Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays from Bali! We spent a delightful Christmas in Munduk, a small hilltop town, overlooking rice paddies, valleys and the ocean in the distance! We were the only guests in a fantastic, quaint hotel complete with a porch and open-air bathroom, both facing the most spectacular views I've ever seen in my life (truly!). This is one of those places that you want to tell everyone and no one about. Everyone because it is just that perfect, and no one because you want to selfishly keep in hidden and hope that it never spoils. While it was rather rainy in Munduk, we still enjoyed our time playing cards, watching a couple movies, hiking to a waterfall and attending a Christmas dinner complete with gamelan music and Balinese dancing.

Now we are in the North staying on a beach in Permuteran at a hotel with all the essentials- a pool, a pool side bar, a spa, a good restaurant, a large beach, one big ocean, a few hills close by for hiking...it's a nice oasis for a few days....despite the mosquito that found its way past our mosquito net last night and decided to nibble all over my face (as the rest of my body was covered by the sheet). I woke up this morning with a large bump on my forehead and cheek, and a swollen eyelid! Yes, it bit my eye. not very nice.

That's all for now - this internet cafe is expensive!

Happy New Year!

Love,
Laura and Jon

More pig and a little bird poop on the side

As soon as Jon and I heard that there is a suckling pig restaurant in Ubud, we lined right up with the rest of the Indonesians for the perfect lunch.

I should have seen the warnings...the brown conglomerate of mess that I mistook for mud or pig spices and the table umbrella that covered all of the other seats except for mine (the only empty seat in the place when we walked in). Alas, I did not read any of these signs as the pig was calling my name and my stomach was calling Porky. Third sign, the bump that I felt hit my back...again, the high of the pig told me that the bump was a rock or acorn (yeah right...an acorn from the lovely papaya tree...). Fourth sign, that pesky acorn fell on my head...this time I reached for it, and this time I found that same brown mess that was previously on my chair. Jon, I've been pooped on! He checks out the scene and determines that I must have swiped it all away with my hand. Recalling the first "acorn", I also ask Jon to inspect my back...anything? nothing. Ok, whew. must have been that acorn:) Despite the bird mess, I keep eating. Albeit rather slowly, though, as I am convincing my mind and stomach not to lose it's appetite over a little bird crap...

Jon happily scarfs down his food, smiling and loving life. He then turns to me and says, "Alright, shithead. Let's get you outta here...there is shit all over you". WHAT!! light bulb! There really is crap on my head and on my back, but my darling husband didn't want to lose this delightful culinary experience to his wife that would have quickly insisted that they leave had she known better.

During this epiphany and freak out, bird shit falls onto my napkin. No lie. That's three hits in a matter of 7 minutes.

I still love Bali.

Greetings from Bali

Green, terribly green, cultural, tropical, clean, beautiful Bali. paradise? perhaps. Really, though, every building, guest house, shop, temple....put it this way, any structure...is architecturally artsy (for lack of a better phrase), the people are incredibly friendly, and it's just plain wonderful.

We arrived on Saturday after a delayed Delhi flight...we sat on the plane in Delhi for 4 hours before it took off!! anyway, we missed our connecting flight out of Kuala Lumpur, but we did make it to Bali just a few hours later than expected. We headed straight to Sanur for the evening and hopped on a local boat Sunday morning that took us out to Lembongan island, an island with nothing but a few bungalows, some snorkeling and diving. There aren't even any boat docks...you have to roll your pants up, take off your shoes, jump into the water and carry your luggage over your head. It was a great, relaxing beginning to the journey. The next day, however, we decided to leave at the spur of the moment as Jon had a sinus infection that prevented him from going diving. We ended up catching a ride on a tiny little boat with two locals, who dropped us off in the middle of nowhere on Bali island. Well, thankfully, someone was there to rip us off and charge us way to much money for a ride to Ubud. Oh well. At least we were able to stop for some of Bali's world famous suckling pig stuffed with garlic, turmeric, chilli and ginger. killer.

Now we're in Ubud. We've taken long walks around town and through the surrounding rice paddy fields. We're staying at a guest house for $12.50 a night....a guest house surrounded by green plants and trees (looks like your regular jungle...as everywhere on this island does) with hot water (always a plus in Asia!), large space and our own porch where hot tea magically appears every morning and evening. Plus, the family that runs the guest house will make dinner for you if you request it at least one day in advance. Um, best meal in Bali yet...nothing like a good home cooked meal.

Oh, and craziest experience yet...I ran into an old Charlotte friend on the streets of Ubud that I haven't seen in 2.5 years...gotta love when that happens!

Tomorrow we are leaving for the Amed area...beach towns. Will keep you updated!

Love to all and more soon....

Christmas in India

It all began as soon as Diwali ended. I quickly rushed off to Khan Market seeking "Diwali sales" - you know, like post-Christmas/post-Easter/post-Halloween sales at Eckerd of all the Holiday paraphernalia. Diwali one of the biggest Indian Holidays and is rather Christmas-like with families decorating their homes with lights and candles and such (minus Santa, reindeer, Snowmen and mistletoe). I was hoping to find some white lights for half price (because half off of $2.50 is a steal!). Well, I ran into the Diwali stores only to find that they were immediately turned over to Christmas shops! Gigantic, life-size Santas that sing and dance, ornaments galore and, of course, no half-price lights. Yes, I paid the full $2.50. bummer.

Not only are there Holiday shops devoted strictly to Christmas, but where we are usually met by children trying to sell magazines, newspapers, roses and balloons at large intersections, we are now approached by Santa's "helpers" selling Santa hats and Santa masks.

I began to wonder why all this Christmas decor? We're in a country that is 80% Hindu and 2% Christian, but by the amount of Western Holiday "stuff" and and the large number of Christmas shops, you'd think that all Christians were moving to India for the Holidays. I'm sure there are a variety of reasons....For one, there are thousands upon thousands of ex-pats living in Delhi, and people like Jon actually buy the Santa masks on the side of the road. Christmas paraphernalia is fun and it's all over the world, so the better question is probably why not India? And, I guess, we can probably thank Hallmark somewhere in there.....

Happy Holidays! We're off to Bali tomorrow. Keep checking for updates while we're in Indonesia!

Pamper Yourself!

I just had my first massage house call. Yep, the "masseuse" came to my house and gave me a 1 hour massage for $12. Hey, even if she was a bit older with massage techniques on the low-pressure side, a $12 massage in your own house is still worth it!

Little Earthquake

My Second Earthquake.....ehhh....I admit it, I was freaked. And it really wasn't bad- 4.3 on the Richter scale, but the epicenter was right here in New Delhi at 4:45am.

While in Pushkar, I learned that I am an incredibly sound sleeper.... temple bells rang and thousands of people made their pilgrimage all the while chanting and chatting on the streets right outside our hotel window ALL night long....I slept like a baby. Well, my new revelation may have to take a back seat...that little quake had me shooting straight up out of bed within milliseconds.

All is well. No injuries. No damage. Just enough of a rumble to have many of our students (and me) talking about it all day....

The Pushkar Camel Fair

It's official....our move to India has been christened... by the Pushkar Camel Fair. We can now say with assurance that we do indeed live in India. Of course, the trip began as many do.....haggling for a taxi. Taxi drivers actually try to push a $40 taxi ride on what is really a $10 ride ($10 during this camel festival, that is....normally $2.50, i bet). Now, this taxi ride can not even take us to our hotel as the streets are closed and jam packed full of pilgrims, tourists, vendors, motorcycle drivers and carnies of all colors (monkey man, long mustache boy, and a cow with an extra hoof protruding out of its back). So, we walk....and we walk....and we finally arrive at the Navratan hotel, which is located right next to the one and only existing Brahman temple in the world. Cool. Yeah, we think it's cool just like hundreds of thousands of Indians who are making their pilgrimage to this holy town and temple over the next 2 days.

Speaking of the town of Pushkar....population 15,000. During the camel fair...population 200,000 plus 50,000 camels and cattle. It is considered to be a holy city with a holy lake, the holy Brahman temple, only veg food and no alcohol. People come from all over to pray in the temple and bathe in the lake. Announcements are made over the loud speaker during the fair asking that no one take pictures of the holy ghats (bathing areas around the lake) and that men and women not hold hands in this holy place.

We arrived on a Thursday, dropped our stuff off at the hotel just in time to catch my first camel ride....into the sunset. Ahhh, beautiful....um, beautifully hazy that is. Out in the sandy Rajastani desert with hazy skies, camels and their excretions of all sorts.

What stands out the most in Pushkar are the sounds and the colors. Fantastic colors everywhere! Bright Sikh turbans, vibrant sarees....in fact, as I crossed one of the "holy bridges" (by the way, you have to take your shoes off when you walk across this bridge because of its holiness), a large group of Rajastani young women passed by singing songs all the while wearing extraordinary shades of red and burgundy. It's really just so different. How often does this happen to you in the states? Large groups of young ladies wearing bright, vibrant dresses, singing folk songs....just for fun? By 5am Friday morning, the street outside of our window was filled with children and adults setting up shop, bartering, buying their Masala Chai, playing their drums, tambourines and recorders.

By the time the sun rises, there is a man bathing on his rooftop directly across the street from our hotel room. The tourists are out and everyone is taking tons of pictures....pictures of the "monkey-men" (men dressed and acting like monkeys), the man escorting his cow with the extra hoof, the snake charmers, the standing baba (who has vowed to stand for at least 20 years)... You can't just start snapping pictures all over the place, though. You better be prepared to hand over at least 10 rupees (25 cents). But what about me? Frequently, I catch Indian men whipping out their camera phones to take a picture of me. I quickly hold my hand up and say "10 rupees! 10 rupees!" They are beyond baffled.

Friday night happened to be the eve of the most important day of the Festival. Apparently the sun never set that night because that street was non-stop from 6pm until....well....I don't know when. We left the next afternoon, and the madness was still in full force. As I said above, Pushkar is the home of the only standing Brahman temple in the world, and the Camel Fair is the time of all times to visit it. Masses upon masses of people poured into that temple chanting, ringing bells, praying, singing, chatting all (let me emphasize ALL) night long. It was really quite amazing to see. The street only got more crowded. So much so that when Jon went out early Saturday morning, he got caught in the crowd, lifted off his feet and was carried through with no control over his pace or direction (he did make it back safely, however, via another route).

Despite the sensory overload of the Camel Festival, Pushkar is a lovely town with great rooftop restaurants overlooking the lake, fabulous architecture, cute shops....overall, good times. We'd go back....definitely.

Check out the pictures by clicking on the Photos link at the top right:)

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