High of 88 and sunny, with a forecast of rainy season

Today we decided to go for a walk in the nearby rice patties. We got an early start in an attempt to beat the heat. The rice patties are pretty scenic, and it is hard to capture their beauty on film.

Then randomly while walking through the rice patties we found this:

Alright. A snack stand. In the middle of the rice patties. They then served us this:

It's a giant coconut. The guy at the snack booth sliced off the top so we could drink the liquid inside, and then sliced it fully in half so we could eat the fresh coconut. It was DELICIOUS!

After leaving the rice patties we walked past Ubud to one of the nearby towns, Campuhan, where we ate lunch. It was very quiet there (especially compared to Ubud), and I had a big 750 ml beer, and it was GLORIOUS.

After a long relaxing lunch, we headed home, only to see this guy:

I swear he was the size of Ilana's hand. He was HUGE!

On our way back to Ubud we bought sarongs for both of us, which we are told we will need for the giant ceremony that is happening tomorrow. We don't entirely understand what the ceremony is for, but it is big, and lots of decorations are already up, and it should be quite awesome.

Anyway, once we got back to Ubud we were supposed to go work in the youth center's organic garden, but the skies opened up, and it started raining very hard. We got back to our room soaking wet, changed in to some dry clothes, and went to the bar across the street for a snack and tea. Fortunately, it was buy one cocktail, get one free for happy hour, so two cocktails later, a snack, and some tea, we were all set, and the rain had let up. Then we had dinner! And now it has started raining again, so we are holing up for the night.

Dov

It's raining outside

But it's ok. We have these wonderful concoctions. Fresh watermelon daiquiri on the left and lychee martini on the right. We are going to wait out this rain in this beautiful bar.

Food extravaganza!

When we first signed up for this volunteer program, we asked if the home stay had a kitchen so we could cook. The coordinator said there was not a kitchen, but we wouldn't need one because the restaurants are so cheap here. He was not lying. The most expensive meal we have had so far was $10 for the both of us. The average is close to $5 per meal, just over $2 for each entree.

This was our breakfast today. The homestay we are staying with cooks us breakfast every morning. Those are banana pancakes (more like crepes) with fresh fruit. The fresh fruit is purchased each morning from the local market, and includes, pineapple, papaya, banana, and some other unidentifiable fruit which is delicious.

Today we went to an art museum, which was interesting. It had no temprature controls, and as a result quite a bit of the older art was deteriorating. It was very sad.

We then had lunch at the shadiest place I have ever eaten at.

The picture doesn't do it justice, but this is an alley between two buildings. But to the cook's credit, the food was good, and we didn't get sick from it. This was our food

Everything was fresh, and we saw it all cooked before our eyes.

We also taught our first lesson today at the youth center. I suck at teaching english, but I think I can get better. Teaching is hard!

whats the difference between Dov and a monkey?

We had our first full day in Bali to explore, and what did we decide would be the very first thing on our list of things to do? The monkey forest, obviously!

There are some darn cute baby monkeys! So much fun to watch them play.

The monkey forest is a short walk from our homestay, so I imagine that we will be visiting often. The monkeys are considered sacred, and the monkey forest is also home to one of the temples in Ubud. This particular temple is the temple to the dead. Each town has 3 types of temple - a temple of origin, a temple of current or every day spirits, and a temple of the dead. We were able to enter the courtyard of the temple, but not the area where ceremonies take place.

And the difference between Dov and monkey is... that Dov wears clothes?

sharing our home

We have a very nice private room, with a private bathroom, in a homestay situation. Balinese don't really own separate homes as several generations of a family will live together in a walled family compound comprised of several buildings and a courtyard space. The family compounds can never be bought nor sold, and are simply passed down from generation to generation. We are staying in a typical family compound where the family rents out several rooms to tourists.

It is very hot and there is no airconditioning, nor are there screens on the windows. There is a very nice breeze and a ceiling fan. With the windows wide open to our room, we have already been visited today by a butterfly, a gecko, and a bird who flew in one window, became very confused, but quickly found a different window to depart from. While our room really is very private from other humans, I guess we will be sharing space with the wildlife for the next few weeks.

36 hours later.....

We are here!

Honestly, the first 24 hours of travel were a breeze. Or what I should really say about it, is that I expected much worse. Between sleeping and watching movies, the majority of the travel really wasn't so bad. We flew Singapore Airlines, which was awesome. I love the outfits that the stewardesses wear. The food was great. They walk around serving complimentary wine. All our flights were on time. The Changi Singapore airport (where we had to change planes) is my new favorite airport. There are orchid gardens and koi ponds in the airport! If only we could take Singapore Airlines every time we fly. In the end though, we are very happy to be done with busses, trains, planes, airports, and comfortably situated at our new home.

As we were leaving the Denpasar airport and driving to Ubud, I was struck by a few first impressions of Bali.

1. It is hot and it is humid. GOODBYE winter! Hello sweat.

2. Not all of Bali is a tropical paradise. It is country where inflation has been a big problem, and there is not a whole lot of money to go around. Not to say that we won't be able to see beautiful and amazing things, but there is a grungier side to Bali too.

3. They drive on the left side of the road. And that is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to reasons why I would never want to try to drive here. The roads are mayhem.

4. I think you'd have to be pretty brave to ride a motorcycle here. And yet many, many people do it.

5. I have a LOT to learn about Balinese culture and religion. We'll see if 1 month is enough time to even begin to fathom all the intricacies.

6. Ubud seems to be a very interesting place to explore. We will do more of that tomorrow. For now, we are very tired and trying to adjust to a 13 hour time difference.

And with all that being said, here are a few pictures of our new home:

Our sleeping quarters.

And one of the windows.

First Post!

We leave tomorrow for Bali! We are taking a bus to NYC and then flying from JFK to Germany, where we refuel, and then fly to Singapore. We have a small layover there, and then fly to Bali.

We will be volunteering at the Bumi Sehat youth center in Ubud Bali.

Hopefully this blog will be updated often with news and pictures of our adventures!

Dov