One month already! It seems like just days ago I was writing about my first few days on this wonderful island. It’s hard to remember all the things that have happened; we’ve done so much!
Ubud turned out to be THE SPOT for shopping, nightlife, and food. Ubud is also conveniently located close to a lot of places for excursions, like Mount Batur, river rafting, and the Bali Zoo. This meant that on our days off we had a plethora of choices to choose from! We went on a rice paddy walk and learned about the hard work of cultivating rice. We also saw a ton of cool insects and birds hanging out in the flooded rice paddies while listening to the loudest cicadas ever. It was one of the more peaceful moments in our busy schedule.
Another day in Ubud we went to a Kecak dance where we witnessed a beautiful story take place, with chanting and ending with a man kicking up burning coconut husks with his bare feet and hands.
It wasn’t long before we made it to our next destination, Pemuteran, a small fishing village in the Northwest side of Bali. It was quite a change of scenery from the hustle and bustle of Ubud, but in the best way. Here, we spent two weeks snorkeling both off the beach of our hotel and at Menjangan Island, a beautiful location with some of the best snorkeling in Bali. The bioluminescence at night here also added to the magic.
We even had a tide pooling lab where we saw a blue ringed octopus, sea hares galore, and countless brittle stars.
One of my favorite things we did, though, was go to Reef Seen to learn about sea turtles and how the locals are now involved to protect them. A few of us even got to release a baby turtle into the ocean!
The beach didn’t keep us from exploring other things, like a Hindu/Buddha temple or getting dressed up to attend a full moon ceremony.
Before I knew it, we were back in Ubud for a few days, fully immersed in the Balinese culture. We even got to attend a Wayan Kulit puppet show, a storytelling practice that dates back 2000 years. It was awesome.
The next day we went to a water temple that had cool, crystal clear water coming from a natural spring. We dressed in special green sarongs that were for getting wet.
On another note, all of the housing in Bali has been stellar to say the least. Not to mention that one of my roommates has become one of my new closest friends. As for our professors, both Michelle and Betsy have been so amazing and supportive of our needs throughout this entire trip, as well as both being incredibly knowledgeable.
What about the locals, you ask? They are some of the kindest, happiest, most giving and honest people you will ever meet. I think they’re rubbing off on all of us. That’s all for now, sempai jumpai lagi (see you later)!
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