Busy in Bali!

The past week has been incredibly busy, as always, in Bali. Studying Indonesian and many interesting lecturers aside, I've been on quite the adventure this past week. On Friday, I finished my first batik piece, which is really exciting! Later we went to free community yoga and had dinner at a fair trade, organic restaraunt called Kafe.

The next morning, we left at 4 am for Amed, a beach city on the coast, and were fortunate to get there just in time to watch the sunrise on the beach. After chit chatting with some Balinese on the beach, we decided to walk around a bit early on. I found a really nice eco-dive shop and decided to check out the prices and dives. Fortunately, there was a dive going to the Liberty wreck (in 1963, this USA tanker was pushed into the sea but the eruption from Mt. Agung and is now one of Bali's most popular dive sites). I went on two dives, and equipment, travel, dive guide, and lunch were all included...for $54!!!! It was SO amazing! I was down 26 meters (the deepest I've ever dove) for 51 minutes and the second dive at 19 meters for 55 minutes. We saw TONS of colorful fish, and was able to swim in and out of the wreck. We also saw eels, sea urchins and really cool coral. Unfortunately, the visibility wasn't completely ideal, but it's the rainy season, and it was still amazing. The other girls came with and went snorkeling.

Later we got a ride to the base of a mountain not too far away and hiked up to the middle temple of Pura Lempuyang. After about 2 km of hiking, we finally made it to the 1,700 stair climb to the temple. It was raining pretty heavily and getting dark, but we eventually made it to the temple we were going to stay at. After watching the sunset and praying, we set up camp in a small bamboo structure and all cuddled to stay warm, yes nights in Bali on mountains are a bit chilly. We wrapped up tight in our sarongs and slept alright. Around 9 p.m., we were woken up by a group of young people who came to the temple to meditate and chant/make offerings. It was a really great experience to hear the rituals after sunset. The next morning, we watched the sunrise, packed up, and as we were praying, we turned around and a priest that we'd seen on the way down the day before was standing there. He was very nice and hiked the rest of the way with us to the temple on the top of the mountain which was only about 15 minutes further, who knew? When we got there, we were the only ones and could see a gorgeous view of Bali (rice paddies, ocean, beach, rivers, villages, and jungle). He invited us to meditate in front of a shrine in the temple, so we all sat down, closed our eyes, and a few minutes later, we smelled incense and heard him chanting in a low, quiet voice. He sang/rang a bell for awhile and then told us to take a flower from the offerings he'd prepared for us, hold it in next to our foreheads in a prayer position and then put it on our heads. He chanted, then we put two flowers behind our ears; he chanted, and we threw one flower on the ground. Then he came around and splashed us with holy water, and we made cups with our hands and drank the water three times, then washed our heads with it three times. Later he took sticky rice and put it on our foreheads, temples, and necks. We all sat with our thoughts for another 20 minutes or so before hiking back down. The priest chanted in Indonesian, but we caught phrases, and he said a special prayer for the students from America. It was amazing. When we hiked down we saw TONS of people in their traditional clothing, so we just happened to miss the crowd. Later we got a ride to Padangbay, another white sand beach town, had lunch, and decided we wanted to be by a pool instead of being all sandy, so we went to Candi Dasa and hung out at a nice hotel that our friend's parents were staying at. It was a great way to end the weekend. I had a lot of homework to do though and literally fell asleep with my clothes/light on I was so tired.

On Monday we had speakers on traditional healing (Balian) and public health, in addition to Bahasa Indonesian. Afterwards we went into Ubud and took a friend to get ice cream for her birthday. Later on, I had more treats from my Ibu and worked on some homework/played cards with my friends. On Tuesday, we had Indonesian tutorials, lunch, and then I headed into Ubud to start my second batik piece. After working for several hours, I went home to visit with my family. It was Tilem (new moon), so there were a lot of ceremonies being performed at my family compound's temple, and....a feast. I ate so much I was about to burst, and then had some Balinese cake. The food here is absolutely delicious, so I am not complaining.

After Bahasa Indonesian on Wednesday, the group headed to our Academic Directors' house for a lecture on Balinese history and lunch. Later we went to Denpasar for the beginning of our educational excursion. We were completely spoiled at our hotel with hot water, a pool, and tv (Mulan and Hocus Pocus were on...very exciting!) Later we went to a nice restaraunt for dinner with the dean of Udayana University in Denpasar. The next morning, we had Indonesian, then a speaker on women in Bali, which was incredibly interesting. For lunch, we had Pizza Hut (Fish and Chips pizza, veggie pizza, and meat lovers with bologna). It was definitely a treat. Later we had a speaker on the Balinese language and met with a group of Balinese students from the English department at Udayana University. It was like speed-dating. Our director would stand up and clap her hands when it was time to switch partners, but it was a lot of fun! They were all very interesting, and it was a good experience to practice both Indonesian and English with each other. Later, we went back to the hotel for a rest. Because my camera was broken, I had to buy a new one, but am very happy to be taking pictures again! For dinner, we went to another nice restaraunt and later visited the school our language teacher teaches English at and met with 30 students in a similar manner as before. It was definitely a good experience. After that, we visited a 24 hour market in Denpasar to experience the "real night life of Bali," as our director would call it. We had jackfruit, black rice pudding, and a fruit that looks like an artichoke, mmm! On Friday, we had speakers on traditional healing and Balinese rituals, and later went to Sanur for lunch and to check into our hotel. Sanur is a city on the coast with a pretty white sand beach protected by a reef. We spent the evening relaxing by the pool, but later on a friend of mine sprained her ankle really bad and we made a trip to the hospital in Denpasar at 2 am! She is alright now, and the hospital staff was very kind.

Today, we are going to go to southern Bali to Uluwatu and a nearby beach called Padong Padong. I'm really looking forward to it! I hope all is well back home, and as always, please keep writing to let me know how life is in Minnesota and abroad.

Kristal