Falling in love...

"We travel, initially, to lose ourselves; and we travel, next, to find ourselves. We travel to open our hearts and eyes and learn more about the world than our newspapers will accommodate. We travel to bring what little we can, in our ignorance and knowledge, to those parts of the globe whose riches are differently dispersed. And we travel, in essence, to become young fools again- to slow time down and get taken in, and fall in love once more." Pico Iyer, Why We Travel

So there's something you should know about me. I fall in love a lot. Like, all the time. 

Usually it's something as basic as a glance, and before I know it, I'm head-over-heels infatuated, humming out some Bryan Adams tune.

Now, rarely do things get out of hand and get to the point of any real commitment (mainly because I'm too busy humming), but hardly does this have any impact on how its so easy to appreciate whats around and fall in love. 

So it should come as no surprise that after a few day fling in Bali I was humming the opening chords of some love song about the no nonsense lifestyle and beauty around every corner. 

I. LOVE. THIS. ISLAND. It has everything I love wrapped up conveniently in a little package. Clear turquoise waters. White sand. Black sand. Pebble sand. Jungle interior. Mountains. Whispering palm trees when you want to relax. Majestic temples everywhere you turn. Streets lined with flower offerings to the gods. Fields and fields of rice swaying in the breeze. Not only that, but the people here have such a rich culture that is celebrated everyday.

While there I was completely comfortable being in the natural rhythm of the community around me. What did I even do everyday? I'm not really sure how those few months went by so quickly. My days were filled with teaching the best class of 4th graders I could ask for. They are full of spirit and eager to learn. They joke around a lot and pick on each other even more (most of the time in good nature). Smiles that light up their eyes are plastered on their faces and they leave school piled on bikes, sometimes one peddler and two more hanging on! 

I never knew what to expect with those kids either. Like the time I came to class and the boys had collected buckets and buckets of crabs of all sizes from the river and brought them to class. No big deal at first until the class trouble maker poured one bucket that had momma crabs and literally hundreds of baby crabs onto the floor. There were crabs everywhere! The girls were screaming, the boys were picking them up and chasing the girls, and I was trying to herd the little critters back into the bucket without getting stepped on. It's kinda fun going to class and wondering what kind of excitement the students would create in class that day. I loved it! Never a dull day, that's for sure!

I enjoyed nearly every minute I was in Bali. It's been the highlight of my trip. After a few months here they've kicked me out, but I'm only trying to find a way to come back again, and soon! I just can't resist this place that has left it's mark.