Sekolah!

Selamat Datang! Hey guys! Today was our first official FULL day of classes here in Bali. Let me tell you, we are EXHAUSTED, but inspired and amazed at the spirit of our students.

So first off, let me tell you a little bit about our school. It's located in a small village about half an hour's drive outside of Ubud, so we have to take a taxi there every day. It's a very remote place, and the locals don't see very many foreigners. We definitely turn some heads when we show up to teach every day. The building itself is a lot more than we had expected; while it is definitely still fairly primitive and lacking in everything an average western school would have, it has 4 walls, a roof, electricity, a whiteboard and some wooden desks. There are about 4 or 5 classrooms in total, and they all open up onto a large courtyard area in the middle.

The school operates as a regular government-operated Indonesian school during the mornings, and then it becomes an extra-carricular English school in the afternoon & evening. The children are not required to go to English school, but many of them choose to as it is free for them because of the volunteers through IVHQ and Green Lion. I know I certainly wouldn't be showing up to second language school every afternoon during my free time when I was 9 years old, but the children in Bali are so eager to learn; they show up prepared, optimistic, and overwhelmingly enthusiastic.

The volunteer work day starts at 9am and goes until we arrive back home around 5:30pm. We spend our mornings preparing our lessons and our afternoons in the classroom with the kids. Our total class has 24 students, but the numbers are different every day depending on who shows up. Today we had 13.

Our class is actually fairly advanced considering that they've only just started learning English this year. Some are definitely more advanced than others, but it's so cool to see their eyes light up with recognition when we connect with them, or teach them something new.  Today we reviewed numbers 1-10, taught them the names of 26 different animals, played games like hangman, Rock Paper Scissors and Duck Duck Goose. We also did a few introduction activities to get to know them. Tomorrow we will be able to delve in much deeper now that we know where they're at in their English lessons.

The children can sometimes be loud, challenging, and energetic to the point of being out of control, but overall they really are a bunch of incredibly sweet, lovely kids. They're patient with us when we struggle with the language barrier, and they love teaching us, too. After today, I wholeheartedly believe that we will learn just as much from them as they will from us. What a beautiful experience this has been so far.

Sampai Nanti (Until Next Time)

Xo Ashley

Bali, Day 3

Hello from beautiful Bali, Indonesia! Ashley here.

We made it safe and sound and we are heading into our second night here in Ubud. To say that we (especially me) are experiencing a bit of culture shock would be a complete understatement. But now that we've been away from the creature comforts of Canada for 3 full days, I think that I am slowly but surely beginning to adjust.

We traveled for 20 hours from Calgary to Hong Kong, where we spent our night in a high-rise hotel in the centre of downtown. It was incredibly overwhelming, but also very cool, to walk around Causeway Bay and experience the craziness of Hong Kong.

We only spent 17 hours in China before we were up and on our way to Bali. Upon arriving, we were taken to our accommodation, which we have since switched in order to be closer to the main volunteer house.  Instead of the private accommodation that Sean and I had originally opted to pay extra for, we have decided to be housed in gender-separate dormitory-style rooms, bunk beds and all. It will definitely an experience.

Speaking of experience, Sean managed to kill 3 spiders, 1 beetle and a cockroach the size of an iPhone in our room last night. (and those are only the bugs that we saw...) I have been politely told to 'grow a pair' as this is just how life in Bali goes, as well as the rest of Asia. But no matter how prepared you think you are for a trip, culture shock seems to always get the best of you. I don't know how long it will take for me to get used to sleeping with open windows and sections of the roof knowing that critters can come and go as they please, or the roosters crowing nonstop, or the hundreds of mopeds whizzing around with a family of 5 on them, hardly missing each other on the road by less than an inch.

All in all though, Bali really is lovely. The people are friendly and helpful, and the other volunteers are all very nice.  I cannot put the shades of green into words that exist here, and even pictures don't do it justice.

We are spending the next few days doing an 'orientation' of Bali with our program coordinators (exploring the surrounding area, being introduced to customs & language, etc) and then we will begin teaching in a few days.

Tonight we are off to a Balinese dance show, and tomorrow we have language lessons and a bit more of an orientation to the surrounding area. We are both still adjusting to the 15 hour time difference and the strange food and water, but I'm sure that in a few day's time we will be feeling much more chipper :) talk soon!

xo Ashley