Leslie Ponce-Diaz in Bali, Bali, courtesy of Henry Luce Foundation

Leslie Ponce-Díaz is a Mexican-American architectural designer and educator whose work centers on educational architecture, regenerative design, and cultural heritage. Previously, she was a Princeton Chicago Architecture Center Fellow, designing an educational and ecological sanctuary for migrant youth in Chicago. She holds degrees from Harvard Graduate School of Design and Rhode Island School of Design.

Leslie is currently a Henry Luce Scholar based in Bali, Indonesia pursuing a year working as an architectural designer at Pablo Luna Studio, an architecture firm dedicated to designing with earth-based materials. She loves spending her time outside of the office learning further about Indonesian culture through Balinese wood-carving and Javanese Batik textile making courses.

6:00am: Selamat Pagi. Roosters, birds, lizards, cicadas, and frogs find themselves in harmony outside my window right before sunrise in Bali. I love waking up surrounded by nature — when the air feels crisp, soft peaks of light and mist glitter through the trees, and the sound of traffic has yet to begin.

Since I am currently more than thirteen hours ahead of my family, the early mornings have become the perfect time to catch up. Just like the harmonizing sounds from nature outside of my window, my mom, dad, younger brother and I begin our own kind of harmonious sounds: our expressive Mexican laughter. Regardless of physical distance, we always find ways to fill our spaces with warmth and energy.

7:00am: After catching up with my family, I’ll play some music, eat breakfast and begin getting ready for the day. I love expressing my Mexican-American identity through my style. You will very likely see me wearing beaded jewelry, a flower, cowgirl boots or a colorful garment.

9:00am: I head to work and begin the day checking in with my team and the amazing people at my office upon arrival. The office is a beautiful blend of architects from both Indonesia and Latin America, we are often speaking three languages constantly: English, Spanish and Bahasa Indonesian.

12:00pm: Selamat Siang and Selamat Makan. Lunch is prepared by Ibu Komang and we get to share a traditional Indonesian meal with one another at the office. Indonesian food is truly Enak sekali — very delicious. My favorite dish is called ‘Gado-gado’, a traditional Indonesian salad made with a mix of vegetables, hard-boiled eggs, fried tofu, tempeh, ketupat (rice cake) and peanut sauce spread on top.

2:00pm: The team and I will have a meeting to check in on deliverables for the end of the day and help support each other with next steps. My favorite part is when we brainstorm together by hand-drawing and sketching out various design possibilities.

5:00pm: I make sure to send any of my final digital updates to my team and put away our tracing paper sketches of the day. Time to head home and enjoy my evening.

6:00pm: Selamat Sore. When sunset begins, the sky in Bali looks beautiful. Soft pinks, sky blues and my favorite: the frangipani flowering trees painting the island with bursts of whites, yellows and pinks. I like to spend my afternoons either pursuing an active or creative activity that can help move my body and ease my mind. I’ll hop on the back of a motorbike and adventure into whichever activity the sunset has in store.

8:00pm: I head back home, cook, have dinner and work on my personal projects. Currently, I am working on a personal beading project inspired by Malaysian Nyonya beaded slippers. I draw a lot of inspiration in my architecture work through my passions for nature, culture and learning.

10:00pm: Selamat Malam. I jump into either an oversized Spiderman tee or a soccer jersey and get ready for bed. Currently, I have been enjoying rewatching the 2000’s Spiderman films and clips of Mexico’s classic soccer highlights.

This also becomes the perfect time to catch up with my besties back home in the U.S. or around the world. It’s beautiful to have friends also in the early-stage of their architectural careers supporting one another. Shoutout to the special people in my life who have helped me so much being far from home: Fawz, Clarence, Mary, Anne and Alejandra.

This piece has been edited and condensed for clarity.

A Day in Bali with Luce Scholar Leslie Ponce-Díaz