Wrapping Up

Firstly, forgive me for taking so long to post!  I’ve been working on a film for AIESEC UGM and will post it to this blog as evidence that I haven’t been blowing you all off!  I’m posting extra pictures to make it up to you all, I hope you enjoy.

So as this project is wrapping up, I’ve finally figured out my presentation.  My last school was probably the best school, in terms of my presentation.  I went to SMA K2, which is a technical school in Yogyakarta.  The students have been working on a project on HIV/AIDS, so my presentation was not my usual powerpoint + fun activities.  I had a discussion with the kids, with help from Riando as my translator! (Thanks Riando!)  When I asked the students what they thought of a person with HIV/AIDS (something I use to show people about prejudice), a girl responded to me, “we must fight the virus, not the people”.  I think she said it better than I could have.  My discussion with those kids really touched me, I was inspired by their knowledge, and impressed by the depth of their project.  I think one thing that makes HIV/AIDS such a challenging disease to fight is that people don’t really feel connected to it, there are no signs of it, and most people don’t talk about it.  I am very happy to see how the people that I’ve been working with have a drive to fight this virus. 

The project that I’ve been working on with UPN and UGM has finally come to an end.  The AIESECers here held an event to close the project, inviting some of the high schoolers to participate.  It was such a fun event!  One of the high schoolers preformed an East Javanese dance, my friend Dana and Cipta sang, and others spoke a few words.  

Now that the project is done, I decided to take a short holiday in Bali.  Whoohoo!  Cipta, Dana, Charlah and Tyo have been trying desperately to teach me how to drive a manual motor bike.  And I can finally say, that after 5 weeks, I finally feel comfortable diving one!  I think the two of my friends were preparing me for my Balinese motor bike extreme travel adventure… but… little do they know that the motor bike I rented is automatic. YES!  I flew into Denpasar a few days ago, made my way to Kuta, found some friends, and had some late night drinks for Christmas Eve.  On Christmas day I began my adventure, finding my way fairly easily with the help of a GPS my friend gave me in Yogya. 

I’ve spent the majority of my time in Bali in the area around Ubud.  Ubud is a very creative, fun, and colorful place.  I enjoy driving through the small town, finding my way to places like Monkey Forest, watching the monkeys play on the temples or try and scare me while I’m taking a photo.   

 

 

Bali is a very spiritual place.  Temples are everywhere!  Even traditional Balinese homes have temples in them.  Today I went to Goa Gajah, blessing myself with the water and entering a cave to find Ganesh, next I went to a sacred spring, bathing myself and taking some time to make a few prayers and offerings, then I went with my friend/tour guide to visit her family in a small town near Ubud. 

Tomorrow I have another big day.  I will travel to an area just outside of Ubud to see another temple before making my way to Mount Agung.  From Mount Agung, I will then travel back to Kuta to meet up with my friend Samantha, an Indonesian blogger and friend of mine, to finish my travels through Bali.