More Pictures!

Nyoman and me at Dreamland (a popular surfing beach).

I went to Ayu's village for her brother and sister's tooth filing ceremony (one of the major life ceremonies). Since major ceremonies are expensive due to preparations, hiring priests, and the offerings required, many major ceremonies are combined. This picture is of a Balinese bride and groom who were getting married at the same ceremony as about 10 or 15 teenagers were getting their teeth filed. Actually, the groom had never had the ceremony done, so he was one of the one's to get his teeth filed (because it is vitally important to have it done before you are married). It is done because two of your front teeth look like animal teeth (pointy), so they are straightened to cure you of 6 bad habits ( I can't remember them, but they are similar to the 7 deadly sins).

Just a small sample of the offerings that were prepared for this ceremony. The main offering was suckling pig (which is delicious). After the ceremony, the offerings are shared with all of the families that helped prepare for the ceremony.

This is Ayu's younger brother and sister, mom and nephew. After the tooth filing, the participants changed clothes and put on makeup (including boys). The girls had elaborate head dresses put on my professional hair stylists. It was like watching people get ready for prom!

This picture was taken at the entrance of the Bat Cave. As its name suggests there are so many bats (even in the day) at the entrance to the cave that the temple surrounds. This temple is very sacred because the cave is thought to be connected to the Mother temple (which is the most sacred temple located beside a volcano in Bali - which isn't active - when you see the volcano, it's easy to see why this temple would be the most sacred in Bali)

This black sand beach was located across the road from the Bat Cave temple.

These are the students who led the graduation procession at my school.

At graduation - this is most of my class (they are from Japan, Hungary, Austria, Serbia, Korea, and Germany) and 2 of my 5 teachers (I have a new teacher every school day).

Me at Uluwatu Temple (which is very close to where I live).

These are temple monkeys playing in a pool of water. You can't really see from the picture, but they have a rope vine, that they are swinging into the water from. These monkeys are known for being troublemakers, and sure enough one snuck away from the group to get behind me and try to seize my glasses. Luckily, I escaped with my glasses. While I was there I saw several people lose important items (cameras, wallets). These are smart monkeys. They hold the items until they are offered a bribe that they like (food is their favorite). They don't even seem to be interested in the items. It's just a means to an end.

I went to Okta's village (my friend I now live with) for a ceremony for her dad's Balinese birthday (a Balinese birthday happens every 6 months because the traditional calendar is 6 months long). It was an all-day affair with plenty of offerings, family, friends, and food! This picture is of the priest blessing the offerings at the first ceremony of the day (just for the immediate family).

Okta's family praying.

Okta with her mom, dad, brother, brothers' girlfriends, cousins, and aunty.

The view from the one of the mountains in Okta's village.

Okta!!

Another picture of Okta's village.

That's all for now! That's pretty much the last two months summed up in a few pictures. I'm having a wonderful time and learning so much. I still can't believe that I'm lucky enough to have people all around me to practice Bahasa Indonesia with!

Pictures! finally!

So this is me with Nyoman right after I arrived in Bali. Nyoman's family had a ceremony in his village temple, so I attended. These are his cousins around me. We're wearing traditional clothing.

Nyoman with his cousins at the ceremony.

There was a ceremony in Nyoman's family temple (in his house in the city). The night before the ceremony everyone worked together to "dress up" the temple. Each statue represents a particular god or goddess, so the Balinese wrap cloth around them before ceremonies to honor them.

This is the view at a big cultural park in Jimbaran (the area I live in)

This is a huge statue in the park.

This is another statue of the Garuda bird from Balinese Hindu legends. As Nyoman put it, he is Wisada's ride (the statue in the picture above). So eventually the two statues are supposed to be joined together with Wisada ontop of the Garuda.

We saw the Kecak Dance at the park. These are a few of the dancers.

This is the Barong (which was in the dance). I think there are at least two dancers in this costume.

Finally I can drive!!!

So, things here are looking up! I moved in and am very happy with my room. There is a good amount of privacy and it's not so hot. I have even pretty much adjusted to the bathroom! However, I will be moving in with my friend Okta in a few weeks. She saw where I was living and insisted that I move into her house which is very near my school. I am excited to live with my friends and also because this house has a kitchen and washing machine and hot water!! It will great to be able to do laundry and cook. Right now I am eating out all of the time. The food here is wonderful, but it's very spicy and kind of heavy (the eat rice for all three meals), so I will be glad to have other options.
Also, I can drive now! This is so exciting because I can travel pretty much wherever I want during the day, and I don't have to walk to school everyday (I was getting so much attention. People were stopping to offer me rides and ask where I was going. I can't blend in here at all!) So I feel a lot more free! This is a huge feat (if you could see the traffic, you would know what I mean). I've pretty much decided that if you just stay out of people's way, they won't hit you. You just have to constantly be on the lookout for people who are doing crazy things that you would never even think of doing in the States. Now almost everyday, I go to the beach for a few hours after school. It's really nice and peaceful there.
In other news, school is good! I have been learning a lot, and I feel very good about my progress in the language. I can tell that I am improving! This is so exciting because I have been dreaming of being able to speak this language for so long!! I've also started learning a few phrases in Balinese because people really seem to be surprised and appreciative when you throw in a little Balinese!
This weekend I am planning to attention the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival with Ayu. I can only afford to go for a day, but I can't wait! Ubud is a very beautiful city (it is very green and has rice paddies everywhere), and this festival seems to be very well respected. I will really be in my element (among readers and writers in Southeast Asia!!!)
Thank you for the comments and emails! I am so happy to hear from everyone at home! I miss you and love you all!
Hannah

Tooth Filing Ceremony

I've been sick for a few days but now I am feeling much better. We have a holiday this week because it's the end of Ramadan (and Indonesia is a mostly Muslim country), so I have no school. I haven't moved into my new room yet because my landlady is Muslim, so she left the island for the holidays and I can't get the key yet. Despite being sick, I had a very good and interesting holiday. My friend Ayu (who I worked with in the U.S.) invited me to come to her village for her younger brother and sister's tooth filing ceremony. It's like a rite of passage for Balinese Hindus. (For some reason, I have had a lot of trouble uploading pictures but I'm hoping to get up some of the ceremony soon!) I think most people do it as a symbolic measure now, so it's not really a lot of tooth filing just some scary looking tools that the tooth filer rubs against the pointy teeth in the front and a few teeth behind them on each side. Everyone who is getting the procedure wears the same thing while they have their teeth filed, and then they change into brightly colored outfits afterwards so that they can meet with guests and pray in the temple. (All the tooth filing stuff is done with just the families around). There were about 15 people taking part in the tooth filing ceremony and a marriage ceremony too. Lots of families combine ceremonies because it saves the expense and time of planning separate ceremonies. Ayu's family was so nice to me! It seems like the way I get to know women here is by letting them dress me for a ceremony. Her older sister helped me get dressed because I haven't mastered the art of tying a sarong (traditional skirt sort of thing) so that I feel like it won't fall off. Since it was a village I received quite a bit of attention. Especially since we got dressed first and then had to ride on a motorcycle to get the family's house where the ceremony would be held. The skirt is so tight that you have to ride side saddle (which I must say is a little terrifying). But everyone was very nice and receptive to me, mixing English and Indonesian to say hello, etc. And the village was so beautiful. Green everywhere. And the ocean on one side and the mountains on the other. Actually, three years ago when I first met Ayu, I had to write a paper for my Women in Global Perspective class about the life of a woman from another ethnic background. So I interviewed her and learned all about her family and the village where she grew up. I never ever thought that I would ever get to go there three years later! It was so neat to see the things she had told me about. So, hopefully there will be pictures soon (the internet is so slow here sometimes!)
Sampai Jumpa (See you later)