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. :)