Be careful of the monkey!

Today I went on a tour with a few Of the folks from our build team. At the first Hindu temple monkeys ran about, one stole the sunglasses off the hat of a woman in our group! Luckily some kid ran after him with a stick and somehow for it back. 

A view of the temple. Our guide shared some interesting information about Hinduism, we weren't allowed to enter the worship area but the view was great.

For lunch we visited another beach where we picked out our meal from these bins of fresh seafood. I shared a red snapper with Susan, a fellow social worker from Maine. She's a hoot, reminds me of grandma.

Another guy from our team who came along was a world religion major with a focus on SE Asia, he said this was Rama and his side kick from the Ramayana.

Tonight we met the whole team, there are 25 of us. It's an interesting group with people from all over the US, all ages and personalities, should make for an interesting time. We leave for Lovina tomorrow, and will visit the 3 houses were working on.

I like the hotel I'm staying at but I'm right next to a busy intersection and they seem to avoid street signals and instead everyone honks. Problem is you can't destinguish if they're honking bruise they want to give you a lift or to warn you they're about to hit you. Scooters, taxis and your buses dominate crowded chaotic streets. It takes me an average of 5 minutes to plan and execute crossing the street. Lots of foreigners rent scooters and join the crazy show, not me.

My new favorite drink... Ice cold watermelon juice! Just about 25,000R

A memorial close to my hotel where the 2002 terrorist bombings of 2 popular night clubs and the US embassy killed over 200 people, mostly Australian tourists. Later they reported a message from Osama Bin Laden claiming the stacks were retaliation against the Australians for aiding the US fight on terror. The memorial site is called ground zero.

Welcome to Bali!

After almost 24 hours of travel time and skipping a day on the calendar, I arrived in Legian area of Kuta Bali. Today was pretty low key, went to the beach in the morning-- this is a very touristy surfer town and most everyone in the water was on a surf board. Too bad I've developed an unfounded fear of surfing. Lots of Australian, European, and Chinese tourists. There's a Swiss restaurant down the road but it didn't seem too popular. The Indonesians selling in their shops have an awkward Australian English accent and call you darling in their calls to get you to buy something. Large wooden penis bottle openers are a popular selling item that I first thought was those things you put in your shoe to keep it shaped. Today I met with one of our trip leaders for lunch. She's from Olympia and is a student at Evergreen. In one of the pics below you can see these little offering plates that line the streets and beach along with insense.