Bali has been my new home for two weeks now. This lovely island has captured my heart; the people here are genuinely friendly, the nature is stunning and vibrantly green, and the program is great so far. At times, its easy to forget that I am indeed in school as our classes are outside in a palace and our class activities consist of shopping at the local market, learning Balinese dance, and visiting sacred temples.
There are seventeen of us in the program and almost all of us are from the U.S. (One girl is from Argentina and the other is from China). While we are a larger group than normal according to the program director, the group dynamic works well and we all get along. Each of us stays in a homestay in the village of Kerambitan only a few minutes away from the program center. I live with a family of three: a father (bapak), mother (ibu), and a 27-year-old son. They also have two dogs! My homestay family is generous and kind, always making sure that I get enough food and that I feel comfortable. My bapak speaks English and with my ibu I practice my Bahasa Indonesia (still at a beginners level).
As for free time, my friends and I venture off to the black sand beach, explore the village, and take trips during free weekends. Life is hard! This past weekend, all of us went to Ubud and stayed at a really cheap but nice hostel. I visited the Monkey Forest, ate a lot of healthy, inexpensive, organic food and took the most amazing yoga class of my life at Yoga Barn. While Ubud has a lot of things that interested me, I will say that it felt very touristy at times and by the end I was excited to get back to our village in Tabanan.
This weekend we set out for Java! We will be staying here for three weeks: two weeks in Yogyakarta and one week in East Java. Here we will learn about the major religions and philosophies in Java and the role that the arts play in social change. I am looking forward this experience and seeing how it compares with Bali
