The homestay begins!

Our group has shifted to Bedulu, a small town not far from the oh-so-touristy city of Ubud (where I am right now). Ubud is kind of a bizarre place after being in Kerambitan, because it's full of bule (slang for white people) and people trying to get us to take taxis. We avoid them and hop on the bemos (sort of a bus) instead. I haven't had my camera with me much since we've gotten here, but here are some pictures of Tanah Lot, a temple we went to when we were still in Kerambitan:

The temple just before sunset.

Tanah Lot is on a rocky outcropping right on the coast, so the waves end up surrounding it. Also, the sunset is amazing.

My homestay family here in Bedulu is awesome. Balinese households live in compounds rather than one main building, so there are always lots of people around. I live with my bapak and ibu (my homestay dad and mom), their oldest son and his wife and son, and their third son and his wife and 7-month-old baby. The third son is only a couple of years older than me. There is also either my bapak's or ibu's mother, who is a totally badass woman who carries 20-30 pounds on her head home from the market like it's nothing. I'm pretty sure she only speaks Balinese, because the only words I understand when she talks to me are things like "bapak."

I spend most evenings just hanging out with my homestay parents. Balinese don't eat together, so there's not a lot of hangout time surrounding meals (although the first night I was there, my bapak sat and watched me eat because he didn't want me to be sitting by myself). Before and after, though, people are pretty much always together. Two nights ago my ibu taught me how to put together dried leaves to make part of the offerings they use, and last night I watched Javanese soap operas with her and told her about the snow at home. My bapak tried to get me to smoke with him, and we talked about Rambo and Arnold Schwarzenegger movies and other movies he loves. He has about 6 roosters for cockfighting (which is illegal in Indonesia except for Balinese religious ceremonies, which means I'll get to see it at some point) that wake me up every morning at dawn (and sometimes earlier). There is also a dog that has learned that I'll pet it if it sits near me.

We have this weekend free, so the six of us are heading to Uluwatu, on the very southern tip of the island. We'll check out the temple in the area, and of course the beach. Next week I'll be back with more pictures, and no doubt some tales about mask-making and batik. (And probably some scrapes and burns -- I'm rapidly getting a reputation as the clumsiest member of the group, after stepping in a tidal pool at Tanah Lot and then stepping on a dead sea urchin a couple of days later, among many other clumsy instances.)

(Oh, and Professor Just -- I realized a couple of days ago that one of our language teachers, De Yudi, worked with the Williams winter study program. I've been hearing lots of funny stories since then!)

Righto -- sambai nanti, everyone!