“The rest of Indonesia is the largest mooslime nation on earth. How much of that seeps into Bali?”
Before WWII, Balinese women went bare breasted. Tops optional.
After Sukarno took over in 1945, they were forced to cover up.
An addenda to my last post - I know exactly what she means by “never fitting in”. What common culture America had was largely destroyed in the 1960s by the leftists - and its even got worse since then.
As an immigrant from a place that DOES have a culture I have been aware of that feeling my entire life. Again, I am guessing that she feels that she ‘belongs’ in Bali precisely because it is a place that DOES have a common culture, which at this point in life she identifies with. The fact that its so different from the chaos she’s lived through is kind of the point. THAT is the very reason she probably likes it.
Personally, Texas is the only place I’ve ever lived in the US that felt something akin to ‘home’ (where I lived 8 years courtesy of Uncle Sam). Not so in the East, nor the Midwest, nor California where I am currently stuck due to a successful business that is sadly non-tranferrable geographically.
Having said that the Mrs and I spend up to 2 months in the old country every Summer and plan on living there half the year when we can (finally) retire for real... not as warm as Bali, but hey, the Adriatic Islands of Croatia are pretty paradisey half the year ... and tolerable in the winter ... ;>)