Grateful for:
- Puttering around the kitchen for a few hours in the morning. I am at it again, deriving simple life pleasures of daily activities. The result was my signature rice flour crepes.
- Wrapping presents for the soon to be newly weds. Since we are one of the only few guests we decided that instead of combining our money to buy something of greater value, we will split the budget up and buy several smaller no less useful things. So we drew lots of smiles picking out a small electric toaster oven, kettle, tea pot, blender and colander at the shop the other day and had quite some wrapping practice wrapping it all up today. Although it will be a modest celebration with 4 relatives and 2 friends in attendance, they will still end up with a small mountain of household gifts like any newly wed couple should
- Going to the local market and buying a heap of fruit and not one but 2 whole branches of bananas for tomorrow’s celebrations. Riding back on the back of a scooter holding a large banana branch is another one of those bizarre daily highlights.
- Buying freshest lemon-grass for home made lemon-grass and ginger tea. It has become an instant hit the first time I made it with neighbours coming over for some “grass” and “my” tea. There are even talks about drying some to take back home. Funny how popular it is in Australia and in Russia noone has heard of it.
- Relying in google maps (don’t I know better?!) to find a way home through back streets. Instead ending up in some dead end local community neighbourhoods with smiling faces everywhere. Shared a few laughs and a few bananas with the locals as we turned around to ride back out.
- Riding on the scooter with 2 other people. Always lots of merriment and original ideas about where to put that extra pair of feet.
- Coming home to the biggest cooked fish fillet ever, so awesome when friends stop over at the local fish market on the way back home. A collective effort of cooking and salad chopping later, everyone was ohhing and ahhing about how good it is to actually eat at home after days of restaurant dinners.
- Playing the good old Russian card game of Fool. A bit rusty with the rules at first, I managed to be the only one who hasn’t lost a single game. If you give something a long enough break I guess you qualify for beginner’s luck all over again.
- Eating the last of the special Russian cookie “prianik” that were brought over especially for me. Thankfully there are still some Russian black bread left in the fridge to me to have the last few tastes of motherland.
- Getting ready for the wedding tomorrow morning. It’s weird to have your best friend who you know since age 7 get married. And yes, the way everyone was getting ready was by playing cards all night after dinner while the bride was getting her haircut, pedicure, manicure and all other niceties.
- Sleeping on the veranda again this time in company! Since we had a couple of other friends arrive for the wedding tomorrow and occupy the second room, I actually got myself a “veranda mate” who had to move out of the room to let them in. Lol mattresses and computers everywhere on the veranda, off to sleep Bali style.