Everyone in Payangan was excited for Kalani's visit. Cok Bagus would regularly ask me when he'd be here, how many more days? And excitedly think about things that Kalani could do and sights he could see. We hired Wayan to drive us to the airport, picking us up right after our morning baiting and observing on Saturday, April 15th. On Friday the 14th I was mystified as to why Kalani was not sending us updates as he went through all the various modes of transportation ahead of him, but it wasn't until Saturday morning that reality hit -- I'd mis-calculated the time zones. Kalani wasn't actually coming until Sunday the 16th -- WHAT?!?! Of course it was too late to head off Wayan who showed up at our house with his brother-in-law's big, black SUV, all dressed for a day in the big city. Disappointment all around.
On Sunday, I did another day of baiting and observing, showered and, on that day we all really headed to the airport in the afternoon. It was a festive crowd with Wayan driving, Bagus giving directions from the front seat, and Tim and I sitting in the back.
We had a big day ahead of us because we'd planned on taking a family trip to Sumatra with Kalani. Sumatra-where-there-is-malaria. And Kalani wasn't able to get prophylactic in Ireland so professor Tirta and his wife had figured out where we should go in downtown Denpassar to pick up pills. Denpasar traffic is confusing at best and we ended up driving in quite a few circles with Bagus yelling "Kekiri!" just as Wayan pulled into the right-hand turn lane, or yelling "Ke'nan" as the car started to go left. We went around the pharmacy block so many times it has become a running joke. But we made it and bought his pills (Amoxycyllin means it's a month-long post-exposure treatment and we ended up with over 50 tablets) and then made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare.
But the international terminal at Bali airport is no less confusing than Denpasar traffic and the "Kekiri! no! Kekanan!" went on for a long time while we circled the airport several times trying to figure out how to get to the big international parking structure. Finally we just gave up, parked in Domestic terminal parking and walked to International arrivals. It was all good and we were there long before Kalani emerged from the crowd.
Big happiness all around
On Sunday, I did another day of baiting and observing, showered and, on that day we all really headed to the airport in the afternoon. It was a festive crowd with Wayan driving, Bagus giving directions from the front seat, and Tim and I sitting in the back.
We had a big day ahead of us because we'd planned on taking a family trip to Sumatra with Kalani. Sumatra-where-there-is-malaria. And Kalani wasn't able to get prophylactic in Ireland so professor Tirta and his wife had figured out where we should go in downtown Denpassar to pick up pills. Denpasar traffic is confusing at best and we ended up driving in quite a few circles with Bagus yelling "Kekiri!" just as Wayan pulled into the right-hand turn lane, or yelling "Ke'nan" as the car started to go left. We went around the pharmacy block so many times it has become a running joke. But we made it and bought his pills (Amoxycyllin means it's a month-long post-exposure treatment and we ended up with over 50 tablets) and then made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare.
But the international terminal at Bali airport is no less confusing than Denpasar traffic and the "Kekiri! no! Kekanan!" went on for a long time while we circled the airport several times trying to figure out how to get to the big international parking structure. Finally we just gave up, parked in Domestic terminal parking and walked to International arrivals. It was all good and we were there long before Kalani emerged from the crowd.
Big happiness all around
He didn't get a lot of time in Payangan, but I manged to get him to two of the fieldsites (Susut and Ulapan) and trained him in how to bait and count Trigona. People have been anticipating his visit for awhile and Pak Buda made a special trip to meet us at Ulapan where he cut a bunch of fresh coconut for Kalani to try after our hive counts.