Yesterday was the local new year, Nyepi, here in Bali. People have been building large statues of evil spirits (ogoh-ogohs) for months beforehand and they were carried around the streets on Monday evening. The purpose is to collect all the spirits in the statues and burn the whole thing, but nowadays many of them are only burnt symbolically and – yes, you guessed it – sold afterwards. Even religion isn’t immune to the laws of supply and demand.

An evil spirit in action

The funny thing is, not all of the evil spirits are religious figures. Some of them depicted tourists and other western symbols, like Mickey Mouse in diving gear or a white drunk with his willy hanging out of his shorts. And one on a jet ski.

At least my shorts weren’t blue and white

It’s funny to see how the ones bringing in most of the income are also the ones that are hauled around with the bad spirits and other such evil ones, but I guess it’s just one of those situations where money talks and so on.

After the parade and sellingburning the ogoh-ogohs, the whole town literally silences down for 24 hours. The Nyepi day (Tuesday the 16th this year) is like there was no one in: all shops and restaurants are closed, the streets are empty and even the tourists are kept inside their hotels. Only emergency transport to hospitals is allowed besides the traditional guards who keep watch.

Anyway, it’s over now and we’re almost finished with our Emergency First Response instructor course. Soon we’ll be able to teach CPR and first aid on our own.

Tags: holiday, instructor internship, PADI IDC, parties, photos, religion

Oh, the joy of endorphines after a good swim. We did our 400 metre test today, along with the 15-minute float (last 2 minutes with hands on the surface) and a mapping exercise on a dive site in Nusa Penida. We still have to do an 800 metre snorkeling swim and a 100 metre tired diver tow. The total score from these four skills must be 12 or above, and after the first two I’ve already got nine. The float was an easy five since you only lose points for not being able to float the whole time or by taking your hands underwater during the last two minutes. Even I with my ridiculously low buoyancy could ace it with ease, let alone the ones with natural flotation aids.

Tomorrow we’re doing more guiding practise in Tulamben, and Sunday is again a day off. We’ll be having a beach party on Saturday to celebrate Eeva’s birthday and our first anniversary. Feel free to join us

Tags: Blue Season Bali, celebration, divemaster internship, diving, friends and family, it's good to be me, parties, swimming, training

Yesterday’s Midsummer Eve party was a blast: we had tons of beer, a huge amount of meat in the grill (3.5 kg of beef fillet cost less than 2000 rupees or 30 euros), small potatoes with Finnish butter sauce and just the right amount of brilliant people to share the fun. What I really like about India is that I can throw a party at approximately the same cost as in Finland, but the end result is an order of magnitude fancier: apart from the obviously cheaper food (beer is roughly the same nowadays), the best thing is that I have the staff to do things that take time, leaving me free to plan and organise. It seems like I’ll have to practise a bit with it since I’m used to doing everything by myself so far. I hope the maid doesn’t quit after clearing the mess we made.

Today is the moving date for the previous residents, so I will have this place all to myself before sundown.

My furniture should be here in a couple of days, so quite soon there’s only one hugely important thing missing.

My loved ones.

Tags: accommodation, friends and family, my pimped-up interior design, parties

My stuff & things are now on their way towards Helsinki and should arrive somewhere around early June. Luckily I have my new laptop for surfing, blogging and storage of photos, plus my 20 kilograms of luggage allowance for establishing a life in the jungle. Before that I have a bit more than two weeks to kill in Oulu, but I’m in luck: Wappu is coming! Maybe a couple of days off, a few cold drinks on the patio, driving around in Wesibussi and some well-deserved time off. We’ll see.

This actually isn’t the first homeless Wappu for me: some years back I gave up my apartment before the celebrations and moved in to the new one after all the parties and other mandatory ceremonies. This year I’ll take it easy and just relax – I’ve already seen all the wild  stuff of it.

Now I’ll try to clean up this place, make it ready for the next occupant and find myself a place to stay. Does anyone need a digital TV box for cable network?

Tags: celebration, holiday, let me know, moving, parties, practical stuff, transportation, wappu