Monday, May 7, 2012

Bali with 7th Graders

 Our trip started at 3AM Monday morning when we were expected to arrive at school - needless to say, I didn't sleep well between 10-2AM, worried I'd miss my alarm. After a mad scramble of finding kids and bags in the dark (because it was 3AM!), we boarded buses and headed to the airport. Checking in was nothing short of cattle prodding. Having had experience with youth conferences and girls' camps, I wasn't as traumatized by the experience as I could have been. 
Still I found it pretty miraculous that all 150 kids, teachers, and bags arrived in Bali by 10 AM.
 
I was assigned 16 students, and I had a teacher-partner for the week. We had the same bus, bus driver, and Balinese guide for the duration too. Each day started at 6AM (5AM for me as I tried to sneak in a 30 minute run on the beach) and ended at 9PM. We were bussed to various activities from mask making, to bridge building over the Ayung River, to white water rafting. Here are some of the highlights...

The first night we arrived we went to a festival at a nearby village. The entire village participated in a procession. These cute girls posed for me as I walked down the gravel road. I talked to them in my broken Indonesian. And when I left they said in perfect English, "Goodbye. Thank you!"

Below, shows the Gamelan Orchestra which greeted us as we entered the village temple. I was enamored by the little girl who sat on her father's lap for the entire show. She sat perfectly still and watched his mallet strike each key again and again. 


  We ate Indonesian food all week long. This was my favorite meal (served at the Bamboo Foundation). I loved the bamboo plate and the variety of dishes. Chicken sate with peanut sauces. Delicious.



After a team building exercise on the river, we took refuge in the shade under this bamboo pagoda. A spring fed swimming pool helped too. I dipped my feet in - while most of the kids swam.


Because I was with the school trip, I had the opportunity to participate in activities I'd never do on my own as a tourist. We visited a famous mask maker, Pak Anom, and watched him take a block of wood, hold it between his feet (as he was sitting) and carve first the eyes then the cheeks before revealing a nose. His hands moved quickly and precisely. His work shop smelled of pine.

I learned how to carve shadow puppets out of leather and how to paint the swirls and embellishments on the finished product.
And I got to return to my favorite place - Gunung Kawi. Though it was a much different experience with 40 7th graders than it had been with my family. Still, the rice patties and stone carvings wielding their magic and I felt the calmness of the place...if only for a few moments.


Bali with 7th graders
It was the laughter on the bus rides that turned thunderous by the late afternoon.
Our stutter-start "count-off" - restarting at least 3 times each morning.
The feel of a paint brush between my finger tips.
Patting a shoulder, offering a "mother's" hug to a homesick girl.
The cold of the river water soaking my clothes.
The other-worldly, can't-believe-I'm-seeing-this-with-my-own-eyes experience of rafting the Ayung river.
Towering palms. Cliffsides drenched with deep green vegetation.
The background music of the ocean crashing against the shore at night.
Morning runs in the dark, using my cell phone as a flashlight.
Comforting crying girls at the dance.
Remembering what it was like to be 13.
Thankful for being 38.
Fresh papaya for breakfast.
Battling (and losing) mosquitoes in my hotel room.
Cold showers - not by choice.
Making friends.
Dinner on the beach.
Laughing until I cried - partly out of exhaustion.

Best subbing gig. 
Ever.

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