy palaces being looted and disassembled.
We were sorely tempted to buy woodcarvings. The variety (and repetition) is staggering, as is the average skill involved. Today I was very tempted by a big wooden bench carved in the shape of the bottom of a foot, with the pedastal the ankle flaring out. About 5 feet wide. Simple and silly, but beautifully done and very comfortable to sit on! It's still tempting, but where does that wood come from? There were beautiful statues of graceful women, and mermaids and buddhas by the millions. The most stunning and over the top work still within reach, maybe one or two million rp.
I am a total hypocrite though, because I gave in to temptation and bought some drums. Oh well. Not too many. They are very well made, beautifully carved, have wonderful tone and were shockingly cheap. So what if they came from the very last truffula tree? I'm hoping to sell them, and the didjeridoos too.
We also bought some golden buddhas from a big shop that sold pretty much just golden buddhas. But they were made out of fast growing palm wood. Not too nasty.
We got alot of other junk too. Mostly as gifts or for our selves, but I got some things to try my hand at selling. We got Krista 12 handcarved frames for new paintings (I think we'll have to build the canvases to fit them). They were in a big warehousey place and most of them seemed old--not like fake old antiqued, but like old, covered with dirt and grime! All different and amazing and very cheap! Just dirty.
We saw alot of cats, but there is a very healthy level of creativity surging through the 10 miles of shops. My early pessimistic report was exaggerated. It was actually fun and inspiring doing this and it made a few vendor's days I think. And almost no haggling. Business price. That's it.
Tomorrow I'm hoping we'll have the sarong deal nailed down. As much as we've come to love this place and all the familiar faces, we want to spend the last few days basking by the sea in a place we've heard about called Dream Land down by Ulu Watu. We're just a little apprehensive about freezing in the New Zealand rain.
In the meantime life is pretty good.
PS One of the wonderful things about being here is the lack of George W Bush. Never see his smirking face and never hear his name. Even in the newspaper there is little about the US. Refreshing to say the least. And that reminds me, I don't know how things are going back home, but we'd like the bastard out of office by the time we get back, June 9. Please.
love and hugs
rob