the people you meet

Life is full of interesting people!  I've met quite a few over the last few months - including someone who...

...is American and sews Canadian flags onto her backpack so that people treat her better while traveling in foreign countries (I always thought this was just a rumour!)...
...had a single-digit phone number while growing up in Australia...
...honks at animals as a means of preventing them from becoming roadkill (this actually seems to be common down under - there were several people who did this)...
...is a barrel racer...
...helped save a shark attack victim...
...makes guitars as a hobby and plays them in his band...
...wants a pet moose...
...admitted the only reason she chose to learn snowboarding instead of skiing was because the boots are cooler...
...is like a real-life Crocodile Dundee, having spent his childhood capturing and tying up crocs so that his mother, who worked as a ranger for National Parks, could tag them before letting them go back into the wild...
...makes Worcestershire sauce at home!...
...laid the eggs I ate for breakfast (to be clear, these were chickens :) )...
...made me jealous over an object I've never coveted: An inflatable neck pillow!  Early morning bus rides can do that kinda thing to you...
...went skydiving to celebrate her 80th birthday...
...killed 2 people while driving drunk at age 14...
...celebrated beating me at pool by raising her cue in victory, only to be whacked by it in the forehead after it got caught in a ceiling fan...
...has never been on a plane...
...decided his purpose in life is to fight discrimination against men...
...is currently addicted to Nintendo's latest version of the Mario game...
...didn't think anything of walking into the hostel dorm and climbing into her top bunk to go to bed without shutting the door to our room...
...broke her back in a skydiving accident and as a result is now shorter than she used to be...
...has creative control over some of the political advertising campaigns in the USA...
...thought I'd lived in Estonia because of the quality of my language skills (two people actually - and they were both from Tallinn!)...
...would lock the doors and turn out the porch lights for the bar she owned in the outback so that customers still sitting outside would have to finish up their last drinks in complete darkness...
...assumed that I would know how to use rabbit and bear traps because I'm Canadian...
...asked me if my name is short for something because they actually know someone named Eileen who goes by Aili for short...
...goes shopping for cosmetics at Holt Renfrew when she visits Canada because it's cheaper than buying them in Australia...
...wants to fulfil his fantasy of having sex with a midget before settling down (although, he did say he was willing to let this go if the right girl came along first)...  Can't make this stuff up :)

detour

When I was figuring out how to get from Perth back to Sydney to catch my flight home, I decided to take a side trip to Indonesia.  Despite my plan to be in Australia for my entire time in the southern hemisphere, the possibility of curing my yoga withdrawal and learning how to surf better proved to be too tempting!  I've been in Bali for the last two weeks and I'm sad to say that I'm leaving here tonight.  This is the first step in my journey home, which will take me to Sydney and then Chicago for a few days each before getting back to Toronto mid-December.

Bali is truly enchanting!  This place has everything - great food, sun, sand, surf, shopping, interesting culture, beautiful scenery, amazing yoga, kind people - and I've really enjoyed it all.  After just a few days here, you can barely remember what you were doing before you arrived.  (Yes, it actually was hard for me to remember that I've been on vacation for the last six months... this place is that chilled!!)  I've definitely taken my relaxation to the next level here, and had the opportunity to do some things that are a bit out of the ordinary, including visiting a Balinese healer for massage therapy and reflexology (sooo good!!), learning budi suci (breathing and movement techniques that are kinda tai chi-ish) and running into a fortune teller on the street.  It's been quite an experience!  One that I won't forget.