I can ride a scooter. Granted it has been three days now and there are only a few minor kinks to work on like: how to properly brake, steer, navigate, accelerate, etc. I have almost been hit head-on by a truck since I didn't turn quickly enough out of a driveway, ran into a pole while trying to park (engine still on), and almost smacked into a nice man this morning who was helping me pull into traffic. But this wonderful accomplishment gives me independence and the ability to go into town for whatever I need. It takes me about 35 minutes to ride in to Ubud right now but that is at about five miles an hour, granny-style. I'll get there. But hey a quick honk and I get passed by a million other scooters. Some with babies in the front or a bushel full of crops, or even a new dining table that I saw someone driving on his lap today. Scooters are the way. There is no public transport. So I have continually been conquering my fear of oncoming traffic (people will pass someone and drive right at you, with a last minute swerve and slow down. Its unnerving). I am sure it will get easier to navigate the streets but at this exact moment I feel more comfortable driving during the daylight.
Oh, and I learned my lesson of checking the gas gauge before leaving home. Yesterday I didn't. I met some fellow teachers in town for a 2 1/2 hour yoga workshop by a world renowned instructor. It kicked all our butts! And afterwards we had a bite to eat and walked around the shops looking for teacher clothes, that we all desperately need since we didn't really bring any. I think the combo of dehydration, different food and intense warm yoga, put my body in a weird place so I was uncomfortable for hours but determined to find some decently priced clothes, and scoot home before dark (6:15pm). But of course that didn't happen. Everything takes so much longer here than at home. We shopped and walked for hours more and afterwards my phone was almost dead.
I had the intention of going on a fabulous mountain bike ride this morning but it all came down to planning. I didn't know my phone was almost dead or that my tank was almost empty. I could just imagine me: driving home, getting lost, running out of gas and having no phone to call anyone. Therefore I bailed on the early ride and stayed in town. No worries. I actually was productive and found petrol (little clear bottles that look like olive oil at road stands/shops sold in liters), got the phone minutes charged and found my my bank across town and opened up my bankcard. Ahhh, the little things.
On another note school has started and it is wonderful! I feel like all the pressure building for months (packing, moving, training, adjusting, etc..) has lifted and it is all about school and the kids! I am teaching a homeroom class of 8th graders (mostly boys) and all 6-8 English. My classroom is beautiful, I have one of the coveted desks in the school, and I love my team of teachers. And the whole staff actually. All great people. We had a parent-teacher social on campus Friday after work, and it was nice to meet some more parents, although the majority of us were dog-tired from the week. My students are from around the world. When I had a class introduce themselves and say where they are from, none were from the US. Instead places like: Russia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, New Zealand, Australia, Norway, Canada, China, England and Switzerland. I have lots of work to do tonight and my brain is getting fuzzy. More curriculum planning and the process of teaching with limited resources. I think you can find anything here, mostly, but getting it to your classroom can be the hard part. We have open house tomorrow night too. More updates on school later.
Spiders have had a showing in my house. Yes, I had no idea what a million baby spiders look like while invading your house but now I do. I was watching a movie, I looked up and within an hour the egg sac must have hatched in the floor slats and the babies were alive. They crawled their way up to the light fixture and started webbing themselves around the place. Argh! I took the broom and pulled them outside. I didn't want the karma of so many critters all at once. But I sprayed the counters, books, and floor where they came from and got back to my movie. In the next hour, another batch came up and did almost the same thing. It was unreal. I repeated the removal process and went to bed. Damn! So the next night, yes, one more time. I was floored. And the following morning, my neighbor came over in the wee hours to go for a workout (it wasn't light out yet) and she walked right into the web that had now woken up from being swept outside. She freaked! (Sorry Casey!) Talk about her worst nightmare, come alive. But it was her last day in Bali (plane left that night) and so I laughed with her about what a day to remember. We then walked up to campus carrying our spider-don't-walk-into-the-web sticks, listening for snakes and trying not to slip on the wet rock steps. Oh, Bali jungle life. Good times!
That's the latest on my brain. Oh, I did buy Skype unlimited phone minutes to the US today so am now calling people on the phone. If you see a weird unknown number on your phone, it might be me! I just called Peter tonight (my brother) and although it was 1:00am, he answered knowing it was me. I love it! We had a great chat and that makes me really happy.
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