Once more across the seas

And to once more confuse the chronology of this blog by posting way too much, way to rarely, I will now update you about what I did right BEFORE Christmas.

My third, and penultimate Visa period ended on December 15, so I had one last chance to hop around SE Asia right before the christmas rush pushed all prices through the roof.  And i definitely took advantage of this. First, I flew off to Kuala Lumpur again, since it is now one of my favorite cities ever. Seriously, between the food, and Shen's awesome family, and a functional subway, and the FOOD.... basically it is up there with Chicago on my list of cities to visit again and again... and maybe move to.  Love it.

After three too-quick days in KL, I hopped back to Java, and visited Jessica in her home town of Bandung. Its known as the "Paris of Java" and boy was it atmospheric  For one night, Jessica and Tanti and I hightailed it to Jakarta, and basically spent 24 hours in traffic, getting almost kinda sorta close to national monuments. Jakarta is overwhelming. And feels like a different world. It's nuts.   And then, after another three too-quick days in Java, I came back to lovely Bali, just in time for the holidays.

And here, are more details and some of the awesome things we saw!:

This section under construction, since the internet is slow and uploading photos is a pain. Come back soon!

Christmas in the Sand

Happy Holidays!

I spent my Christmas sunbathing on Seminyak beach.  It was lovely. A tad overcast, so i remained almost sunburn-free! I have never and to apply sunscreen on Christmas before. Awesome.  Christmas in the Sand is an adorable holiday song by Colbie Caillat, btw. Check it out.

And here is my lovely office on friday before Xmas, at a gift exchange! It was hilarious. And adorable.  These guys know how to have a good time.

Now all five of the other interns I've overlapped with are gone, and even Patricia is heading to the states for a bit. Many people are out of the office for the holidays. I find myself the last Intern standing. So I think it's high time for a change of scenery. I'm finishing the internship a little bit earlier than planned, and instead going to go explore Bali and Indonesia a bit more. And the best part is: Tito will be joining me!  He arrives this very saturday!  He will hang out and get over jetlag while I finish my last few days of work after new years eve, and then, we will be off.

What we will do and where we will go is still up in the air, but we will figure it out as we go, and have a blast in the process.  And the, after a whirlwind tour, we'll both be back in lovely Colorado on January 23. So Soon! So much to see! Yikes!

Critter Update

in case you thought that the bugs would calm down, now that the sky is pouring buckets every afternoon:

found in the gutter next to the warung i go to for lunch. Escargo anyone? 

GIANT Escargo?

!!!

Also, this guy decided to shed on my desk, overnight. 

And I first thought this guy was a bit of string blowing across the floor, but then I looked at it and realized it was a snake side-winding RIGHT FOR ME!  I definitely did not shriek like a little girl and jump up onto my chair. Do not believe such lies! And if I did, it would have been totally, justified  because it was moving really fast. So there.

It's maybe 2 feet long, and it only hung out under my desk for a few seconds, before winding off, so the pictures are a little fuzzy. Still, you can see the bulge of its lunch, right? Probably a toad....

Oh, bali. 

Seriously: THE Rain!

Looks like I wont be driving home just yet....

I mean, really.

Now I know why the Barn has a moat.

Update: Caught some video of the rain keeping me marooned at work tonight. Listen to this!

The Rain has begun!

Hello Everyone,

I'm writing this in the middle of a Rain storm. The sound of the torrential downpour on the metal roof of the studio is so loud that no one can talk, so I'm taking a time-out to write instead. This is awesome! The Rainy Season Has ARRIVED!

so, Last time I updated here I was not in a great situation. Since then, things are much improved.  Szuyin  is feeling much much better, and the dive company has begun to be less obnoxious.  Unfortunately, but entirely understandably, Szuyin decided to go home early, so she returned to Taiwan on Saturday, where she was immediately enveloped in loving family.  I'm hoping she comes back to full health soon, and finally finds a doctor that can adequately explain what the heck happened.

She also got out of here just in time to miss The Rain. I am from a desert, where we get about 40 cm of water per year,  and I think that half that has already fallen on us here, so from now on, I can only refer to it as The Rain.

Downside (kinda) of the rain: It is so loud we cannot speak to each other, even sitting right next to each other. I'm working in basically a huge, open-sided bamboo barn with a corrugated metal roof. It's like working in a really breezy drum. Awesome, ... but loud.

Upside: It's kinda-sorta-a-little-bit-wintery-ish! In the "there are clouds and I want a mug of hot tea" kind of way. Still nothing like proper snow, but I'll take it.   And so will Sophia and Pat, so we have decided to bring the Holiday Spirit to out "office" in the form of christmas songs, and even a tiny christmas tree! Thanks Pat!

And as such, we need a Christmas chard to go with it! So in honor of the holidays and of Szuyin, I present: the PT Bamboo Christmas Card picture!

HI!

Yep! Sooo wintery, right?

Anyways, in other news:

I did get a chance to finish out my diving certification, so now I am a certified diver, and will be able to tag along with Tito in January, hopefully. 

Oh, right: Tito is coming to visit in January!  Thank you Middlebury J-term!

The surfer lodge that we designed might actually get built! Yessss. 

Oh and, since, the topic of rain is still appropriate:

Last weekend, on Saturday night, the sky opened up while I was giving Divya (Another intern! So many interns!)  a ride home, and so I got to spend the night in a Green Village Villa!  We had to basically bike up hill through a stream (which used to be a road)  to get to the village, and the running boards of my bike were actually under water. Staying in the Villa during The Rain at night is like being on a ship. Re rushed in and had to lower the bamboo rain-curtains, and tie them off. And even then, in the living room it still felt entirely exposed. Gusts of wind still carried spray into the room. the Curtains billowed and heaved in the wind like sails.  And as we huddled there, soaked, and cradling a steaming mug of tea,  I felt like I had been transported in the movie The Swiss Family Robinson. It was awesome (in the actual, original sense of the word). 

Once the storm had died down, and we headed for bed, I got to curl up in the guest room, nested under wonderfully fluffy blankets. Even though the room only has walls on two sides, and is entirely exposed to the river valley, it was surprisingly cozy.  I fell asleep looking out over the river, through the thick trees to where the silhouette of the new Springland Villa emerges from the treetops like another Jungle Pirate Ship. 

Whatever it's faults, Green Village really is breathtakingly beautiful, and incredibly relaxing. 

UPDATE: Pictures! The morning after getting marooned on Villa Island: