new friends

Well, you know Liz - always making new friends. Her newest friend is Yudhi (pronounced You-Day) who is working for the Englishwoman that owns the house that Liz is renting right now. Yudhi has a truly sad story. After dreaming all his childhood of going to America, he finally did after working on a cruise ship for many months to get some money that has stopped in New York. He ended up living in New Jersey and joined a band where he met his future wife. They got married and everything was good until 9/11. Now, since the people in the middle east were all under suspicion because of this, Yudhi was afraid to go to the immigration office to become a citizen, but knew that he could get in even more trouble if he didn't and was caught. He was arrested even after they explained their story and sent back to Bali where he and his wife have been separated for awhile. 

Ketut teaches Liz about the Four Brothers that are always with us (even in the womb before we are born). They each stand for something : intelligence, friendship, strength and poetry. 

Liz gets hit by a bus the next day, which isn't a huge deal like you would think because she only gets a scrape on her knee but it gets infected. Instead of Ketut taking care of it, he tells her to go see a real doctor. This is where Liz meets Wayan, which changes basically everything from Liz's life from then on.... Liz learns that Wayan is also divorced, which is very looked down upon in this society here. The Balinese live in a caste system, and they live in compounds - meaning they live with extended family. So when Wayan divorced her husband, she was essentially without anyone besides her daughter Tutti.

Wayan (left) is Liz's new friend that's a medicinal healer