Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes..

So, I show up on the small small island of Nusa Penida looking for the teacher/artist, Sue, I met in the coffee shop in Ubud.  I took the 530am public boat from pricey Nusa Lembongan, where I stayed the night before.  Once again, I was back to being the only white person.  I found the diving place where Sue told me to go, but she was no where in site and no one knew anything about her arrival.  I hung around, had breakfast, took a nap, and generally tried not to get in anyone's way.

Eventually, Sue, and her Balinese friend Yusi, hoped onto the island and met me at the warung  where I was eating lunch.  After chatting and eating, we headed over to the after school library the two of them run (funded by the diving shop next store).  Sue and Yusi have a great partnership.  Yusi, the most bold, outspoken Balinese woman I've ever seen, had the idea and local connections and ambition to start up the library, but doesn't really like kids!  Sue, a strong passionate teacher/artist with a huge smile, loves teaching kids and definitely has a way with them. This session was kind of last minute, so we just reviewed colors, body parts, days of the week and animal names and noises with the kids (in Bali, a rooster doesn't say "cock-a-doodle-doo" but "co-ca-ro-ko").  And we sang head, shoulders, knees and toes (HSKT)...over and over.

I stayed the night in the volunteer housing (room with bunk beds) provided by the dive shop with Sue and Yusi.  The next day we took the boat back to Lembongan (Yusi drove this time- kind of) where we went to another, more organized, afterschool program.  Here, we not only sang HSKT, we also did the hokey pokey and played a kind of chirades!  Overall, it was great fun but surpirsingly tiring!  Kudos to anyone who seriously works with kids.  After watching the sunset and enjoying a fresh caught grilled fish dinner with some more new friends, I realized I still needed more relaxing time in Bali and decided to catch the morning boat back to the mainland. 

I'm so glad to have met these strong inspiring women and have such a rewarding experience so late in my trip.  But I'm also very happy to be back in easy breezy Ubud, soaking up sun next to the gorgeous pool!