Whoooo It's been a crazy two weeks here in Bali. I was happy to arrive with open arms awaiting me at the airport, my dear friend Anna with a little "Bri" sign dazzled in a cute sun dress to boot. What better way to arrive into an unkown country.
My first few days here, I found myself colliding head first into the world of expectation and let down (duh!). I was overwhelmed by the huge amount of western tourism here. I was expecting tranquil beaches and chill hangout bungalows. But apparently in Bali, that's not the case. I thought yoga lessons would be super cheap and earthy. that perhaps I'd even be able to find work teaching here. After paying more than Amrican standard pricing for yoga and realizing how resort driven a lot of the studios are, I let that dream go as well.
Finally I've just alllowed myslef to sink in as a tourist (since that's what I am at the moment) and allow the glories of vacation overcome me. I think surrendering to these things is important, it's easy to resit beauty when you are always searching for something else.
Anna and I cruised around Ubud, a small hippy village in the mountains full of yogis and healers and toursit shops (since the movie Eat, Pray, Love this place has blown up!). We even received a deeksha/sound and chakra healing from a local guy who runs a tasty raw food cafe in Ubud. Apparently my third eye was really closed, but now I can see, phew!Now, I see this place just as it is, and I'm fine with that. I've decided it's not a place I really want to get lost in. So I'm heading somewhere new in a few days. But it is beautiful and the people here are amazing.
Every house contains it's own gold encrusted temple, and every morning an offering (usually given by women and girls) of flowers incense and palm are offered to e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g! From businesses to front door steps, to statues, cars and motorbikes. we are all protected here.
We enjoyed a white water rafting trip outside of Ubud on the Ayung river. It's always a beautiful experience seeing a new river for me. This one was particularly special for the art carvings you can see along the way. 30 years ago a section of river about a quarter mile long were embraced with these wonderful hand carving into the stone that tell the stories of ancient Hindu myths. That with the lush surroundings of South east Asian rainforest and rice fields made the exploration of a class II-III river a lot more interesting.
In attempt to escape the hussle and bussle of Ubud we went over to the other side of Bali to Lovina. At first we thought swimming with dolphins sounded like a great idea, until we thought about it more and arrived to find that it isn't the most humane practice in this corner of the world. So we took a more eco approach to our tourism and borrowed a couple of bikes and went to a buddhist temple and hot spring just outside of town. The temple bike ride was about 8 km up hill in equator- mid day-100 degree-plus humidity sun. Let's just say we got our butts kicked and both probably shed 5 lbs of water from the ride. We spent a lot of time at the temple enjoying the view and sinking into the peace that resides there, I had a good photo session of some awesome lotus flowers and Anna had some good meditations. We howled to the sun as we soared down that glorious hill and when we arrived at the hot springs, we were not chomping at the bit to get into warm water but the cold showers and wonderful scenery at the spring were enough to satisfy. Lovina was a slow and fun loving place. We enjoyed jamming out with some of the locals and that night we went out to the beach to see the stars and witnessed this amazing huge flash of green light. Even the locals couldn't explain where it came from so we all decided it must of been aliens coming down to check in on the dolphins and called it a night.
Now we are in Canggu a small ex-pat town on the south part of the Island. It's got a mellow vibe and the beach time was needed by both of us. Today I took my first surf lesson from a local guy. he was super sweet, cute and helpful! (perfect combination). I stood up a majority of my tries which was surprising, and he was really stoked hen I curved right into a back hander on a green wave ( I had no idea what I was doing) but he seemed impressed, so that's cool! I'm excited for another lesson tomorrow where I will learn more about the techniques for paddling out. And I'm happy I finally tried surfing. I let the scene of surfing in Santa Cruz and my stupid fear of sharks stop me from a really fun loving activity for too long! (silly girl).
Anna and I have grown a lot and let go of a lot in these few days together, it feels like i've been gone forever but it really hasn't been long at all.(tehe) We both realized we were running away from parts of ourselves a bit. We both are facing the push and pull of wanting to put our dreams into action, but also wanting to get out into the world to explore and enjoy. I realized that playing outside is really a huge part of who I am and my happiness. I want to cultivate my yoga practice more and just be in nature. So I bought a ticket to New Zealand. It's still summer there and while I still have some cash flow I'm going to get out there. I'm hoping to buy a little hoopdy car, some camping equipment, a kayak and surf board. And yeah, just go play! I think that kind of adventure will be easier in NZ then Bali and less of me feeling like tourist and that I should buy something. I'm also going to try to find some work out there and maybe WWOOF a little so I can help sustain my travels. So wish me luck!
Anna is heading home to Ashland, OR. To be with the love of her life and to finally commit herself to becoming a midwife. We both are feeling like our pride is broken a little, we thought we would be true badass gypsies and float in Asia for a few months. But sometimes the truth of your heart pulls harder and you just gotta be a gypsy to your own excitement~ wherever it takes you, or returns you to. I think NZ will be a settling place for me for a little while. But I'm keeping my heart open to new adventures to come.
