Lately I have been sleeping at least 10 hours when I am not
up at the clinic doing births. Why
am I so tired? What could be using
my energy? Certainly, I do more at
home in America than here. I have
help with the kids. A wonderful woman
helps me clean and do laundry (by hand). I realized last night at 8pm when I
couldn’t keep my eyes open that it is all the little differences here that take
up energy. I have yet to establish
much of a routine here. The things
at home a no brainer like going to the store or cooking takes quite a bit of
effort here. I could probably do
my shopping blind folded. Here I
find myself in isles or at an open air market just staring.
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| What is this. Powdered dolphin? Dolphin food? Maybe we need it??? |
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| Milk options.... |
How many mangos can we eat before they
go bad. Are these any good? What the heck is that? What time does the shop close where we
by our drinking water? (Everyone here buys drinking water at little shops
because the tap water is not drinkable.
It is not poisonous. You
can wash clothes, dished, yourself and brush teeth but for cooking and drinking
you must buy it.) We also have to
keep an eye on the gas for cooking.
Of course, language is challenging but it is partly a relief to sit in a
room and not understand the chatter.
But in order to communicate more than a simple idea, I have to really
think about what words from my limited vocabulary will work. So at the end of the day I am
tired. Not stressed or exhausted
or freaked out just a good healthy tired.
I sleep like a log. I wake
up early with the neighbors, roosters and dogs.
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| I wake up and gaze at the yard with yellow flowers while sipping tea
|
I hear a lot of expats and tourist talk about how the
Balinese are different or how they do things differently. This is often said with a bit of a “can
you believe it laugh”. For example,
butter knives just don’t exist here.
When James finally tracked them down he was shocked how much they
cost. (So for now we make do with
2 knives). Some expats were all
laughing at this lack of knives but not asking why there might be a
shortage. The Balinese don’t eat butter
or bread so why should they have
knives. They aren’t really into
silver wear at all and frankly I agree it’s really just something else to wash.
This means you have to make food you can eat with you hands. My children can eat most meals with
their hands so maybe it’s just a small adjustment of expectation and attitude
for western adults. People come to
Bali for it’s beauty and culture and wonderful living but then complain and
mock about the very things or lack of things that make it exactly what they
were seeking in the first place. I
hear about “the compounds with all the people” or “how everyone has the same
name” or “they don’t seem to get time” or “they can’t even explain this
ceremony.” But I ask you to
explain sub divisions, nuclear families, Walmart or Christmas to a Balinese
person.
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| Our friend Eka and family at a ceremony |
The Balinese are far too polite and reserved to let us know
what they think of our culture, customs and “neeeeeeds” (to be said with a
nasally whine). Although I have
seen a few good impressions of Australians! I do wish I could understand the conversations they have
about us over lunch. I only
understand a bit of Indonesian and they speak Balinese at the table to my
chances are slim. But here is an
excerpt from “Shantaram” by Gregory Roberts a book I am re-reading here. In this scene he is recounting the conversation
had over and over in a Indian Village about him between 2 locals.
I think there are similar conversations
here:
What’s he doing here?
He is visiting my
family
Where’s he from?
New Zealand. In Europe
Plenty of money in
New Zealand?
Yes, yes. Plenty. They’re all rich, white people there.
Does he speak Marathi?
No.
Hindi?
No. Only English.
Only English?
Yes.
Why?
They don’t speak Hindi
in his country.
They don’t speak Hindi
there?
No.
No Marathi? No Hindi?
No. Only English.
Holy Father. The poor
fool.
Yes
How old is he?
Thirty.
He looks older.
They all do. All the Europeans look older and
angrier than they really are. It’s
a white thing.
Is he married.
No
Thirty and not
married? What’s wrong with him?
He is European. A lot
of them get married only when they’re old.
That’s crazy.
Yes
Does he have a mother
and a father?
Yes
Where are they?
In his native
place. New Zealand.
Why isn’t he with
them?
He’s traveling. He’s
looking at the whole world.
Why?
Europeans do
that. They work for a while and
then the travel around lonely for a while with no family until they get old and
then they get married and become very serious.
That’s crazy.
Yes.
He must be lonely
without his mummy and his daddy and with no wife and children.
Yes but this Europeans
don’t mind. They get a lot of practice being lonely.
… (in parting)
And don’t let anyone
take advantage of him. He doesn’t
look too bright. Keep an eye on
him.
He is brighter than he
looks but yes I will look after him
Hahaaaaa haha hahahaha ha
I love this passage.
When I reflect on what the Balinese probably think of us it would be
similar. Lonely rich white people
who are terrible cooks, don’t touch their children enough, don’t smile enough,
refuse perfectly good food, spend lots of time worrying and stressing, are
obsessed with exercise and on and on.
It’s pretty funny actually.
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| Ibu Robin at ceremony with volunteers |
Both Bali and the West have their cultures. Glorifying one culture over another
doesn’t get us anywhere towards better understanding. I hear people talking about cultural exchange and
sharing ways of being as a way to support change. Hmmmm, this tends to come with an agenda of which direction
change should go and an end goal rather than a natural progression- think Army
Corps of Engineers!
Currently I don’t have a proposal of cultural fusion other than living
here spending time with Balinese.
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| Vaughn as Barong! Scaring evil spirits. |
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| Gekko got the dragon fly. Evening entertainment. No internet at home! |
They have created a paradise within paradise. We arrived dusty, tired
and heads full of big village life chatter. After an hour and a half of
bumping up a twisty mountain "road", we tumbled out of the van we were
greeted with smiles and mint lime juice and serenity. Then we went off
to get settled into our bungalow. The Harvest Bungalow
is probably bigger than both the house we live in here in Bali as well
as our own in Vermont. Everything is hand crafted and you can see how
much thought and work went into every inch of the buildings and
furnishings. So much conscious effort creates an atmosphere of
incredible peace. 
