On our first day in Bali, Dov (who fully admits that he is not good with change) freaked out and said "what are we going to do here for a month??" Before we even left, Dov was already talking about a return trip. A month can go very, very fast.
I could definitely go back and spend more time in Bali, but there are several things about home that I was looking forward to as well. These include: clean drinking water, hot showers, my kitties, friends and family, and earning some money. I was also becoming a little tired of feeling like "the tourist". The Balinese really do like tourists, mostly because they bring in money. But they have what I feel to be a skewed perspective of us too, and one that I am happy to shed. All they see of us westerners is that we are constantly on vacation (something that most Balinese have never done) and that we seem to have limitless amounts of money to spend. Currently the exchange rate between the Indonesian Rupiah and the US dollar is about 9000 to 1. So it is fairly cheap for us to travel there. You can get a decent meal in Bali for about $1-2 if you go to the locally owned restaurants - I am told that other parts of Indonesia where tourism is not so prevalent are even cheaper. So to the Balinese, it seems like we just have tons of money to spend, and they want us to spend it! Call me crazy, but being seen as a rich upper class by the locals makes me feel a little uncomfortable. To top it off, many of the ex-pats who live in Bali take advantage of the cheap labor and really do live like noblemen. Remember a few weeks ago when we were getting laughed at by old Balinese ladies while we worked in the garden (I wrote about it in an earlier blog post)? The foreigners who live here hire the locals to do their cooking, cleaning, gardening - pretty much all the housekeeping. The locals thought it was funny to see us working in a garden! I don't think they realize that when we tourists go back home we work too, just like them. We have jobs, clean our houses, cook our food, do our own housework. We don't all have a crew of housekeepers like the majority of expats in Bali. But really, how would the Balinese know that? TV? Most Balinese don't have TV's and even if they did get western shows, what would they see? Newspapers? Do you think they are really reporting about what happens in our daily lives back in America? Books? Maybe, but it would depend what literature has been translated to Indonesian - most Balinese don't speak fluent English. And to be honest, I don't know what access they have to books and literature. There is no public library system. And the only bookstores that I saw in Ubud were targeted at tourists.
I didn't do any real research, but as far I can tell, the locals don't really pay taxes in Bali. Not that they get much either - there is very little infrastructure. There is no trash collection or water sanitation. Public schools exist, but they are not completely free. The kindergarten where I was volunteering had a small monthly fee for the students. Jose told us that when families cannot pay, they get help from the community. I don't think the teachers get paid very well either, and the classrooms were small and crowded. But all the students do go to school up until grade 9. For the final years of high school until grade 12, it seems that the fees for school increase. Or maybe it is that there is no community support if you cannot afford the monthly cost of high school? I am not completely clear on all the circumstances, but for many poor families, finishing high school is not an option.
Anyhow, back to taxes. There is no sales tax at the locally owned shops. I don't think that they have anything resembling income tax or property tax. Only foreigners pay taxes to operate their businesses in Bali. Its like when the cops here pull over cars with out-of-state plates and write them tickets. Same concept. Why take money from the locals when you can take money from someone else? This was never more apparent to us than at the airport when we were trying to catch our flight home. We had already paid $45 each for visas before we left the USA. At the airport you have to pay an "International Departure Tax" in cash. And then they told us that we had overstayed our visas by one day (huh? the visa was issued by the consulate in NYC, who had copies of our flight itinerary!!) and more fees had to be paid. By the time all was said and done, we had shelled out a fair amount of cash just for the privilege of being able to travel there. All the fees and hassle at the airport really put a bad taste in my mouth, and made me happy to be headed home.
Once upon a time, Bali was not a huge tourist destination. They lived their lives and did their thing and no one else really went there. The locals grew and made what they needed, and traded with nearby islands for what they couldn't get on their own soil. Most tourism to Bali began in the 80's, and now millions of people visit Bali every year. With all of our money and all of our influence comes a lot of change. Throughout our trip I had been struggling to reconcile with this. Outside of the popular tourist destinations, most of Bali exists in third world conditions, but I don't want to change Bali or the people there. They are wonderful people (very kind, trusting, and helpful) with a very intricate and unique culture. But by being just another tourist, aren't we part of the problem? At some point we were in a car with a Balinese driver, and he mentioned something about tourism and all of the changes that have taken place. I asked him point blank if he thought that the changes in Bali were good or bad. In slightly broken English, he answered something along the lines of "It is good and bad together. Always there is good and bad together". I loved his answer and his honesty.
In any case, here we are back home. I miss Bali already.
