Gave up my steady room in Ubud because it was getting too expensive to cover it while I traveled around, paying simultaneously for rooms I actually slept in. Kept it originally because:
1) I have more crap than I need and it's difficult to cart it all around on a motorbike. Wearing a large backpack and negotiating traffic, especially while learning how to drive here, felt like a daunting task.
2) The room had hot water.
3) It was relatively cheap and a good value; not easy to find in high season here.
4) I got to know the staff pretty well and had stayed there a couple years ago for three weeks. Something about it felt like home.
They kept my bags for me when I went to the village for a couple of days, but upon return said I had to pay full price for my room since I was no longer promising a long stay. That was out of my budget range. I said it was probably a good time to search for another place.
Looked at 4 or 5 places but they were either full, expensive or dirty. Then came across a little homestay on a backroad. The rooms were bungalows, free standing onto themselves and set back along a stone path in a garden area, overlooking a river valley beginnings. The first one they showed me had painted (and peeling) doors and a lovely patio with a recliner chair positioned for afternoon sun, a little wooden table on which to eat breakfast and an open air bathroom (love those!) No hot water (can't say how much I treasure that now) but the bed felt comfortable and the price was only 50 cents more than my other room. I'll take it!
Made myself speak Indonesian at the check in and they kept it up the whole stay. The girl especially. I took all my research out on the porch and was organizing photos when she and her little boy came by to visit.
We spoke for a while and she leaned against my leg like we were sisters. We talked about our families and what I was doing there, showed her some photos and she told me the names of different insects. We looked up words in the dictionary and discussed language. The little boy was running around everywhere so I asked him if he like to draw and gave him one the pencils I had brought with me for kid gifts. He made a picture of chickens. Then she left to do offerings around the property and asked me to look after him. We took photos of each other and I said "bagus" a lot (means "good"). It felt like being with a family. It felt like everything I had been thinking about.
But there was a catch. When they came up, I was in one of my few work zones where I am focused and motivated. Their visit took two hours from the day and I couldn't get anything done. She was gone for almost 45 minutes when I was watching the boy and I started to feel like a babysitter. Finally found her brother and sent the little boy wit him so I could go to a coffee shop. When I returned, they all hovered around my room, waiting to talk again and the little boy wanted my camera to play with. He's young so I couldn't turn it over unsupervised. It is sweet and contains all those elements I had hoped for, but I'm not sure if this is the best research and work environment. I already told them I would like to stay here when in Ubud and she gave her number to make sure the room was ready before I arrived. Do I keep that agreement and stay or do I subvert it and find somewhere new, trying to avoid this street and hope to not run into them in town. The price is so good but I can't stay holed up in my room if I want to get work done. Should I stay or do I go...?
1 comment:
Stay. Homestays are more than language training, but you don't have to acquiesce completely. Can you ask for a few hours of work privacy each day?
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