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)