Busy in Brissy

Okay so to be honest the reason I've taken forever in writing this post is because I can't think of a clever title and it's killing me.
I had a 9 hour layover in Brisbane on my way to Bali, and I didn't want to just stay in the airport or go to sleep (it was a nighttime layover) because I had never been to Brisbane before so I wanted to see the city. Thankfully, my lovely friend, Chris, who I met at the Bluesfest over Easter, lives in Brisbane and was willing to show me around for the night.
Okay so first off I had some luggage issues, but I think I'll talk about that in my flight post instead of my Brissy post. So I guess for this post it's just important to know that it was frustrating and took a while. Chris came to pick me up from the airport and he had to go park because it took too long. But eventually we were on the road into town.
We parked a few streets out of town, for ya know, car safety and such. Then we walked to the more quieter nightlife part, where the rooftop bars were. So like rooftop bars just seem totally amazing to me so I was hype. Unfortunately, the one we were gonna go to was closed because there weren't enough people. Guess quiet was too quiet, lol.

So then we went next door to a TIKI BAR. So like technically, the man bar was inside, but it had outside areas that were practically like almost rooftop bars (okay prob not, more like really large balconies, but still cool). It was awesome! Like I seriously would totally go back to that bar. The decor was on point. The music was totally rockin. & the outdoor area was lovely. MY DRINK CAME IN A PINEAPPLE! It was great.
Also, people there are SO NICE. This one guy was all upset because he called a Canadian an American and the Canadian got super offended (no idea why, sometimes we 'mericans are supa cool). I laughed and the guy like opened up his conversation with his buddy to me. Like in America, I feel like you'd get beat up if you laughed at someone else's conversation.
Then they kicked us out of the outdoor part. I still don't know why, but they closed it. But they had another outdoor part for smoking, so we just went out there because it was practically the same as where we just were except with people smoking. There, some girl started talking to me about my drink being in a pineapple. Like she just started conversation with me. Like who does that? It was so nice! I haven't had actual human interaction since Byron, so it was extremely refreshing and man, I love Australia.
Then later, this guy tells me he likes my pants and said they looked like Versace! Like he said he wasn't kidding. Like whaaattt, that is so nice of him. (Btw, I was wearing The Elephant Pants, as per usual.) Like people here. Like I can't.
Even tho the tiki bar was totally amazing and I totally would've stayed there all night, I did want to see more of Brisbane, so I made us leave to go check out the town.
We headed to the main night life strip, and every single bar was playing Walking on Sunshine. Like I don't know if that was the song of the night or what but it was interesting lol. Good thing I like that song.
So the next place we went was this bar with live music. The girl couldn't sing, but I liked her outfit. I sang along and danced anyways because why not, and when they were done playing we headed back out for more. Next we stopped at this new place that was like a legit club, and you'd think that because I work at a club and I want to own a club that I would like clubs. And I love clubs I just don't like being a patron at them. So yeah that didn't last very long. Then we went out exploring and landed in Chinatown (of course. I literally can't go anywhere without getting myself in Chinatown) where we went to this crazy Asian place. It was insane. The people had like powder on their faces and there were people dancing on the table/stage thing when you entered (see picture to the left) and it was just crazy. Chris loved it of course, but yeah I'd pass. So we left. But it was definitely interesting to see and I'm glad I saw/experienced it.
It was there that I realized that their Asian infestation is basically the equivalent to our Latino "problem" (obviously they're neither infestations nor problems, but Asian infestation rhymes and that's why problem is in quotes). Asia is so close to Australia/New Zealand (hence Australasia) just like Latin America is so close to the United States. So I'm so un-used to all the Asians and their cultural differences, but I'm sure if a Kiwi or Aussie were to come to the States they would feel the same way, but about the Latinos. Like I'm totally comfortable with them but they would be totally foreign to someone from this side of the world. And I just need to make sure it's clear that I am not being racist in this paragraph, I'm just stating how being from one part of the world makes you (not ignorant but I can't really think of a better word...) almost unaware of the other cultures/races out there that you literally never see and then when you do see them you aren't quite sure of their cultural behaviors (what they consider normal/appropriate and such - again, not racist as each culture actually does have different norms and acceptances) and therefore you feel a little out of your comfort zone. So yeah this is when I realized that they're a normal part of life in this side of the world and therefore have most likely adapted to Aussie culture and should be treated as such. (Is that less racist for ya?) Chris even says that in school they learn Chinese and Japanese, whereas in America we learn Spanish. Possibly French, because, ya know, Haiti and Canada. But growing up those were your only options - Spanish or French. With more opportunities to go further if you picked Spanish.
Also, I'm sure it's pretty clear by now, but I don't really care who I offend in my posts because it's my blog and it's for my thoughts and reflections for me to look back upon when I'm old and can't remember what my trip to New Zealand was like, so if you don't like it, don't read it. (Actually tho I kinda do care, but I'm still gonna keep writing/posting what I do, so, yeah, deal with it.)
Wow, didn't realize how late it was (12:30am). I have yoga tomorrow, so I'm gonna try to wrap this up and go to bed. (I blame Jon Bon coming on my Pandora. I swear Bon Jovi does something to my blood that is stronger than any energy drink/coffee I can imagine.)
So after that experience, we started walking again and somehow ended up back at the car. So we headed to the harbour because hello, I'm kinda water obsessed. We went past the cruise port (tear, tear). Ah, maybe one day. Then we just chilled near the water, idk if it was a park or harbor or what but yeah. It was pretty chill. Nah but forreal it was lovely. There was this dude on a dock across from us and I kept calling him a 12 year old because he looked so small but it was probably a full grown dude working. Might've been the lack of sleep but hey it was fun.
Soon the clock turned 4 and I had to head back to the airport for my flight to Bali. I made it back to the airport in time, thanks to my new Brisbane bud.

(photo from Auckland but I needed a
sign off pic lol)

Until next time,

xoxo,

Tasha

Monkey Business/Life's a Dream...

...and not the nightmare where all your teeth fall out. Also not the dream where you're monkey-barring under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge...okay so maybe not any dream I've ever had, but I needed a title, okay?

my first selfie with a waterfall this year :) 

After the elephants, I made it back in time to check out on time. I then headed over to the monkey forest, Ubud's big attraction. Before I even made it inside, there were monkeys everywhere! I was on the street and there were monkeys climbing all over trees and the toilets. Once I realized that that wasn't actually the monkey forest, I made my way inside. They were nice enough to hold my suitcase at the admission ticketing for me so I didn't have to carry it.

monkey picking bugs off other monkey

As soon as I walked in there was this monkey eating a coconut. I started taking pictures of it when another monkey made a run for them. I thought they were going to fight over the coconut or the new monkey was going to steal it, so I got my camera ready and started clicking, but they were instead doing inappropriate monkey business (ooo that would've also been a good title...Monkey Business. ah, oh well, update: I agree it's a great name but I like Life's a Dream as well so guess what it's gonna be a shared title for one post because it's my blog and I can do what I want so deal with it), which I did get a picture of but for the privacy of the monkeys and as to not go against any monkey porn laws, I will not be posting it.
I then made my way around the park. On my way to the cemetery, I saw some monkeys actually picking bugs off of each other! How nice. Pictured above.
I also saw a bunch of monkeys eating various fruits and chillin on the graves (which is kinda rude but they're monkeys so maybe they don't know or maybe they're just rude lol)
I was wandering around thinking about how Dani and Marina got super cute pictures of the monkeys playing with their hair and such, when this guy approaches me and asks if I want the monkeys to sit on my shoulder. Uh, YEAH! So he took me to where the little monkeys were because they're less aggressive and will be more photogenic. At first we offer bananas, but they don't seem to want that so we give them leeches, which they gladly take. It was all fine, well, and good until the leeche was dripping all over me and made me all sticky, but it's okay because now I have cute monkey pictures.

So after we hung out with the little monkeys we went back to where all the tourists were, with the big monkeys. The guy had saved one more fruit for a big one, so we gave it to one who sat on my head like a hat to eat the fruit and was quickly gone again. 

 
Once there were no more fruits and I had my picture with the monkeys and paid the guy for my personal monkey encounter, I continued walking around the park. I still had like 6 hours until I had to go to the airport.

My adventures in the monkey forest lead me to temples and the waterfall you see in the opening picture. Honestly I think one of the monkeys left bugs on me instead of picking them off because I was awfully itchy. But I put my hair up and tried to ignore it. 

Soon I was back at the entrance for the monkey forest. Sneaking past the ticket booth (so I wouldn't have to get my suitcase yet) I headed up the road to find an ATM (for the taxi ride to the airport) and food. 

I ate at this restaurant near the ATM because I'm lazy. But they had Tropical Iced Tea and it was sooo good. I hadn't had tea my entire time here in New Zealand because they just don't have any. It's depressing because at home I live off sweet tea (I literally by 3-4 bottles every night from Night Hound, Loyola's nighttime dining on the West Side of campus). I only got one Tropical Iced Tea, but I finished it in like .2 seconds, so then I just asked for regular iced teas because they were like 15k cheaper, but the lady kept bringing me tropical teas even though she only charged me for regulars! (The tropical ones have fruit in them.)
So I'm not sure if I blogged about it or if I tweeted about it, so if I blogged about it, sorry but I'm gonna blog about it again. For my meal part I got a salmon sandwich because as part of my cruise deficiency I need hot tea (also very hard to find in New Zealand) and salmon as much as possible in my life to make up for the lack of sea days which contributes to the lack of high teas. So yeah that led to salmon sandwich for lunch. 

Then for dessert I got some local dessert which was literally just bananas and pineapples and ice cream in a bowl of rum. It was called some long fancy word that starts with a K tho. So there's that. 

After lunch I went back to collect my suitcase and just walked around Ubud. It was hilly and hot and exhausting and there's dead ends and it was not good. I just chilled on the steps of some store for a bit then I decided I would attempt a spa because I'd never been to a spa before and Bali is like full of spas. So then I made another two rounds of town looking for a spa that took credit cards and offered baths. Eventually, I found Sang Spa. 

It was nice. I would recommend it. 

So I got some mask massage thing, I honestly have no idea I just got it because it came with a bath at the end. While I was deciding what I wanted they brought me some cold green drink to drink. It was good but small. Then I got a full body massage followed by a full body covering of some exfoliate thing, idk. But then I was wrapped up like a burrito to sit for 15 minutes before I could take a bath. Normally I hate massages/am lowkey scared of them because they always leave me in a lot of pain and hurt but before this one they had some survey I had to fill out about my skin and the strength of the massage and stuff so I was sure to put super soft for the strength. Also I would just like to mention that the masseuse was the first person to ask me about my skin and if I was okay. It was nice to have someone care. 

So anyways after all that I finally got to take a bath! IN A PRINCESS BATH!!! YESSS!!! Literally dream come true. In my future house I will own a princess bath. It also had lots of flower petals in it which was fancy. I kinda messed with the plug on accident though so I quickly ran out of water. Oops. It was nice while it lasted. Oh also while I was in there I was served hot tea (to go with my salmon from earlier) and fruits. Passion fruit and a fruit that I originally thought was a tomato but have since decided it was a kumquat. 

Then after it was finished I didn't even have to look for a ride to the airport because they had a taxi service! I just had to wait for their guy to come pick me up and he took me to the airport. It was lovely.

Until next time,
xoxo,
Tasha

ELEPHANTS!!!!

FINALLY. The day I had been waiting for since birth (just kidding, since about maybe like two years ago when I found out you could swim with elephants) is finally upon us! I GET TO SWIM WITH THE ELEPHANTS TODAY YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYYAYAYAYAYAY

I was extremely tired when I woke up, but I dismissed my tiredness because I was too excited for the elephants. Elephants are definitely my favorite animal, especially now. I quickly got my stuff together and headed downstairs to wait to get picked up. I was a little concerned with checkout because checkout was noon and I wasn't 100% sure I'd make it back in time, but there was no one at the desk so I literally couldn't check out even if I wanted to. Eventually, some lady came up to me and said that the driver called and wouldn't get there until 7:15 (he was supposed to show up at 6:30) so I was to go back to my room and she would call when he got there. So I did. This made me a bit more nervous about the checkout time but I just let it go because I was going to the elephants.

When we got there, the rest of the group had already started washing the elephant because we were late. I waited my turn and then I got to wash the elephant too!
Okay, to be honest, I mostly just posed for pictures with the hose and brush instead of actually washing the elephant, but she had just been washed by like 10 other people so she was totally clean enough.
The elephants were a lot smaller than I thought they'd be. They're Sumatra elephants, which I guess is why they're so small. I feel like at our zoos we mostly have African elephants, which are much much larger and I think much less hairy. But these were a good size because they were very cuddly.
The Elephant Safari Park has like 31 or 51 elephants that were rescued from being killed and there are some young ones also that were born at the park. They're adorbs.
After washing them, we went to the lake where we got to swim with them! Yay!
There were only 4 elephants in the lake so I had to wait my turn. They were very photogenic for the people before me and they came up with good pictures. Then when it was my turn they were tired and didn't do lots of fun poses and such, but it was okay because I had lots of pictures anyways and I still got to play in the water with them.
Also beforehand I was rocking my elephant romper from The Elephant Pants and during the lake time I had on my Maryland flag bottoms. Afterwards I wasn't sure whether I wanted to wear my Safari dress or put my romper back on, and I ended up putting my romper back on because it had elephants on it and I was at an elephant park.
Anyways, the elephant trainer said I had really good balance and asked me if I rode horses. :) The last time I rode horses was probably in middle school on Tanya's horses, but hey apparently I have good balance because of it. So that's cool. Standing on elephants is much easier than surfing was the past week. It was fun. It was kinda like back walking on a person except the person was an elephant and it didn't make me feel super uncomfortable because of the bones. Like you could still feel the bones but it wasn't as nasty.
Once I got out of the lake, I went over to another elephant to get more pictures because Gigi (the elephant I was in the lake with) wasn't being very photogenic. But then she got super jealous and came back over to me and wrapped me in her trunk :) It was lovely. A real proper elephant hug. :)
& look at that smile; I never saw a happier elephant.
I don't understand why she couldn't be so loving and photogenic in the water, but better late than never, right?
So then after that I was taken to the showers then to breakfast. At breakfast, I meat Nikki and her boyfriend and his mom. They felt bad because I was all by myself so they invited me to sit with them so I didn't have to be alone. After breakfast we looked around the gift shop for a bit before we realized we could go get our elephant safari ride now. Then we headed down to get in line.
Okay. So everyone that hates people that rides elephants and goes to SeaWorld, I do NOT want to hear about how riding elephants is bad. NO. YOUR STUPID OPINIONS ARE BAD. (Well, okay, no, bc freedom of expression, but forreal if you're gonna judge and criticize me for riding elephants and liking SeaWorld, you can seriously just leave me and my blog and the beautiful elephants and whales alone, okay. bye.)
Okay so these so called elephants rights activists (I totally made that up, idk what they call themselves) that hate places like the Elephant Safari Park and SeaWorld are seriously just ignorant to what actually happens in places like these and just assumes the worse based on false premises and bad situations.

Yes, the elephants are tied up. They're like 3 ton creatures. They do spook. Imagine something scaring them and them taking off; they would literally unintentionally destroy everything in their path. How are they kept in place? By a chain attached to the ground and one ankle cuff. They are held to the ground by ONE ANKLE that can move around as much as it wants within the length of the chain. Literally dogs on runners sometimes have less freedoms. There is absolutely nothing harming the elephant by having them chained up how they are. Horses, cows, and probably many other animals that all you dumb elephant activist have no problems with are most definitely treated a lot worse in some instances.

Ladies carrying buckets on their heads.

Okay, now to the part that's really gonna anger ya, ya dumb so-called elephant lover. The actual riding of the elephant.
So clearly I rode bareback into the lake during the swim with them. I was also on her neck instead of her actual back (except when I was standing on her). This is fine by most of you. That's all fine, well, and good. It's the actual seat on the back that you don't like.
Okay. So. You claim you don't agree with it because it's bad for the elephant. I don't know the elephant and their back situations, so I'm not necessarily going to disagree with that. But have you seen how they treat their humans? (Not the elephants, the other humans.) They literally carry stuff on their heads. I guarantee you this is not good for the humans. It pushes your head down into your neck down into your spine, literally damaging your spine and also making you shorter. It is not healthy. How can you yell at them for making their elephants carry things on their back when the humans must carry things on their head in a similar fashion? It's just the way of life there, so how can you say it's wrong for the animal but right for the human? I don't understand. Also if you take into consideration the weight difference, I'm sure compared to their body weights, the human is carrying a much larger percentage of body weight on her head than the elephant is on his/her back. Therefore it would be much less damaging to the elephant. So why are you so concerned with the elephant being hurt from carrying stuff on their backs than the humans from carrying stuff on their heads? Your crazy activism makes no sense to me.

You can see the elephant's hips.
Nothing on them. Nothing hurting them.

Second, you claim it "breaks their shoulders". No. Well, maybe other elephant riding places do, but not the Elephant Safari Park. See, that's another thing, you cannot place all elephant ride providers in the same bucket and cast hate and disapproval of all of them when there are probably a million different ways people set up rides on elephants. We were not on the elephant's shoulders. We were not on the elephant's hips. We were in the center of their back. Haven't you ever given someone a piggy back ride? That's essentially what the elephant was doing for us.

You can see the elephant's shoulders.
Nothing on them. Nothing hurting them. 

If someone is sitting directly in the middle of your back, or you're wearing a backpack, does it hurt? No. So how can you say that even though it doesn't hurt on humans it hurts the elephant, a much stronger and more able creature? Yes, I understand that elephants and humans are very different and shouldn't be compared as if they were the same, but think about it. Logically it makes sense. 

an elephant handler beginning to put some padding on the elephant,
preparing him/her for the elephant ride.

Even if the mid back would hurt, there is so much padding that goes onto the elephant's back before the seat gets placed on top. SO much padding. With all that padding, I doubt they could feel a piano fall on them (okay so that's definitely an exaggeration, but there's seriously a lot of padding that goes on before the seat).
Then there's the actual seat. It's super minimalistic and probably weighs half of what I weigh. The seat itself probably feels like a piece of paper on their back. Like it's nothing.
So if you want to yell at me for riding an elephant, just know that I will completely ignore you. Yes, I understand that some places probably do actually treat their elephants horribly and do break their elephants. But being a creature born with the ability to reason and think logically, you should realize that there's always a few bad apples in the pack and they're not all like that. #ELEPHANTLIVESMATTER but so do #ELEPHANTRIDESMATTER
The elephant ride was the longest part of my time with the elephants, and the part that got the least amount of pictures. It's actually quite difficult to selfie with the elephant when you're on top of him lol. Thankfully, when we walked back in and around the lake, one of the park workers took my picture (featuring Nikki, her boyfriend, and his mom).
During one part of the ride, we went one way while the other elephants went another way. After the ride, Nikki's boyfriend (sorry idk his name lol) said that it was because our elephant was male and the rest were females and it was mating season so ours had to go the other way to get around the ones coming towards us. Interesting. Not sure if it's true or not but it kinda makes sense lol.
After the elephant ride was an elephant talent show! It was really quick because they're elephants. Although they have lots of talents and can preform many things for us, it would get boring to watch them kick goals and dunk baskets over and over. My favorite was the harmonica playing elephant. It was beautiful haha. They also hula hooped and completed math problems. The equation said 3+3 and two kids held up numbers, 6 and 7. The elephant then picked 6 and put it next to the equation.
Before the talent show but after the ride, I fed some elephants and got more pictures with them. The one elephant kept hugging me with her trunk (I wonder if it was Gigi again). She was wet because she just came out of the lake, and I left the picture part wetter than when I went swimming with them. But its okay because it was fun and they were cute.
The people before me kept getting the elephant to play with the flower ring with them, so I tried that but this elephant didn't want to play with it. The people before me had a different elephant who was replaced by the wet one. But that's okay, I just put the flower wreath on her head like a tiara, which you can see in the second picture of the post. I could cuddle the elephants all day. They're so friendly and nice and cute and smart. They remind me of my beloved doggie that I'm only like 30,000 days away from seeing again, give or take God's plan.
Until then, maybe I'll get myself a pet elephant. Any Caribbean islands where you can legally have a pet elephant?

Until next time,
xoxo,
Tasha

I Wanna Be Where the Fishes Are

I wanna be where the fishes are

I wanna see, wanna see them swimmin'

Flappin around on those - what do you call 'em?

Oh - fins!

The next morning I couldn't just ignore the alarm and skip breakfast/save it for later. I had to get up now. I had to eat now. I had to check out now. Because I was going snorkeling.

The girls at the Rama Garden are so nice. Although I checked out at 8, I could keep my suitcase in the restaurant until it was time to go to the ferry. I got picked up via motorbike and we headed to the snorkeling boat.

So we were supposed to see Mantas. It was a Manta Ray Snorkeling expedition, but, unlike the stingray snorkeling excursions in the Bahamas,  the mantas are not contained but free in the wild and therefore it is up to luck, fate, and the mantas on whether or not they are to be seen. Unfortunately, this was not one of those days.

We went to four snorkeling sites. The first was Manta Bay where the manta rays were supposed to be. Although I did not see a manta, I did get stung in the arm by a jellyfish. The red stinger was stuck to my arm until I was back on the boat and could remove it. It left a bump and it hurt really bad. Because of this, I was a little reluctant to go back in the water at the next stop. 

Second stop was Crystal Bay. The water was really warm, so that was nice. There were so many colorful corals and fish! One guy on the boat said it was just like the Great Barrier Reef, but he must've gone to a much smaller GBR than the one I visited a few years ago. But it was super colorful and nice and I could've spent a while looking at those fishies. 

Also, let me take this time to say how disappointed I am in my GoPro. Of course I took a million pictures and literally 4 of them turned out. And they didn't even turn out well, like with colors and everything. It's like all blue but at least in those 4 you can see fish. I thought GoPros were supposed to be good at underwater picture taking? Isn't that the point of a GoPro? My disposable underwater from CVS literally takes just as good pictures. I'm so upset. 

The next stop we went to the current was too rough for us to snorkel, so the boat driver took us to a place we weren't scheduled to stop instead. I was getting tired at this point, so I didn't really want to get back off the boat just to get back on to go to the next stop, but I like being a fish so I did so anyways. The current here was still strong so the boat driver told us to just float next to the cliff and have the current take us to where another boat was while our boat used its motor to go to the other boat to pick us up. So it was a really quick stop. We had to stay close to the cliff though because the water dropped off real quick and got really deep a few feet away from the cliff. 

Our final stop took us to the mangroves. I did go to school in Florida for a semester and a term so I know what mangroves are and these were not them. I think maybe the island near where we were might've had mangroves and that's how the area was named, but we were on a reef not mangroves. There were sooo many fish here. And the water was so warm and clear. The reef was even more colorful than the others combined and there were more fish than I've ever seen. I felt like I was swimming in an aquarium tank again, but with more fish and more room to swim. It was amazing. Funny, at this stop I was not tired and gladly got off the boat and I'm glad I did. 

If I'm in the mood maybe I'll make a video of my snorkeling, if the videos show any fish because the pictures mostly don't. 

After snorkeling I went back to the restaurant at the Rama Garden for food and to collect my suitcase. I got the chicken nuggets and a smoothie. It was really good. After I ate I went to the beach.

The water at the beach is really calm (hence why we had to take a boat to go to the waves) but there is a strong side current and many boats everywhere, so I couldn't just float and I had to ground myself in the coral/sand to make sure I didn't drift into a boat or away from my suitcase. Other than that it was fun. A couple Asian girls stopped right in front of me to get their pictures taken so I'm pretty sure I'm in their pictures in the background, but that's okay with me. 

At about 3:00 I headed back to the restaurant to see if a taxi would be getting me to go to the ferry or if I would have to walk. A taxi was on it's way for me and soon I was back on the ferry. 

The ferry was an interesting experience this time. Everyone on the ferry fell asleep except for me, a couple sitting diagonally behind me, and a guy sitting behind them. The whole boat! Even the workers who were sitting in the aft. Thankfully it didn't seem like the captain fell asleep because we made it back to the mainland fine. But on the way, the guy in the couple kept testing me! He kept telling me to push the girl next to me and pour water on her and I really wanted to because it would be funny but I didn't. If she fell over on me though I was prepared to punch her out of the seat. Eventually he gave up on hoping I would so he threw water on her! It was very funny. Even before the water was thrown, anytime I would look at the couple or the guy behind them we would all start laughing because we were the only ones awake! A girl was sleeping on the guy behind the couple and that was funny also. 

(Also fun fact: I'm currently shedding like a snake and it itches really really badly. Even my fingers are peeling so I guess they didn't actually scar over and it was just some super weird scabbing, idk.)

Once we got to the mainland, the ferry played bumper boats with a few of the boats next to where we were trying to park because of the current and maybe the captain was sleeping a little. But finally they got it in place and I was on my way to Ubud via taxi, again in the front seat in my own van. 

Once in Ubud, I was treated to a watermelon juice during check in which I drank too quickly to take a picture of (sorry). Then I was shown my room which was super fancy. I also received a free massage voucher, so once I dropped my stuff off in my room I went to use it. Unfortunately, when it was finished, the pool was closed so I could not go swimming like I had been hoping to. I then planned on just waking up early to go swimming but let's be honest, I already had to wake up early enough.

My balcony

View from my balcony

So after my massage, I took a shower/bath and used the shampoo and bubble bath provided by the hotel. It was very nice because I hadn't had hot water since I arrived in Bali and I practically had dreads. They were awful and I felt like I was ripping my head off when I attempted to brush my hair, but at least I know that if I ever accidentally did get dreads forreal I would look good with them.

Check out my almost dreads in the mirror

I then headed down to their restaurant for some food because I was very hungry. I ordered crispy duck, but they were out. So then I ordered marinara pizza, but they were out of that too. Next I tried margarita pizza, which was also a no. Finally I ordered some spaghetti and they had it. It was really good spaghetti so I'm kinda glad that I was practically forced to eat it because they were out of like everything else. 
At the restaurant, there was this cat. It was the smallest cat I ever saw, like it literally was smaller than my forearm. It kept meowing. When I was done eating it jumped onto a chair and chair hopped until it was on the one next to me. It kept staring at me and I swear it could see into my soul. It was so tiny and cute though. Nice cat. 
After dinner I got my things ready for tomorrow and got into bed. I watched a few minutes of The Voice before settling on Dora the Explorer. I need my weekly dose of Spanish and you just don't get that here in Australasia. It was nice to watch television because I hadn't seen TV (besides a couple episodes of The Bachelor NZ) since before I came to New Zealand. 
I almost couldn't last the whole episode before my eyes closed for good and I slept through the night. 

Until next time,

xoxo,

Tasha

Understand Yoga, Check.

I wake up and my body is worse than when I went to bed. I had minor chaffing after the first lesson, but it was pretty much healed when I woke up yesterday (or so I thought...maybe that's why it got so bad). But today my entire body is still very much in pain and bumpy. I don't think I can surf like this. So I talk to my mother and grandmother and inform Chris I will not be going to today's lesson.
That means I can go back to sleep, but unfortunately, I'm already awake. So I FaceTime my mother and the dog (Lyla) starts barking at me. I still cannot understand her (maybe if she was a Chesapeake instead of French [Mastiff]...), but no doubt she's yelling at me for leaving her. Then she leaves me for some ice cream! So then I snapchat Patrick because although Lyla may be my best friend at home, Patrick is my best friend anywhere (any time, any place).
So I show him my new awful skin condition, and he's like "yeah it's common from the board wax, just lotion it". Uh, okay. First off, I know it's common; it's not new to me. I always get it on my arms, and, if I'm not wearing a rash guard, on my stomach. But never on literally every single surface of my skin that was in any way exposed. Plus, they didn't even wax my board(s) because they were soft tops. No idea why that means they don't get waxed, but they didn't. & finally, I don't have lotion. I'm in Bali. Like you're supposed to make me feel better not tell me what I don't want to hear. But if he just told me things I wanna hear (although I would no doubt seriously love it), that would be a pretty weird/messed up friendship.

At 10 I had yoga. This time it was yin yoga. For yin yoga, you hold a certain pose for 5 minutes, so it's like intense stretching. It wasn't as fun as flight high yoga, but I was not disinterested or bored. I didn't realize I could stay that calm/still for so long. Also, in the harder poses we learned what our bodies do to try to escape discomfort.  First I fidget. Like a lot. Then if I can successfully manage to stop/lessen the fidgeting, my body shakes. It is becoming very apparent to me lately that my body shakes when it's upset. I learned this years ago, actually, when I was so sad once that my body literally shook for 3 days straight. It was terrible and terrifying. Unfortunately, these days I'm involuntarily (well, it's always involuntary) reverting back to the shaking when subconsciously (or an insane amount of consciously) I'm upset. I also learned that to try to stop myself from such involuntary actions (fidgeting/twitching, shaking, and even kicking when my foot is touched - it's a reflex -, etc) I clench. Definitely my jaw, sometimes my hands, and even my knees (no wonder they're so bad) when applicable(/they're not involved in the involuntary act or yoga pose). I learned a lot about myself while observing my body during yoga, which leads to one point in completion of my second study abroad goal, understand yoga.
After trying AcroYoga and Fly High Yoga, I understand that people do them because they are extremely fun. Like you're literally on top of someone or playing in a swing. & they're supposed to have health benefits?! How lovely!
Yin yoga, on the other hand, is not as fun but in addition to learning some semi-useful information about yourself, holding the poses for an extended time (such as five minutes) allows the muscles to relax, therefore working the yin tissue. This tissue is literally everywhere in your body, but doesn't get properly worked/used/stretched/I'm-not-really-sure while your muscles are engaged. Yin yoga essentially gives your tissues and organs a massage from the inside, releasing a bunch of toxins from the tissue. But it doesn't hurt like a massage, it's literally the stretches we're (at least cheerleaders are) used to, but holding them a little longer. Yes it leads to discomfort sometimes, but I'm discomfortable 80% of the time anyways.
I've only began to understand/discover three types of yoga, and none are the tradition fancy pose, head stand, super flexible images or stereotypes or perceptions I even still have when I think of yoga. But now I understand that there are many (more than one) types of yoga, and they're all bound to have different reasons why they are how they are and why people do them and that obviously depends a lot upon the individual as well, but I've come to learn about and understand three forms of yoga and to me that is a successful competition of goal #2, understand yoga.
Also for each yoga session we randomly select a rock out of a box. That rock has a word on it which we can either choose to focus on or simply put to the side. Both times, by random selection, I chose the "compassion" rock. Not sure what that means; maybe God is trying to tell me I need to be more compassionate. I just thought it was interesting.
After yoga I went back and got a large coconut (I had already eaten the breakfast before yoga). I needed the coconut water and, let's be real, small coconuts are never enough. OMG. It's a good thing this coconut only cost like 2USD. It was huge! Literally bigger than my head. It didn't taste nearly as sweet as the South Pacific coconuts and I think I prefer my Caribe cocos, but I was still going to try to drink it all. I sat there drinking for as long as I could and when I couldn't drink anymore I took it back to my room for later. Although I kept drinking it all throughout the day and night, I couldn't finish it, so I can't even tell you/imagine what the meat was like because I never got to it. It was like an endless bottom coconut!

After all my toxins were released via the yoga and the coconut, I quickly fell asleep, sleeping past my paddleboard session. But my hands were too raw to hold the paddle anyways (I still couldn't touch most things - my hair, the sheets, etc), so it was okay. When I did awaken, I caught a glimpse of the sunset and decided to head to the beach for a better look (and to see where exactly this beach spot was. The Rama Garden sign wasn't on the beach but in between some posts several dozen meters away from the beach).
Once I'd had enough, I decided to take the road into town (the other way) to look for food. I saw an open restaurant and went for it. Parts of the food were alright; others were too spicy for my tasting. But the real problem was the bugs. I was being eaten more than the restaurant's food! Caroline (the yogi) is careful to warn us of the bugs and gives us bug spray, but I must've washed it off. I'm scared because it's been a really bad year in Bali for some mosquito disease - over 30 people on this little island have it and there are streets in Ubud filled with victims. If you have it you have to have blood
work every other day or be on IVs in the hospital so I don't want it. As soon as I get the check I head over to the shop across the street to buy and apply bug spray for the walk back.
I make it back alive and head to bead again.
I'm like a sloth; I sleep more in a day than I'm awake. I'd like to say my average ideal awake time is 8 (hours), give or take 4 (4-12 hours). Obviously I';m usually awake a lot longer than that, but on my off days, bet that's all I'm awake for. Today was one of those days.

Until next time,

xoxo,

Tasha