My Bali Story (Chapter 2)
"I'm leaving!"
When I applied for the Darmasiswa scholarship, I had to choose between many different universities. I knew for sure I was going to Bali and that I wanted to learn something useful. After looking at all the choices, I decided on Bahasa Indonesia (the indonesian language). I thought learning a new language never hurts; plus it would help me communicate with the local people.
On top of that, one of the most challenging things was going up to my parents and saying:
Hey, I want to tell you something. I am going to quit everything and move to Bali for one year to study Indonesian. Yes, I am serious. Yes, I am not crazy.
So, at least, they agreed that choosing to study a new language was right. My father said:
Yeah, more than 260 million people speak it and it is a developing country. It could be good. It sounds a really cool opportunity. I wish I had a chance like this when I was young! I will come visit you for sure.
That last part was true. The motherfucker came twice in six months.
On the other hand, my mother said:
You are so crazy. That is because of this fucking Alberto that filled your head with bullshit. You know, he has been one year playing a weird instrument totally forgetting his education and career... Who knows what he was thinking!
Which is partly true, and I found out about it later. Alberto, me, and almost all of my fellow students were a bit crazy by everyone's standards. Or at least that is what people at home thought because we all decided to abandon our real lives and go on an adventure.
Studying in Bali
I chose Udayana University for two reasons:
It was one of the few that offered Bahasa lessons and looked decent
The address listed was in Jimbaran
The second reason was powerful. Jimbaran is in the Bukit Peninsula, the little piece of land at the bottom of Bali. It is like an island inside an island, because the vibe is really different compared to places like Canggu or Sanur.
Full of hills, this peninsula has the best beaches in Bali, no contest. It is considered the best place to surf because if the West coast is not working, you can go to the East coast easily. Even the South has nice surf.
These beaches are not only for surfing, but they are amazingly beautiful and wild. In many of them you need to go down steep cliffs to reach them. This difficult access is what has kept most of them out of an excessive tourism industry development like Canggu or Sanur. At some stage I am sure money and greed will trump the Bukit as well, but so far so good!
This is what a quick Google search for Bukit Peninsula returns, just to get the idea:
Nice, right? As it turns out this was the first of many cultural differences between Europe and Indonesia:
In Indonesia, planning is simple: there is no plan
And even if there were a plan, you can never trust the schedule or the plan itself. This was the first time I realized that. Another thing is that it is common to be up to one hour late. It is socially acceptable and understood because who knows: rain, macet (traffic jam), makan dulu (eating first), and many other reasons.
Goodbye Bukit, Hello Denpasar
The first thing our caretakers told us when we landed in Bali was this:
So... Yeah, we are sorry. The address in the application form was wrong. University is not in Bukit, it is in Denpasar. Sorry ya.
Which meant that all our hopes and dreams (and accomodation arrangements) had been useless. Denpasar is the capital city of Bali and it is 50 minutes away from the Bukit peninsula.
Denpasar is where all the government buildings and shops are. It is the capital. But as many SE Asia capitals it is extremely chaotic and always surrounded by a dark cloud of smoke. The traffic is insane and it is one of the ugliest places in Bali. The extreme opposite of what everyone thinks of when you think about Bali.
For reference, this is Denpasar:
Luckily I was not the only one disappointed by this sudden change of location. Some of my classmates were convinced to still move to Bukit and commute everyday by bike to Denpasar. Little did I know this crazy bunch would become my family for the next year.
In the next chapter, I will introduce you to...
Jimbaran Shore
Stay tuned!
