4k Walk through Sanur on a sleepy weeknight

Even on a tuesday night, there are local cover bands playing in bars in Sanur. I'm glad local musicians seem to earn a decent living doing the bar circuit around areas like Sanur.
A lot of foreign retirees gravitate towards Sanur. The town has a relaxed beachside feel with some good spots to get food and drinks in the evening. Many of these established retirees tend to eat at local warung and shop at locally owned places for groceries. They keep to themselves and appear to have good relationships with local people, at least from what I've seen. Its hard to generalize, but one thing's for sure, they're not the raucous party crowd, and they seem to recognize the value of being polite.
It's not a bad place to end up after all. One of my favorite Nasi Padang spots is in Sanur, and you can go to the beach at night with a couple of beers and sit on a Bale, a kind of gazebo overlooking the water. Nobody will bother you except maybe some stray dogs.
I wonder how long it will stay like this. If there's one thing that characterizes Bali, it's a dynamic place of rapid change. A lot gets sacrificed to "development," but without a strong local economy, people would suffer as well. What's good for the economy isn't always what's good for people though, and some things that are sold can never be recovered.
Relative to the history of this place, I'm just another newcomer. The Sanur I have grown fond of would be unrecognizable a generation ago. I worry when I see people selling ancestral lands to villa developers. I wonder where their children and grandchildren will live. I think about America, where I'm from, and the debt traps that keep people tied to exploitative employers, to greedy landlords, and how much easier life would be if everyone had a guaranteed home they could return to.
In the end, I trust that people know what's best for themselves, and these things are complicated and not for me to judge. Relative to the history of this place, I'm just a newcomer, and soon I'll be gone, just like the malls and villas. Life in Bali will go on. I'm just grateful to be welcomed as a guest here while I can.

[@JoeAction68]

Sanur night is the best view