Bali! First 2 days

Well after waiting in the airport literally all day in Melbourne and Sydney I finally made it to Bali. In take-off we were in the middle of a lightning storm and I saw a lightning bolt right in front of the airplane when we were air born. Probably the closest I have ever been to that. Check that off the list. 5 1/2 hours later I arrived in Bali. 2 hours late and its midnight. Hopefully my friend Alex from couchsurfing is still there waiting for me at the airport.

Going through customs was so easy. I bought a visa on arrival (30 day stay) and walked through. On the other hand I went to grab my bags and three guys in uniform grabbed my stuff and told me to follow them. I thought they were customs. I followed, we went through security and they took me straight to the currency exchange and asked me to pay them. I was like"what" These guys just hustled me right under my breath. Its bullonie I tell you. So I had to pay them, got a little pissed off in my head and left. Right outside I recognized Alex from his couchsurfing profile. I yelled "ALEX, my man whats up?" Instantly we were friends. Such a rad dude. He grew up in Bali and was a local. So he spoke there language and had this place figured out. He got a taxi for us and well headed towards Sanur when he lives. Its about 30 minutes north from the airport. We got to his home stay, which consisted of one bedroom and a bathroom surrounded by 5 other villas and a Balinese family, followed by a huge private temple in the backyard. Instant culture shock. This was what I was looking for. He showed me to the beach and we got some food and then went to bed. It was already super late and he had to work in the morning.

Next day, he got up and drove to work (teaches English) and I decided to explore the area. Day and night time were like yin and yang. Complete opposite. People were everywhere and I was a minority. I walked and taxi's honked at me for rides. I got heckled by every single shop I passed, no joke. Worse than Mexico. I finally just started to say "I'll come back tomorrow" and they left me alone. Sometimes they would walk and talk with me for a whole block. They would try and reel me in by saying my skin is so dark already, you look like a Balinese. I laugh and keep walking. I still haven't heard " me love you long time". But its too soon or maybe that's more in SE Asia.

So far each building and house has there own private sanctuary and temple. Each consist of hand carved statues and incredible architecture. There mostly straw houses and everything is fine in craftsmanship. They really don't care much about there houses but what surrounds the house. At a certain time of day they make these flower offerings and burn in sense. Some of them have chocolate in the bag. Really interesting. I've never seen anything like this before...So I kept walking and ended up at the beach. Lots of hotels, food and Balinese people offering massages. It gets kinda annoying getting heckled but you just gotta laugh it off. I ended up finding this breakfast joint and ordered something I didn't know what it was. They had things in English like "American breakfast" but I chose something random. They came out with this bowl of rice, curry, chicken and 4 boiled eggs on top. Really weird but I dove in (mom you would have been proud) and ate the dish. I can't say I loved it. It was really neutral tasting and nothing special but I did order a watermelon juice so that saved the meal. The meal and drink cost $2! Right in front of me were waves that were breaking pretty good. I was really surprised because in Sanur there not known for waves and is typically flat. But today it was barrelling and good. I just watched that day b/c I was supposed to meet Alex later. So for the rest of the day I just walked around and saw things I have never dreamed of.

I met Alex later and we met up with some friends for dinner. I ordered this huge platter of noodles and mango juice. Delicious. This was also $2. I could live here for so long and not pay anything. After that we went to a cell phone shop and got myself a Sim card so I can call people. He later on made some phone calls to get me a scooter in the morning for the rest of the month and the next day help me find some accommodation. The scooter cost me $50 and housing for a month will be around $120. So everything is a great deal. Right now I'm in the same teaching building that he works in. I'm gonna have a interview with the boss about work and get some details. I might stay here longer than one month but well see.

My plan is to get accommodation and then drive around the island and site see. This will take about a week. From there come back and surf for the rest of the time and maybe get this job. If I don't get it no problem because I'm planning on working in Vietnam and the pay up north is way better but Bali has waves. That's why people stay here over Vietnam. Oh well I have nothing to complain about, I'm in paradise and loving every single piece of it. Its gonna be all business for the next day or two and then fun for the rest. Come visit me who ever reads this blog (if any) I'll post pictures soon. I have tons from Australia that I need to put online and some from Bali. I miss all of you. Had a dream of the family and Clyde last night...

-Sean