A few days after I got back to Bali from Penang, I moved to a new house! Before the move, I was living at the center's guest house alone, and although it was a great place to live, there were some major downfalls such as being alone a lot. So when the opportunity came up for me to move I was very excited about it. This house just isn't any old place. Its in a 'kampung' which is like a plot of land, surronded by a wall, with members of an extended family living in various houses inside. There are 7 houses, including mine. I have my own kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and of course a front porch. They all have "western-style" comforts and are nice, clean and spacious.
I don't know for sure, but there are definitely more than twenty people living here, including maybe 12 or 13 children (its hard to count them because they always have friends over and sometimes they just seem to come out of the woodwork). There is also a white rabbit, a wandering rooster, countless chickens, and of course cats. Bali orange trees, mango trees, beautiful hibiscus, orchid and other flowering trees color the background, along with drying laundry.
It is so awesome living here. Everytime I leave I get asked numerous times "mau ke
mana?" (where are you going?) and everytime I return "dari mana?" (where have you come from?). Both classic Indonesian questions, along with: "have you eaten yet?" "have you had a bath yet?" and "why do you walk everywhere?" I'm generally greeted by a round of "Lintsee!" from the kids too, and sometimes I get jumped on or a ball thrown at me. Luckily the rooster hasn't attacked me, yet.It took about a week for me to get used to be woken up at 4:30 by the stupid rooster, and then at 6 by the
kids getting ready for school. But its good, I've started going to bed a bit earlier so when I'm woken up earlier than I would like its not as brutal. I don't live at the center anymore, obviously, but it is only a 2 or 3 minute walk away, and I still work 
there. It's been nice having the routine of getting up, going to the center, working and then coming home after.In the evenings, if I'm not going out with friends, I take part in "front porch living". I sit with the women and kids that live here, talk with them, play games or draw with the kids, and sometimes help them with their Bahasa Inggris (English homework). It's great. In less than a week it became a tradition to draw pictures and then tape them to the outside of my house, so I have 16 pictures taped up outside. And needless to say, this is great Indonesian practice, I constantly learn new words and my grammar corrected (mostly by the kids).
Some people here have expressed concerns about me living here, usually just because they don't know the 'whole story' as it were. I did know this family before I moved here, other people that are involved at the center and work here have lived here. There are people here who help out if there 
is something that needs to be dealt with that is beyond my language and culture ability. They are really great people, I have felt nothing but welcomed so far, and they often go out of their way to make sure I'm comfortable. I really think this has been a turning point in my onsite experience. The lonliness was really getting to me in the other place, and I didn't really feel like my normal self. Maybe I'm still in the 'oh exciting, a new house' phase, but so far I feel alot better, more like myself, and more effective in my work at the center.
