Fish and Foreigners

First the Foreigners

Universitas Dhyana Pura (aka Undhira) has for several years run an International School.  In the early years the students were mainly from The Netherlands but recently most of the students have come from Heilbronn University which is located (very roughly) between the better known cities of Heidelberg and Stuttgart in south-western Germany.  This year the 7 German students were joined by 4 Japanese students from Momoyama University in Osaka, Japan.  Four or five Undhira students join the group for some sessions and activities.  Classes are held to explain local culture, to teach the Indonesian language, and to teach economic principles of "Community Intrapreneurship". As I'm not in the classes I'm not well equipped to explain the details but, as I understand, it is not so much about starting new business for the benefit of the initiating individual (that's the "entrepeneur") but about being innovative within existing businesses, or particularly in small communities.

Students of the "International Class"
(there are more - a couple are out of frame)

In mid October I joined a gathering of the International students, some Undhira staff  who have studied in the USA, and local students from the classes getting most of their lectures in English.  We shared stories of some local customs and practices in our various communities, and especially how (or "if") Halloween was celebrated.  For many of the local students posing for a group photo was possibly the highlight of the morning.

The local students just love posing forthe camera.
The German guest students are just visible at the rear.

Most of the students in the blue uniforms belong to the 2
classes I teach in the "Hotel Management" stream.

Now for the Fish

The main buildings on the Dhyana Pura campus are located on the north and south sides of a water feature known variously as the "fish pond", the "Lotus pond" (no Lotus plants recently") or just "the lake".  Apart from its visual appeal the lake has a practical purpose.  It acts as a buffer and storage area for runoff and irrigation water enterring the campus from the slightly higher ground to the east of the campus.  During the dry season some of the water is used to irrigate the green field.  During times of heavy rain excess water runs away to the vegetable gardens cultivated by our farmer neighbour.

Dark clouds gather over the northern buildings on campus.

Some weekends I see a few locals fishing in the lake, and sometimes I even see them catch a small fish or two.  On the weekend before last a fishing contest was held on campus.  There were perhaps 50 or so people fishing, and occasionally fish were caught and flung onto the ground around the lake.  They were definitely fishing for fun and some small prizes as the fish were certainly not edible.  The largest fish I saw was perhaps about 25-30 cm, and you might get a small but boney fillet from it, but the water in the lake is very dirty and contaminated (and I presume so is the flesh of the fish).

This one did not get away.  It's not an attractive fish
and I was told it was a kind of local catfish.

Anglers spread around the campus lake.

What the well-dressed dog wears when going fishing.

Paul in Bali
November 2016

A Lazy Weekend in East Bali

Lolling about at Candidasa

I must admit that it was not just one particular weekend which was "lazy".  I just didn't get around to writing a little about this weekend earlier.  Lazy me!

Three weeks ago, as a gesture of appreciation, the University provided a weekend away for its two Australian volunteers.  I went with Marg Blanch, an early childhood specialist from Perth, for a relaxing weekend at the Anom Beachside Hotel in Candidasa.  This coastal town is in the Regency of Karangasem, "in the shadow of Gunang Agung" as one tourism brochure described it.  Gunung Agung is the highest mountain in Bali but it doesn't cast a shadow quite long enough to reach Candidasa.  I doubt that the roads in Bali ever have a "quiet time", but at least once we left the outskirts of Denpasar our trip proceeded smoothly. 

Our check-in and registration at the hotel was not difficult for us, but the woman taking our details was not quite sure of what was happening.  We registered separately and asked for separate rooms (of course).  The woman asked if we were married.  Unfortunately the answer "Yes, but not to each other" confused her even more, but she eventually worked things out and gave us our keys.

The lobby (left) of Anom Beachside Hotel, Candidasa.

The hotel grounds contain a mix of building types: simple detached chalets, double units, double storey multi-bedroom units and traditional houses.  The buildings are set in garden-like grounds which provide a reasonable degree of visual privacy.

Double storey accommodation block.

The hotel pool with a traditional style building beyond.

Front view of the building by the pool.

Wikipedia says that Candidasa " ... is a seaside town in eastern Bali that rests on the edge of a fresh water lagoon. It is popular tourist stop and is often described as a more sedate and laid back beach alternative to the teeming, nightclub filled Kuta area or the large, manicured resorts at Nusa Dua." It was definitely nothing at all like either Kuta or Nusa Dua!  Our little hotel was some distance from the town centre and as the days were quite hot and humid we didn't stray far from the hotel grounds.

Our hotel was called "Anom BEACHSIDE Hotel", so we naturally expected a beach.  There was a beach, but then again, there wasn't a beach.  It depended on the tides.

The beach in front of the hotel at Candidasa.
This is the "low tide" view.

Anom Beachside Hotel.

Wikipedia and the Lonely Planet guidebook both explain that Candidasa did indeed have attractive beaches near the town which began to grow as a popular tourist destination in the 1970s, since there is good snorkelling and diving in the area.  This popularity brought money for investment and in the 1970's and 1980's there was a building boom as new homes, bungalows, hotels, resorts, restaurants and other businesses were constructed.  So what happened to the beach that prompted the development?  The offshore reef which had protected the beach was mined to make the lime for the concrete needed for the new buildings.  Once the reef was destroyed there was no longer a coastal barrier to protect the beach which was rapidly undermined and washed away.  Such is the price of uninformed and unregulated development.

The sea now washes against the buildings at
high tide.  The beach has gone and only
reappears  for for a couple of hours at low tide.

The hotel owners have built concrete groins to give some
protection to what is left of the beach.  They are not very
attractive but amateur fishermen find them useful.

My weekend, as the title of this blog notes, really was quite a lazy one.  It was a weekend of enjoying some delicious food not readily available near campus, swimming, enjoying a couple of massages, reading, listening to music and doing some puzzles to keep the brain, if not the body, active.  Thankyou campus managers for the weekend away.

Paul in Bali

October 2016