OBAMA!

I've been in Indonesia for aout 11 days now and let me tell you, out of all the places i've been, i've never seen people more excited that i'm from america.  They love Obama!  He went to school in Java- one of the biggest islands and where the capital of indonesia is when he was a boy. 
Bali was pretty good, a lot more crowded than I expected.  We only spent two days in Legion which is close to the airport.  The traffic is crazy but it is a shoppers delight.  Many people who own shops in other countries must come to Bali because most places offer wholesale pricing.  The whole time I was there I thought about Stacey and how we needed to open a clothing/jewelry/art store at home and come to Bali to buy our goods!  Next we went to Ubud, supposedly much less crowded but I wasn't so sure about that.  so many cars and motorbikes, and everyone wants to give you a ride somewhere.  no one walks in these countries!  overall I feel like i didnt get to see much in Bali.  We spent most of our time hanging out with my dad's friend Sue, which was great, but I wish we would have done more exploring of the island.  Being with Sue was good because she knows everyone and where most everything is.  She also got me good deals when shopping because she owns her own shop in Indy and comes to Bali once a year to get all the goods.  She also introduced us to some great local people.  My favorite being her silversmith, Made.  Pronounced Mod-A.  He took us on a day trip to the north of Ubud and speaks great english so it was great to ask him many things about the Balinese culture.  He is the sweetest guy!  Sue kept wanting to hook me up with Made's 28 year old brother, who is apparently very cute!!  I never got the chance to meet him though.

My dad flew home and I came to Lombok, the island next to Bali.  I have made many Indonesian friends already.  everyone is so friendly and just wants to talk to you.  The beach is beautiful and the sand is almost a blackish gray, so cool.  the friends ive made have taken me to some good restaurants and one bar to watch live music.  one thing i noticed though is, they expect me to pay.  they ordered beers at the bar and then when the bill came they left me with it.  and at dinner, they dont offer to pay for what they ordered.  i understand that they see me as an american with a lot more money than them, but come on.  im unemployed here and they were the ones that wanted to go to the bar in the first place!  im going to have to cut down on hanging out with them if it requires me buying them dinner everyday.  I'm not sure what my next move is.  Im going to the Gili islands in a few days, just not sure what day.  I keep wanting to explore this island, but then get lazy during the day and just want to explore the town instead.  i borrowed a bicycle from a friend so i rode that around a bit today. 

as far as the leg goes, it got infected.  i just went to a clinic here and the doctor had to cut open the infected areas and clean it out, pretty painful.  i'm now on an antibiotic and an anti-inflamitory.  That also means no getting in the water which is so hard since its hot and i'm on the beach.  hopefully only another week of that. 

hope this long post makes up for the many days without it.  the usb i had to upload pictures is broken so sorry i can't put anything up.  i promise to make up for it when i'm home. 

i'll be internetless when i get to the gili's so sorry if i dont respond to emails, etc.  Miss you all

Emma

On to the next one, on to the next one....to Bali we go

Today is our last full day in Luang Prabang.  Its hot and humid here but its a cute little town so we've been exploring despite the heat.  Its a very obviously old French town.  so much french architecture and food.  The slow boat was good.  The first day we got to the boat and got a seat.  we thought everyone was on, the boat was about 75% full and then they loaded about 50 more people on.  The boat was Crammed.  There were people sitting in the aisles, on plastic chairs, and maybe even their luggage.  It was the only boat going out of Thailand that day so I'm assuming they just wanted to get as many people as possible.  It was not the best.  The slow boat is supposed to be a slow ride down the Mekong river just seeing the sights and relaxing.  It was not that.  there were about 30 drunk English 18-20 year olds on our boat singing and being obnoxious.  I was not impressed.  To say it put a damper on my experience is an understatement.  The next day I was expecting much of the same, but to our luck they had two smaller boats.  Most of the kids got on one boat and we almost RAN to the other boat.  It was so much better of a trip.  The boat was quiet and we got the experience we wanted.  We even saw elephants!!

We arrived in Luang Prabang and got a hotel and have just been exploring town ever since.  We rented bicicyles and road around yesterday and today we climbed up to a temple on the top of a mountain.  I am glad we stayed here for a few days, but will be ready to leave tomorrow.  There's not much to see here so its time to move on. We will have some big days of travel.  Flying to Vientienne, the capital of Laos tomorrow to catch the night train to Bangkok.  We will explore BKK on Sunday and then we fly to Bali monday.  Hopefully Bali is good, its rainy season and the weather is predicted as rain every day.  I hope thats not the reality b/c i would love to get a day or two of beach time before we head inland.

That's it for now.  Happy almost birthday to Helen and Brendo!!