As the sky over Ubud grows ominous, threatening rain like yesterday’s which reminded me of a monsoon, I search futilely for the umbrella that my lovely landlady Wayan lent me. It’s nowhere to be found, and I realize I’ve lost three umbrellas in less than three months in Ubud.
I think back to all the umbrellas I’ve lost. The $200 Christian Dior umbrella I bought in Paris in 1986. Dozens, if not hundreds, of $3 street vendor umbrellas from Manhattan. Totes, the umbrella from the Museum of Modern Art embellished with silkscreened clouds on the inside. The Tin-Tin umbrella I picked up in that overpriced French place on Sutter Street in San Francisco. And many more nameless umbrellas. All gone. If I had $1 for every umbrella I’ve lost over my lifetime, I would be able to retire right now, buy myself a nice little house in Scranton. Spend my time horseback riding and learning the metric system.
Sometimes I lose more important things than umbrellas. Facts, for example.
After my previous post, “Paradise’s Underbelly,” several Facebook Bali Community members pointed out that I did not have my facts straight. The Balinese (or perhaps Indonesian) law which stipulated that in the case of divorce men retain sole custody of children has been changed.
I may not be the only one on the island unaware of that fact. According to several Bali Community members, getting the word out to some Balinese villages takes time.
I stand corrected. Balinese men do not retain sole custody of their children upon divorce. I googled “Governor Pastika” (Bali’s governor), “divorce” and “child custody laws” and was unable to determine when this change was made.
I really wish I had a way to reach the Balinese woman from a village outside of Ubud who divorced her husband because (a) he was beating her; and (b) he was having an affair. She left Bali to work in Sri Lanka, returning every three months to visit with her now 5-year-old daughter Yasmin. I really don’t think she knows about this new-ish law.
