Catching up...

Where to start... for those of you with facebook, I've started uploading pictures there because it's much quicker and easier to load. Blogger takes me about 5 minutes a picture because I don't change the size of my pics.

I started to update this the night before Nyepi holiday so if some of this sounds like it was written a week ago... it was. :-)

Tomorrow (March 26) the Bali people will be celebrating the Nyepi holiday which is the Balinese New Year. Everyone stays home, all businesses are closed, the airport is closed and no one is allowed on the streets. You are not suppose to use electricity. This is a day of reflection and silence. Hmm... I like what a friend posted about this on her Facebook... "It's the Bule jail day" (Bule = foreigner). If you are out on the streets you will be fined or arrested. Kindof makes one want to see what the Ubud jails are like... hahaha!

My friend Sharon and I are holing up at my place and have a ton of vegetables and snacks to eat. It starts at 6:00am Thursday and goes until 6:00am Friday but there were ceremonies going on all week.

Last week (March 16-22) I went to Amed which is a village in east Bali on the water. My new friends Eva and Sharon went with me and we shared a beautiful room at Bamboo Bali, that had a nice view of the water. We spent several days there. I intended to come back to Ubud Thursday, March 18th however I hurt my foot. I decided to stay in Amed because I didn't need to bicycle 5km to get to food and people and I was thinking I'd cracked a bone in the middle of my foot. You can't even tell by looking at it that it's hurt... kind of reminds me of the time I had a cracked femur... (chuckle!) Anyways, we were out to dinner at Bobo's (our newly favorite restaurant) and Eva and I'd had a couple Arak Madus. It was dark walking back to our place and when a motorcycle approached, his headlights blinding us, I couldn't see the edge of the pavement and fell off the curb into the dirt (about 4-6" drop). I was pretty happy not to break my ankle but I had to walk funny. Nothing major just annoying.

On Thursday, March 18th, Eva came back alone and I stayed on with Sharon. We changed our hotel to Yogi Bali hotel which had no stairs (cheers from the foot), a pool 20 ft from our room/bungalow and an interesting wall-in open to the sky toilet/shower area. The bungalow was beautiful and a good choice. My foot needed to rest and I love swimming!

That evening I met a healer who was staying next door and she and another healer were very kind and put some oil on my foot and gently worked the bones. It helped with the pain and the oil smelled so good!

Friday, March 19 found Sharon and I restless to find better food. Our hotel didn't have black rice pudding which was a MUST according to Sharon so we tried to catch a taxi. Our hotel offered 10,000 rp for two which requires a motorcycle ride one way with one and a repeat with the second person. We knew that the walk was only a little over a km and the cost the previous day was 5,000rp for two. We were not going to pay 5,000 extra when we KNEW we could get it for less. (Keep in mind this is the equivalent of $.45. Uh huh... Two stubborn chics refusing a taxi for $.45. We tried the next place... 'what? you want taksi? No... no taksi now.' Next warung ... same answer... Next warung, six guys were standing around. They laughed at us when we said 5,000 rp for both. At this point, we'd walked at least half the distance. When we tried to barter, they said - 'no, six.' Oh... okay - I liked this price so when Sharon and I talked, I turned back to the man and said 'okay, 6,000 rp?' He looked at me and raised his voice. "No! 60,000 rp!" Sharon looked at the man - we were both so surprised and then she blurted out "f* you!" I about died - this is NOT the Sharon I've been hanging out with! Hahahah! We 'storm' off and are laughing and the men are laughing... Somewhere between a 1.2km distance and a .5km distance the price went from $.90 to $5.50. Hmmm hahahhahah!

A story from the day before... same town, Amed, Eva and I decided we wanted to take a taksi to Lupia where we could get faster internet than in Amed. It's 5 km away and requires the same form of transport. A man on a moped/motorcycle takes one to the destination and then returns for the other. Cost was 20,000 rp. We go back to our hotel to ask the man working if we can go. He replies, "Now? Can you wait until 5:00?" Eva and I are curious why... "It is too hot right now [2:00pm] and the sun is not good for my skin." Bwwhahahahahha! OMG we were busting up!

Anyways, back to Sharon and I walking... we ended up walking the 1.2km and ate at a restaurant (Ganesh) that is owned by the brother of Bali Bamboo, the one we were trying to get to. We were irritated at Bali culture and all the taksi drivers and having a moment of laughing and griping. A couple near us joined in - they are from Canada so we started swapping stories. What a laugh! I am usually very appreciative of other cultures but once in a while one has a moment where you are sick and tired of being somewhere that's not familiar and you are sick and tired of being treated different because you are the big, white, tall 'bule' and are easily targeted for high prices and taunting. The Bali people in general are very kind and most of the ones I've met have a great sense of humor but it's still different from being someplace where you are part of the everyday fabric and don't stand out - well at least not as much! Hahaha!

Anyways, other highlights from Amed... I went snorkeling at the "Japanese wreck" a small boat wreck that has the best snorkeling. I was the only one there for the first hour and the fish were absolutely amazing. I've never seen so many colors or variety. There were also dolphins in the bay but they weren't close enough and eventually left.

I also went out on a boat with a fisherman and a couple from Thailand (he's from Seattle and she's from Thailand but they live in Thailand). I met the fisherman at 5:00 am under a star lit sky. Moon waning and still bright. The water was a deep dark blue and plankton (?) lit up the water with their fluorescence when disturbed. Our fisherman's name was Suny. He motored us out into the bay to see the sunset. The morning is awake and alive with hundreds of men taking their boats and nets out into the bay to catch as many fish as they can. In the distance we could see a group of dolphins jumping... the fishermen are at odds with the dolphins as they both want the same fish. Suny told us that there would probably not be any mackerel that day. From our 300m + (?) off shore we watched the sun rise. It came up over the silhouette of Lombok Island and lit up the clouds on the horizons. Mount Agung to the east had clouds like a hat and to the south I watched the hills and beach we had left. I think this was one of the most amazing and beautiful moments of my trip. There is something that calls me to the water and I loved the freedom I felt standing on the sides of the boat. *sigh*...

Let's see... I finished at SOS a couple weeks ago. They were able to locate a significant amount of educational material that they previously didn't realize they had. The great news then is that instead of having to invent a new wheel, they had excellent material that just needed to be organized and reviewed. I provided some things I thought they would need and made suggestions. I think their program is excellent and will do well. They are looking for more volunteers btw...

I've been back in Ubud and I'm reading and studying like crazy. I am still working to complete my TEFL before I go to Lombok. I won't have internet access there so I'm trying to get as much completed as possible. I also just finished one of the best books I've ever read. Nelson Mandela's Long Walk to Freedom. He is absolutely incredible.

I've also taken a couple of the community yoga classes and really enjoy them. These are hosted by Balispirit at the Yoga Barn. I'm a little short on funds and these are free. Tonight and every other week they show a movie that's educational and engaging so I'll be going there later.

I'll be in Lombok working with 4th World Love from April 7/8 - May 3rd. From there I'll go to New Zealand and meet up with my nephew who's living there. My friend Diana is also meeting me there - she's coming all the way from Seattle. Her brother lives on the south island so I'll meet him and then she and I (and maybe Zach and Amy? he heh heh) will do some hiking. YAYAYAY! I miss hiking - although at the moment I'm a bit 'lame' until my foot heals. I'm guessing it will take a full month. Love cracked bones. Sigh, gasp, OMG. Oh well. Not that big of a deal - just limits my activity to bicycling and walking shorter distances. GRR. No 6 hour volcano hiking for me I guess! Actually - that is a MAJOR bummer for me. Maybe I can do it in Lombok in a few weeks.

I've saved the biggest and best news for last... I've been accepted to graduate school at the University of Washington, Evans School of Public Affairs. I'll be starting in the fall and working on a Masters in Public Administration.

Indonesia pictures...

Weekend

I'm flying to Kuala Lumpur early tomorrow morning. I'll be there almost a week getting my Indonesia visa info lined up then I'm coming back to Bali.

Cheers!

Computer

Hello all,

My computer officially died so I probably won't be able to post pictures again for a while (unless I can come up with some cool options I haven't thought of yet)!

I hope you all are doing great!

Cheers!