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“It seemed like a good idea at the time…”
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This photo was taken by my mother days from returning from Bali. My words to her being “Mum, my backs a bit sore, can you have a look at it?” Needless to say a trip to the doctors eventuated with my panic stricken Mother. The outcome being I was allergic to the black ink the Balinese use in their henna. Every inch of the intricate dragon design was raised and inflamed, so much so I had numerous doctors at my appointments. These extra doctors and their muffled chuckles confirmed to me that they were there for their own viewing pleasure, and not my medical well-being. For the next six months of my life I had to go through the torture of back scraping for samples, with only the hope that I would end up with nothing more than an impressive scar.
This trip to the Balinese culture had me, for the first time experiencing the risk taking nature of adolescence. The trip had shown my young and naïve mind what it meant to be a teenager and how to enjoy the adrenaline filled activities in other cultures. Not only did my trip to this new culture provide me with a trip to the hospital but it also placed me in situations where very easily I could not have come out from. Some of these situations including being taken via a moped to a clothing factory, jumping in numerous random cars to take me around the city. I went jet skiing in which I nearly killed my father and I was taken down Balinese side streets to see different kinds of clothing and shoes. I told taxi drivers where to go only to find them take you in a different direction and many others to mention. This time overseas had me experiencing this new side to myself and how to truly enjoy the pleasures of life, especially in the teenage years.
From the moment I had stepped off the Balinese tarmac I knew this was going to test my boundaries, my young and naïve mind had not yet experienced this new culture and way of living. My first experience...