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Published: October 7th 2008
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Well well well.... we are still alive... barely!
Our last days in Bali, are proving to be spectacular, as we have done nothing but relax in the peacefulness, shop till we dropped, eating until we are sick (literally in my case -Shannon) and surfing until we are black and blue with bruises.
Last week was a little difficult for myself as I ended up with a bacterial infection, and had some of the worse pain I'd ever experienced. After 3 days of throwing up, sleeping, high fevers and chills, JM finally convinced me to go to the local hospital to talk to a doctor... We walked about a block before stumbling across one, and proceeded in, to be greeted by staff that didn't know any English at all, and a whole ton of locals looking at us like we just walked off a UFO. Finally we found someone who was able to ask me to write my name and age on a piece of paper, and told me to sit down... After waiting for what seemed like an eternity (although I'm sure it was closer to about 15 minutes...) The doctor pulled me into his office, and we chatted...
I tried as best I could to explain the symptoms, by rubbing my stomach, touching my head and saying HOT HOT!!! and then pretending to sleep. He listened to my stomach and quickly determined that indeed I had a severe bacterial infection from food, and put me on antibiotics. Fast forward 24 hours later, and I was good as new! I'm on the last day of the medicine, and I feel fabulous. Only downside is I'm not allowed any spice or citrus for up to two weeks... strangely enough beer is o.k... (yes of course i asked!!! )
JM spent the days reading, shopping and eating solo unfortunately, but I suppose it's better than being sick himself!
We've spent a few more nights at the local reggae bar, where we've become good friends with some locals, and some other people traveling in the same area, so that is always something to look forward to, however JM and I both agree that if we have to hear the Balinese version of 'Red Red Wine' again we are both going to have to kill someone. Tonight will be our last appearance there most likely before we depart to Australia, which
is odd to think, since we've become so accustomed to spending our evenings there.
Yesterday was the day of surfing! WOAH what a day indeed!!!
Wayan picked us up in Ubud at the ripe hour of 8 and we headed south to the beach, of what we were sure was going to be a great day of surfing.. which it was... depending on how you look at it! First he took us to Tanggu, which is just a little south of Tanah Lot for those of you who know Bali at all... the waves were big, but the beach was deserted so surely it wasn't going to be that bad! WRONG!!!! J.M was the first victim, deciding to go out first with Wayan, I watched them paddle out for what seemed to be like for miles, and then all I saw was waves, waves and more waves.... They were easily 15 ft high at times, and the rip tide was extremely strong throwing you into the ocean like you were a rag doll. Finally I see the two of them coming back into land, and as Wayan gets up to get off his board, I look over only
to see J.M doing a double flip and face plant into the sand. OH NO! He got up clearly rattled, walked over a little dug a hole in the sand and proceeded to throw up from extreme physical excursion! Wayan looks over at me and says 'Your turn?" to which I quickly shook my head and said "NO WAY!!! I'll just go for a swim instead thanks" Bad idea!! I wade out far enough to be waist deep and suddenly I'm pulled under by a wave, the next thing I know I'm quite a ways from the beach trying madly to swim back to shore, only it was clear I wasn't making progress at all, only being thrown farther out to sea. I was sure this was the end.... (now this is the second time in a week that I thought I was going to die.... it's been a little rocky!) I was desperate to live however, as yet another wave went over my head and dragged me under, so I kicked and paddled harder than I've ever swam in my life. Finally I hit sand, and literally collapsed at the exhaustion. Of course Wayan and J.M. were laughing quite
hard at me, as they should have, since I'd only been laughing at them moments before.
Wayan proceeded to say 'yeah this isn't a place for beginners, this is where all the professionals go" we both just laughed, and said please take us somewhere else!!
So we proceeded back to Kuta, where the waves were babies, and easy as pie to get up! Wayan had a good point to start us on the hard waves, however even his friend who is one of the top surfers in the world, that we met at Quicksilver was shocked that we had survived the ordeal! We knew we had survived quite the adventure from his reaction.
After we surfed in Kuta for awhile, we headed back to Ubud, where we had dinner, and then met up with our friend Fred, and proceeded to hang out at a really nice warung (restaurant) where we met the owner- an American man and some of his friends. We played guitar, drank, sang, and shared stories with people from New York, Texas, Australia, and Indonesia (duh!) All in all a great way to round out the insane day!
Today we shop and lounge around some
more as our days in Bali come to a close. We look forward to getting to Australia, meeting with our wonderful significant others, and being back in the 'real world' however we are both very sure that Bali will become a regular place to visit in coming months and years, as we've both had more than we expected on this trip. We are both confident that this trip happened for a reason, and that we are were we should be in our lives. We feel blessed that we've had this amazing opportunity, and that that Balinese people were not only welcoming but so accommodating during our stay for the past month.
For those of you following J.M's travels, he will no longer be blogging with me on this site once we've arrived in OZ, however feel free to continue following my travels as I go on to the next part of my year adventure. For those of you following me, I'll be writing again soon, I'm sure once I'm landed in Australia. I promise to keep you all updated often on my whereabouts, antics, and adventures!
Much love to all
Shannon and Jean Michel
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