so...no kitchen in my new living quarters, which is fine with me...keeps things simple and clean! but it means i need to find some way to eat one decent meal at lunch time. and so a great opportunity to finally start eating like the balinese!...nice spicey vegetables, tofu, fish and rice.
i walked over to the young (16?) neighbor and asked her if it is an option that they will add one more portion to the food they prepare for the family and that i will pay them for it and have a meal each day. she began to converse with her mother, who did not speak english, and after a short conversation she agreed. i asked the price, knowing that to walk over to the little local take away 10 minutes away would cost me less than $1....and when she said $2 i was a bit surprised....but decided not to start to bargain on the first day of meeting them. i told her we will do it as a trial meal just for today, and then we can speak about if it will be permanent.
i have the habit of "jumping in" when they are silent, and so i offered to come over with my plate when it is ready. she agreed, and said to come at 2. fine. i walked back to my place, 50 meters through the forest, and was pleased i had a solution, but troubled why they would double the price just because i am a foreigner, living in a big villa....but. thats how it is. i wondered whether instead of asking how much the meal would cost, i should have been pro-active and TOLD her i would like to have a $1 meal balinese style (spicey!) and thats it. so...next time. and i put aside the $2 to pay them when i took the meal. i had just sat down with my finances and saw that it is still in my budget, but no more than that a day.
as two o'clock approached i was just finishing my tibetan exercises on the yoga mat on my porch and i noticed a procession of 3 women coming in the direction of my villa, with an huge offering on one of their heads. hmm...middle of the day, a bit strange, didn't know there is a ceremony, and why in this direction. in order to respect them i stopped the exercising and waited in my house, peeking out the window to see when they finished passing by. but as i peeked i realized it was my neighbor and that they were bringing me my meal!
i was in shock. it was a big tray with a red velvet lid with gold trimming on it and when she reached my porch she asked permission to place it on my table. and just like any 5 star chef, she flung the velvet lid off revealing a delicious array of balinese food. i had told them i was vegetarian and ate tofu, tempeh, fish, vegetables...etc. i didn't mean for her to cook me ALL of that for my meal.
so there stood the mother who had prepared and elegantly carried the tray over on her head heading the procession, followed by her daughter that spoke the english, followed by....a neighbor that i guess either wanted to see who i was, or maybe how the chef was going to receive nice pay for this typical balinese meal.
i ooohed and ahhed over the meal and thanked them profusely and insisted on paying them immediately. they stood in line, waiting for me to give them the money. as i royally took out the 15,000 rupias and honorably straightened out the bills and made a little bow to place them in the daughters hands with tremendous gratitude, i saw a look of surprise on her face. i couldn't understand why....and then she ennunciated the word "fifty".
"FIFTY!!???"
"yes, fifty, not fifteen, but forty is also okay."
i was in shock! not only had they doubled the price of this typical balinese meal that i could have had at the warong on the main road, but they had ten timed it, thus uping the price to that of the fancy yoga resort restaurant on the other side of their house! i had eaten there the day before, and the food wasn't anything to rave about, and since they serve foreigners, you pay those kinds of prices...(5 euro)...
so...they are clever, huh...and i had debated whether to bargain them down to 8 and thought i was being generous as a first gesture. i stood there with my mouth open, the 15,000 rupias still waiting to be lifted gratefully from my outstretched hands, and just kind of stuttered that i thought she said 15,000 and not 50,000 and....
so in typical balinese style, to find harmony in this embarassing situation and instead of either of us "losing face", the mother told the daughter to just take it and let it go. no problem. all is fine. and the three of them walked back in their procession towards the sea, and stood there talking among themselves for a while. it was then that i thought that maybe the extra woman had come to see who would pay 50,000 rupias for a meal they make daily for less than $1....
after setting aside a small offering on a banana leaf of this exquisite meal i sat down to eat it. everything was perfectly spiced and spicey and delicious. the best balinese meal i had ever had....and so much...and i knew that she really did deserve $6 for it. just because she lives in the forest in an unfinished house and looks poor and simple and $6 is the wage a man would earn for 3 days of 8 hours a day of working, doesn't mean that i get to eat the meal for $2....
so when i finished, i placed the empty plates on the tray on my head, and walked over to thank her and to pay her the rest of the sum. the daughter insisted that it was fine and that it is like we are family now and not a guest. i had already realized that refusing twice to accept the money does not mean they don't want it, so i placed it on the tray and thanked them again, and they accepted it. and that was the last meal i will be having with those neighbors....as delicious as it was.
and i laughed as i returned from their backyard to my place and found my good balinese friends waiting at my house, with delicious sweet potatoes she had just cooked and wanted to share with me, and also offered to be my chef everyday. she did not know i had just had a meal from the neighbor....and i realized how i am getting so many lessons in learning how to state borders, being firm and polite...and then the heavens open up even a little more, for my next lesson.
it was also fun being on the receiving side of how the balinese will not let someone loose face or argue or shame or blame....the day before i had looked for a water dispenser for a big container of bottled water, only to open box after box of cracked ceramic dispensers, and chose not to buy any of them. and sweet mitha, gently suggested that maybe i would like to buy a bar of soap or something....all just so that the owner of the shop would not have to experience disappointment at having let a customer down. amazing....
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