He shared with her the adventures of his maiden trip to the enchanted island: the emerald green rice terraces, the azure blue waters and the exotic Balinese culture were already indelibly etched in his memory. However, what set this trip apart from any of his previous travels were his personal experiences with the remarkable inhabitants of the small villages and hamlets that span the island. The sweet scent of incense, the haunting reverberations of gamelan melodies, the procession of bejeweled villagers in their multicolored costumes, all of this served as a backdrop from which came to know these most gentle and playful people. He was clearly smitten, but there was something troubling about his experience as well. These were such loving and deeply spiritual people, yet there were so many who lived in conditions of poverty and squalor, conditions not normally associated with this fabled ‘island of the gods’. Although he had known these people for no more than a few weeks, their unaffected nature made him feel as if they were already old friends and his inability to affect any positive influence in their lives was disconcerting to him.