The Summit: Leave it to the Gods

November 19, 2014November 16, 2014 / pakdavebali / Leave a comment

Only the five best climbers were chosen from our group to challenge the summit. I must have been number six. I missed the cut and was bitterly disappointed. But, the summit climb is very rugged and dangerous. Two days before some hikers were literally blown off a ridge top. When Wyasa told me he had tried the summit, but had to turn back I didn’t feel so bad since he’s about ten times stronger than me.

So instead of getting killed, I spent the day at the hot springs. Thank God for being Number 6.

At the moment this photo was taken, I had this perfectly warm spring all to myself. Minutes later I was joined by 25 villagers from central Lombok. These villagers were Muslim and dirt poor. They had brought some food, a few plates to share and a pot to boil their rice. They were planning to catch fish at Anak Laut to supply the bulk of their food. They were ecstatic about their upcoming vacation. Of course they were surprised to find a white guy occupying their spring. But we talked and joked for an hour.

Drying fish

In America I might have been ticked off that 25 strangers invaded my space. But after living in Bali for 2 years, I’m used to the lack of privacy. It was fun in camp. Everywhere I went people invited into their tents for coffee or a cigarette. All these conversations started out exactly the same. For the first five minutes it was all about exchanging information: Where did I live? Where was my wife? How many kids? Where was my wife? When was I returning to Bali? Where was my wife? Did I like Lombok? Where was my wife. This is all pretty normal. Indonesians want some basic information on where to place you. Read Indonesia, Etc. by Elizabeth Pisani to get some funny insight on this.

But even though my language skills are still weak, I could have some conversations. I talked to a young architect about the techniques he uses to prevent his buildings from falling down in an earthquake. I asked everyone if they liked Indonesia’s dynamic new president, Jokowi. Most did not. 80% of Lombok voted for Jokowi’s opponent. I talked to a man who holds down two jobs as a teacher and hotel employee, and wants to learn the Hindu slokas (chants). I talked to a young couple who brought their eight-year old daughter with them on the trek. They are middle class, but still stressed about the basic economic needs of putting food on the table and sending their daughter to school.

Our final ceremony involved two fun events. First, a group of brave young men jumped into the chilly lake. They retrieved two stoppered bottles that had been placed in the lake the previous day. The mystery would be to see if these bottles had filled with water. Miraculously, as they do every year, the bottles returned filled with holy water (tirta). We cheered.

Counting the coin and jewelry offerings

The second ritual involved collecting coins and jewelry amounting to several hundred dollars which would be given to the Gods of the lake as an offering. We cheered again as another group of brave men swam out to give this gift.

Then we went to bed early for a 3am wake up call. 4am prayers…and 5am hitting the road.

The way out started with a two kilometer climb to the ridge top. Wyasa and I started early, and avoided the traffic jams. At the top one of the old guys yelled down: Stop Smoking and Keep Walking. That’s because almost all of the young men would walk like rabbits for about five minutes and then stop for a cigarette break. They are “Smoking Bunnies”, he told me.

Just five minutes before the end, the rain started. We had achieved one of our key goals. Our prayers had been answered. It rained all the way back to Mataram, and I’m not sure if the rain has stopped since. These guys really know what they are doing. Places suffering drought, like California, might want to consult them.

We hopped back on the bus. Smoked a couple of clove cigarettes. And then the young guys dropped off to sleep sprawling across each other. They may be Smoking Rabbits, but at that moment they reminded me a lot of puppy dogs.

Our porter Made

Father and son porter team who also helped us.

Wyasa

Fog rolling into the lake

Roadtrip to Rinjani…Our Mission: Pray for Harmony, Rain and Don’t Die

November 13, 2014November 13, 2014 / pakdavebali / Leave a comment

Rinjani last erupted in 1994

Rinjani volcano at 3,700 meters is the third highest mountain in Southeast Asia. When Wyasa invited me to join him and a few of his friends to climb this peak, I thought we were in for a mountaineering adventure…But as usual for me in Indonesia, I really had no idea what I was getting into when I agreed to this six-day adventure.

Our Mission: Pray for Harmony, Rain….and Don’t Die

Putra, who helped organize this great venture

Mataram Taman Temple

It turned out that our journey would be a pilgrimage with a group of 250 Hindus primarily from Lombok, and a few from Bali. Our mission would be to honor the most fundamental Balinese Hindu philosophy of Tri Hita Karana which roughly translates to finding harmony with God, harmony with other people and harmony with nature.

The group also carried the responsibility of conducting prayers and ceremonies to ensure a healthy rainy season.

In addition to these group objectives, my own personal goal was to avoid a painful death which could occur if I fell off the mountain, was burned alive by lava got hit by lightning or one of the dozen other calamities that can occur on such an expedition. In other words, I just tried to stay positive.

And on the positive side, one of my goals for living in Bali is to become embedded in the culture. This trip helped me do that. My Indonesian language skills are still nursery school level, but good enough to hold conversations. And I am continually humbled by the gracious and accepting way that Balinese people invite us into their families, their ceremonies and their pilgrimages while forgiving my many faux pas.

The event got rolling on November 1 with a ceremony at the Mataram Taman temple in Mataram, Lombok. Hindus represent about 20% of Lombok’s primarily

Muslim population. We spent the night at Nengah’s family house. Nengah is Wyasa’s beautiful and very smart girlfriend. Nengah is one of eight daughters. They and their lovely parents took very good care of us.

Nengah, our beautiful hostess in Mataram

The next morning we tightly packed ourselves into buses without air conditioning. Per ritual, everyone lit up a clove cigarette to get the ball rolling, and then promptly fell asleep sprawled over one another.

Our first night we slept in relative comfort after a ceremony. Orders were given that we were to be awake at 4am, and ready to start by 5.

Experiments In Truth and Recycling

October 15, 2014August 3, 2016 / pakdavebali / Leave a comment

With apologies to Gandhi for stealing his book title (Experiments In Truth) sometimes launching a recycling program in Bali seems harder than achieving independence from England.

But then I spend time with Balinese young people. The enthusiasm, energy and commitment they bring to the goal of cleaning up their school and village just makes my heart feel lighter and the hurdles seem less daunting.

SMA1, Semarapura is our fourth school partner. We’ve learned we need three key ingredients to be successful: 1) A willing principal. 2) One or two student leaders and 3) The ability on our ashram’s part to build the facilities (recycling stations and storage sheds) on time and deliver reliable weekly trash pickup service.

Two of our three Co-Presidents of Eco Club SMA1

Principal Pak Putu, and his successor, have been willing partners in establishing the recycling program at their school. Our ashram coordinator Wayan Wysasa identified three student leaders to create Eco-Club, our Ashram Manager, Kadek Donal, managed the building of the bamboo recycling stations and we finally have found a village man with a pickup to be our trash collection man.

We launched the recycling program at SMA1, Semarapura with a kick-off meeting with the principal Pak Putu, our Ashram founder Indra Udayana and the school’s young leaders. Here’s a video that shows excerpts from the launch.

As you saw, we built a lot of enthusiasm, and ultimately recruited 60 Eco Club members. These students will manage the recycling program at the school. Most importantly they will educate their peers about the value of recycling. Our goal is not just to clean up the school, but to build a cadre of young leaders who will change the environmental ethic in Bali.

Our new Eco Club logo

The recycling stations are built and will be delivered next week. Eco Club is scheduling a Field Trip to see where the plastic, paper and glass is taken after they recycle it, and most importantly the Eco Club tee shirts have been ordered. Rule Number One: You can’t Keep Bali Beautiful unless you have a club t-shirt.

Can you help? This campaign takes some cash to keep it rolling…Not a lot, but we need to pay for the recycling stations, the pickup driver and of course the t-shirts. If you have a few extra rupiahs, please click here.

Flores, Indonesia…Komodo Dragons…But Much More

September 25, 2014September 25, 2014 / pakdavebali / 1 Comment

Komodo Dragon

Most tourists visit Flores to see the Komodo dragons, the largest living lizard on earth growing to 3 meters (or about 10 feet for my fellow Americans). I really had no desire to get up close and personal to such an ugly beast…

…and as many of you read from my last post, my mission to Flores, Indonesia was to reconnect with our friend Martina.

Map of the Indonesian Islands east of Bali

What is continually fascinating about Indonesia is it’s mind-boggling diversity. Bali is mainly Hindu, but Flores is mainly Roman Catholic…and they are both in the middle of the largest Muslim country in the world. Not to mention that the flora and fauna of Flores are more like the dry parts of Australia than the tropical islands of Bali and Java. The local languages are completely different and the cultures aren’t even closely related.

The geology is pretty similar though. Just about all of Indonesia is on the eastern edge of the Pacific Ring of Fire…(California is on the west side) and that means lots of volcanoes and quite a few earthquakes.

Mt. Inerie Volcano

Volcano Lakes near Maumere, Flores

Visiting Martina and her family meant I got to know a little about the Catholic way in Flores which arrived with Portuguese traders in the 16th century. Both Jek and Martina are devout Catholics. Martina regularly attended mass at the Newman Center in Berkeley when she lived with us.

Mother Mary Statue Overlooking Maumere

Here too her family regularly attends mass. Their son Nick goes to the very tough but high quality Catholic junior high and high school. The priests and bishops appear to be a positive force in the community. Not only providing services like schools and hospitals, but also providing a credible and positive social force. I’m sure there are exceptions, but these points are based on discussions with several people western and Indonesians.

Catholic Church in Maumere

church

But it’s Catholicism with its own flavor.

Driving around on a motorbike I saw that almost every house had its own tomb where the ancestors are buried. Apparently, this goes back to the traditional religion of Flores before the missionaries arrived.

Family Tomb at a Flores Home

And, Flores Catholics celebrate some festivals you don’t see often anywhere else.

Flores De-Mayo Procession

But this is Indonesia, so right next door to Maumere is a Muslim and Christian fishing village of Wuring built on stilts over the tidal flats. In fact, every morning I woke at sunrise to hear the village mosque broadcast morning prayers. The people originate from Bugis and Bajo tribes from the south of Sulawesi. The village consists of more than 200 people who speak two separate languages.

Speaking of different languages…there’s about 6,000 of them in Indonesia. Nick’s Catholic boarding school has boys from all around Indonesia. We spent a fun afternoon with the kids saying a phrase in Indonesian with the boys translated them into the dozen “local” languages they speak.

And finally, what is continually glaring about Indonesia is that within the same village there are people living in the entirely traditional world, and some texting and Facebooking with friends around the world.

One night I was sitting on the beach doing a video call with Lucas while on the mudflats a traditional fisherman used moonlight to harvest fish to feed his family.

Reuniting with Martina

September 23, 2014September 23, 2014 / pakdavebali / 1 Comment

Many of you may remember, Martina. She is from the island of Sumba, Indonesia and she helped us through a very difficult time in our lives, not to mention the fact, she saved my Dad’s life.

Martina grew up in Sumba which although a hour plane trip from Bali and still in the country of Indonesia could really be a million miles away from our island. Sumba is dry unlike wet, tropical Bali. Instead of Hindus, most Sumbans are now Catholic overlaid over Sumba’s own local religion and adat (customary practices). For more about Sumba, see Elizabeth Pisani’s book, Indonesia, Etc.

Because she is very smart and has a huge heart, Martina attracted the attention of a Sumban teacher who knew our friend Ibu Gedong from Ashram Gandhi, Candi Dasa. Martina spent 1.5 years at the ashram. When Ibu Gedong found out that our oldest son Lucas had been diagnosed with diabetes, she knew we needed help and Martina was just the right person for the job. She contacted Martina in Sumba, who returned to Bali for her visa and passport and a week later on her first airplane trip landed in Berkeley. Max never had it so good. He was 18 months, and never cried again until Martina left three years later. Martina helped us through those very challenging months where we were learning to manage Luke’s diabetes while trying to hold down jobs and deal with a new baby. We could never have managed without her.

We not only fell in love with Martina. Both of our families did as well. She saved my Dad’s life one night in Rocklin when she alerted the household when he was having a heart attack.

In addition, Max and Martina were the most popular duo at Berkeley’s kid parks. Everywhere we went every family with young kids knew Martina and Max.

Martina returned to Indonesia more than 17 years ago. She married Jek Wara, a wonderful man from Flores and has lived there since returning. She and Jek have four children of their own (Nick 14, Ike 11, Julian 8 and their baby of 2.5 years) But they also generously have invited another six family members in need to live with them in their beautiful blue house in Maumere, Flores.

Flores at sunrise

Felicity and Max visited Martina four-years ago, but I hadn’t seen her for 17 years. It was a tearful reunion, but wonderful to find she is still the same Martina with a very big heart an infectious laugh and willing to serve her family and friends.

Talking to Felicity

For the past several years, Jek has worked afar first in eastern Flores and then in West Timor. He does development work which means building essential services like schools and hospitals. He told me many stories about the trials and tribulations of weaving through the inevitable local politics that occur in his job. More about that in a different post. Fortunately, he’s been transferred back to Maumere where he can live with his family full-time.

Jek

Even though Jek is a college graduate and has a government job and Martina runs a small shop out of her house and raises pigs, chickens, etc. they live very simply compared to a US family. It’s not at all unusual to raise your siblings kids or to take care of an Auntie in this culture.

Martina’s kids on the beach with me at sunrise

Once their shyness wore off, their kids loved playing Frisbee. I treated them to a day at the hotel I stayed at, and they never got out of the pool except to drink the sodas they were served.

Wedding couple

One night we attended the wedding of Jek’s cousin in the village where Jek was raised. The bride and groom wore traditional dress, and we ate some delicious pig intestine soup. But it was a little culturally dissonant when they turned on the dance music and Shania Twain blared out. We also visited Jek’s father who is 84 years-old, but still farms. He raised 12 kids and sent a few of them like Jek to University.

Jek’s father

On the last day, we went to see Nick who is their oldest child. He lives in a Catholic ashram in Maumere. They send him there because it provides a very good education. He lives in dormitory with one room that houses 77 ninth graders. They live a very disciplined life with early morning prayers, chores, classes, study and evening prayers. Similar to our ashram.

Nick with his proud Mom and adopted uncle

It’s expensive for him to attend which is why Martina is raising the pigs and running a shop in her front room. But they think it is worth it. Nick was quite shy when I met him, but warmed up. Very smart and nice kid. Would expect nothing less.

Want more information about Martina? Let me know:

Mass Cremation in Bali

August 19, 2014April 21, 2015 / pakdavebali / Leave a comment

Balinese people aren’t stressed about much, but the one thing that can create overwhelming tension is the inability to afford to cremate your parents and family. In the past, cremations have financially ruined poor and middle class families alike who by tradition must provide a suitable cremation ceremony for their loved ones which can cost thousands of dollars. When you are a farmer earning hundreds of dollars a year…it could have meant selling your land or not putting your kids in school.

Our friends Greg, Esther and Alex with Darmawan’s father waiting while the ceremonies go on.

Fortunately, many Balinese villages have adopted the practice of mass cremations where all of the people who die over a five-year or so period are cremated at the same time. This mass cremation helps because it allows richer families to subsidize poor ones and permits every family to perform their sacred obligations to their loved ones.

We were invited by our friend Darmawan to the village of Tangkas in the Klungkung Regency to participate in its mass cremation of 95 villagers who had died over the past five years.

Sarcophagus containing the bodies from one banjar in the village

It was a very long but fascinating day. Darmawan’s family had lost a young nephew who had died from drinking too much Arrak (palm brandy) five years ago. His body had been buried for the past five years. His remains were dug up just before the ceremony and placed in a white cloth for the ceremony.

offerings around the sarcophagus

Cremation represents two important actions. First, it is a physical act in which the five elements of the universe contained in a human body are released by cremation to return to the earth.

The fire begins

More importantly, cremation releases a person’s soul from his body to be returned to the circle of life and death (reincarnation) or to be released from the cycle by seeing the face of God (moksha). In Balinese tradition, the ritual mechanism for doing this is through a water blessing. Every person who was cremated was accompanied throughout the cremation ceremony by a woman of his family.

In our friend’s case this was Puspa, Darmawan’s wife. She rose at 8am to prepare the water offering from holy water provided by the priest. Just before the cremation, the priest sprinkled holy water from her offering onto the body of her nephew. After the embers died down at 10pm that night, she carried the ashes to the river for the soul’s final journey back to the spirit world.

Climbing a Bali Volcano…with a little extra help

July 28, 2014April 21, 2015 / pakdavebali / 3 Comments

Gunung Agung, Bali’s highest volcano at 9,000 feet

Most trekkers appeal to the Gods for support before climbing Gunung Agung, Bali’s 9,000 foot volcano. Some of us also need chocolate.

Prayer at Pasar Agung, By Joseph Smith Mewha

The trip began at sunrise with prayer at Pasar Agung temple. I said a few more than usual for my knees, legs, feet and lungs.

Sunrise: The Trek Begins

This is a volcano so there is no meandering or switchbacks or any other wimpy western trekking crutches. The trail went straight up the damn mountain. The trail began on a narrow path through the jungle which as we rose became less dense and eventually ended after about 2 hours. The last hour and a half was a scramble over rocks and boulders until a final push of nearly straight up to the rim of volcano…which overlooked this very big, ugly caldera.

We were eleven. Joe, Alex and me from America (Max smartly stayed home with Bali Belly) and eight ashram members (Wyasa 1 and 2, Artha, Nengah, Adi, Kawenuh, Komang and Sugi). Our Balinese friends were bundled up for freezing weather and wore an odd assortment of trekking gear.

Wayan Wyasa, wearing Nomad Bandit trekking gear

Cowboy Adi

Kawenuh

Sugi and Adi

Alex, Joe and Kawenuh

Sheik Komang on the mountain

Also proud that our group picked up several bags of plastic garbage on the trail and recycled it. Nengah, Kawenuh and Wyasa 1 won the prize for best recyclers.

Our final ascent to one of the holy places on the rim was delayed by a group offering prayers from a village in Karangasem. Some of us waited our turn to pray.

The caldera from the rim with incense for prayers

Some walked over to the party place to celebrate reaching the top.

By Joe Smith Mewha

Wyasa Perseda celebrating

Showoff

Flaunting it at the top

Some just celebrated the fact it was over.

Canti,

Pak Dave

What Indonesian Students Love About Their Country

July 13, 2014July 13, 2014 / pakdavebali / 1 Comment

In May, I was invited by the Indonesian social organization, Gafatar, to teach an online English class to more than 150 junior and senior high school students in more than 35 provinces throughout the country. These students are homeschooled through Gafatar. I conducted the lesson via video conferencing which sort of boggles my mind since when we first visited Bali only the big cities had electricity, and you had to travel to Jakarta to make an overseas phone call. A lot has changed.

These students were very bright and engaged, and it was a wonderful experience teaching them. I assigned a homework project to write a story why they love Indonesia, and extra credit for adding an illustration and a second story about their home town. I hope you enjoy them.

Saya Cinta Indonesia

Pak Dave

“What I love most about Indonesia is the people. (Most of) the people here are humble, friendly, kind. I love that people, especially Javanese, say “sorry” even though they’ve done nothing wrong. I love the way people smile at each other on the streets, even if they didn’t know each other. I love the scenery and the tradition, as well.”

Alifa Salma, Yogakarta

Note from Alifa:

Dear, Mr. Dave

My name’s Alifa Salma, but you can call me Ifa. I’m 14 years old and I’m from Jogja. Here’s my 4-sentence story about what I love most about Indonesia. Well, I wrote 5 sentences. I’ve re-read my story countless times to make sure that there are no grammatical errors or typos, so I hope there aren’t. I hope you like it.

Sincerely, Ifa.

…She definitely received extra credit.

The story about what I like best Indonesia.

“Indonesia is a country rich in traditional culture, one of which has a traditional children’s game. In a traditional children’s game contains the values of Indonesian public life. One example of a traditional children’s games from West Java is Gatrik.Gatrik is a game for children aged 8-12 years was carried out by two or up to five people. The necessary tools are bamboo slats measuring about 40 cm long, 2 cm wide and small blades, brick, and places a rather board. The game calculates the distance to train skill, sense of responsibility and solidarity. We as Indonesian children proud of the culture that we have.”

Describe my city.

“I live in Subang. It is located in the province of West Java. Subang is having a temperature hot enough but South of the city of Subang is having cold temperatures like Tangkuban Perahu and Ciater. Tangkuban Perahu is a tourist spot that has beautiful natural scenery, as well known stories Sangkuriang. South of the city of Subang has natural cool with winding roads, where as far as the eye could see only the stretch of the tea tree which lies on the side of the road. Ciater is also the tourist spot that has hot water containing sulfur. That have beautiful scenery and cool weather.

Unfortunately, I live exactly in the center of town Subang with temperature hot enough, but nevertheless we live in a society that likes work together, have love for one another and love of helping with neighbours.”

Author Unknown

Due to technical difficulties by Pak Dave

Illustration by Achsanul Hafizhi

“Talk about Indonesia, the one that I love from Indonesia is its beautiful beaches even several beaches in Indonesia has been worldwide, for example coast of Raja Ampat’s beach is one of the most beautiful beaches in Indonesia. Located in West Papua, this beach is the largest marine park in Indonesia and has a wealth of marine life in the world. Almost 75% of the world’s coral reefs are in Raja Ampat.

“Not only beaches, but Indonesia has everything, if Indonesia embargo itself then any other country it is difficult to get all kinds of clothing, food, and the Board because it’s called the lungs of the world.”

Sheila Zivana

Sent from my BlackBerry®

“I love Indonesia for its natural resources, especially from sea. Indonesia is well-known for its underwater paradise, such as Raja ampat in Papua, Wakatobi national park in Southeastern of Sulawesi, Nusa dua beach in Bali and many more. We are able to find mostly of world sea resources in Indonesian sea, like seaweed and seahorse for medical needs; pearl from mother of pearl to make jewelry; lobster, tuna, macarel and other consumable sea creatures; beautiful fish and coral; etc. I hope we will be able to take advantage wisely without destroying and bothering the peaceful nature.

Second story: My Village

“I live in a village named Grogol Tempel, which is located on Sleman Regency (Kabupaten); DIY province, since I was four years old. My village was calm and silence. I barely saw motorcycle or car, even people, passed through in front of my house. Beside my house, there was a sugarcane field, where I asked for some sugarcane to be eaten together with my friends when the harvest time.

“But now, my village is full of people. Maybe because there are some housings that was built in my village. The sugarcane field also change into a fishing ground and restaurant. A bridge was built not so long near my house, that makes the mobility much easier than in the past. I love both the past and the present of my village because it makes a valuable memories of my childhood and now.”

Maulana Alif, DIY Province, near Yogakarta

“I like to Indonesia because many of its crops, and I am proud to be Indonesian because Indonesia will be the world lighthouse because it was said by Ir Soekarno, I love Indonesia because of diverse ethnicities and cultures and a wide variety of his character and his nature and this one I really like her that much surrounded Indonesian island – the island almost kesuluruhan of Indonesia consists of ocean waters ie 70% and 30% land.

Iqbal Tawakal

“I love Indonesia because of its many cultures and their various likes. I also like its temples which are beautiful and I like to dance Indonesian dances. And the last one I love the Indonesian art and culture .”

Ridwan Morenov, Central Jakarta

I love Indonesia because of its natural beauty with its natural resources are abundant, and many tribes and races and rich language. richon in animals and plants are unique and beautiful makes me so amazed by the grace that God gave to my beloved country is Indonesia .
“The city of Bandung is often called the city of flowers. With the pre-history of the building (the museum) and the coolness of the city of Bandung is often a choice made local and foreign tourists. Places frequented by tourists one of the Asian-African museum and building an independent, geological museum, a white crater and valley areas.

Author Unknown (due to Pak Dave’s tech issues)

An Interesting Bali Weekend

June 29, 2014April 21, 2015 / pakdavebali / 4 Comments

Warning: At some points in this story I will reveal an aggressive and impatient side to my personality that I’m sure none of you knew existed.

The weekend began with anger and frustration. For the past two weeks our neighbor, a dirt-poor man, has been driving us crazy with loud techno music blasting from his new speakers. He’s started a new pop-up bar selling tuak (palm wine) to his friends. It sounds like the music the CIA plays to make their prisoners crazy so they will reveal all of their secrets. If we had any secrets worth telling, we would have gladly spilled our guts.

What it sounds like from the pop-up bar next door.

We tried the nice approach at first. At our urging, Indra (our ashram founder) met with them during Galungan weekend to ask them to turn down the music. They told him it was just a holiday celebration and it would be quiet afterward. But two days after the holiday ended, the music was still blaring. Indra again walked across the road to attempt friendly persuasion. He was told that the speakers were borrowed, would be returned soon, and not to worry the loud music would cease….and it did until the next weekend. But after the Saturday workday had ended, the neighbor pounded the kulkul (wooden drum that signals time for prayer, meals, etc) to send a message that his pop-up bar and techno club was open for business. Sure enough, the drunks from the village arrived, and a big party with pounding techno music ensued…far into the night.

Kulkul, used to summon villagers to important events.

A series of Facebook messages from me to Indra with ever-growing urgency, and anger also was sent by Internet instead of by kulkul. The next day Indra met with Klungkung’s chief of police who said he would look into it, but that his resources were scattered because of the presidential election…blah, blah, blah.

By this time, our frustration with the Balinese limp noodle style of dodging a problem created as much anger as the throbbing techno.

On Saturday, we set out to solve the problem by meeting with the Kepala Desa (village chief). But this meeting too was done circuitously. The inability to solve a problem head-on is sometimes infuriating. But what the hell, at least we were moving. So instead of going directly to the Kepala Desa’s house, we went to SMA1 to meet with the principal about setting up a plastic recycling program. It was report card day, and the school was a madhouse. We were ushered inside and sat next to a group of three men who turned out to be the parent’s council. We had a nice chat with them about recycling and agreed the school would join our plastic recycling network, and then Indra remembered that one of them was the brother of Bali’s police chief. He then told our sad tale of techno-music battles and received some helpful advice which would have taken another two months of networking to achieve our goal of stopping the music…which did I mention: IS DRIVING US CRAZY!!

We then drove to the Kepala Desa’s house only to find he was attending an end of the year ceremony at the local elementary school. It turns out Komang attends the same school, and is graduating, so we decided to drop by the event and accidentally meet him.

By the time we arrived, he had left but we observed a very moving ritual. All of the younger students were saying goodbye to the graduates moving onto to middle school. Our graduate, Komang, was crying her eyes out She gave her principal a long and loving hug.

Komang hugging her principal

Komang and friends on last day of school.

Afterwards, Indra and I met with the principal to discuss the possibility of setting up a plastic recycling program at the school. She was thrilled to work with us, and it turns out had been wanting to start such a program from the time she arrived at the school just four months ago.

We also got into a discussion about the challenges she faces as a new principal at a village school. It turns out that illiteracy is a major problem at the school and in the village. Kids are just not turning up to school often because their parents consider it a waste of time and would prefer their children to stay at home and help them make the beautiful temple umbrellas that the village is known for. The other problem is that she inherited an unmotivated faculty who tend to push problems under the rug. We experienced this with Komang who although naturally smart was way behind at her new school because her prior education had many gaps. She was bringing homework home that was several levels above her. The principal stepped in and worked with Komang’s teachers and Komang herself that started at the level she was, and built on it. We also started a Homework Club at the Ashram which helped her quickly build some basic math and study skills.

It worked wonders. By the end of the term, Komang won a prize for being one of the best English speakers at her school.

Back to illiteracy. The school principal has created a summer illiteracy program for these kids using some of her more motivated teachers. Ahimsa In Action will be helping to fund the program.

Now back to our techno music problem. We returned to the Kepala Desa’s house, but he had been summoned to the police office to negotiate a fight between neighbors. The poor guy has a tough job. But during the ride Indra says, “Maybe we are approaching this problem all wrong. Instead of trying to solve it with a stick approach, (siccing the law on the guy) maybe we should figure out a way to embrace the family.”

We headed over to the neighbor’s with that thought in mind. It gave us a whole different way of looking at things. On closer inspection the pop-up bar was simply a way for this very poor family to generate some income. Not a very healthy way nor a good environment for the man’s three girls, not to mention his neighbors…but a desperate solution that worked for him. The house and his compound were about as destitute as I’ve ever seen with cracked walls and tiles, dirt floors, broken furniture. Their desperate circumstances really touched our hearts. Indra asked how he could help. Mertha, our neighbor, mentioned that they didn’t have access to water, and a connection to the new village water system would cost him $400, a sum he could never hope to save. Indra said he would pay for the connection. In addition, we are giving him one of our water tanks….and most importantly we are giving the guy a job…making plastic recycling stations. Remember, during the course of the day we had recruited two new recycling partners which means we needed to build an additional ten recycling stations. Our ashram carpenter wasn’t going to be able to do the new work…so this created a great solution for everyone.

An example of the recycling stations our new friends will make under Kadek’s managment

We left with our hearts feeling very good, and shedding a few tears of gratitude for this turn of events. It was a moving experience for all of us. Indra reflected on how Ibu Gedong was looking over us today. I thought about the healing power of love and kindness, and how it turned out to be a far more effective strategy than the use of force (law enforcement and political power) that we had first tried.

It’s been two weeks…and while the tuak parties are still raucous, there’s no techno music accompaniment. Our relationship with Mertha and his family began that day. We are embracing them as part of the ashram family and providing food, clothing, and books. A Gandhian group is coming from India next month, and they will be donating their labor to repair Mertha’s house.

Felicity and Indra delivering goody bags to our neighbors.

Saturday evening was calm except for the emergency trip to the hospital with Ratna for what we thought was a heart attack, but fortunately turned out to be far less serious.

And finally, Sunday was Father’s Day a holiday that is usually not celebrated in Bali. We placed photos of our father’s in the temple, and did a ceremony honoring fathers. At the end, everyone said something about their father. It too turned out to be emotional with kids having mixed emotions about their father’s who generally were considered tough and distant. Every single one of the father’s of our ashram kids is illiterate… which circled back to our discussion the day before with the elementary school principal. Our kids, thanks to the ashram, will be graduating high school with any who want to going on to university and graduate schools. Also pretty awesome!

Father’s Day Ceremony

So a very interesting weekend ended with the roosters crowing and the dogs barking, and not a peep of music from the neighbors.

Rock ‘n’ Roll Bali

May 2, 2014May 20, 2014 / pakdavebali / Leave a comment

Triple XXX Bali Rock Band

As usual, I was confused about our destination. I thought we were going to a farmer’s market where we would see our friend Darmawan. Instead I attended my first Rock ‘n’ Roll Concert in Bali which turned out to be a very entertaining, but culturally dissonant evening with the ashram teenagers.

We actually did see Darmawan. His organic farm was selling papaya, honey, eggs and rice at a booth at the Klungkung Expo. Downtown Klungkung was closed down for the three-day event which celebrated the 106th anniversary of the Klungkung Puputan (ritual march to the death) against the Dutch colonial army.

Klungkung Puputan

The puputan was triggered by a Balinese revolt against a Dutch attempt to impose an opium monopoly. Klungkung was the last kingdom holding out against the Dutch invaders. Hopelessly outnumbered and weaponed only with bamboo spears, the King of Klungkung led 200 members of his family and court in a puputan into the face of the Dutch guns. All of the group were either killed or committed ritual suicide.

Apparently, not all of the Balinese kings chose the honorable ritual of puputan, but instead made nice with the Dutch for which they were rewarded with wealth and position. There’s still some hostility because of it, and the people of Klungkung continue to be proud of their heritage of refusing to knuckle under to the invaders.

Klungkung King who Led the Puputan

Why celebrate a defeat and a very bloody one at that? I can’t claim to fully understand it, but the puputan is celebrated because it represents the intense pride and honor the Balinese people feel about their culture even in the face of continuing external challenges from modern values and an economic system.

It’s been interesting to see a similar struggle that Balinese young people have of working a job in a hotel in the city, but being required to take off during the week to ride home to your village for ceremonies. It’s tiring and not so great for your career, but so far it seems (and there’s an intense debate about this here) culture and Balinese family values are winning.

Which brings me to the rock concert, the very definition of a western invasion. The featured band was Triple X, a group of local young men from Klungkung that had made it big in the Balinese rock scene. Who knew there was a Balinese rock scene?

Dinner at the Klungkung Night Market

Being an old fart, I was all for going home after dinner. But the ashram teenagers forced me to attend the concert. Triple X brilliantly danced between the two worlds of western values and traditional Balinese culture that our ashram members…all of Bali…traverses in their daily lives.

Triple X combined loud electric guitar riffs, raucous acoustics, and rock star stage theater with lyrics and video that celebrated puputan in a way that really spoke to this Balinese crowd which two weeks before was dressed in sarongs and celebrating Ogoh-Ogoh (See the Blog Shh…It’s Nyepi) I particularly liked the way Triple X satirized the line every tourist hears, “Hello Mister, Welcome to Bali” with humor and hipness.

But the strangest thing of all was what happened after Triple X would end a loud, raucous rock song…Nearly complete silence. Very little applause, no screams of pleasure. It was cultural dissonance at its very best.

Canti and Rock On!