balibalibali

I don't even know where to begin…. The last month has been crazy with so many changes and adventures. The Gili's. well that's a long story but maybe ill try to be brief. So jenny came to visit for 2 weeks (at the end of which I was planning on going home although now im staying until its time for peru) so we decided to chill in Ubud and then hit up Cinadasa and the Gili's. We stayed at Tania and Lempot's place in Cinadasa which is amazing (they were friends of friends, now are family). They have a hotel of sorts right on the water that is made up so several "lumbongs" (I have no idea how to spell it) which are traditionally where one stores rice. What it becomes however is a little two level hut made of bamboo and grass with a beautiful upstairs bedroom, a downstairs outdoor eating area and seated table, and the most bangin outdoor bathroom filled with plants and flowers and occasionally frogs.

This was where we met out little Gili family (we all headed out the next day) which consisted of Tanya, Lempot, their three kids, Marcus and Kaled (who I had randomly already met in a bar in Ubud), Kayla and Mara. We took a boat and on the way met some French zookeepers, and a man whose name I forget but he joined us with his son eliot. Kayla and Mara have since become my roommates, coworkers, travel partners and mostly are just really fucking rad girls. I mean seriously rad… so anyway, we were a mixed bunch from all over this world and made the Gili's our home for about a week. It was amazing. Our room was shit but I didn't really stay there much, as there wasn't really electricity and the water was usually turned off but it was about a dollar a day and connected to the café we really made home. Kava Café it's called and you walk in to prerolled joints, the cheapest most delicious Indonesian food, raised pillowed platforms on the water, fresh fruit and Bintang. We were in and out of the water about 15 times a day and even when we got hot dancing at the bar we'd jump over the wall and quickly swim before we went back to dancing. There were lots of bonfires and lots of boys with guitars as well as dj's and dancing on the beach and on top of bars, lots of wandering to new surfing beaches and playing pingpong on the beach.

All 3 islands have no motorized vehicles…. Only horse drawn buggies, although you can walk around the biggest one in about 2 hours, so really no need for even that. We kayaked between the islands and snorkled and dove and hung out with turtles and like everwhere I go I met boys from Cambridge, England. Its really so weird. It doesn't matter where I am, even in Rishikesh, even on my birthday, every white boy I meet ends up being from Cambridge. But anyway, that's a side note and the point will be that the water is the most amazing color of turquoise, the surfing is great and the rocket shakes don't work very well J but we did make the peacock constellation we found the mascot of our trip and may appear on my arm someday soon as a tattoo.

So now I am back in Ubud. Been here for a little bit actually, and after a few days of recuperating aka floating in the pool, we're back in action. I have a few jobs although I'm not fully immersed in any of them yet… working on it though J Im teaching English at a youth center as well as at an orphanage and training to be a doula (midwife's assistant). I live in the clinic's ashram, which basically means that we have a house with some other people on my favorite side of the town. I live with Kayla, Mara, Eda, and sort of these guys Kumar and Thor. although Im not sure if Kumar actually lives with us, he's my favorite roommate J so Kayla and Mara… I don't really know how to describe them except that they're the perfect people for me to have met right now. I mean seriously, we do interpretive dance when the bar gets boring and they're adventure seekers and we all like different types of boys, they went to my sister's college and are hilarious and intelligent. It's really quite perfect actually. We are heading to Malaysia on Friday for a week so we can explore and get new visas. Then back for work and play. Yesterday was earth day here and we set up a booth for the clinic where we did face painting – can you believe the first request was a horse? I mean who fucking face paints a horse? The rest were butterflies and tigers so it got easier J - and sold trees for the Ache clinic and mostly I just hung out with tanya's kids and drank beer and explored the jungle setting of the party and mixed a few beats and had a private Michael Franti (he and noel i guess are friends?) concert under the stars and then headbanged to some Italian Jimi Hendrix wannabe and drank more Storm pale ale which is my favorite and then jumped on the trampoline and then danced to house beats and then left on my friends' fast motorcycle only to lose my shoe and then end up at Puri's house with the same old doing the same old that really just makes me so happy. Yes. Earth day. Oh… and interesting to note we also at our booth had a "friend sign up sheet" which means that people could sign up to be our friends? Im not sure about that but we did meet a lot of people yesterday and promoted our upcoming party to the expats in the hood.

Ok. More later... have to go to work.

Ps. This is a flight confirmation number and I am storing it right here as I have no pen or paper…. Unnecessary info but still I felt like sharing J

Y4CFAQ