Buah-buahan

Durian—the fruit of kings—HA!

Our pembantu, Maria, asked me "durian in USA?". I gave her that "what the hell is durian look". So, off we went to the English/Indonesian dictionary. Well, the definition of durian is durian—no wonder. "It is good" she said "tomorrow I bring". Okay. So a durian arrived the next day. I said to Jerry "the durian is here" and he said "yes, I can smell it!". It has a very strong odor which I found quite startling. Some say it smells like bad cheese or stinky socks. Whatever, it is really bad. Maria asked if she should cut it up and put it in the fridge. Okaaaaaaaaaay....

The next morning, we needed to at least try it. Jerry took a bite and quietly placed is fork in the sink and walked away. I sniffed, licked and then said "I'm done". I tossed the rest of it over the wall into the jungle in the back of the villa. As I was flinging it over the 12 foot wall I didn't realize that my reading glasses were on my head and flew off. I spent all weekend looking for them. On Monday, I had to tell Maria that I didn't love the durian. Her husband Pakalis then found my glasses in the garden near the wall and handed them back to me. I thanked him and said "I wonder how those got there"...
Buah-buahan

They sell fruit everywhere in warungs and stands along the streets and the beaches. There are even people who have a big box on the back of their bikes with a sign that says "buah-buahan" selling portions of mangos, bananas, pineapple, coconuts, watermelon, papayas, mangostines and many other fruits I don't recognize and lots of that stinky durian.