More Like "Fear and Loathing in Ubud"

Also known as "Where da white women at?" (answer: Ubud, destination for spiritual neo-hippies of every stripe and upscale cultural travelers), here we go posting live from Bali. I'm in a much nicer internet cafe in aforementioned Ubud right now, a short van ride from the village where I'll be spending most of my time here, and really at a loss for what to tell everyone. Bali is a lot of things, most of them very exciting, some unpleasant. For example, right now I'm suffering from exhaustion and bowel complaints due to a combination of my house being right next to a big road and something I ate; at the same time, I'm on an island populated by some of the most friendly people ever, pretty good food (except for that which makes me ill), rituals and temples everywhere, and stunning tropical ricefields.

You know what would make the most sense? Taking it from the top. The super-long flight was uneventful save for the usual excitement in Hong Kong, a glorious airport with sleeping chairs and good food but lots of scary Asian-ness going on. We got in to Bali having missed the first of September completely and were whisked off to a palace by our academic director, Ary, self described as a "real killer." She's a little Balinese woman who will be leading us on our merry journey through the tropic, and she takes no sass from no body (who does this sound like?). Apparently one of the girls dropped out right before we all left, so now it's me and twelve other girls, something that I recently realized was karma for making fun of Peter's mostly female entry. I remain unrepentant though. The girls are cool enough for girls, and I've come to accept the fact that I must befriend these strange creatures in order to remain connected to life in America.

So back to that palace: apparently it's one of many used by a king who doesn't have much power any more, so they rent it to people like us who want to stay in a palace. Then began orientation: lots and lots of Indonesian, an odd language without tenses and many prepositions, and cultural immersion. SIT is so kind to us that they will actually drive us a distance away from everything we've become accustomed to and kick us out of a van so that we can practice our Indonesian with total strangers in rural areas. But the drop-offs were fun, as were excursions to the crowded/scary markets to get traditional clothing. We've also already been to a tooth-filing ceremony (think cooler Bar Mitsvah, where everyone shows up and kind of schmoozes while the file-ees have a priest do minor dental work, then everyone eats) and a cremation. The cremation was sadder though, as it was for the wife of one of our instructors who died the third day we were there. Also I think that's where I ate whatever it is that's been messing with my health.

After our stay in the palace, we were left to our own devices to bargain for public transportation to Bedulu, village where I'm staying, near Ubud, which I have mixed feelings about after seeing the "real" Bali. We've also moved into our homestay families, but I'll get back to you on that once I settle in more. They're really sweet, so I feel bad that I can't really communicate with them.

Well, I'm taking it just a day at a time, I suppose (as my boy Omar would say), so I'll hopefully do some more specific/higher quality postage in the new future. In the mean time, all of you out there need to stop sippin' that haterade with my word choice. Real friends/family, hello! I am alive and well for now, and I can't wait to regale you all with my soon-to-be adventures in this strange, strange land.