life-afterundergrad

[life-afterundergrad]

Monday a woman came to speak to us about the Balinese dance. She’s a white woman who has been living in Bali for several decades and has learned several Balinese dance styles. Admittedly, I was so tired I fell asleep several times during her lecture. However, what I did hear of it was very interesting. She spoke of how each dance has a story, the character each mask represents, how you can tell who the characters in the story are, and how new characters are introduced into a dance style. She also spoke about what dance lessons are like and showed us a few dance moves.

Break for lunch.

Our last formal class was held as a collective group. The topic, at its core, discussed feminist issues as it pertained to the related article. Feminist discussions are some of my favorites, especially with Professor. I found myself glances back at Ian to see his reactions. He’s said some questionable things about women in the past and you can tell he felt a little uncomfortable being a cock in this hen house. He later said that he didn’t feel like he could have much of an opinion on the topic. There is so much I wish to teach him if we stay friends beyond this trip.

My group project group met up after class to discuss potential interview candidates and to set up appointments to interview people. Afterwards we all took a walk to the market. Ariana didn’t feel like being harassed by merchants so she left me and Amanda there. We did some shopping then headed back to Arjana briefly to drop off are goods and so that Amanda can pick up her ticket to the kuchek dance we were required to see that night. We ran into Yessica on the way and invited her to dinner.

I thought it would be best if we found the location of the performance and then find someplace to eat nearby. When we walk into the restaurant we happen to be seated next to Ian, who is dining alone, and who decides to join us. I feel as though I spent most of that meal talking to him about social justice issues. I heard from Ariana and Kendra after the church shooting in South Carolina, that he had some naive opinions about racism. As a man of color – that news was very disappointing to me, however, I wanted to gauge him myself. The verdict is still out.  

Kuchek dance is very different from the legong dance I had seen earlier. For starts, the story in a legong dance is “told” to the sound of a gamelan band while the ensemble of kuchek dancers chant “chek chek chek” the whole time. The story was also different, and easier to follow, partly because we were able to read what the story was before the show started. Also because I had a little more background on dance in general. Fun fact: kechek dance was created specifically for tourist because other forms of dance were viewed as too drawn out.

At the end of the dance, it was announced that a traditional fire dance was going to be performed. Essentially, all the dancers have moved to one side of the area. A pile of split coconut shells are lit on fire in the center of stage (coconut shells are the Balinese equivalent to charcoal). Suddenly, a man wearing a dragon costume appears. He is in trance and he runs back and forth through the fire, kicking shells in every which direction. It feels like you’re watching a dragon. After every time he kicks the flames, the shells are racked up again. This happens repeatedly until eventually the dragon is “captured” and the man is removed from the dragon. He looks completely out of it. How you know he was really in a trance: he had kicked flaming hot coconuts at his fellow dancers, hitting a few of them. Their frightened reactions made it clear that that was not part of the show.

The show is over and we all disperse. I find myself by pool writing. I hear voices but I pay them no mind. I eventually head back towards my room and discover that Kendra, Ian, and Leslie are having a chat on Kendra and Patrice’s porch. I’m a bit surprised to see Ian, only because it’s late, he lives on Arjana 3 with the undergrads, and he doesn’t usually hang out with us. I join them. We have this really amazing conversation about life, love, feminism, etc. Kendra and Leslie had been sipping on wine, Delilah winds up joining us, and we decide we need more alcohol. Ian and I take a walk to Circle K for a beer run for the group. When we get back we wind up accidently waking up Patrice, who replaces Kendra since she decided it was time for her to go to bed. That whole session was just really good and a great way to end the night.

[life-afterundergrad]

Sunday. Another early morning. I don’t know why I keep doing this to myself. If I know I have to get up early, I should go to bed early, instead of staying up late partying. Whatever. YOLO. Today I went river rafting for the first time. Leslie had proposed the idea earlier in the week, and with the help of Dewa, it became a reality.  

It was 7 of us who decided to go: Leslie, Amber, Ian, Delilah, Kimi, Suela, and myself. Dewa picked us up from Arjana and dropped us off at the agency. At the agency, we leave all unneeded things with Dewa and we get into the back of this van. Picture a pick-up truck, with benches and back support along the long sides and nothing on the short side. No gate, no rope, no nothing. This was the vehicle that was to transport the 7, plus another couple, to the starting point. It was pretty terrifying and exhilarating all at the same time.

We get to the “starting point” and Kimi doesn’t understand why we have to wear helmets and life jackets. She’s been rafting before and feels as though these things should be optional but we all comply. We now take a hike down to the real starting point. The Balinese do not build stairs for comfort. You will often find yourself taking several deep steps down, then a shallow step, then another deep step, then several shallow steps. There is no rhyme or reason to it, and you find this almost everywhere you go. The steps to the river were so harsh that at one point my right ankle became sore and I had to limp the rest of the way down.

Our guides divided us into two boats based on their estimations of our weight. After some musical chairs we ended up with the couple, Delilah, Suela, and myself in one boat and Amber, Kimi, Ian, and Leslie in the other boat. And we’re off, down the Ayung River, through this beautiful rainforest. It was incredible. There were stone carvings and waterfalls. It was just incredible. Our boat, which started of trailing, wound up in front of the other boat (a little healthy competition). At one point our guide tells us to stand as the raft goes over some rapids, so we do, and basically surf our way over that small stretch of rapids.

We sit down and I look over to see the other group attempting the surf move. Suddenly, almost in slow motion, the boat capsizes and almost everyone is in the water except the guide. From here everything moved in super quickly. Our guide readjusted our boat for a rescue mission. I remember putting my oar out, Ian grabbed it, then with the other hand he grabbed Kimi. I saw one of Amber’s flip flops, but I didn’t see Amber, but I was told she was hanging onto the side of my boat. There was just water and movement and directions. I don’t know when the other boat appeared next to ours but Leslie (or maybe Amber) was the first to be fished out of the water, into our boat, and cross over into the other boat. I didn’t see it, but apparently Kimi had been snatched out of the water just in time before being smashed against the rocks by one of our boats. As soon as everyone was safely in a boat, we all, besides Delilah, just started laughing. We laughed all the way to the pit stop where we got celebratory beers. Delilah was too focused on what could have potentially happened to Kimi instead of the fact that we were all ok. She celebrated, but she didn’t think any of it was funny.

The entire rafting trip was supposed to take about two hours. I don’t know how long it actually took at all. What I do know is this: the remained of the trip had my boat way in front. Apparently, the other boat fell overboard again right before the end. It was a much less dramatic event. We had an easy hike back to the headquarters where we got to shower, change, and were served a great lunch.

After lunch, Leslie, Amber, and Ian are dropped off at Arjana, then Suela, Kimi, Delilah, and I head to the Elephant Safari Park. I’ve never really know animal activist type people before coming to Bali, and I feel as though, having met them, it changed the way I looked at this whole experience. These Sumatran elephants are beautiful creatures and it was so cool to get so close to them. However, I found the idea of riding the elephants a bit in human, something I may not have considered a few weeks ago. There is no free reign to roam around and interact with one another (outside of the breeding center). When they aren’t working, which is basically the whole time, they are chained in their designated areas. It was pretty heart breaking to see. Though they are clearly used to this life, this is not the life an elephant (or any animal) should have.

[life-afterundergrad]

Saturday we wake up and head to the village that Dewa was born. I have not slept enough. I’m dehydrated. I feel the adventures of Lovina in my face. Nonetheless, we hop in the van and head out. The grad girls got the van to ourselves so that was pretty rad (not that we don’t like Paige, we just rather have more room, and we’re a cliché of six). I slept most of the way, if not the whole way, to Dewa’s village. We arrived at the home of his mother and brothers. We basically just chilled in the “yard” and feasted on all these random fruits, snacks and desserts Dewa kept bringing out of the woodworks. We also got to see how coconut oil is made from scratch. It was pretty cool but we weren’t really doing anything and I craved to be back on the van sleeping.

On our way home we stop at this pier that used to be the major port into Bali. It was once heavily occupied by the Dutch which is still reflected by the architecture in the area. This port is a major historical site that sits on a black sand beach. Between being tired and Dewa being a soft speaker, I missed a lot of the history lesson. We were allowed to walk around for a few minute so Swella, Ian, Patrice, and I walked towards the town. Swella notices a Mosk and decides she wants to go in and crosses the street to do so. Patrice heads back leaving Ian and I to watch as Swella exchanges words with some man and is lead into the building. We’re both stunned. We don’t feel comfortable leaving her behind so we wait until she reappears. Turns out that she’s Muslim, told that to the man, and she was allowed to go in and say a prayer.

We eventually got back to Arjana. I got dinner with Leslie, Delilah, and Patrice before running into the undergrads. They were headed to Mingle for Swella’s birthday dinner before going out for drinks at CP Lounge. I was really tempted to go back home and sleep while they ate and meet up with them later, but I opted to follow the crew in fear that I wouldn’t leave my bed otherwise. I had a sugarcane vodka (Professor had invented it) and I made bets with Ian about who wasn’t going to make it to Swella’s official birthday at midnight. The group was so tired we thought no one would make it.

We leave dinner and head to CP Lounge. I’m just trying to coast so I order a Bintang. For some reason, and this annoyed me for a bit, the group chose to crowd around one small table for four, then to all sit at a big table that D and I tried to reserve. But I digress. I wind up sitting at a small table with Kimi and we force ourselves to stay up for Swella. Pia, of all people, spoke to the DJ in the back room and asked him to play “happy birthday” at midnight. She then went around and told everyone to nonchalantly go to the back room so that we could surprise Swella. Her and Naheed had been pretty chill all weekend which is a surprising change from their usual intolerable selves. We go, we dance, we have a good time. I hear a bunch of people are leaving so I decide to head out with them. We don’t get very far before we return to CP Lounge under the pretenses that we would stay in the back room.

Ian and I get to the backroom and realize no one followed us. We grab a seat at the bar, because the music was eh, and we start talking about night before. The conversation was getting kind of deep but was cut short when he realized Leslie was approaching. In stolen moments (probably starting the week prior when he and Leslie walked home arm in arm ahead of the group) I make comments about how he has a new boo and that I’ve been replaced. He doesn’t seem to like that very much, thus I keep doing it. Sober, Leslie wants no part in this boo talk, however, her drunken body language tells another story. At this point I don’t want to be there anymore and I’m regretting the fact that I ordered food. I’m all types of frustrated and then a Sean Paul song comes on. It’s over. My entire mood has changed. I am up lifted.

I stay for a while, dancing to a great mix of music that brought my high above my feelings, which was exactly what was needed. As soon as there was a lull, I took the opportunity to leave. It was way past midnight, a few of us had to get up early in the morning, but I was pleasantly surprised at home many of us were still out despite our low energy level a few hours prior. I walked home with Delilah, who was afraid to walk alone, thus had stuck around longer than she had wanted to. I feel like she allows things that don’t concern her, like the fact that Collin has chosen not to wear shoes around town, bother her. Why does it matter? To each their own.

[life-afterundergrad]

Friday was a pretty full day. We started the moving off early – after a late night – with dolphin watching. Dewa met us at the front desk of the hotel and escorted us to the beach, which was maybe 100 feet away. In my boat was Patrice, Kendra, and Leslie. The other two boats consisted of Pia, Naheed, Yessica, and Brittany, and Kimi, Amanada, and Swella. These motor boats were only slightly wider than a person can sit, with hollow floatation aids on either side of the boat. Nothing can compare to watching the sunrise out at sea. It was like being in a painting. I was a bit surprised when I realized just how many other boats were also out that morning. I had had the impression that it would only be our group. Either way, it was so beautiful getting to see the wild dolphins so close.

We were dropped off back at shore, and since the same guys who took us to see the dolphins, were the ones who were taking us snorkeling, we were told not to rush our breakfast. The dolphin crew all went snorkeling and we were joined by Assistant, Paige, Delilah, and Ian. In the same boats, we’re taken out by the coral reef, given masks and flippers and sent on our way. Ian and I randomly selected to be in a boat alone but then the crew decided they wanted to take one less boat, which saved me from a boat ride of “isn’t this romantic”, which was the first thing he said we had originally gotten into the boat. I learned that day that flippers are designed to both help you float, as well as dive. Also, fish eat bread. The crew had brought rolls with them so that we could feed the fish and watch them swarm. The epic joke of forever: What’s the wifi password? Paige basically chose this most perfect moment, of us just having a genuinely good time, to poke fun at the fact that we ask that everywhere we go.

We get back and it’s time for lunch. Since the undergrads didn’t get to go to the waterfall, they were given the option to go today instead of going to the hot springs. Apparently Dewa found a different waterfall and we were given the option of going here before the hot springs. These waterfalls, called Sekumpul, are newly discovered waterfalls and Dewa thought it would be more interesting than visiting the same waterfall over and over again. What no one knew until we got there was that it was about an hour hike down to the falls. We had already driven maybe an hour or so from Lovina so it was too late to turn back. There were so. many. stairs. I knew was going to die on the way back up (which I did), but the falls were worth it. The one on the right is said to be holy because it appears to flow from a tree, not a river, and it stays consistent despite heavy rain, unlike the one to the left which begins to flow heavier. Almost the whole class came to this location and water shenanigans ensued. For example, at one, Collin jumps on my back and I am inspired to jump on Ian’s back while Collin is still on me. Collin tried to get another to join our totem pole but Ian was not about it and dove under. Collin also lost my towel during the hike up. I let him use it to dry off after getting out of the water and somewhere along the way he lost it. He offered to go back and find it but I reassured him that it wasn’t actually my towel but Arjana’s.

That night we all went out again. A bunch of us took a walk on the beach in an attempt to discover the source of these colorful lights. At the end of our voyage, we discovered that we were at a country club and didn’t want to spend all our money there so we walked back towards our hotel on the street. Only a few feet from our intersection, we find a restaurant that is having a grand opening, and what a grand opening it was. There were dancers in drag, a free mocktail and a free bear, no tax, and a discount on our meal. We were having a blast. Slowly but surely the rest of the class (minus Amber and Laura) had appeared and we decide that we are going to start celebrating Swella’s birthday early (her 21st birthday was on the 21st, making her golden birthday in Bali). Everything was going pretty great but then Kendra was served meat even though she ordered her dish vegetarian, and Delilah waiting 2 hours before she was ever served, mind you, people who had arrived after her were served before her, Ian was in a pissy mood about something – vicarious anger I believe – topped with the fact that he didn’t like the drink he ordered (he was sick the night before, couldn’t drink, and left the party early so he was determined to party for two tonight) and wound up sitting at the bar for a while. He wind up coming back with this delicious concoction of cranberry and Malibu.

Collectively fed up we pay (which took forever) and moved to the bar next door that had live music and a DJ. Ian bought Leslie, Kendra, and myself shots (sticking to his word after volunteering shots at the previous bar) and then the usual mayhem. The live band was pretty terrible. They were great hype people with good voices, but they didn’t sing the songs at the proper rhythm. At times it became too hard to listen to and the sound of the DJ was more than welcomed. Towards the end of the night, the male singer took a break and the female singer’s brother came on stage. He was so amazing that I was upset when he returned the mic to the other guy. Why? Why would he do that to me?

Leslie, who is 19 and claims to drink but never to have been drunk before, got super drunk that night. A little concerned, Ian and I decide to cut her off, try to get her to drink some water and chill out. She did not like this very much and wound up getting annoyed to the point that she complained to Delilah who confronted me and told me to back off Leslie and Ian (Ian I guess because Leslie was cuddled up on him). Being one that can take a hint, I backed off, even though I was a bit taken aback. The way I saw it was that it would be me taking care of Leslie if she got sick that night, and not Delilah, but later on a realized that D had a point. Leslie is technically a grown up and she should be allowed to do what she pleases without having a babysitter. I still stand by my decision but I see the other side too. You live and you learn.

We left the bar maybe ten minutes after D had confronted me. Those of us who had remained wound up going to the beach. I made a point to keep my body language minimal as to not alert anyone of my current annoyed mood or the distance I had placed between myself Leslie and Ian for the rest of the night. However, Ian noticed the difference right away that something was up. Without naming names I told him that I had been advised to back down but it was chill. His reaction was strange, almost disappointed maybe, as if he had a mini internal conflict regarding the concept of distance between us.

Ian eventually walks Leslie back to the hotel. Shortly after I walk back with Amanda. The four of us cross paths because the back gate that we usually use was locked and I and L had to walk back to the strip and walk around to the front. We now run into D and Swella. The six of us walk around to the front of the hotel, D goes upstairs to her room and Ian and I try to get Leslie to bed. She had reached the door first and struggled for a bit with the key, but then she didn’t want to go inside because her feet were dirty with muddy sand from the beach, but we got her to go in and wash her feet. She comes back out and sits on one of the porch chairs and almost falls asleep. There was a bit of a struggle to get her off the porch, all the while I’m trying to get Ian alone because he said at the bar that he wanted to tell me something, and every subsequent time I asked him to tell me, there were too many people around. When I did get him alone for a second he conveniently forgot. I go back to the room and Leslie decides that she wants to wait up until Kendra gets home (she is still at the beach with Ariana and some bartender chick). Heeding D’s words, I decided to let her be, seeing as she promised not to fall asleep outside.

I go in, get ready for bed, and decide to peek out the window to see if she had fallen asleep. She’s gone. I am now confronted with a wave of irrational jealousy: She’s with Ian, I know she’s with Ian. Where else would she go? She’s drunk and she was all over him where else would she go? … Why do I care? There’s both adults. She’s allowed to make her own decisions. He promised he wouldn’t take advantage of her. But it can’t be easy to resist a girl throwing herself at you when you have a room to yourself since your roommate has been shacking up with someone basically the whole trip. Everyone is going to know they hooked up if she leaves his room in the morning. I hope she doesn’t regret it. I hope she’s not embarrassed. I hope everyone doesn’t hold it over her for the remained of the trip. Ugh! I don’t have any right to be jealous. We’re not together. I don’t even like him like that. I don’t care, it’s not my business. I don’t care, it’s not my business. I turn off the lights, only leaving the small lamp by her bed on, and go to bed. I don’t care, it’s not my business. She appears in the room maybe within 20 minutes. Sweet relief. She probably just went to the café to get wifi. - I slept easy.

[life-afterundergrad]

Thursday the class started our eight-hour journey to Lovina. Lovina is only about three hours away from Ubud but Professor wanted us to make a few stops on the way. Exhausted from partying the night before, I just remember passing out in the van, and waking up, a bit confused at our first stop. It took me a bit of time to register what was happening, especially since I hadn’t seen where the majority of my classmates had disappeared to. In small groups, we took a tour of Subak Bali Argo. It’s a small plantation that makes premium coffees and teas. One of their most famous coffees is called cap-poo-ccino. To make it, coffee beans are feed to a mongoose. They wait until the mongoose poops out the beans, clean them, then roast them. Ariana posed the best question: how did they discover this.

At the end of the tour our group was seated at a table and was able to try all the different coffees and teas they sell. Some were absolutely phenomenal while others were not that great. I wanted to buy some tea and coffee for mi madre but it was pretty pricey. I figured I’d try to find some at the market.

After some more sleeping, I woke up at Ulun Danu Beratan. It is this beautiful temple. Dewa spoke a bit about it, but I honestly didn’t hear a word. The group was initially frustrated because, as far as the schedule for the day, we felt as though we were being blinded shuttled around in buses. When we would ask questions, Assistant would get pissy, as if we were supposed to just know. We had originally believed that we were first going to a waterfall before going to the temple, so many people were not in their sarongs. Nevertheless, Ulun Danu Beratan was truly a sight to see. Supposedly, during high tide, aspects of the temple appear to be floating on water.

In parts of Bali, where they don’t get as many tourist, people are unaccustomed to seeing non-Asian people, especially in a racially diverse group such as the one I’m traveling with. Twice while at the temple, people asked to take pictures with me. The request makes me feel like Beyonce, while simultaneously, making me feel like a zoo animal. This is not the first time this has happened to me here, and it may not be the last.

A short pit stop was the viewing of the twin lakes. I don’t exactly know the story behind them but they are essentially two massive lakes separated by a small stretch of rain forest. When we stopped here, there were these men with three giant bats, a huge iguana, and a snake in a box that I did not dare go close enough to see. We were able to touch the animals but the very nature of the animals freaked me out a bit so I only touched the bat with my one finger. *shutter*

Back in the vans and off to lunch. The grad girls and Paige had a van to ourselves with Dewa. Professor, Assistant, and Ariana were in another car, and everyone else was in the larger van. The larger van apparently didn’t get the memo that we were stopping for lunch and went straight to the hotel in Lovina instead. The rest of us had lunch in this mountain side restaurant, so high up, it felt like we were eating in a cloud. We had a choice to join the others or go see the scheduled waterfall, and we chose the waterfall.

It was a short-ish hike downhill from the road to the waterfall. Though it was cold, Kendra verbalized her willingness to enter regardless, and a few of us followed suit. The water was rocky and very shallow for most of the way. Since there was no one around, we were allowed to take off our sarongs and swim in our bathing suits. The waterfall is considered sacred so, in order not to offend any locals, we expecting to swim in either a sarong tied above the chest or long shorts and a t-shirt. When we were within a few feet of the falls, the rocks turned to sand, and the water started to deepen. It was ice cold, but we took the plunge together. It was pretty amazing.

We finally get to the hotel and we’re greet by a bunch of the other students who had spent the afternoon exploring Lovina. At lunch we were able to sign up for a dolphin watching at 6am, snorkeling around 11pm, and/or going to a hot springs at 2pm. Since Leslie and I both signed up for dolphins, Amber and Delilah decided that they would room together so they wouldn’t have to worry about being woken up early. Aside for the other four grad girls, everyone’s rooms were in a long strip. There was something about this set up that I preferred over the scattered feeling of Arjana 2 and 3.

After some freshening up, a few of us went out to dinner. It was pretty lucky because our hotel is right off of a strip of bars/restaurants, so we didn’t have to go far. We find this trippy little restaurant with crazy paintings all over and a punny joke about phone sex in the bathroom (I never saw it but Swella told us about it). The rest of the class eventually joined us and we all moved to the bar next door for dancing. Laura greeted me with cranberry, vodka, and lime – probably my new favorite cocktail. We dance and sing to the live band for a bit before moving on to the next place in chucks. By the time I got to the last bar, the gang had already started karaoke with the live band. I only kind of new most of the songs but either way it was a pretty great time. I requested Eminem for Kendra (it wasn’t on the list of options) and the band wound up playing Stan while Ken and Meg rapped to the lyrics on a cell phone. She was so happy. 

[life-afterundergrad]

Wednesday we start of the day by visiting this very famous healer in Bali. Watching him work was almost like watching magic. The whole thing is very personal, despite the audience, because those of us watching can’t hear the conversation taking place between the healer and the client. He first sits the client on the ground in front of him. Words are exchanged and he begins to exam the problem by massaging the head. More words are exchanged and he may have the client lay down. Using a wooden pointer, he checks pressure points on the outer three toes. Depending on which point triggers pain, determines the location of the problem. The healer does a whispered prayer, tracing the client’s body with the pointer, as if he were forcing blood flow from outside of the body. He may stand above the body, continuing to pray, waving his pointer, very purposefully. When he is done praying his hushed prayer, he returns to the pressure points in the toes and the pain is gone.

It was pretty surreal to watch. The whole class sat in stark silence as Yessica,  Ariana, Laura, Kendra, and Britany all met with the healer. All but Kendra, who was told she was fine early on in the process, had visibly emotional experiences. The class definitely was moved. You could hear sniffling and see a few people with tears in their eyes. I wonder about what he told them, but I couldn’t bring myself to ask. Afterwards Derda told us a story about how growing up he was a skeptic but he grew to believe in the powers of a healer and you must first believe that the healer can help you or else it will not work for you (which is what I think happened with Kendra). He also said something about the movie Eat, Pray, Love. I think that the author of the book had visited with this healer or something. Derda (and Dewa) don’t speak very loudly so I often miss what they’re saying.

The next stop of the day was to go to craft villages. Long ago, when people wanted to learn a particular craft, they all moved to a specific village that was known for that craft. They would set up their lives here and fathers would teach their sons and so on. The first craft village we visited was a wood carving village in which we went to I Wayan Muka’s shop. I Wayan Muka is a famous mask maker and dancer. It takes him about two weeks to complete a mask because all the carving is done by hand and he needs to make sure he gets the character of the mask just right. The wood itself is dried out for about a year to ensure it won’t crack. He even gave us a demonstration of how different characters would move differently in a dance performance.

After lunch we went to Dewa Putu Toris, which is located in a painting village. Walking around the building was like walking around in a museum. There were works by a variety of artist in a variety of different styles, all for sale. It truly took my breath away. We weren’t supposed to take any pictures but I had to take one of my favorite piece. Something about this painting depicting the dancers really spoke to me and I needed to have it forever. Ultimately I didn’t buy anything because one of a kind art is just too expensive for me.

The last stop of the day was Gala Silver. This shop creates hand made silver jewelry. There is no silver in Bali, so all of it is imported from other places. However, the whole process, from melting down the silver, mixing it with the right amount of copper for stability, molding and shaping it, etc are all done by the craftsmen. The shop owner gave us a demonstration of how they melt the silver. The whole process must take a while but the outcome is so beautiful. I bought my mom a pair of earrings here because she had said that she wanted me to bring her back some jewelry.

That night we all went out to CP Lounge. Kendra finally asserted herself with Java Joe. Even though she had invited him out with us the fact that he was hovering over her became to much and she walked away. I’m pretty proud of her.

[life-afterundergrad]

Tuesday we spent the day visiting temples. The first was Pura Tirta Empual Temple. People that come here to pray go through three sets of prayers. The first is held at a shrine which is said to be one of the holiest places in Bali. It contains water from four rivers blended together. We were not allowed to pray here because, from my understanding, it was only for locals. 

The next stop is the purification spring. Derda told us the legend of the spring and this is what I understood from the story: There was once such an evil king that one of the gods was sent down to kill him. The king used his cunning to try to run away but he was eventually caught, and after putting up a good fight, he was finally killed. His blood seeped into the irrigation system that waters the rice, and when that rice was harvested, everyone who ate from it died. The dead villagers were made to drink from this spring and they all revived. Today people bath in the water of the spring while praying, in order to be cleansed. 

The class was allowed to participate this time. The water from the spring constantly flow into two pools through several spouts. Each spout represented a different specific prayer. When I entered the water it was so cold I started laughing so hysterically that I had to cover my mouth to mute the sound. 

After changing into dry sarongs, we moved to the inner most part of the temple. this is the most sacred part of any temple and you often are not allowed in. However, here, you are allowed to enter and participate in the group prayer, given you are wearing proper temple attire and bring an offering (it’s a small bunch of flowers, and sometimes a little pinch of food, and a lit incense stick, perhaps a few other things - arranged in a very specific order by shape and color and the position to the mountains verses the water). We sit down behind the high priest for the prayer. As he mumbles something, almost to himself, the locals shift and whisper. Then, by some missed cue, everyone starts to pray with their prayer hands to the forehead. 

When the praying was over, the high priest came around with a bowl of holy and rice. Using some sort of palm left, he splashes holy water on your head. He then pours water in your hand. You have to drink three times then wash your face three time. He splashes a little more holy water on your head. You are then supposed to take some rice, place a pinch or your forehead, the bottom of your neck, and then heat the rest. Since we were clearly new at this, the priest did it for us. 

After lunch we went to Gunung Kawi Sebatu. It was built by the Javanese, completely out of stone, 1250 years ago. To get to this temple, you need to walk down a millions flights of steps, so the walk back up was murder. But the temple itself is pretty amazing. There are several meditation caves, and just being inside them, you understand why people come to pray. In one cave, Ian and I had crouched down to enter. He had the flashlight app on his phone running, so I asked him to shine it upwards so I could see how straight we could stand up. As he moved the light upwards, we started to straighten, neither of us being particularly tall people. I was completely upright by the time the light hit the ceiling and reviled two small bats about a foot above our heads. I don’t think we could have run out any faster. 

[life-afterundergrad]

On Monday the class is went to Bumi Sehat International. It's a free, all natural, birthing center in Bali. We didn't get to speak to the founder for long, she had to go give postnatal care to a client who, unintentionally, gave birth at home before making it to the clinic. During our time there, we watched a few short videos and had our questions answered by one of the long term volunteers. This program is amazing for several reasons. For starters, hospital births, in general, are dangerous for the mother and baby. The drugs that they give you to stop pain, or induce labor, also increases the chances of the mother and/or child dying during the birthing process. However, midwives help you to deliver your baby naturally, with natural pain reducing techniques, the way the female body was created to deliver. Ricki Lake produced a document on the subject. I believe it's called the Business of Life and I also believe it's on Netflix. Anyone seriously considering having a child should watch this movie. Secondly, in Bali, if you can't afford to pay the hospital, which a lot of people can't, you're not allowed to take your baby home. No one knows for sure what happens to all these babies, however, some are sold on the black market. I predict that the rest are killed. This organization saves mothers from the pain of having their child taken from them. It also rushes to the aid of those, particularly mothers, who are effected by things such as natural disasters. It was pretty amazing to hear about all they do for the community. The founder had delivered most of the children in the area. We also also learned that, in Bali, the placenta is seen as a sibling to the child so families take special care of it on different ways. Some burry it in the back yard, others preserve it in the home. Either way, they do not cut the umbilical cord until 3 hours after the baby's birth. This is because the placenta is filled with 1/3 of a new baby's blood and it is still pulsing after it has left the mother. This blood is filled with nutrients baby is losing out on when the umbilical cord is cut to early. Later that evening, it was early, and I wind up running into Ian. We had a nice one on one chat in which I tried to clarify some of his dichotomous thinking from the night before. I didn't really buy into his rationales, but whatever. I find that, when it comes to Ian, I have very dichotomous thoughts about him. There are times when I think he's pretty awesome and I'm obsessed with him. There are other times when his words make me want to vomit in my mouth. This can fluctuate throughout the day or from h our to hour. (BTW: after our experience at the birthing clinic, Ian now wants me to deliver our children via water birth - which I had been considering prior to this anyway).

[life-afterundergrad]

Sunday I basically started the day off by getting a tattoo. The story behind that is as such: I’ve never wanted a tattoo until the second I landed in Bali. There was just something about the energy here that I felt right away. Later that day, we met up with some other students to go to Arjana for the first time. During the car ride, I met Meg, and she mentioned how she had been doing research to find safe places to get tattooed. I took this as a sign of confirmation that this was something I should so while I was here. I had been toying with the idea of Delta Sigma Gamma for a few years now. It’s not an actual sorority, but it’s the first initials of me and my two sisters. I had a lotus flower incorporated as a symbol of Bali. I didn't tell anyone at home because I wanted it to be a surprise. 

Later that night, the class attended The Legong of Mahabrata Epic. Legong is a style of traditional dance. This style of dance is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. The performers uses every part of their bodies, I including their eyes and facial expressions, in the dance. The costumes were so colorful and elaborate. Traditional instruments are lined up on either side of the stage and played the entire time. It was basically the traditional Balinese version of a ballet in the sense that, legong is meant to tell a story, but unless explained to me, I’m not going to understand what that story is. 

The grad girls had dinner at Black Beach afterwards and we were joined by Ian. I enjoyed my pasta but I know that Kendra was disappointed by her pesto dish. I found so interesting things about Ian. For starters, his plan at the moment is to split a mortgage with his mom and live in the basement of her house. He got a collective raised eyebrow on that one. His logic is he doesn’t want to leave her alone as she ages and she can be a free babysitter for him and his wife. As very independent women, we were not down with this plan he turned to me and said something on the lines of “what you’re not gonna move into my mom’s basement with me?” A concept I found so asinine that I could only respond in hysterical laughter. I also find that he has a very dichotomous way of thinking about the future. On one hand he wants to get married and have children and on the other hand he thinks marriage is pointless and never wants to get married. He makes plans as a single man and on occasion throws in the concept of a wife. He wants to be with an independent educated woman and yet leaves no room for what she might bring to the table as far as financially or personal preference. He basically they thinks he knows what he wants but in reality he has no clue. 

Psych time: Amber thinks he has love hate relationship with woman because if the relationship with his mother. He loves her and feels a devotion to her, however, he describes her as not nurturing and says she has a tendency of putting him down. This has created a dynamic where he both needs women and pushes them away. She believes he is attracted to me because I contain the qualities he idealizes in a woman and yet I’m assertive enough to keep him in his place. He also theorized that we’d be good long time friends. I guess we’ll see.

[life-afterundergrad]

Saturday the grad girls finally made it to the beach. The closest beach is Sanur and it’s 45 minutes away. I had a pretty good time. Sat in the shade, sipped on a Bintang, and enjoyed the view of the distant mountains. There’s a resort (or a few) on the beach so we were able to grab lunch and right a few feet away from where we had set up camp. Afterwards I sat alone in the beautifully warm water and sipped on my Bintang for a while. It was so peaceful. I later found out that the girls we discussing how I was in my zone and had taken a picture. (Side note: I find Salt and Seaweed flavored Pringles to be amazing) 

That night we tried to find this Italian Restaurant that Professor suggested called, Black Beach. We were told it was on Monkey Forest Road so we walked all the way to the end with no luck. Then we looped back upwards, still no luck. At this point I was so hungry that the thought of walking any further was devastating. I notice an empty restaurant and we decided to give up our search. The food at the restaurant was ok but we discovered #AskRachel on Instagram and that had us in tears. Delilah had first mentioned the incident at the beach but we only started doing our research at the restaurant. We live under a rock so we tend to miss out on what’s happening in the West. Amber has some kind if allergic reaction to her food, throws down money, and runs out without her cellphone. Patrice runs after her but Amber I been moving so quickly that Patrice couldn’t see where she had gone and comes back. We pay the bill and go out looking for her. It’s dark but we do our best to check allies in case she needed to throw up. At one point we split up into groups to look for her. Leslie and Delilah had gone ahead so Kendra, Patrice, and I took an alternate route home. 

Our route took us past Mingles where we found Professor and Assistant having dinner and drinks. We decided to tell them that Amber was missing. Professor very calmly asked us to join them and she called the hotel to ask if Amber had returned. I felt mike she was on the phone an eternity. She had been speaking Indonesian so we wouldn’t know the results until she told us. She finally got off the phone and told us that Amber was home in bed. Relieved, Kendra and I offered drinks. We sat and chatted for a bit when the phone rang, it was Amber calling from the front desk. [We later find out that she was not home when Professor called but when she had arrived, she was asked about her sick friend Amber. Realizing the confusion, the front deemed had called us back so Amber could fill us in on her condition. We also found out later that if we had worked about 500 feet more, we would’ve found Black Beach]. Also, it turns out that Professor is an opera singer (on top of being this amazing feminist researcher). 

The five if us finish our drinks and head over to CP Lounge. Patrice decides to go home instead so the remaining 4 head to the next spot. As soon as we walk in, we see Java Joe. Joe is this tattoo artist from Java that Kendra met the last time we had all gone out. He is in LOVE with Kendra and doted on throughout all of our interactions with him (which were a few seeing as he worked on Amber, Kendra, Megan, and Patrice in the span of 3 or 4 days. He was all over her the whole time and it was basically my job to play cock block. Joe’s is older, maybe in his 50, and very frail looking with long flowing black hair and a body full of tribal tattoos. He’s an artist, thus a lover. His work can be found all over Bali but he’s only been tattooing for a few months (you wouldn’t guess by how amazing his work is). The whole thing is a bit uncomfortable to watch but she allows it because he has this amazing energy to be around. Professor has left early so we waited for Assistant to finish playing pool before heading home so she wouldn’t have to walk alone. Noticing how Joe wouldn’t leave the bar before Kendra did, despite saying that he was tired on a few occasions, Assistant took one for the team and we all finally went home.

[life-afterundergrad]

This morning I woke up 1:40am to catch a 2:30am bus to Batur Mountain for a sunrise hike. Batur is an active volcano that last erupted in 2003 I believe. The ride there was kind if rough. I was shaken awake by the road a few times. 

The hike itself was even worse for me. I don't know if it's because I didn't get enough sleep or what, but it was a pretty miserable hike. Amanda and I feel way behind the others, which is fine because we had a mountain guide, Gede, stayed behind with us, and I have no shame in my game. We never made it to the top, but we made it to the sunrise point, which is probably 75% of the way there. Gede was awesome. Really encouraging and kind and told us not to force our bodies. 

 We got there around 5am, which left us with about an hour before sunrise. Amanda and I really got a great chance to bond. She reminds me of Marissa circa 2009 (which is when Marissa and I were her age). I was glad to get a chance to rest my body because I've never felt so terrible. That post workout adrenaline that I usually get was missing and I knew I had felt off from the beginning. Watching the vastness of the stars and then watching the sunrise was so worth all of the pain and suffering of the hike.

[life-afterundergrad]

Malu

In Indonesian, malu, means embarrassed. You would probably say "malu malu" or "malu kucing" (shy cat) to emphasize your embarrassment. This brings us to yesterday. There isn't much to report because it was a relatively quiet day. We had divided classes in the morning and a combined Indonesian lesson in the early afternoon. At one point, Ian comes to my table to practice the words on the worksheet. He could have practiced with someone from his table but whatever. So of course we're not practicing because I'm not picking up Indonesian at all and I don't want to be there. For the record: this sentiment seems to be shared by all the grad students and some of the undergrads. So we're chatting and our conversation fluctuates between rather intellectual and complete nonsense (like him saying we should have a baby smh). Seeing as we are at a table consisting of my fellow grad girls, I'm already feeling a little malu. This is basically PDA, which makes me uncomfortable, but whatever. Then Iba Lydia, from the front of the room (we're in the back) asked Ian to take a seat at his table because he was "too good at talking to Daniella". The class oww-ed and I could've died right there and then of malu malu. Just when I thought my embarrassment was over, Kendra, Patrice and Amber, on our was to dinner, had a whole discussion about how he obviously loves me but how he has these traits that they don't like/are worrisome, but how it's a short trip so I should get with him anyway, blah blah blah. I thought I was going to have an anxiety attack. I don't know why talking about my romanic life in the present tense, especially when it's new, makes me so uncomfortable. I was overjoyed when we moved onto a new topic which was not me and/or Ian.

[life-afterundergrad]

My photoset from Tuesday didn't upload so I'm redoing it. The class took a two hour trip to Tengangan village in order to see a trance ceremony. Trance ceremonies are such a big deal that people from neighboring villages all flock to be a witness. We got there around 11am in full temple wear. Unfortunately, no one could be sure what time the ceremony was going to begin so we were standing around in the blistering heat of the direct sun in a village with minimal shade. I was sweating so hard I felt like a human faucet. The trace ceremony was apart of a processional of young villagers. I personally didn't see the man in the trance so I can't speak much on it but supposedly he was stabbing himself repeatedly. After the processional, there was a cleansing ritual with the teenaged boys. Apparently the boys from the next village are invited over to dual the boys of this village with these thorny plants. I couldn't watch this for too long before walking away. Apparently, Ariana had passed out from heat stroke and Patrice had a panic attack. It was pretty miserable day. Things did start to look up after we had a delicious dinner.

[life-afterundergrad]

So "boo" became "bae", " baby mama", and referencing our future children. He also felt the need to announce to our bus that I was his "baby mama" ... Totally in love with me lol For the record: I'm not sure how I feel about him in the least. I'm flattered and enjoying the attention but I'm not really taking him seriously. He's kind of a playboy and talks about finding himself an Indonesian wife. He'll then turn and talk about having Haitian babies with me.

[life-afterundergrad]

Cantik has turned to boo ... He's totally in love with me

[life-afterundergrad]

Today we went to Green School. Green School is this magical international alternative school that focuses on fostering the passions of it's students. The want students to learn in a way that works best for them and on top of that, they want to encourage the creativity of the students. Hearing about what students, as young as second grade, have been able to build and accomplish is pretty incredible. The school also runs on 100% clean energy. The buildings themselves are all made of bamboo. There is a compost pile that uses live, on campus cows to create fertilizer that is uses on campus. They grow a lot of their own food on campus, and they have a lot of other sophisticated, self running, energy saving, eco friendly systems on campus as well. Class can be held outside.

Kids are constantly putting on concerts and plays or speeches. If you can think it, you can do it. Students helped to build some of the buildings on campus as well as this incredible bridge. Not to mention, two 13 year old girls got 870,000 signatures in a petition to reduce the use of one-time-plastic bags in the community and the government put in place a bill to help the reduction over the next year. These girls also raise $14,000 to send to victims in Nepal. All of this started because they wanted to do something about the plastic issue. The school is still in it's prime, with only 3 graduating classes thus far. They don't believe in giving students grades until high school (in case the students want to someday go to college). 

The whole program is just about integrated learning that's fun but structured (with leeway). It was just a beautiful experience to speak to Chris, the head of blah blah blah, and the father if two students at the school. His tour was so engaging and he able to answer all if our questions. It was pretty incredible. 

And to think I almost missed the trip because I fell into too deep of sleep during my post lunch nap. I had a headache so decided to lay down for a bit but barely caught the bus as it was pulling out of the parking lot. To add insult to injury, I had no idea where the class was meeting to leave outside of a street name. I had to ask like 4 locals along the way to clarify directions and just pray that I ran into the class.

[life-afterundergrad]

In Indonesian cantik means beautiful when referring to a woman.

So the joke is, at our first Indonesian lesson, Ian turns to me and says he needs some words to pick up women. He then, very innocently, turns to the teacher and asks how to say “beautiful”. I don’t remember his exact words but he totally changed the context when asking the Ibu Lydia. As the only one who was a witness, I immediately call him out on his bullshit. So now cantik is an inside joke between us. Every time he sees me he says it.

Here’s my problem. I’m having a hard time distinguishing whether he’s simply referencing our joke or if he’s hitting on me on the low.

For example. Today the whole class went out drinking and dancing. I felt like he directed a lot of conversation over people, towards me. I also feel like he was watching me a lot. It could be in my head. Or maybe he hasn’t really connected with anyone else yet so I’m comfortable. He also let me eat all his food and drink his alcohol and poke fun at him and he was just super nice about the whole thing. That in itself means that he’s basically in love with me. I guess we have 3 more weeks to find out.

Cantik