Culture Day?

We spoiled ourselves with a tour guide again that took us to all the (ok, many) Tourist haunts. This is always a somewhat conflicting experience for me. 1. I do enjoy the lessons and the major sights of the day. I love learning about history, the religions and everyday practices and perspectives of at least the man who is showing us around. As for the sites, it’s hard to put ones nose up over a beautiful view of a volcano, a rice paddy or waterfall in the jungle. That being said, I really hate the herding of the tourists en masse from one place to another with designated Instagram spots (this is a thing! you can take an ‘instagramable tour’ or do a photo shoot at popular sites). Maybe I hate being a tourist. But I get that’s what we are. And I get that this is 80% of Bali’s economy so how can I begrudge that? I don’t. And perhaps I should be happy we are all herded to the same spots and not destroying all of the them a little but just some of them a lot. And I also get it is supply and demand. They make the Instagram shots and hearts and human sized nests because we take the pictures in them! And post away. Just watch my hypocrisy. I just get so uncomfortable with the constant selling, and the kitsch pushing that you have to decline past the point of polite declining to refusal to ignoring people as if they weren’t people which just feels gross. And I’d be happy to see a waterfall, but really I have plenty at home (though of course I do always take visitors to Multnomah…again with the hypocrisy). So beyond my misgivings it was lovely. Except the metal work and carving stops. The two minute explanation and watching people work before being led into the salesfloor…honestly, it’s just so uncomfortable because I’m not looking to buy anything. We have limited money and more limited space so I just feel super awkward walking around looking at their pretty things that I’d like to just view as a museum but that seems super weird and rude since it’s a store. And I’m worried they work for commission so it’s doubly rude and you’re assigned a person per family that just tails you. Ok, again, BESIDES my whiny awkward and conflicted inner monologing: spoiled silly with a lovely tour being driven around and catered to. I mean we did manage to have some fun don’t you worry. Lucky duckies.

A main highlight of the day was seeing the Barong and Kris Dance (Play). Costumes and pagentry of a show are fun wherever you go. I know, and happy to report, really, that the play is changed from the traditional Barong dance that the Balinese people used in religious celebrations to a show for tourists, but it does not lesson their artistry or extravagance of costume.

The temple visit (again refer to my haranguing about discomfort of ruining a nice thing through over observation and commercialism) was beautiful and bless my husband for asking a ton of curious questions so that we learned way more about the colors representing directions and ruling ones person and the square v. triangular v. circular offerings and that one of the Barong’s was made entirely of pork including tripe/omentum umbrellas! Perhaps thank and even bless more our lovely guide Wayan for his patience. Side bar: Wayan is one of 4 names given to children in Bali, at least of the lower caste. there are only 2 names for the upper caste (one for boys and one for girls…i think this is correct) but the 4 for the lower caste are for either gender and are for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th children and if the family has more than 4 kids they just start over. I learned all this from our hostess at our homestay (also Wayan) who is one of 10 children. She told me she is Wayan number 3 for her parents. When I asked if they went by nicknames, she said “we all have surnames” so I guess maybe surname isn’t exactly the same as what we mean by surname. The language barrier is not insurmountable, but present.