A Jumble of Stuff From a few days in Ubud

Written June 10, 2021

I just found this email I sent my mother on Feb. 4, 2020. It’s weird how many places on my computer I can find scraps of memories from that time. My mother invited us to stay with them in Florida, USA. 

Thanks for the invitation! We are holding tight here in Bali. Maybe we will reevaluate later. For a lark Jill was looking at tickets to [Minnesota] and I told her we can’t go there as we have no clothes to wear. So we looked at [Florida].  [Florida] is a bit more realistic to our small wardrobe. I washed my clothes in the bath tub today, it’s not too difficult with less than a weeks worth [of clothes]. It’s nice here, the weather has been hot and beautiful. The food is first rate and everything is really cheap.

Martin

PS: Bali is not Bali Hai from South Pacific.

On February 5, 2020; the state of Wisconsin got it’s first case of COVID-19. The Diamond Princess, the cruise ship quarantined in Japan, announced 10 more cases bringing its total to 35 of the 3,711 passengers and crew many more were to be tested. [LINK]

On Feb. 6, 2020 the first person in the USA died of COVID-19, it was later confirmed by autopsy. [LINK] 

We had planned on staying in Ubud for a couple more days and returning to Shenzhen on February 7. We couldn’t do that because our plane ticket to Shenzhen was purchased as a Round Trip and because we forfeited the Shenzhen to Bali leg (because we came to Bali from Manila) we couldn’t use the return trip either. The Chinese government had extended the national Holiday for two more weeks already. My school in China told me we wouldn’t start until at least March 1. Jill’s college was offering her to a chance to teach online beginning in the last week of February. Reality was setting in for us but not yet. 

I walked around Ubud and snapped a few pictures on Feb. 5. It was Jill’s last day in her Yoga workshop. 

Day 6 in Ubud started with a delicious breakfast (again). Jill and I found our way to the Art Market. Later that evening, we ate together and had a delicious smoothie bowl dessert during a rain shower.