Kayla Blog 2

Last week, we participated in a Social Innovation Sprint and partnered with fellow students from Singaraja’s Undiksha University. This group of students was probably the most amazing group of people I have ever met. They spoke English with us throughout the sprint which I greatly applaud them for. If I tried to speak Bahasa it would not have gone well. As soon as we met them, they were so accepting and welcoming of us. I quickly became friends with them all, and got particularly close to the girls in my group for the Sprint. I was so inspired to see the drive and the passion that each of them had for the different issues we were looking at in their home of Bali.

In the middle of the Sprint, we took three days off to spend some time “unplugged” at East Bali Immersion. The Undiksha students stayed with us for two of those days and it was one of the best experiences I have ever had. My favorite moment was when Charlie, and FSU student was playing the ukulele and all of us were sitting together singing along and looking out onto Mt. Agung. Music continued to bring us together on that trip as we sang around the campfire under the Dome at East Bali Immersion and the Undiksha students in my hut taught us some of their favorite songs.

Coming back from East Bali Immersion and jumping into field research with the Undiksha students was incredible because they got to take us around their city. The best part of this day was when Sonia, an Undiksha student in my group took us for dinner to a local fish restaurant along the beach. It was so special to go there with her because it is a place that is a special treat for her to go with her family for holidays. Having our final dinner and saying goodbye to the Undiksha students was incredibly hard because even though it had only been one week, we had gotten so close through our shared passion for social innovation. I learned a lot from the Undiksha students and I am leaving Bali having made a whole bunch of new friends that I am keeping in touch with until I have the opportunity to return to this beautiful island and see them all again.