Firstly, apologies for the late posting. There is no internet in Medewi, Indonesia, and I had to wait until my return to Kuta to post.Although you wouldn't tell from the half-foot wave breaking in the background, the surf was pretty amazing at 0732 WITA on the appointed day. As a result, the hardest part of completing this challenge was resisting the temptation to pick up my board and head out for a session. The second hardest part was explaining to the Indonesian cow farmer the reasoning behind my wanting him to wait until a certain moment before taking my picture. Luckily for everyone, the language barriers were somewhat overcome and by taking the picture, the farmer unknowingly became part of the catalyst for economic recovery in the world (actually, he was an immediate beneficiary when I pressed some rupiah into his hand as thanks).
The cow seemed to sense that history was in the making and turned to face me as the photo was taken. It was wearing a handsome blue handmade bell.
The item I am holding is a deck of Indonesian playing cards (I'll post a detailed view later) which I purchased the previous day for 15,000 rupiah - about A$1.90/US$1.40 from the little bamboo shop owned by the family of Putu, the local surfboard repairer. The cards are a low-to-mid range quality cardboard with a decent slip and feature a traditional looking design versa. There are 3 jokers in the deck. Later in the night they were used by myself, my 2 Australian travelling companions, 3 Israelis, 1 Belgian and 2 Indonesian Muslims to play a card game - proving that not only did the challenge help the economic recovery, but also (as an unexpected side effect) aided in improving Jewish/Muslim relations.
There was no pre-meditation involved in my having worn the same hat and sunglasses as in last month's challenge.
Success! Although, I had confidence in your commitment to the project, I did wonder how difficult it might be to complete such a complex mission in such a remote location. Your sacrifice of quality surfing time can only be described as selfless and heroic. Congratulations on another successful mission for the benefit of mankind!
ReplyDeleteAnd congratulations to you on your successful completion, especially given the difficulty in locating an animal. It seems that the dog also sensed the gravity of the moment and wes good enough to stick around for the shot.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that we have both born witness to evidence of animals possessing a heightened sense of economic responsibility. Perhaps this needs to be investigated further?
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ReplyDeletehaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. (c---) gib (and US gib), you're so funny. i loved reading this so much, i am officially a follower now.
ReplyDeleteas one of the israelis mentioned in your story, i am honored. x t