In the depths of my time warp in which things seemed to be going a millimeter a day, a nice beach trip to Canggu introduced two lovely people that I have a feeling will be my friends for life. Jason and Meisha are from the D.C. area and came specifically to Bali to have their baby. Jason, a journalist specializing in the middle east and Meisha, a modern arts dancer with her own dance company are both uninsured. When Meisha & I met waiting for our driver I immediately felt a connection. She has this gorgeous smile, sweet mildly detectable mid-western accent, long beautiful brown hair and brown eyes that grab at you to become a part of her spirit. Jason, interestingly, has mannerisms, a voice and a character that is that of my brother. I absolutely trip out when I hear him call my name, say certain words and do certain things because it’s as if my brother had a twin and he was accompanying me on this trip to Bali. He was fumbling a football back and forth in his hands the day I met him. He too had this smile of happiness and pure joy, a warmth & comfort that felt like home. In a glimpse of a moment, I even sensed a bit of relief from the both of them.
During our one hour ride to the beach, I learned that Meisha & Jason left the U.S. simply because they didn’t want to spend their savings nor go in to debt to have this baby. Jason & Meisha are both uninsured. Meisha already had 5 appointments in the states with an OB/GYN and acquired a $1500 laboratory bill from a 5-minute lab draw on just one of her appointments. Not to mention, they wanted to charge her $100 every time she came to pee in a cup when she had no risk factors or symptoms for developing diabetes or hypertension. Every appointment was a chore for Meisha because they were paying out of pocket. At each appointment, she would ask if it was really necessary for this test, this exam or to pee in a cup each time. No one would ever give her any rationale nor could they figure out what each procedure was going to cost her so she could decide for herself. Each appointment cost her between $200-$300 for just 10 minutes of the doctor’s time. Meisha said she tried to apply for public health insurance but the cut off was an income over $13,000 and she did not qualify even though she was currently unemployed. Just from her 5 appointments, Meisha had already racked up bills in the $3250 range and she was only 30 weeks pregnant. After Jason heard through a friend of a friend of their happy, successful & healthy delivery at a non profit birthing center in Bali, they investigated. They discussed and realized it would be cheaper for them to live unemployed in Bali for 4 or 5 months and have the baby then it would be to stay in the states working and living in an apartment. Meisha received a warm, welcoming letter from the lead midwife in Bali and was easily convinced by her that Baby Simone would not only be her Guru but that Bali would be her birth place.
And so, my friendship with Jason & Meisha flourished. Particularly with Meisha when Jason left for Moscow to do a “quick” story during her 37th week, we immediately started forming a tight female bond. I would check in with her every day to make sure she wasn’t contracting during Jason’s absence and she would call for some company to the local pool to relieve her ongoing pregnancy aches. I introduced her to Deeksha on Wednesday nights and nervously motorbiked her around Ubud for special meals, to kill boredom or to attend the yoga classes she needed for her sanity (Meisha shocks everyone with her headstands and back bends with a full term fetus in her belly). We had good, long talks about life, the men we love, our passions and where we see ourselves in a couple of years. She, like me loves to travel and envisions her, Jason and Baby Simone as being citizens of the world. I think we identify a bit of ourselves in each other. We’re both confident, independent women yet feel vulnerable to life changing events. I’ve learned from Meisha the quarks, fears, concerns and bodily changes of pregnancy (you’d think I’d be so familiar with these things, but I’m an expert in birth and complicated pregnancies not the 40 weeks leading up to it! ) and Meisha was able to ask any labor & delivery question she wanted to mentally prepare for the big day. We fulfilled each other’s loneliness from our men, the female friendships we missed from home, the comfort of our family and a human connection that is almost necessary when traveling abroad. Even if my experience in Bali had its ups and downs and lacked moments of purpose, I know my sweet angels sent me here to find my new sister, Meisha and to help her retrieve her daughter from the Land of the Souls during her labor.
