This blog post was written by our Global Gap Fellow Sarah Breland.
Finally, after 30 hrs of being on multiple planes, I arrive in Bali, Indonesia around 2AM which is 1PM (EST) back home. The plane ride felt like it took forever and at every stop I took the opportunity to freshen up and grab some good food and snacks. Not that the food on the plane that they served was bad, but I am really glad I brought some snacks and drinks that I knew I would be in the mood to eat or drink. In addition, freshening up even when you don’t necessarily feel gross from being on the plane that long is really key to maintaining that feeling because freshening up on the plane is definitely a challenge. Also, I would choose your seats wisely when going on long flights like mine. I personally like to be by the window to lean on something when I plan on sleeping and in the aisle when I know I don’t plan on sleeping. Bringing a book that you know you will actually read, downloading movies or episodes, bringing noise canceling headphones, a portable charger, your regular charger, a water bottle, facial care, etc. will also help your flight go more smoothly and enjoyable. When I arrived in Bali, like I had before, I immediately got crowded by taxi companies, SIM card people, and more trying to get you to buy from their business. Despite even saying that I already have a taxi scheduled to pick me up, the taxi people, especially by the airport, are very persistent. I have learned while traveling through the Indonesia airports and ferry boat ports that you have to be straight forward or blunt in saying no to people trying to sell you things. Otherwise, you will end up spending way more than you should have and probably not getting as good of a deal. In addition, haggling has been very popular in both Bali and Lombok and saying no once might signal you are playing “hard to get” to some salespeople.
After traveling across on a ferry boat from Bali to Lombok and settling in, I met up with some other fellow volunteers at our local badminton gym. In Indonesia, badminton is one of their most popular sports and they are very intense while playing. It took a while for me to get used to people driving on the left side of the road again and also to being called “Bule” which basically means white person when I am out in public or just passing by. Although I was only gone from Lombok for a few weeks a lot had changed. In fact, our organization lost and gained two employees and our coral reef restoration site had begun to start growing multiple patches of seaweed which is really good for the reef system. I was glad to finally be back and get to scuba dive every other day again and go swimming in the ocean with the best view of the sunset. It was good to be able to drop off the random gifts I got along my travels so far to my family back home so I can have more room in my luggage, and it wouldn’t be so heavy.
After having one of our team meetings for IBF, I got assigned a couple of projects. Currently we are short staffed and have few volunteers so I am taking on projects such as organizing community beach clean ups and events, organizing and executing 2-3 art installations made from primarily trash along our beaches with our local school, designing signboards for our mangroves, painting a mural in our coral lab, painting a mural at our elementary school, and more. It has been a packed last couple of weeks since I have been here with volunteer work, but I have also taken time to do little self-care things like going to the spa, having a sunset beach picnic, having a movie night, and splurging on buying cheese for my grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup. At the spa I got a two-hour massage, a hair treatment, facial, and a gel pedicure and manicure for only 40 usd which to me was insanely cheap and 100% worth it and needed after my lengthy flight. I also bought cheese which sounds like a normal thing to do, but in Indonesia many people are lactose intolerant and don’t eat cheese. Thus, those who typically will buy cheese are tourists and it is then priced more expensively. So, buying cheese for me was my little splurge in rupiah (Indonesian cash) which is not really expensive for what we would spend in the U.S. but for Lombok it is compared to the price of other products.
Besides working on the list of projects I just mentioned, I am planning on making a few trips around Lombok and possibly some other islands nearby. Farther down South on Lombok you can find the infamous pink sand beaches and some great surfing spots in cities like Kuta. There are also so many beautiful waterfalls scattered across the island, as well as a few Hindu temples that I am going to visit soon. There are a couple of holidays going on around the islands including an interesting one which includes a festival and the burning of statues built for the holiday in each of the cities typically of demons before Nyepi Day or a Balinese holiday (although they celebrate it in Lombok too) of total silence, fasting, and meditation. Also, the month-long period of fasting during the day for Ramadan is coming up and during the nighttime the street vendor and restaurant provide very tasty and unique foods that you can’t normally get outside of Ramadan. While Lombok is made up of primarily Muslim communities, Bali is made up of primarily Hindu communities, but both islands have mixed or specific areas with the other religion. I am excited to experience more of these kinds of holidays and see more of the upcoming festivities while in Lombok.