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An Israeli [and lizard] in Bali

Etgar Keret was one of the most prominent guest speakers at the recent Ubud Writers and Readers Festival. His attendance was made even more special as Israel and Indonesia don't have diplomatic relations - and one of his sessions saw him in discussion with Palestinian writer Suad Amiry: see previous post here on MPS.

Back in Israel, Keret writes about his time in Ubud in the on-line journal The Tablet:

"The Swiss guy with the funny hat sitting next to me on the balcony of the Indus restaurant is sweating like crazy. I can’t blame him. I’m sweating quite a bit too, and I’m supposed to be used to temperatures like this. But Bali isn’t Tel Aviv. The air here is so damp that you can actually drink it. The Swiss guy tells me that he’s between jobs now, which gives him time to travel. Not too long ago, he managed a resort hotel in the New Caledonian Islands, but he was fired. It’s a long story, he says, but he’ll be glad to tell it to me. The Turkish writer he’s been trying to hit on all night told him that she was going to the bathroom about an hour ago and still hasn’t come back. He’s already had so much to drink, he says, that if he tries to get up he’ll probably roll down the stairs, so he’s better off sitting where he is, ordering another frozen vodka, and telling me his story."

Continue reading here.

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