My Life is a Sitcom

Filled with moments of laughter, tears, stress, and the unexpected, my time in Freo has been a few laughs short of a quality sitcom. I think ABC is going to be picking it up next fall (ahem, autumn for those of you who claim to be Australian J .) However, in all seriousness I think that I am finally starting to experience some culture shock which has been leading to feelings of.....homesickness. I hate to say it, but I am missing home a little at times. I think it is a combination of everyone back home finishing up school and preparing for finals when I am in the middle of my busy semester, and the end of the chaos isn’t quite in sight.

Reasons for my culture shock:

*I am finally starting to realize how difficult it is to find good guys to talk to when you are sick of being around women.

*Australian prices are leading me to a diet of ramen and other various pasta assortments.

*I have lots of homework, and by homework I mean papers, and by papers I mean 3000 word long papers.

*Although not entirely required, the dress code for going out is typically skirts, and I am ready to return to my St. Joe fashion of skinny jeans, boots, and a t-shirt. Enough of this dressing up business.

* I would really like to walk down the street without getting called at.

*I miss being able to call my family without having to use Skype’s phone services, and then praying that it goes through....oy to dropped calls.

*Finally, sometimes you just need a hug and you want it to be from your mom.

*A “house” that is falling to shambles, literally

About the P&O...one day we awoke to find that one of the toilets in the girl’s bathroom had actually fallen off the wall! This led to some flooding in the bathroom which led to some leaking of the floor, aka the ceiling in our kitchen downstairs. The leakage led to big chunks of the sheetrock falling down which led to the closure of the kitchen. PLUS all the rain has led to some minor flooding of a few of our walkways, and now some nasty smells that are coming in turn because of that. I am starting to feel like Australia may have a few tricks of nature up its sleeve. The weather lately has not quite been what I expected, and I am starting to sense the need to invest in some more long sleeved shirts because it gets a tad chilly in the evenings.

The fallen sheetrock

The chunk of the ceiling that fell....the whole is much larger now because they had to remove it for safety reasons

I wasn't kidding when I said we walked in and it had just fallen off the wall...possibly rusty screws finally gave way

But, despite the feelings of homesickness, I have to say that this week has been filled with many wonderful things. We got to participate in the local Anzac Day festivities this past Wednesday. This included waking up at 4:15 AM to be at a 5:30 AM Dawn Service; the whole thing reminded me a lot of our Memorial Day or Flag Day...maybe even the Fourth of July. It all seemed a bit strange though to be standing and partaking in a celebration for a country that is not technically “yours.” But, as strange as it sounds I am starting to feel like I am a part of this country. I am starting to use Australian phrases and words such as “cheers” and “mate” without feeling too much like a poser.

Dawn Service at the Memorial

Australian Flag

 Anzac Day also proved to be quite the extravagant holiday in terms of restaurant business as well. Joe’s Fish Shack was hoppin’ with business, and yours truly was bussing tables and serving food. That’s right; yours truly got her a job (finally!!!) at Joe’s Fish Shack. It is only a short walk from the P&O, and I have been enjoying the past three shifts I have worked there. I have been learning a lot of differences between the Australian and American restaurant styles now that I have been working in them.

This is where I work!! It's right on the harbour and the back of the restaurant opens up on to the water!

Some of the differences....

*The pace is generally a lot slower, probably because

*You don’t tip so there is really no need to provide “great” service, but I still try to

*When hustling to a table, you pass the oncoming foot traffic on the left, not the right side...it’s harder than it sounds to remember

*Learn your types of fish (Mackerel, Snapper, Salmon, and Barramundi)

*Silverware goes on the left side of the place setting

*Everyone goes to the table to provide service....kitchen runners for food, the wait staff, the hostesses, bar tenders, just everyone!!

There are just a lot of differences.

To celebrate, well I’m not entirely certain, but just for fun I suppose, The Orient had a mechanical bull on Thursday night. So naturally, a huge crew of us P&O folk went down to support the local economy and take a spin or two or three (in my case) on the mechanical bull. They had it set up in the back room, and everyone was taking a turn on the crazy thing. I had a few tries at it, and each time built up my time. The first ride was around 60 seconds, the second was around 100, and then the third time I was trying to go for the record. Well, low and behold, I got it! With a ride time of 140 seconds, you can now proudly say that you are friends with the Mechanical Bull Riding Champion of Fremantle, Western Australia! (Oh the crazy titles a person will give themself just to sound a tad cooler.) ;)

The Champion for the night!

Mechanical Bull riding

Part of our study abroad group out at bull riding!

Our Anzac Day marine!!

 That night, we also learned a little more about the culture of Australia. We have been noticing that there are not a lot of moments when we hear country music. Typically Australia has its own genre of music, and then they play the other random popular music from the states, but you never really hear much country music. The local talent was taking suggestions, so naturally we suggested “Sweet Home Alabama.” The man looked at us for a VERY long time, and finally explained that he’d have to do some thorough searching to find it. He eventually located the tune, and played it for us, but I thought it was so ironic how he almost refused to play it for us. We also requested that he play “Piano Man” at bar close in true Bennie/Johnnie style. I rounded up the locals and explained how in the states we get in a circle and the guys drop their pants (ONLY THEIR PANTS - NOT THEIR BOXERS.) Apparently that was a misunderstanding because the guy next to me dropped his pants (mind you he was around 60) and then some young kid dropped his, and fell to the ground as his friend pantsed his boxers as well. He managed to cover himself a little, but it was definitely an embarrassing moment for everyone at the bar!! I think it’s obvious that Australians don’t quite understand our Minnesotan waysJ.

This past Saturday a small group drove to Serpentine Falls National Park, where we got to go on this beautiful (and steep) hike. There is so much beauty that lies within the heart of Australia that I have been missing. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love Freo, but sometimes there is so much to be offered if you put yourself in situations that branch out of the familiarity of Freo. There was a really beautiful waterfall that fed into a spring pool. It had a really strange scent, but I think that just had to do with the time of year. Joe, Brenna, Kelsey, Sydney, Amanda G., Amanda W., Greg, Janelle, and I all enjoyed a nice cookout in true Australian style, making (no, not sausages for a sausage sizzle), but burgers and all the fixins’. We were joined by a few wild kangaroos as well! Yes, these kangaroos were so tame that they came right up to us and ate these big carrots that we had for them. I even put a carrot in my mouth and the little Joey was nibbling off the other end! It was so cool to see these kangaroos that were in the wild, definitely a lot less tame than the ones from Caversham Wildlife Park, but much more tame then the ones in the outback. They would just bound away using their tails and feet, and with such ease just move around. I was so impressed by them. I probably could have stayed there and looked at these iconic creatures all day. Proof, yet again, that I am still American, and am still impressed by these Australian creatures.

The fall at Serpentine Falls where a few of the girls went for a chilly swim...I was not so brave.

Also, as I complete this entry I have to say that I am being lulled to sleep (NOT) by the torrential downpours that have been occurring outside my window for the past few days. When it rains, it pours....and that is the honest to God truth!

That’s all for now, but I hope I can get through this marathon called a week!!! Wish me luck!

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie Oi, Oi, Oi

Just as I promised, I am trying to blog more often! After all the chaos of the past few weeks of traveling, you'd think that this past week would have slowed down a bit, but with only 2 months (I know, already half over!!) left of study abroad, I just cannot afford to slow down at all.

So you're probably wondering what the title of this blog means. Well, in Australia, there is a common saying that gets chanted and it is "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi." I've been giving this some extreme thought and I recently decided that because all of the boys wear their shorts so short, when they walk by people shout "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie" at them, and the boys say "Oi, Oi, Oi"...well... because.....just use your imagination ;) haha If there are any other thoughts on this, I would love to hear them!

Ellie, Andrea, and I...just a little visual proof that I still have my tan and I'm still having fun!

This past week our group went on Torchlight Tours of the old Fremantle Prison. It was in operation for over 100 years and just shut down back in '91, and did I mention that they say it's haunted?? Yeah. I went in thinking that it wouldn't be that bad, I mean it was going to be dark and all I would have is my flashlight, but I had Kaylee (my roommate) by my side so we'd be there for each other. Honestly, it wasn't even that scary, UNTIL (dun, dun DUuuuuuun!) they had a fake body fall from the sky, and had people jump out to scare us. They were all actors, but I was literally in tears at one point from the overwhelming amount of emotions of happiness, fear, and humour. They let us keep our flashlights as a souvenir, so at least we have something to show for all our fear.

We also got to make a huge community dinner of all our favourite Easter foods!! It was absolutely amazing and super refreshing to have a taste of home cookin' again. We had homemade cheesy potatoes, green bean casserole, ham, lamb, pasta salads (made by your very own and a few of my mates...aka friends), as well as many, many other dishes! It was a valiant effort from everyone, and we even had an array of tasty desserts....I was in heaven! (Thanks dad for the mouth full of sweet teeth! haha) They even let us have a small Easter egg hunt afterward!

Speaking of Easter surprises...check out the picture below! Mom sent me a HUGE package full of Easter goodies and surprises. Including a few of my favorite things, Reese's mini peanut butter cups. Get this, they don't sell them here in Australia!

My Easter surprise from Mom and the family!!

Proof that I am spoiled rotten because my mom sent me such an amazing card and package!!! I love my family!

This past week I have been working hard on getting caught up on my sleep as well as my homework. I had a presentation last Monday that I had worked on pretty much the day it was due; however, today I received my scores for it AND I got a High Distinction on the presentation and a Distinction on the accompanying paper. An HD is the highest grade you can get at UNDA, and that particular presentation and paper are worth 30% of my final grade for the class! Needless to say, I am EXTREMELY happy!! Also, I just received the score back from another presentation I had given, and I was pleased to have received another High Distinction on it! That was with Joe Pekarna, another St. John's student, and I was so happy when I received my grade in my email that I literally ran, yes I RAN down to find him and then proceeded to do a happy dance!! Maybe I can do this whole "Australian student" business after all! :)

This is what happens to me when I get locked up in my room to work on  homework.

I start modeling with my scarf! OH BOY...

We were challenged by the other housing buildings to raise money for a Leukemia foundation. With only one day to raise money our house managed to raise over $100!! Over $50 of those dollars were raised by Amanda and Sydney, two of the girls from Saint Ben's. They went busking (aka playing an instrument and singing on the street with a hat out for money to be placed in.) My friend Molly and I joined in the singing for a few minutes, and it was a real hit with the people of Freo!!

Sydney is on the left and Amanda is on the right

I also provided a bit of background beats with my hands and the pavement :)

We also played yet another great game of NETBALL!! We are improving so much and only lost by ONE point! I think if the refs stopped making bad calls, thinking we weren't intelligent enough to get the game of netball (which to be fair, a few weeks ago we didn't even know which side of the court each player should stand at during the start of each quarter, but still!) Granted we were playing one of the other lower ranked teams, but we still managed to play a pretty solid game scoring 20 points!! With three games left, I am optimistic that we can win at least one of them!!

This past weekend our group celebrated Mike Lockwood's 22nd birthday! The festivities were most enjoyable and I think he really enjoyed all of our participation in celebrating with him! Kaylee and I even made him a make shift birthday crown from an old folder. Complete with "cotton balls" made of torn apart ends from q-tips. Yeah, us college kids have to get crafty! haha

A few of us spent the remainder of the weekend back at Rottnest Island in a cabin that we rented. The first night was quite rainy and rather dreary so we spent our time chatting. That night we indulged in some games of Truth or Dare, What If, and even a little story time. It was rather hilarious! The next day was much nicer so we went to a spot called The Basin and lay out all day! We soaked up the rays and did a little exploring. Kaylee and I went and found the light house and did some manouvering through the land mine of rocks. We sure like to "dance." haha

Some of our cabin crew!

We found this little cavern to crawl into. There was water down below!

Getting tan on the white sand beaches of Rottnest Island off the Western coast of Australia!

Rottnest Island ♥

Posing with the lighthouse

I made a new friend...this is Mr. Quokka!! Quokkas are all over Rottnest Island and they are kind of like a mini kangaroo!

Well folks, that pretty much sums up my life from the past week. We've been having quite a few adventures along the way, and I've been enjoying every minute of it! The past couple of days I've been fighting off my head cold and trying not to get home sick. Nothing like being under the weather without having your mom and dad there to bring you some soup! Hopefully it gets better soon! Otherwise, that's about all for now. The next couple of weeks are going to be quite hectic, so I'm gonna try to keep my head above water!

It's BALI Time!

BALI Days and Nights

Here it is, the day-by-day of my time in Kuta, Bali!

Sunday, April 8

*Depart for Kuta, Bali, Indonesia!!!!

*Arrived at Wina (weena) Holiday Villa, Kuta, Bali

~Stayed with Andrea T and Kyla

Monday, April 9

*Hung out by the pool

*Room service and free breakfast

*Supper in Seminyak, Bali @ Mykenos Greek Restaurant

*Sky Bar for free drinks and dancing at Bounty

Tuesday, April 10

*Tanah Lot Temple (middle of the water)

*Uluwatu Cliff Temple

*Padong-Padong Beach with monkeys!!

*Kecak Fire dance

*Fried noodle dinner on the beach with fireworks!

*Hilarious drivers

Wednesday, April 11

*Market Street in Bali

*Kuta Beach

*Smart Salon & Day Spa – 60 min Balinesse Massage J

*Pizza from Dominoes (delivery!)

Thursday, April 12

*Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary (Ubud, Bali)

*Ketut – healer from Eat, Pray, Love

*‘A True Balinese Experience’ – The Elephant Camp

*Rice fields

Friday, April 13

*Pool alllllllll day

*Dinner @ Cafe Bali – SO CUTE!

*Cards @ Alleycats with boys from Canada

Saturday, April 14

*River Rafting

*Dominoes pizza for dinner

*Sky Bar, Alleycats, Icon, Bounty

Sunday, April 15

*Markets

*Lost Debit Card

*Tubes – Surfer spot for lunch

*J. CO for donuts

*Depart for home!

 _________________________________________________________________

            One fine evening when we were walking home from Bali, I summed up the island in two words, Bali smelt like poop and incense. Not that those descriptive words should sum up my experience while in Bali, but I think I was exposed to more culturally shocking things in my week away in Bali than I have been in my entire time in Australia.

On Sunday, April 8^th, eleven beautiful ladies departed for the terrorist-ridden land of Bali, Indonesia. Back in 2002, there was an evening bombing in a nightclub in Kuta, Bali. Needless to say, after discovering this, I was anything but excited to be heading to this treacherous land in the year of the tenth anniversary of this event. But, I had to put my big girl pants on, trust that God would protect our group, and realize that I just paid over $800 for this trip, so there was no going back now.

I am happy to say that I returned safe and unscathed, but with many, many stories to share. When we arrived in Bali I noticed an immediate difference from Australia because the climate was a lot hotter and more humid. Let’s just say I started sweating when I got off the plane, and it didn’t stop until I got back on it to head home to Australia. When we arrived at our hotel (Wina Holiday Villa in Kuta, Bali), we were greeted by the friendly faces of the staff, as well as some warm, wet, delightfully smelling towels to clean our face and hands. (We were all really nervous about our hotel because we figured it would end up being nothing like the photos from our online booking, but in reality it was just as beautiful!) The hotel had two big pools and a swim up bar, and after some rearranging with our rooms we settled in for our week long adventure.

All the ladies ins front of Tarah Lot Temple

Selfy in front of Tanah Lot temple

Secret Cove in the rocks

Padong Padong Beach 

Uluwatu Cliff Temple with our Sarongs

Uluwatu Cliff Temple

Awaiting the Kecak Fire Dance

Kecak Fire Dance

Dinner on the beach with fresh fruit juice!

My $3 meal!

The group with our crazy drivers!

This monkey was crazy and loved me!!

Ketut, the healer from Eat, Pray, Love

About time to conquer some elephant riding!

We were blessed to have such a delicious meal included in our day!

Jimmy ♥

Elephant Hugs

An elephant never forgets.

White water rafting with the crew

Wina Holiday Villa, our home for the week

One of the blue bird taxis that we had to take everywhere

the markets

just one example of a woman carrying a large load on her head

I can't believe this is my life!

This must be for all the lazy American tourists haha

Monday we spent our time hanging by the pool and ended up going out for an evening of tasty food at Mykenos, a Greek-style restaurant. I was unable to eat anything because I had made myself so sick thinking about how I could possibly get the horrid ‘Bali-belly’ sickness. You can get ‘Bali-belly’ by drinking water from the tap, or eating food that was not prepared with distilled water. It was really difficult to be somewhere so amazing, yet unable to enjoy my time because I was so afraid I was going to get sick. Since the water is so bad, you have to shower with your mouth shut (which for me is apparently a very difficult task.) You also have to use bottled water to brush your teeth, once again a difficult thing for me to remember. One night I was mid brushing my teeth when I went to rinse...*cue scary music*.....and I was about to rinse when I caught myself with my toothbrush in my mouth and the sink running tap water. Needless to say I freaked out, threw my toothbrush away, dried the inside of my mouth with a towel, drank some red cordial water (kind of like red kool aid to coat your stomach), and then proceeded to pray I wouldn’t get sick. I ended up being fine, but you can see how big of a deal this Bali-belly stuff is! I’ve never had to worry about that when here in Australia!

Despite all of the worry about Kuta being dangerous, I found my time there to be quite enjoyable and for the majority of the time, safe. Our group decided that we wanted to see more than just the inside of the city of Kuta. A few of us ventured out of our hotel to book a tour one day, and quickly realized the importance of bartering. We ended up going to a travel stand and got a day long tour price down from $50 to $30 dollars. Now, the currency in Indonesia is rupees, but we sometimes would have to deal with American prices for the sake of tourist spots.

On our tour we ended up going to two different temples (Uluwatu Cliff Temple and Tanah Lot Temple.) Tanah Lot Temple was in the middle of the ocean and you could only get to it during low tide when the waves subsided. It was my first experience going to a Hindu temple, and although we didn’t get to go inside, all around the area there was a feeling of deep respect. In Bali, there is a tradition of making little boats of flowers that have a stick of lit incense in them. These are found all over Kuta, as well as at the temples. It contributes to why I described smelling incense all the time in Bali. They were all over, all the time! They are used as a sign of offering to the gods for the Hindu religion. On our way to Uluwatu Cliff Temple we stopped at Padong-Padong beach. When we were here, Kaley F. and a few others really wanted to get some food. When I walked over to check out their lunch, I was really confused because I didn’t see a kitchen anywhere for where their meal was prepared. I asked Kaley where the kitchen was and she pointed to the shed with the surfboards in it. Sure enough, there was a lady making rice on this tiny little stove top inside this rickety old shed. Kaley’s quote was “if I don’t get Bali-belly from this, I don’t think I can get it at all.” Sure enough she, as well as our whole group survived Bali without getting sick. When we went to Uluwatu, out of respect they give everyone showing their knees a sarong to wear around their waist. We were supposed to keep our knees covered as part of the time at the temple. It was around sunset, and as Uluwatu is a cliff temple we were right on the cliffs edge. I think I know a few people that would have been freaking out about how close we were to the edge! The scenery here was so amazing that I just stood still and breathed in the fresh ocean air. I couldn’t believe that this beautiful place could be located so near to such poverty and danger in the city. That evening we went to the Kecak fire dance. It is a traditional dance by Indonesian men that make music and chant while only using their bodies as instruments. There is a story being told as well through the chanting and the dancing. It is said to be one of the most cultural things to do while in Bali, and I think it definitely opened my eyes to the heritage of Bali. They even had a part that dealt with being sent off to a husband that was chosen for the young girl, and it was interesting to remember that arranged marriages exist there sometimes. We rounded out the evening with dinner literally on the beach. Our table was placed right by the water’s edge, and as we watched the waves crash on the shore there were even a few fireworks in the distance.

A few random things to note.......

1.      Breakfast food in Bali apparently is the same as lunch and dinner food. There were Asian noodles, rice, pancakes, potatoes, corn, baked beans, and all sorts of other things at our daily continental breakfasts at our hotel.

2.      You know you’re not in Kansas anymore when one of the girls in your group needs to get out of the van to vomit, and she is standing with a cow on her left side and a women balancing a basket on her head on her right side.

3.      Your drivers get back in the car at night after you eat dinner, and they are driving 15 mph on the freeway. After you realize that the car had a funny scent in it, you ask if they were doing drugs. They deny it because drugs get you the death penalty in Bali, but then they offer you Magic Mushrooms because those are legal. You politely decline and pray you are not about to be a duplicate from a scene out of Taken.

4.      Your driver and “interpreter” (needed because the driver apparently didn’t speak very good English), ask if they can take you out to the clubs because they like you so much...then proceed to want your name to add you on Facebook!

5.      When you walk down the street, you are whistled at, howled at, or called:

a.       Lady Gaga

b.      Spice Girls or

c.       Shakira

.......none of which I’m sure are really complimentary.

On Wednesday we went to the markets in Kuta. They are streets upon streets lined with markets where there are Indonesian men, women, and children hassling you to stop at their “store.” If you even look at their clothes they immediately think you are interested, and they try to suggest prices for you. If you tell them where you are from, then they make things even more expensive because they know the exchange rate of the rupee to dollar is about 10,000 to $1 dollar. Sometimes they will begin with a starting price of 300,000 rupees, but that is around $30, so I would suggest prices of 30,000 rupees instead, which was around $3. One time I began with a firm answer of 30,000 rupees and a woman kicked me out of her store. She told me “no way..you get out...too cheap! Too cheap!” I couldn’t believe she actually did that, but then I learned you sometimes just had to go to a different store. That night we checked out Kuta beach where the shoreline was plastered with garbage and junk, I even saw a pair of underwear washed up on shore! Although it was a gorgeous beach in terms of waves and attractive surfer men, you would have people constantly coming up to you trying to sell you things. Someone even tried to sell one of the girls a bow and arrow.....seriously? What are you going to do with that?! And how on earth would you ever get it through customs?!! Since the exchange rate was so much in our favour, we decided to treat ourselves and head to the spa that night. I was able to get a full body Balinesse massage for only $10 dollars! I was in heaven! However, I had never received a massage before, and a man was almost going to do it for us, when we interjected and politely requested a woman. I mean, I don’t mind getting a massage from a woman when I’m barely wearing anything, but a man is an entirely different story!!

On Thursday, we embarked for another group excursion. We went to a few different places including a monkey park where I bought bananas, and literally had monkeys jumping all over me to snatch the bananas. Afterwards we had some extra time before we had to be at the spot to ride elephants, yes I did say elephants!!! Something I learned about Bali was that if your driver for the day really liked you and your group, you could get them to go on all sorts of little extra excursions during your time with them. I asked if we were anywhere near where the healer from Eat, Pray, Love lived and to my surprise we were only about a half hour drive away from him! Our driver took us to meet Ketut, and I was speechless. We actually pulled up right at his house, and walked through the gates to find Ketut sitting on his porch (just as in the book and movie) doing a healing session with someone! I could hardly believe my eyes! Riley and I were almost going to take a number and come back the next day for a healing session, but to be honest between the money and my fear of him telling me I had a short life line on my palm, we decided against it. We went to ride elephants next, and it was such a life changing experience. My elephant’s name was Jimmy, and he had been at the camp for almost 10 years! The guy he was riding with had been with Jimmy for close to 15 years though. Jimmy was the oldest elephant at the camp, and was also the largest. He was such a gentle and loving elephant, and after our ride I got to take lots of pictures with him! They’re trunks are so strong that they could actually lift up a person if they wanted to. They are also so incredibly intelligent that they were able to pick up Andrea’s flip flop and return it to her! We even raced on our elephants for a little bit.

I noticed that a lot of people in Bali have great senses of humour because when I was chatting with all of our different drivers I always took note of their willingness to interact and joke with us. I think they really enjoyed getting to take us around their country and teach us about their livelihoods.

After a very busy week, we took Friday to treat ourselves to some r&r time by the pool. Since room service was so cheap, I ordered food and had it delivered to me in my lounge chair right by the pool! That would never happen in the states, just because it is so expensive. I even had a banana split brought to my room one night, and I felt like I was in Home Alone when he orders all the junk food to his room! We soaked in the sun and enjoyed some belly flops and cannon balls into the water as well. That night we went to another restaurant in Seminyak, a city near Bali where we ate at Cafe Bali. It literally looked like a page straight out of Home and Garden magazine because it had such a light and airy feel to it. There was even a little river in the back of the restaurant. However, not all restaurants will split the bill for you, so we had to spend an extra 45 minutes in the restaurant trying to make sense of our bill and who had to pay what. It really is quite comical because we spent so much time arguing over thousands of rupees, which in reality are only a few dollars and cents. Later on, we went to one of our favourite little bars called Alleycats where we had met some really nice Canadian boys earlier in the week. We ended up playing cards there for awhile before calling it a night and heading down the dark alleyway back home. Much to our dismay, our favourite little bracelet shop turned into a Magic Mushroom dealer spot at night and even had a bright colourful sign that we took our picture with! It was so crazy to see how dirty the city can be at night.

Saturday we spent the day river rafting where we got to see a lot more of  the traditional Balinese landscape! We had waterfalls and rice fields all around us, and even got to climb 200 steps up to our lunch spot at the end of rafting. It was a really great experience to have an Indonesian guide yelling out commands, and trying to understand it all!! He would yell “Boom Boom” when we were about to hit something so we had to quickly hang on to the boat, otherwise we would get thrown out of it! That night we went to a few of our other favourite spots, Sky Bar, Bounty to go dancing, and Alleycats. We even saw our Canadian friends there as well!!

Sunday we finished up our trip with another brief trip to the markets and some lunch at Tubes (a surfer themed bar and grill restaurant.) Oh, and I should probably mention as well, that I’m an idiot and left my debit card INSIDE the ATM when getting cash out on Saturday night. After freaking out and retracing my steps, I had to call the Indonesian bank. Let’s just say there was a bit of a language barrier (as we had previously discovered when trying to order Dominoes, only to realize we had been on the phone for 10 minutes with room service haha.) After the lady told me she couldn’t help me, I cried a little, then skyped home to send my parents to the rescue (thanks mom and dad!)

Honestly, when all is said and done, Bali was quite the cultural experience. Between trusting in the BlueBird taxi service instead of the many motorized bikes for public transport, being hassled constantly, called many sketchy celebrity names, drinking tons of bottled water and taking my daily supplements of red cordial and Bali-belly preventative pills, lots of time at the markets, and exploring the outer areas of Bali, I think I had one of the most amazing and life changing spring breaks any girl could ask for! I love exploring the country God has made. Also, I have now been to 4 continents J How nifty!!