Volunteer Stories | Lotta
When I write this, some time has past since I came home from Bali. I can, without doubt, say that it was the best time of my life. I set out from a cold and wet autumn in the south of Sweden, and headed towards the greatest adventure I’ve ever experienced. If you ever get the chance: don’t hesitate! Take it, and you won’t regret it!
The volunteer days are easy. Teaching in the morning, and free time in the afternoon to do everything you could ever want to do. Standing in the front of a classroom was something of a shock to me, just coming out of college after being behind a school desk for thirteen years. But wow, what a feeling! The children were amazing! Their English wasn’t too good, so it was sometimes difficult to talk to them directly and make them understand my instructions. Luckily I had the assistance of Mrs Vera, their “real” English teacher, who translated both ways. A peculiar little woman!
Even though communication was sometimes difficult, most of the students were positive about trying, and I noticed how they were amazed by me, and my volunteer friend Lizi who arrived later. They were honestly curious, and as the time went by, I saw their respect growing. The Balinese are over all a very friendly and curious people, so wherever you go people greet you and say “Hello miss!”, especially the children.
Apart from the teaching, which was fantastic, Bali has so much more to offer. I made trips almost every day and went to Ubud (the cultural capital of Bali) where there’s a lot of temples, arts and crafts, shops, restaurants, and tourists, of course. The saddest thing about Bali, I found, was the complete dependence on tourism. It’s such a wonderful place, with such wonderful people, and I was sad to see them compromising with their own identity when they tried to adapt everything to the western ways. What I liked about my Bali experience was that I got to see the real thing. In Gianyar, there are no westerners. I got invited to local ceremonies (one word only: Wow!) and went food shopping among the locals. The rice paddies and the bemos, everything were a part of the real Bali.
From Ubud, you’ve got an amazing starting point for exploring the rest of the island. I took the opportunity to see the volcanoes Mount Agung and Mount Batung up close, I went scuba diving and snorkeling in Padang Bai and I took surfing lessons (for the first time in my life) in Kuta. I also followed the dear Henning to Keramas Beach, where he went surfing as I spent time correcting exams, and I took a Balinese cooking course. The Balinese food is something truly wonderful, if you can get past the chili. I tried to cook some here in Sweden the other day, but it’s just not the same. That goes for all of Bali. There’s nothing like the real thing.
