And now the time has come to say good-bye...

So here it is, my 104th post.


That's an average of 2 posts per week over the last year, which is pretty good for me since I have project ADD.


It's starting to cool down outside and many of the sights and smells that I witnessed when I first arrived are creeping their way back in to my daily life.


I'm noticing more and more people laying their red peppers out to dry for their red pepper paste. Nights are cooling down, a little.


Which means that everything has come full circle and it's time to go! I've said all of my teary good byes to my students and am devestated at the thought of never seeing them again. But, it's time.


I leave for Spain tomorrow and although I'm really looking forward to the Eurotrip, I'm really anxious to get home. I'm sure there's so much that I've forgotten to miss, and so much that I know that I miss and can't wait to have again.


Thank you for following me on this year-long journey. It is had its ups and downs, but overall was a very rewarding and worthwhile experience. I've been taught that the world is a big place with lots of things to see and experience. I've also learned, though, that the world is very small, accessible and friendly place that is EASY to see and experience. Rarely on this journey have a felt overwhelmed or incapable. There were times, of course, but those times were mostly related to teaching and not to traveling.

I'll most likely update you on my Spain/Ireland adventure but, for the most part, this blog will be taking a hiatus. I have a few other tentative travel and international living options, but they are contigent on a few things. We'll just have to wait and see how the next few months unfold.

I hope you enjoyed traveling along with me. I hope I inspired you to bring a little bit of the world into your life, whether through traveling or simply reading a book or having a conversation from someone from another country. Understanding is the key to many locked doors, and the only way to obtain the key is to be on a constant educational journey. You don't have to spend thousands of dollars to see the world (although I do recommend it!), just grab a few books from the library, or pick up a foreign foods cook book and test your kitchen skills, or use the internet to research a foreign holiday and celebrate it with your family. Knowledge and understanding will never bring you any harm. Don't be afraid of them. They will make your "big" decisions harder because you'll know more, but that's only because the opportunities available to you will be abundant.


Be curious. Be brave. Be inspired.

Fashion a la Sunny

Sunny has been my most fashionable student so far. So much so that I'm dedicating an entire post to her.

Everyday, she comes to school with a completely accessorized, adorable outfit.

Although a lot of her outfits I would like to steal, this one is just so cute and innocent that I don't think I could ever pull it off.

This is what the wore on our last field trip! Look at that little onesies? I love her baseball cap!

How cute is that tutu? And her headband?!?! PRECIOUS!

Here she is rocking it again, with an equally cute top and headband!

This outfit is precious only because she would never let the purse go. I'd ask her to put it away and she wouldn't.

I love Joshua's man capris and popped collar!

How funny is this mock bow tie? And knee-high socks? In love....

Joshua wore his man capris quite often, but this little gray number on Sunny was the only time I saw it.

This outfit looks like its fresh out of a Norman Rockwell painting. Chiffon floral dress, maryjanes and a straw hat. So precious!

I love this lace dress that Sunny wears. How cute is Joshua's plaid shirt?!?!

I'm going to miss them soooooooooooo much! :-(

Mt. Batur Sunrise Volcano Hike

After lunch, we booked a tour for that night/morning to do a sunrise volcano hike on Mt. Batur. There are 7 active volcanoes on the island. Batur is just southeast of a 10x13 km caldera (crater) lake, Danau Batur, the largest crater lake on the island, and the slightly taller volcano, Mt. Agung. Batur's first documented eruption was in 1804 and has been active ever since. We sat on Monkey Forest Road in Ubud and enjoyed some wine. Then, it started raining and we got very, very nervous about our early morning hike.


When we woke up at 2:30 am, there was no rain. We checked out of our hotel without a problem and jumped in a car with our driver, Made (#10, not #2) to travel about 1 hour to the foot of the volcano. We hiked with our guide, another Made, up the volcano. It's about 700 meters high and took us about 1.5 hours to make it to the top... in the dark... with only flashlights.

We arrived at the time and it was still pitch black, but within 15 minutes or so, the sun started to make it's way out from it's slumber. It was absolutely beautiful.

You can the lights from the fishing town below and the shadow of Mt. Agung in the background.


Slowly but surely, it rose higher and higher.


When it began to warm up, our guides made us breakfast. We enjoyed rice with roasted coconut and peanuts, a warmed banana sandwich and eggs. The eggs and bananas were cooked using one of the steam "pockets" on the volcano. During our ascent, we past many of these pockets and they were welcome relief from the chilly night air. They are small holes scattered around the mountain where steam is released from the rumbling lava inside.

This is the small hut that they prepared our breakfast in, in the smokey morning air.

Our friends that hiked with us!

The view was beautiful! That's Lombok island in the background and there was a beautiful ring of clouds around the top of Mt. Agung.

Such a serene, sleepy, gorgeous death trap!

The early sun cast a warm glow on the city and landscape below.

After the sun was risen, we prepared for our descent. We saw another group of monkeys, and this throwned monkey particularly caught my eye.

The way down was so much harder than the way up. I felt like I could tumble down the mountain at any moment... probably because I could see it!

At the base, we walked through the remains of a town that was destroyed by a volcanic eruption in the early 2000s.

Here's Mt. Batur!

It was absolutely beautiful. After we were finished, our driver took us back to Kuta beach so Caroline could board her flight. I spent the day on the beach until my flight at 9:30 pm back to Seoul.

Monkey Forest

After our rice paddie journey, Amanda and Joe bargained with a driver to get a ride back to Kuta later that afternoon. Then, we found this gorgeous little restaurant that was set along a stream in what appeared to be a more residential part of town.


All of the seating was very island-y. Bali = paradise.



There was, however, a caged rooster right near our table that was crowing even though it wasn't dawn. Other than that, it was one of my top ten favorite dining experiences. Maybe even top 5. I ordered some gado-gado, which I had seen on many menus but had yet to try. It was a dish of mixed veggies served with a peanut sauce. It was soooooo good!

Because everything is so cheap, and I'm kind of obsessed with food, I also ordered a dish called "rice with pumpkin." The pumpkins around here are green, and taste more like zucchini (very squash-y) then the sweet(ish) orange pumpkin we eat in the states. It was pan fried with onions in coconut oil and served with rice. It was amazing.

After lunch, Amanda and Joe made their way back to the airport and Caroline, Jody and I walked down to the Monkey Forest. Before even enterring, we saw this guy. Just eating some leftovers...

There were MONKEYS EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!!!!

Mama monkeys with their babies...

monkeys doing monkey things, like picking each other's butts...

This monkey hissed at me and bared his teeth when I got to close (don't mess with monkeys and their bananas)...

There were even monkeys having family reunions!

It was CRAZY!! There were no cages, and no tour guides. Just a bunch of people, and a bunch of monkeys, hanging out in a forest. I love Asia.

Rice Paddies

After visiting the market, we used our maps to find a 5 km trail through the local rice farms/paddies. Our walk began through an alley-like cement road but then opened up into this:


I felt like I was finally IN BALI. This is what the Balinese do. They don't lay on beaches drinking Bintangs or peruse markets for hours. They farm, and they work, and they have ceremonies. This was my favorite part of the trip-probably my favorite part of Asia so far. Away from the cities, the noise, the tourism... this was just local life.

This was the most walkable part of the trail.

I never really understand how rice was grown, or how it was harvested. The eat A LOT of rice in Asia. In Korea, there are machines to do its harvesting. I don't think that is the case in Bali. Growing and harvesting rice appears to be extremely labor-intensive. I can't quite figure out why it is RICE that they eat so much of. It seems it would be easier to catch fish.

We were lucky enough to be summoned by this man to try one of his coconuts. He shimmied up a tree to get two for us.

Then he used his knife to cut a slit in the side and use the skin to make a drinking lip.

Like so.

Then, one by one, we all tasted the coconut "milk." We all agreed that it was much more coconut water than milk, but delicious nonetheless.

After we drank all of the juice out, he cut the coconut in half and used our drinking lip as a spatula/spoon so scoop out the inside fruit of the coconut.

It didn't taste anything like dried coconut, which is good because I hate that stuff. It was very tasty - light and refreshing, perfect for a snack on our long walk.

We finished the loop and headed back into Ubud for some lunch. Amanda and Joe needed to find a ride back to Kuta beach to catch their flight back to America, and we were huuunnngry.

Ubud Market!

We paid a guy $25 (total) to drive us an hour to our hotel in Ubud. When we arrived, they had no record of our reservation, but had two rooms open anyway! Here are some day-time photos.

It's not nearly as pretty as it looks, but we survived.

Traffic in Bali is atrocious. There is not an ounce of method to the madness. I'm glad we were on feet.

Our first stop was Ubud market. Ubud is well-known to be the cultural and artisan center of Bali (and the home of Elizabeth Gilbert during her 4 month stay on the island in Eat, Pray, Love).

The market was full of hand-made jewelry, textiles, wood-carvings, spices and fruit. I could have stayed all day. Prices were all negotiable, of course.

The market was mostly open-air, and while we there, it sprinkled a little. It was amazing to see how fast everyone worked to cover up the goods, and equally amazing to watch how quickly they put it all back out and for sale again!

SPICES!

This market was one of the least populated, most eclectic markets I've been to. I really enjoyed myself and could have gotten lost for days inside the maze of colorful goods. But, we had things to do and rice paddies to see...