Happy New Year from Bali!

We arrived in Bali safely and found an overpriced cockroach infested room our first night in Kuta, everything is booked here this time of year because all of South East Asia is on holiday. Our taxi driver dropped us off at what he called 'ground zero.' We thought that meant it was where all the clubs were or that it was the center of town, it was both of those but what he meant was that it was where the terrorists had bombed a nightclub in 2002. Our hotel was literally right next door to the club that was bombed where now there is momument dedicated to the victims of the attack. Kuta was a cesspool of tourists and very pushy salesmen. We are happy to be in Ubud now on new years day, an artsy town surrounded by rice paddies where yoga classes are highly available (Alix is stoked). Last night we celebrated the New Year by first having an incredible buffet of traditional Balinese cuisine, which was made by a sweet balinese family who taught us about their culture. We were sitting at a table with people from all over the world including a couple from Santa Rosa (small world!). After dinner we all headed down to the center of town where a traditional Gamelon band was playing (really loud). The pyrotechnics went off at midnight, right above our heads, and the tourists all laughed out of utter fear. The rain started coming down right at midnight and we danced late into the night, or early morning. Happy New Year 2009!