Bali, Indonesia: Waterbom, and surfing on Kuta beach

Bali was just straight up fun.

Kadek accepted my CS host request but the morning of my flight she sent me an email saying it was too dangerous to stay at her house due to strong winds.  She said I could stay by a friend of hers for the first couple of nights and that she would meet me at his house.  I told her I couldn't stay with a guy so I would find a hostel for the first couple of nights.  She really kindly offered to come by my hostel the next day.

My hostel, Guess Hostel was one of the most enjoyable hostels I've stayed in.  The beds were very comfortable and there was a social but non-party feel which was likely because the rooms didn't have wi-fi so everyone sat in the living room.  The hostel also had a large TV with tons and tons of movies.

The first night, I got dinner down the street and sat and relaxed.

My hostelmate dying her hair blue in the living room, using a plastic bag as a drape

Kadek, my CS host, said she would meet me at the hostel the next day.  She had difficulty finding it and even came for me a second time after she gave up and went home the first time.  We stopped to get lunch.

We drove on her motorbike to Seminayak beach and walked along the shore.  The waves were huge due to the tropical storm that hit a couple of day ago.  Still there were swimmers and surfers in the water.  We also had very tasty satay chicken.

 Women selling Satay chicken at Seminayak beach

Hindu ceremony on the beach

We then drove to Kuta Beach.  Its amazing how many different beaches are in Bali.  The waves were also completely different than the one at Seminayak    Several people hassled us to get us to take surf lessons with them.  I planned to surf in Bali but was going to book a class with a reputable company.  I thought, who knows how safe it is to take lessons from random surfers on the beach?  But the more I thought about it, I felt it maybe okay after all.  I've been surfing before and I just needed someone to rescue me in case I started to drown.  I asked Kadek what she thought and she said that her last CS host took lessons from one of the people on the beach and it was fine.

Kaded had a English class that evening so she dropped me back at the hostel early.

The next day, Kadek and I went to Waterbom, a large water park in Bali.  I learned from the prior day to wear a jacket and long pants to protect myself from the sun.   Without it, I felt like the girl Alicia Keys sings about, "This girl is on Fire!"

It was a really nice water park with several slides and rides.  Kadek got us tickets for the local price of $21!

After we did all the rides twice at Waterbom, we drove to Kuta beach.  When we got there, again we were hounded by people offering surf lessons.  The first guy asked for $200,000 idr for 2 hours but I knew I couldn't surf that long, so I paid 100,000 IDR or about $12 for 1 hour.  A private lesson though a company would have been $65!

My bootleg surf lesson was very brief compared to the one I had in West Palm Beach.  Essentially it was, "lie down with your toes at the back of the board. Then when I tell you to, paddle.  Then stand up with your feet in the middle of the board."

And we're off!

As my instructor and I walked out into the water, waves were charging at us like an army.  He had me lie on the board, and then he lead me out further and further.  Every few seconds a wave would crash in front of me.  I kept screaming, "OH MY GOSH!!!!  THIS IS CRAZY!!!!".  My instructor burst out laughing and couldn't stop.  In between laughs he kept yelling at me "JUST RELAX!" and I kept yelling back, "I AM RELAXED!!!! OH MY GOSH, THIS IS INSANE!!!!"  Its just so counterintuitive to be walking out towards the middle of the ocean, fighting against waves that push you back to the shore.  Each time I collided with the wave, I was thrown up in the air!  It was complete insanity!

I was so shocked to see this photo Kadek took!  I'm almost at a 90 degree angle!  WOOO!!

I caught some waves and then when I had to make my way back towards my instructor, the waves were nothing to me anymore.

 Paddling!

Catching a wave.  

 After I caught a wave!

Surfing is really exhausting!  I took a break and came back out but I was still really tired.  I told the instructor I was tried and said, "I think I can only do just one more".  I luckily caught a wave and thought I ought to end on a high note.  But then I said, "just one more!" and again "just one more!" I was really tired but its so addicting!  I didn't want to quit!

When I did get out the water, a huge group of students came up to me and asked for a photo.  I really like when this happens.  It makes me feel like a celebrity!  So I gladly said yes!

 My fans

When Kaded and I got home, after looking at my photos, all I thought was, "I really want to go surfing again!"