Getting to Bali

By Mya Taylor
Before going to Bali, I had never traveled outside of the country but, it was always
something that I have dreamed of. Getting to Bali took around four days' worth of traveling with,
a flight from Orlando -> Chicago with an eight-hour layover, Chicago -> Tokyo with spending a
night in a hotel, from Tokyo -> Jakarta with a night spent in Jakarta and finally our last flight
from Jakarta -> Bali. Not to mention the two-hour bus ride to the hotel from the airport in Bali.
Even explaining this to my grandma made her confused :).
Our first official stop in Chicago airport with an eight-hour layover was an experience. I
spent my eight hours preparing myself for the almost 14-hour flight ahead of me by eating,
sleeping, and changing my clothes. By trying to keep myself together it helped me from not
having a feeling that I am dirty in a sense and helped me contain my sanity. Of course,
everyone’s tips and tricks about navigating their way through the airport are different, this is just
a useful tool that I try to keep up with while traveling. Before getting on my flight to Tokyo I ran
into some complications with my seat number never being issued to me before the flight. I
almost thought I was not going to make it on. Professor Katryne helped me get my seat by
constantly asking the help desk if they had called my name :). After about 30 minutes I had
gotten my seat information! I also got an upgrade to economy plus!!! Which was a blessing since
this was my first long flight. After hours of watching Disney movies and trying to fall asleep we
finally arrived in Tokyo airport.
A canon picture of me trying to hydrate myself before the long flight from Chicago.

After arriving in Tokyo, I was ready to finally get off the plane and stretch my legs.
A picture I took for my dad to let him know I got to Tokyo safely.

But the process of trying to get out of the airport was something different to me since I
am used to just flying within the U.S. We had to fill out forms of where we were staying, how
long, when we were leaving, our criminal record (if we had any) and if we had anything illegal
on us. The process was quick and efficient, something I was not used to in the states. Nobody
was yelling and everyone was compliant and quiet during the entire process. Normally in these
situations I would be freaking out, but it was quite the opposite for me, and I was calm getting
out of the airport with all the proper documents. The hotel was only about a 10–15-minute drive
away from the airport! I remember going to this ramen place a 4-minute walk from the hotel. I
felt so bad the owner did not speak English well and we were having trouble ordering on the
machine. I would have pulled out goggle translate but I had to keep my phone on airplane mode.
 I was ready to sleep but my body was not acclimated to the time zone :(. Falling asleep
around 1-2 in the morning did not help me for the flight I had to take to Jakarta.

On the plane ride to Jakarta, I have one core memory from the plane, which is watching
the Whitney Huston movie. I was so excited because I did not get a chance to see it in theaters
and I highly recommend it :). When arriving in Jakarta I remembered one thing, it was HOT.
Through the preparation process they told us it was going to be hot, and it was. I could
immediately feel the heat as soon as I stepped foot out of the plane. The airport was empty and
offered a lot of places for Muslims people to pray. Something I as an America am not used to,
but since Indonesia especially Java has a high Muslims population this was not a surprising thing
to see. I wish there were a safe place for Muslim people to pray at in every airport to bring more
inclusivity in the airports in America. We ended up taking a hotel bus to the hotel and once we
checked into our rooms Professor Katryne mentioned that there was a green arrow at the corner
of the room that points to Mecca so Muslims who pray always know which direction to pray in
:).
 Since we were only in Jakarta for one night before heading on our last flight to Bali it
was a short but needed rest. I will admit I had a tough time getting used to not using the water
faucet to brush my teeth but with bottled water. But this was the reality for the whole group and
for the people in Indonesia.

IT'S OUR LAST FLIGHT!! The flight was a little over an hour long with amazing views
of the islands in Indonesia.

After we landed it was only a two-hour bus ride to Oh Ham, our hotel. I was so excited
since we were so close to beginning our time in Bali. Everywhere you look in Bali there are
statues that are related and intertwined with the culture and religion of Bali. The roads were
much smaller than what I was used to back in the states and there were motorbikes
EVERYWHERE and somehow no matter how close people got to the cars they never hit one
another. But I know one thing for sure I was TIRED, once we got to Oh Ham, we had a welcome
dinner provided by the Bali Institute.
 Another canon picture of me at the start of the welcome dinner. I am grateful to be in
Bali, but I was tired hahah.