Yayasan Widya Sari

What an adventure Bali has been. Almost a month since my last post, I feel just as happy here as I have since the day I arrived, and even more at home. I leave for India on December 17. Until then, I will spend the weekend here at camp finishing all my various creative projects and then celebrating the end of a life changing volunteering experience with 4 days back on Gili T. Before I fly out, I'll come back to the organization for one night and say goodbye to what friends haven't left already. This is the time of year when the number of volunteers drops significantly, so most of the people I mentioned in my last post have already left. Elias, Etienne, Maya, and Yael remain.

The main task I have to complete over this weekend at home is my handmade Catan board. For over 3 weeks I've been riding my scooter hours to buy materials, sawing and sanding wooden hexagons, cutting colored pencils in half, painting, collecting rocks on the beach, and designing cards on my computer. Everyone here has fallen so in love with Catan that I thought a home made "Catan: Tianyar Edition" would be the perfect parting gift in an attempt to give back to the organization. Hopefully, by Monday, I'll be able to play Catan one last time- with pieces that I myself created. The whole project has familiarized me a lot more with woodworking, painting, and graphic design- all of which are hobbies I fully intend to keep practicing. Currently, the only people at the organization are me, Elias, and the founder of the organization, Ketut. He and I have shared our music and many fascinating conversations about leadership, creativity, passion, and the history of the organization. He put an emphasis on the fact that this is a "leaderless organization" so that everyone can take a leadership role of their own in whatever way they can. It made me realize that everyone here is more or less equal. The admin staff in the office, the taxi drivers, the laundry lady, Ibu Ayu the cook, Metut the owner of the school cantina, and all of the volunteers have an equal role in making this place tick. It's amazing what's possible when people come together to make something happen.

Last weekend, I took a 3 day long scooter ride around the perimeter of the entire island of Bali. We stayed in cheap hotels and rode multiple hours day and night to make it around the island in one weekend. The first night, we rode in the late evening from Tianyar to Gianyar. There, we settled in to our hotel and got some sleep. The next day we rode into the center of town and I bought some more paints that I needed for my board game. Without much to do in Gianyar, we rode early in the day and arrived in Negara on the west corner of the island by mid afternoon. It took a bit of searching and improvisational navigation, but when we arrived to the hotel we felt that we had entered another dimension. Hotel Hapel was a giant of a building, a haunted mansion of sorts. Despite the beautiful coastal location and the staggering size of the place, it soon became clear that we were the hotel's only guests. We learned quickly why that might have been; the water worked when it decided it wanted to, the bathroom floor was quite literally lined with bugs, and the wifi worked only as soon as you stepped out of the room. All the while, Etienne and I repeated the phrase "That's life, man." That mantra has beena very fitting sentiment for just about any situation I've been in over the last month. It takes the exhilerating bucket list experiences like going for a 3am moonlit swim and the comical misfortunes like Hotel Hapel and acknowledges them all as equally valuable parts of life. From the countless nasi goreng dinners to the Wednesday night pizza restaurant outing, from the many sweet dogs that roam the organization to the infamous "anjing putih" (white dog) that attacks you when you ride by on your scooter, from the weekend explorations to neighboring islands to quiet weekends at home alone like this, I feel like I'm living my life to the fullest.

Last Thursday was the day of my goodbye ceremony at the English school, Yayasan Widya Sari. The students performed multiple dances for me and the other departing volunteers, shared a heartfelt farewell and adorned us with flower crowns and gifts. This emotional afternoon made me sadder to leave than ever before, and I mean it when I say I will never forget a single one of my 26 students. I have every intention to come back to the organization and teach a new class, maybe for even longer. I'm inspired by the kid's love of learning and their ability to walk into class every day with a smile. These people are filled with so much love that it's hard not to smile myself every time I see them. Likewise, every staff member at the organization exhibits a welcoming energy of openness, gratitude, and friendliness. I've not met a single person here in Bali that rubbed me the wrong way or made me feel unwelcome. Of all the places I've been so far, this is the place where I've laid down the most roots. For that reason, I'm planning to return and continue teaching English at the soonest opportunity. For now, though, I can confidently say I'm ready for my next adventure in India.

Peace and love,
Jonah