an entry somewhere else

I wrote a long post that I conveniently left on my computer at home. This turns out to be a good thing because I detailed a few things that would be entirely boring and break that sheen from my life that y’all have gotten from reading this. Yes, that was tongue in cheek.

The symbolic cremation was an interesting couple days as my colleague Alex and I were pulled into the fold of a Balinese village, facilitated by Alex’s colleague. Alex and I were dudded up in Balinese sarong and headwrap, much to the grins of the ceremony attendees. There is really too much to relay about this experience and the photos are yet to be uploaded. We did what most Balinese do during these ceremonies, we sat around, chatted, drank tea and coffee, ate pork, and chatted. One of our tour guides on another tour said these ceremonies also act as a type of matchmaking as everyone wears their ‘Sunday Best’ and checks each other out. I believe it. There were dances performed by the villagers. One, according to Alex’s colleague Made (mah-day), is indecipherable these days with only a few of the older men in the village able to perform the ritual, much less understand it.

The second day was the procession to the village cemetery. Made also told showed us the tree where he had first seen a dead body in his youth. Apparently, during the Communist purge, locals affiliated with the Communist party were rounded up and shot. They were left under the tree near the village cemetery for all to see. As it was many years ago, Made said this all matter-of-factly. After the rituals, the effigies were burned to ash. Again, more rituals were performed as people were selling drinks and snacks throughout the day.

After a few days in Seminyak, we headed up to Ubud. There we took a bike tour, watched some Balinese dance, listened to gamelan, and relaxed a bit more since the guesthouse we were staying at had a rat in the ceiling running back and forth all night. From Ubud, we headed back to Seminyak to meet up with our other colleagues and journey to Tanah Lot and a fish dinner in Jimbaran. I would have to say a good time was had by all.

Alex and I took 12 hours to travel to Gili Trawangan, one of three small islands off the coast of Lombok. It was a good move. I do think we did stay too long though. The island is a very nice and relaxing with a little bit of nightlife to boot. Most of the nightlife tended to end up around the Irish bar in the south end; we did too. It was on the eve of the last night that I noticed my ATM card was not in my wallet. I didn’t need to look for it the rest of the time as there are no ATM on the island. This put a little dent in paradise for a bit until I found the number to call the Indonesian bank and put a stop on it. Now I have to get a letter from the police affirming that I lost my ATM card before a new one will be issued. Good fun;)

The 12 hour return put us at the hotel in Seminyak around 10p and I scurried off to find souvenirs for my colleagues. The shops were closing up and I came back empty handed. A last dinner with Alex and I went back to bed as my flight was to leave early. Alex went out to the clubs.

I’ve culled the photos and resized a few for upload, but I won’t do that today. My launderer was closed today. He’s been closed the past three times I’ve lugged my dirty laundry to his shop. I went Thursday to check on the open-closing time. He told me that they were closed on Friday. A sign today said there was a family program; something he neglected to tell me on Thursday. Ahem.