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!