Bali week...3?

Hey All! All is good in Bali. I am busy at work (my NGO which is called PPLH) has me dedicated to a specific project on water... considering they speak hardly any english and i very little indonesian i have spent the last few days doing research fun, fun, fun. I am planning on taking/ exploring rice fields (they are everywhere) and coral reefs in order to put together a brief project for my NGO on where local communities can help there water situation here.....i will not bore you any longer with that but essentially it is a bit boring right now but in the end i think will be cool. I am also visiting schools with my NGO and learning about ways that they teach students about environment/water (there really is no enviromental education around here really)... The rest of my days are spent teaching english to 20 adorable little kids. I have been suprised how much i like doing this and look forward to my evenings at the school with the kids....tonight we will sing old mcdonalds and learn about animals!
Earlier this week I made it out to Le Meridian to have dinner with Andy and Kikko (friends of the parents)...while it was a bit of a culture shock because the meridian is ridiculously beautiful, we had a lovely meal and it was so so nice to talk to people who first simply speak english and also who I know!!! We had a great meal and I liked seeing another part of Bali. This weekend I hope to maybe make it over to Ubud to hike the rice fields with them. I also have two temple visits on saturday for yet another ceremony and then we will have a fish dinner on the beach (fresh fish is so abundant here)- more about the ceremony and praying below...

I have been doing a lot of things here that are related to ceremony and tradition...there are so many ceremonys here. Every day they are celebrating something (today i have to / am going to a baby shower at 4) Last sunday i went to this insane kite festival where these massive kites try to stay up as long as they can ...we were the only bole (white people there) and everyone stared at us but it was really cool right next to this beautiful black beach. Last week was mostly spent in indonesian classes...we went to ubud for class twice which was fun there is so much to see around there i hope to spend some mroe time....lots of art, cute shops and so many cool hiking spots.

On thursday ouro classes were randomly cancelled (very balinese) and we went to the beach all day ! Last night and on friday i went to two really great concerts ...one reggae and one technoish the music scene here is really cool and i have met some really cool bole and indonesians this way.... i have pretty much been trying to attend as many events as possible because there are so many amazing things about this culture....

On wednesday , friday and saturay we had these rad discussions about youth and culture followed by prayer (had to get all dressed up in traditional wear it was really special)....

it is really interesting i have really enjoyed seeing some of the touristy spots in bali but my favorite times so far have been in grimy denpasar with the community learning about the culture and participating in there events / i love the music here.

There has been a lot of drama in my house lately. One of the brothers slept with a (i think prostitute- from what i got from my indonesian understanding) and got her pregnant so now he is marrying her to but at the same time has two kids and is having a baby ceremony for his other kids today (where i am going next)... then tonight purnama (puju real name) has caught a fish and we will go to my house tonight to try laku (blood jack fruit and rice!)

Even with all the drama my family continues to take such good care of me and are constantly amusing me.

I think that is all i have for now == the days are so long and so much happens i am healthy and happy but always tired and the damn roosters may be getting to me a bit...

Bali week 1

Hi all here is a update of some snipits of a intense first week- I apologize if it seems kind of all over the place I have just been compiling thoughts and emails ... I wish I could upload some pictures because this place is truly beautiful! Love and miss you all....

SO i finally arrived in Bali on Thursday night which was actually Friday night here. Friday to Sunday I was in a rural village in Bali- it was beautiful and relaxing and fun to get to know the group and our hosts were so gracious and we all had a good time laughing at ourselves and the language barrier...we watched a traditional cock fight and hiked through the tropical forest to a beautiful waterfall. On Sunday we drove to Denpasar to Taman 65 the community I am working/learning in and around. We all were dropped off at our homestays after this..here comes the intense/fun part... My homestay is the farthest away from Taman and the most "rural" and when i say rural i mean I pea in a hole and to shower i dump a bucket of freezing cold water on my head. The plus side of this is that I have the nicest father and sister that speak very good english and could not be nicer but it is definitely going to be a challenge. Last night becca a friend here dropped me off on her motor scooter at the wrong house, i was so lost and discombobulated i had to go to a house and nock on there door and ask where i was it was one of the scariest things i have ever done especially because my indonesian is pretty weak (upon returning to my room i broke down)... did i mention i found bugs in my bed and had gotten lost earlier that day trying to walk to my house and was found by the sister wandering on the side of the road? it was a really long day and it is hard because i am so far away from the rest of my group.

Last night was my first night there and it was interesting....i was awoken multiple times by there roosters which live right outside my room...this i expected because we had this over the weekend but i did not expect the 4am prayer that blasts over a loud speaker. Thankfully my father and sister (this is what they insist i call them) woke me up at 5 to go see the sunrise and "get some fresh balinese air" the father explained to me as we watched the sun come up how the white caps on the waves are white horses that come and go and sang a prayer to bless my family and his uniting as horses. It was truly beautiful... this is a beautiful place but the culture shock has me totally exhausted and overwhelmed.

Since then Everything has been good here. my host family i am so lucky to have. My father has 9 brothers and sisters so there are always people around trying to talk to me. Last night they thought it would be really amusing to try and make me get drunk...picture me sitting on the floor with 5 men older than 35 drinking... it was so funny/ interesting. I am starting to get better at asking questions and am finding out so much about this culture and my host family... The mother has passed away so the father is also constantly asking me questions about how to raise his daughter well :) so cute...we sat up on top of the house yesterday morning (because he told me i was to white and needed to get some sun) and prayed and listened - he is really a sweet sweet man, he likes me and thinks i am very funny -
Today i am going to study. Tommorow we meet our NGOs and I really want to be ready to do the best i can to understand and help them. Saturday we are having a 4th of july celebration on the beach and i will miss you all greatly! Then sunday Pugu (fisher boy part of extended host family) wants to take me to the "real" dreamland which is a secret but famous/ best surf spot here in bali!