Picture Update!

In Padang Bai with one of my fellow students.

A white sand beach in Candi Desa.

More Padang Bai. It's very nice there. It's just a little beach village.

Blue Lagoon Beach in Padang Bai.

Dressed for a field trip to a temple ceremony.

The decorated temple!

I made a Cannang or simple offerin in my culture class.

On the way to Okta's village.

Idul Adha celebration at a local college (my friend Dewi invited me!)

Making peanut sauce! It looks gross in this picture, but it's actually so good!

Dewi!

The food we made. I helped with the peanut sauce and satay (the meat on sticks). We started from the beginning. Someone slaughtered the goat (I was late on purpose to miss that) and then we cut the meat and put it on sticks (and also some things like heart and liver). After you know what's in satay, it's hard to eat. But it used to taste so good...

So I've really been able to settle in the last few weeks. I am very happy with how my language is progressing, and I was able to travel to Pandang Bai. It's a small town with very nice beaches and a big temple with lots of ceremonies. The town is regularly overtaken by ceremony processions. So I really enjoyed having a relaxing weekend at the beach (although I got a bad sunburn!! I can't seem to wear enough sunscreen ever here! And the stuff is like gold. I think the price is 3 times the price in the U.S. When one of my friends saw my sunburn, he couldn't figure out what it was. When I explained, he said, "Oh, that's why bules (foreign people) need sunscreen!" So I guess that why it's expensive. No one who lives here needs it).
Whenever I think about writing on this blog, I have a hard time deciding what to write because everything here that seemed so unusual has started to become normal to me.
I have just started volunteering in an elementary school in the city every week. I just go and speak English to children, so that they can practice with a native speaker of English. So far they have been really excited to ask questions about the United States (they say "Amerika" here), so it has been really fun. I am also so happy to find a way to give back to my community here. I really believe that knowledge of English is power. If you can learn English well here, it means you can get a better job and have a significantly better life. So I'm excited to be to help and meet local children at the same time!
I'll update with pictures soon!
Hannah

More Pictures!

Nyoman and me at Dreamland (a popular surfing beach).

I went to Ayu's village for her brother and sister's tooth filing ceremony (one of the major life ceremonies). Since major ceremonies are expensive due to preparations, hiring priests, and the offerings required, many major ceremonies are combined. This picture is of a Balinese bride and groom who were getting married at the same ceremony as about 10 or 15 teenagers were getting their teeth filed. Actually, the groom had never had the ceremony done, so he was one of the one's to get his teeth filed (because it is vitally important to have it done before you are married). It is done because two of your front teeth look like animal teeth (pointy), so they are straightened to cure you of 6 bad habits ( I can't remember them, but they are similar to the 7 deadly sins).

Just a small sample of the offerings that were prepared for this ceremony. The main offering was suckling pig (which is delicious). After the ceremony, the offerings are shared with all of the families that helped prepare for the ceremony.

This is Ayu's younger brother and sister, mom and nephew. After the tooth filing, the participants changed clothes and put on makeup (including boys). The girls had elaborate head dresses put on my professional hair stylists. It was like watching people get ready for prom!

This picture was taken at the entrance of the Bat Cave. As its name suggests there are so many bats (even in the day) at the entrance to the cave that the temple surrounds. This temple is very sacred because the cave is thought to be connected to the Mother temple (which is the most sacred temple located beside a volcano in Bali - which isn't active - when you see the volcano, it's easy to see why this temple would be the most sacred in Bali)

This black sand beach was located across the road from the Bat Cave temple.

These are the students who led the graduation procession at my school.

At graduation - this is most of my class (they are from Japan, Hungary, Austria, Serbia, Korea, and Germany) and 2 of my 5 teachers (I have a new teacher every school day).

Me at Uluwatu Temple (which is very close to where I live).

These are temple monkeys playing in a pool of water. You can't really see from the picture, but they have a rope vine, that they are swinging into the water from. These monkeys are known for being troublemakers, and sure enough one snuck away from the group to get behind me and try to seize my glasses. Luckily, I escaped with my glasses. While I was there I saw several people lose important items (cameras, wallets). These are smart monkeys. They hold the items until they are offered a bribe that they like (food is their favorite). They don't even seem to be interested in the items. It's just a means to an end.

I went to Okta's village (my friend I now live with) for a ceremony for her dad's Balinese birthday (a Balinese birthday happens every 6 months because the traditional calendar is 6 months long). It was an all-day affair with plenty of offerings, family, friends, and food! This picture is of the priest blessing the offerings at the first ceremony of the day (just for the immediate family).

Okta's family praying.

Okta with her mom, dad, brother, brothers' girlfriends, cousins, and aunty.

The view from the one of the mountains in Okta's village.

Okta!!

Another picture of Okta's village.

That's all for now! That's pretty much the last two months summed up in a few pictures. I'm having a wonderful time and learning so much. I still can't believe that I'm lucky enough to have people all around me to practice Bahasa Indonesia with!

Pictures! finally!

So this is me with Nyoman right after I arrived in Bali. Nyoman's family had a ceremony in his village temple, so I attended. These are his cousins around me. We're wearing traditional clothing.

Nyoman with his cousins at the ceremony.

There was a ceremony in Nyoman's family temple (in his house in the city). The night before the ceremony everyone worked together to "dress up" the temple. Each statue represents a particular god or goddess, so the Balinese wrap cloth around them before ceremonies to honor them.

This is the view at a big cultural park in Jimbaran (the area I live in)

This is a huge statue in the park.

This is another statue of the Garuda bird from Balinese Hindu legends. As Nyoman put it, he is Wisada's ride (the statue in the picture above). So eventually the two statues are supposed to be joined together with Wisada ontop of the Garuda.

We saw the Kecak Dance at the park. These are a few of the dancers.

This is the Barong (which was in the dance). I think there are at least two dancers in this costume.

Finally I can drive!!!

So, things here are looking up! I moved in and am very happy with my room. There is a good amount of privacy and it's not so hot. I have even pretty much adjusted to the bathroom! However, I will be moving in with my friend Okta in a few weeks. She saw where I was living and insisted that I move into her house which is very near my school. I am excited to live with my friends and also because this house has a kitchen and washing machine and hot water!! It will great to be able to do laundry and cook. Right now I am eating out all of the time. The food here is wonderful, but it's very spicy and kind of heavy (the eat rice for all three meals), so I will be glad to have other options.
Also, I can drive now! This is so exciting because I can travel pretty much wherever I want during the day, and I don't have to walk to school everyday (I was getting so much attention. People were stopping to offer me rides and ask where I was going. I can't blend in here at all!) So I feel a lot more free! This is a huge feat (if you could see the traffic, you would know what I mean). I've pretty much decided that if you just stay out of people's way, they won't hit you. You just have to constantly be on the lookout for people who are doing crazy things that you would never even think of doing in the States. Now almost everyday, I go to the beach for a few hours after school. It's really nice and peaceful there.
In other news, school is good! I have been learning a lot, and I feel very good about my progress in the language. I can tell that I am improving! This is so exciting because I have been dreaming of being able to speak this language for so long!! I've also started learning a few phrases in Balinese because people really seem to be surprised and appreciative when you throw in a little Balinese!
This weekend I am planning to attention the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival with Ayu. I can only afford to go for a day, but I can't wait! Ubud is a very beautiful city (it is very green and has rice paddies everywhere), and this festival seems to be very well respected. I will really be in my element (among readers and writers in Southeast Asia!!!)
Thank you for the comments and emails! I am so happy to hear from everyone at home! I miss you and love you all!
Hannah

Tooth Filing Ceremony

I've been sick for a few days but now I am feeling much better. We have a holiday this week because it's the end of Ramadan (and Indonesia is a mostly Muslim country), so I have no school. I haven't moved into my new room yet because my landlady is Muslim, so she left the island for the holidays and I can't get the key yet. Despite being sick, I had a very good and interesting holiday. My friend Ayu (who I worked with in the U.S.) invited me to come to her village for her younger brother and sister's tooth filing ceremony. It's like a rite of passage for Balinese Hindus. (For some reason, I have had a lot of trouble uploading pictures but I'm hoping to get up some of the ceremony soon!) I think most people do it as a symbolic measure now, so it's not really a lot of tooth filing just some scary looking tools that the tooth filer rubs against the pointy teeth in the front and a few teeth behind them on each side. Everyone who is getting the procedure wears the same thing while they have their teeth filed, and then they change into brightly colored outfits afterwards so that they can meet with guests and pray in the temple. (All the tooth filing stuff is done with just the families around). There were about 15 people taking part in the tooth filing ceremony and a marriage ceremony too. Lots of families combine ceremonies because it saves the expense and time of planning separate ceremonies. Ayu's family was so nice to me! It seems like the way I get to know women here is by letting them dress me for a ceremony. Her older sister helped me get dressed because I haven't mastered the art of tying a sarong (traditional skirt sort of thing) so that I feel like it won't fall off. Since it was a village I received quite a bit of attention. Especially since we got dressed first and then had to ride on a motorcycle to get the family's house where the ceremony would be held. The skirt is so tight that you have to ride side saddle (which I must say is a little terrifying). But everyone was very nice and receptive to me, mixing English and Indonesian to say hello, etc. And the village was so beautiful. Green everywhere. And the ocean on one side and the mountains on the other. Actually, three years ago when I first met Ayu, I had to write a paper for my Women in Global Perspective class about the life of a woman from another ethnic background. So I interviewed her and learned all about her family and the village where she grew up. I never ever thought that I would ever get to go there three years later! It was so neat to see the things she had told me about. So, hopefully there will be pictures soon (the internet is so slow here sometimes!)
Sampai Jumpa (See you later)

Update!

Hey Eveyone!
I finally found a room! I was charged double the asking price when the owner saw I was foreign, but at this point I'm just desperate, so I'm planning to stay for a month and try to bargain the price down later. It's really hard for me understand why I'm expected to pay more for the same room just because I am foreign. It's still a room with a squatting toliet and no shower (there is this showering method here where you use a scoop to dump water from a tall tub thing over your head. It's hard to image until you've seen it.) Even when you tell people you are here on scholarship, they still think you are so rich to come and expect you to pay more for everything. It is a really big frustration for me sometimes. I don't mind paying a little extra because I understand why they want me to, but charging me double for being foreign is a little over the top! I guess that is my biggest frustration here. That and the staring. When I am in the center of the city where Nyoman lives, I am stared at so much because it's not common to see tourists and I'm fairer than most tourists. Not to mention it's very rare to see a local boy and a foreign girl together. I'm slowly getting used to it. It's like being a minor celebrity (especially at my school where all of the local students know all of the foreign students and are always shouting halo, etc).
My language is coming along pretty well because I;m always surrounded by opportunities to learn. Also I am getting better at driving! It's very nerve wracking in the city, so I think it will be much easier to get around when I move to my school area (which is in a more touristy area that has less crazy traffic).

Ceremonies, ceremonies, and more ceremonies

I've been having a hard time getting to the net cafe because I can't drive yet. It's not that I'm not trying, but the motorbike is a little more difficult to drive than I had hoped. But I'm practicing a lot, so I'm getting the hang of it and should be able to travel short distances soon (well, as long as they are not in the city because the traffic is so bad here, and my bad I mean really really really crazy). I've also been very busy looking for a place to stay. The technique is very very different here. I asked Nyoman to help a few friends and me find a place to stay, so we got in his car and drove all over the place. Basically, you just stop and get out and ask if there is a room for rent at that house or any around. And if there is, they see that we are bule-bule (a slang term here for white people, it's not really offensive, just descriptive - and very good to know, so you can know if someone is talking about you) and the price immediately doubles. My scholarship doesn't cover the bule prices here, so I'm holding out for a local price (or at least close to it). So, VG, apartment hunting in Rome, Georgia, has nothing on apartment hunting in Jimbaran, Bali!! I've gotten more details about my school which is good. The school I am attending seems to be much more organized than the rest of the program (which I am very happy about). I will have language classes for three hours every day on Monday through Thursday. On Friday, I will have a culture class for three hours and there will be field trips once a month! In Febuary (the start of the second term), I will have to start volunteering to help Balinese students once a week for 90 minutes. I will probably end up teaching English because it's something I've already done at home and enjoy doing. So things seem to be falling into place!
I've been meeting up with a few of my friends from High Hampton (where I worked a few summers ago and met many Balinese people), so it was been very good to see them. And strange too, because we have mostly hung out in the United States, so it's surreal to be in their country.
We have another ceremony in the village today. The last one went very well. It was mostly waiting around for the priest to bless the offerings. And then we spread them out in different parts of the house and prayed. It was very beautiful and moving. I have come to associate the smell of incense and the gamalan as peaceful sounds in this very busy and noisy city. On almost any day, at any time, you can be driving around and come across a ceremony precession. It's amazing to see religion so incorporated into everyday life.
The net connection is quite slow today, so I hope it will post! (I have to share the same connection with everyone and the cafe is very busy today, so it has slowed down). Anyway, I'm not going to type anymore because I'm not sure anyone will even be able to read it! Wish me luck in this apartment hunting thing! And in the start of my school year!
Love,
Hannah

Finally in Bali!

I have been wanting to live here for about two years now, so I'm so excited to finally be here. I went to Jakarta for a few days for orientation. It was interesting to see it, but I really prefer Bali. It's less busy and more friendly. My school will start on the 15th, so I'm free to hang around until then! Right now I am trying to find a room near the university I will attend because Nyoman's house is 30 to 40 minutes from it and I would rather be closer. He is also going to teach me how to ride a motorbike so that I will be able to move around like I want to. I will have three classes everyday from Monday to Friday, so hopefully I will be able to pick up the language fast. After just one week, I have already improved a lot. Nyoman's family will have a ceremony on Tuesday, so we will go to his village (Gianyar). I get to dress in traditional clothes - a kabaya and sarong, and I can finally see a ceremony! Hopefully I will be able to post pictures soon. It's so wonderful here. The city is vibrant. Everywhere you look something interesting is happening! I love it here. I really already feel like this is my second home. It's very different from the U.S., but people have been very welcoming to me (especially with helping me with my language). For me, this is the best possible place I could spend the next year of my life because there is so much to learn about here. :)

Change of Plans!

I was planning to leave for Bali on August 4th, but I had a few visa/vaccination problems. Now I will be leaving on August 30th and arriving in Denpasar, Bali, on September 1st. Then I will be heading to orientation in Jakarta on the 3rd. After 3 days I will be traveling back to Bali to start Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian language) classes at Politeknik Negeri Bali. I'm excited and ready to start this adventure!