Time in Bali is a strange thing. My first week went by slowly; it was hot and lazy and indulgent. The temperature here is high and the humidity makes for some slow mornings, going to yoga and reading on the porch at my Homestay. There was lesson planning done over long lunches at local warungs. But now that my first week is done, I'm reviewing all I want to accomplish here in Bali; what do I want to teach the kids, how can I connect with them despite the language gap and how can I spend my time here in the most worthwhile way. That made me feel as if my first week flew by; how is it already over?
Teaching last week was intimidating but by Thursday, I felt like I had started to connect with the kids (probably helped that by Thursday, I was finally feeling settled on Bali time, 12 hours ahead of Maryland time.) There is a Balinese woman who is the co-teacher in our class. She helps explain more difficult concepts to the kids. My knowledge of Bahasa Indonesian is very limited right now (bebek means duck.) We taught the kids animals last week. Now this week, we are doing fruits and vegetables (the Bahasa word for Durian is...Durian!) Lesson planning has been fun with my wonderful roommate Purvi. Coming up with engaging activities and games for the kids in hopes that learning English will be fun has been very interesting. I haven't worked with kids in a couple years, and this is bringing me back to my Puh'Tok days.
Overall, I'm excited to be here for the next ten weeks to work with these kids and see where we can go.
Some very fun girls. When the cameras or iPhones appear, it's game on for these kids.
On the travel side, this weekend was filled with some enjoable adventures here in Bali, one involving a very aggressive haggling and a journey to a temple in Karangasem, East Bali.
Purvi and I were reviewing a list of Balinese temples over a long coffee session. Pura Lempuyang stood out to us as a major challenge. First, it's quite far (two hours from Ubud.) would be nice to get away for a day. Second, we read that only the "Strong of Heart" make it to the top. The temple is situated at the top of a short mountain (Mount Lempuyang), and it's 1,700 steps to make it to the top. Not many people go to the temple, it didn't seem very crowded or popular and not everyone makes it to the top. We were very determined and Friday night, Purvi haggled with a local travel company to get us to Lempuyang and back to Ubud (a full day driver) for IDR 425,000. In USD, that's $32.17. Not a bad price.
We got to Lempuyang by 10am and spoke to the local priest to sort out the entrance fee and rent a sarong. In order to enter the temple, everyone must wear a sarong. The priest didn't seem to believe we would make it to the top and that only furthered my determination.
We walked up to the first, lower temple to get some pictures. It was a beautiful gate with amazing views of Mount Agung. The view was amazing and seeing this was definitely on my Bali Bucket List.
Can't see Mount Agung here but it's hiding behind the clouds.
After hours of hiking, first down some roads/trails, then up hundreds on stairs, I'm happy to say we both made it to the top. I think the locals were so shocked; they wanted a picture with me. So I insisted they take one using my camera as well.
These men and women make the walk up to the top EVERY DAY.
Before I got to Bali, it wasn't even on my radar to go to this temple. I'm so glad we did though. Definitely a mind-over-matter experience (reminded me of certain days on the 4K.) it was also wonderful to not be surrounded by tourists. Most of the steps I took, I was alone, so humid, so hot and being so tempted to turn around. Finishing one of the most physically and emotionally strenuous acts I've done in a long time was extremely satisfying.
Made the view back at the bottom even sweeter.
I'll try to post more frequently in the future. Looking forward to sharing more stories about my time here.
Bunny Brooks