The staff have gotten to know me by face and I get greeted and welcomed with such sincerity every time I walk out of my room, into the gym, through the resort gates, into the lobby, or wherever the hell else I wander into with my headphones deeming me practically deaf. Like a prepubescent teenager ignoring her family, I've kept the iPod on almost every time I walk out of my room. It's not that I'm trying to ignore everyone (some, yes...but not EVERYONE), I just feel like everyday I spend here needs a score and a soundtrack. Yeah, I said it :) & It makes for ignoring nuisances much, much easier-- i.e., the local peddlers, taxis drivers, and local dirtbags (like in Vegas, a girl walking down the street alone is asking for hoots and hollers no matter how terrible she looks. Woo...Hoo... Please note the heavy peppering of sarcasm). "Sorry, can't hear you. Led Zepplin's talkin' up a storm in my ear..." Though, there has been a slight disadvantage of having my daily Bali soundtrack, the resort staff don't really know my name unless I'm calling from my room-- "oooh hello miss Charo" (for some reason followed almost every time by a giggle). I think it's making them uncomfortable not knowing my name.
Yesterday, I left my room, iPod in hand, headphones in my pocket. I'm greeted by my little piece of Bali paradise. I walk by the lobby and towards the security check in and the young man that has been greeting me every morning automatically starts asking questions. Here we go... The questions were all common. "Where are you from?"--My answer is always followed with surprise because my "face looks like Indonesian" or the most recent "you look like from Jayakarta". Apparently I'm not dark enough to be from here, here. "Who are you with?", "Are you with your daddy?"--No, seriously. I've had ten if not a million people ask me this question. It's funny to me every time. Yes, I laugh out loud. Every. Time. I mean, I get it-- I look young and what in the world is a young, single female doing in Nusa Dua alone?! Thanks. Dick. Then he asks, "what is your name?" We introduce ourselves and I've made a new friend, Kadek. After telling me his first name he explains there are only 4 first names in Bali, depending on when you were born regarding the number of children in the family; he's the 2nd child. Anyhow, I'm not going to get all "Eat, Pray, Love" on you guys, so long and short of it, since I'm the 2nd child and a female, my first name is Made (mud-de). Then he asks me what my 4th name is (which, in Bali, is my last name) and I reply, "Ronquillo." Now, between his question and my answer I lost him. Like a child that just got his first gameboy (or whatever makes little boys all giddy-like nowadays), Kadek is beaming with absolute excitement. In his attempt to share this excitement, he looks around trying to find anyone to pawn off this excess glee on. "I don't get it", I say. "That's so cool! Your name is so cool! It's like Killa! You're Killa of Made" aaahahaha! Boy, now I wish Pops--or any other Ronquillo brother--was there to witness their corny-ness get built a shrine in Kadek's eyes. This is the epitome of Ronquillo male corny-ness. You're supposed to ask, "how do you say your last name?" and they ALWAYS reply "If you're WRONG, I'll kill yo'... Ronquillo". They think it's hilarious and FINALLY, someone to share the hilarity with! All this before my walk to grab my morning coffee!
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