From School to Vacation

My family got here on Saturday, so for the last few days I've been showing them around the island. I've been able to revisit some of the places I went during my semester, plus go to some new ones. It's a bit of a strange sensation to be vacationing where I was previously studying: for example, when a tour guide today offered up simplified information about family compounds, I almost felt compelled to correct him. It's also a bit odd because while I realize each time I explain something to my family just how much I've learned this semester, I rarely felt "stressed out" the same way I do at Williams. It's almost surprising to be on a vacation now. 


I've also been realizing just how much Indonesian I've learned. I've been pretty consistently bartering with people and setting things up for my family, which is something I thought I might have trouble with. Not the case, though; rarely do I have no idea what someone is saying to me. (There was one incident when I was talking to someone on the phone. The guy I was talking to very rapidly expressed surprise that I was speaking Indonesian, at which point I promptly asked him to slow down. I realized a few steps later in the conversation what he'd said. Whoops.)


We've mostly been doing vacationy things, exploring Ubud and going to the beach. We (my family and I) went to Kuta, where we (the SIT students) weren't allowed to go during the semester, since it's where the bombings were a few years back (though it's now safe), and I can't say I'm sad to have missed it during the semester. The beach was busy and crowded, and we were constantly at risk of being surfed on top of, which was a bit of a bummer. (Steven and Casey went to Sanur the next day and said it was lovely.) Then today we biked from Kintamani, the volcano caldera, to Pejeng, the town next to where I lived all semester. Here are some pictures:

Scarecrow in a rice field somewhere along the way. Usually people just use big cloth banners, but this guy was way more elaborate -- someone even sacrificed a soccer ball to use for his head.

I get the feeling I haven't yet posted a picture of a banyan tree, so here's one. Most of them (if not all) are considered sacred, and they're absolutely enormous. This wasn't my best picture, but I figured Michael in the corner would help give an idea of the size.

 

Rice being sorted from the husks. People plant and harvest the rice by hand, and we passed a bunch of women working on the harvest on our way down.

That's all for now. Apologies for the slightly scattered post; I'm bouncing back and forth between this and helping everyone choose plans for tomorrow.