Bali

I am the last one of the group to arrive, at 7pm Monday night. I am greeted by a Balinese man named Yoman (yo man!), and he takes me the 40 min drive to Ubud Bungalows. (You might have guessed we were jamming to his ipod in his tricked out ghetto van - complete with DVD player on the way there!). I am greeted by Patrick (one of the organizers) and a young coconut for a refreshment. Ahhh, what a difference from KL! After I get my information packet for the week, I am shown to my room (yes, my bags are already there). I get my own private bungalow with A/C! Not the kind that might have mice in the walls either - the kind where there is a flower on my turned down bed, and and on the towels in the bathroom (with warm shower)! Ok, I will be spoiled for the next 8 nights. :)
Our schedule is yoga every morning at 7:30 (yikes!), breakfast, exploring, yoga at 4:30, then dinner. So we pretty much do yoga, eat, walk, eat, yoga, and eat - sounds healthy, right? Especially since most of the food is fried...oh well :)
There are 11 other women on this retreat, all ages, from all over. (Canada, New York, Hawaii and several places in between)
We have several choices of what to do with our free time. The first day I had Patrick take me to the local orphanage (see the volunteering post). The second day, a few of us went to the local Elephant safari park - we got to ride, pet and feed the elephants! Tomorrow we will be headed to a beach for the day to do yoga and enjoy the sun. Other events will be a Balinese fire dancing dinner, a local ceremony, more dinners with the locals, and volunteering. Ahhh, I am so glad to be here!