Seminyak

I'm loving Bali! Over the last month I've been getting to know some of the other participants on Facebook and had arranged to meet up with 4 of them to hang out at the beach for the two days before training starts. Ellen came from New York and her flight landed around the same time as mine on Friday afternoon so we met at the airport and shared a taxi to the hotel. We were staying at Grand Balisani Suites which is on the west side of Bali in a town called Seminyak. Ali arrived from San Francisco on Thursday so she was already at the hotel when we got there. Ali walked us around the hotel property to show us where everything was and it was absolutely beautiful!
Here is the coi pond and fountain that ran between the buildings



The pool



The beach - the sun was just starting to set so we took a nice walk



On the beach with Ellen (middle) and Ali (right). we found a bar that served fresh juices - perfect since we aren't drinking alcohol



Then we went back to the hotel to meet Maryam (from Cairo- the brunette in the photo) and Juniper (right). Small world - Juniper is actually from Spokane! We went to different high schools but I'm convinced we must have met at some point in time because we have some of the same friends and we both were lifeguards/managers for the City of Spokane pools. So fun to share that connection! She's been living in Tokyo teaching English for the last 5 years.



Anyway, the five of us instantly had a blast together and stayed up late chatting like kids at a sleepover! Saturday we woke up and had a lovely breakfast at the hotel. There was a ton of tropical fruit: papaya, passion fruit, mangosteen, pineapple, etc., and some weird looking ones that I were delicious but I have no idea what they were (I even asked but couldn't understand the answer).

Then we spent most of the day lounging by the pool and on the beach. Ellen and I did some yoga in the grass on the side of the hotel in the afternoon. Then we all got cleaned up and headed into town for dinner. The hotel was about a 10 minute drive from the central part of Seminyak where all the restaurants and shops are. You can't really walk there though because there isn't a sidewalk, but the taxi was cheap enough so no big deal. I had found a vegetarian restaurant online for us to go to called Earth Cafe. We loved it - delicious food and they also had a store there that sold all sorts of natural products so we did some shopping as well.

After dinner we came back to the hotel to go to the Balinese dancing show they were having along the beach. Unfortunately we got there a little bit too late and the fire dance had just finished. That was the main reason we wanted to go so that was too bad. Maybe even more unfortunate...we got there just in time for YMCA and the Macarana. Ugh - my least two favorite songs on earth and they pulled us all up on stage to dance with them. Slight torture but it turned out to be pretty hilarious so we ended up having fun.


Sunday morning we had our first massages of the trip. Ah, just what we needed after all that travel. I'm sure there will be plenty more to come because they are so cheap here! Then we took a taxi to Anahata where our training is located. We checked in and dropped off our bags in our rooms and met all the other participants. Can't wait to see what is in store for us!