as i was walking by the fishermen this morning, i noticed a little plastic cup from some fast food that had been discarded on the sand, as usual, and as i passed it i was surprised to see a small fish inside it. i assume it would be bait for when they go out, and i thought to myself ; yes, all they ever have to do is just look around for what they need, and it is right there! and i am busy trying to make everything nice and clean...
as i continued to walk on the path i saw some young children busy getting their kites up into the air, and again was amused to see that they weren't store bought kites. they had made them out of bamboo sticks and discarded plastic bags...all found along the beach and pathways.
next i smiled as some other little boys were busy climbing up a coconut tree that was at a 45 degree angle. i thought, oh, how cute, they are pretending to be coconut pickers...but a few seconds later i realized that it was their official "slide", since there are no playgrounds here. it was perfect for them just like kids in any sandbox climbing up and sliding down...just on a coconut trunk!
i continued on to see if i could find out from a villager when the womens gamelon band would be practicing for the big three day ceremony that will take place next week at one of the temples. i had asked madeh to please write down on a piece of paper the necessary questions, since my indonesian is not that good yet. where will they practice, what day and what time. i was surprised to see that with pen and paper in hand (i gave it to him) it was not as simple as i thought. even though i had repeated the 3 things i need to know: where, what day, and what time? he took a very long time to write it. i realized that pens, paper, and writing "notes" is not something that is done here. and when i got to the womens house, i presented the note to her, and even reading it took a long long time...just a few sentences...and then she gave it to her husband to read too....and he used to work in a bank, so he is used to paper and the written word. but he too slowly read each word until he finished the note and answered me.
what unfolded next was that she started humming a temple tune, as we sat quietly next to each other on her veranda. and then she lifted up her left hand and with the index finger on her right hand she started to touch each finger, as if it was a chime of the gamelon. i suddenly realized she was giving me my first gamelon lesson, since she didn't have an actual gamelon at home, we were using fingers! brilliant!
it was just as tricky and difficult as if it was on the gamelon. but she is a 70 year old teacher of balinese classical dance and also gamelon, and knew exactly how to teach me. she continued to hum and tap on each finger that represented the different notes of the song with the typical balinese rhythm that always surprises you since it doesn't make any sense to the western mind. i began to sing along with her, "playing" on my left hand, copying each movement she made. we must have done this little song about 20 times until i "got it". the joy of playing the tune was as wonderful as if i had been playing the gamelon. i think it is just the scale and the rhythms that just open up my heart whenever i hear them. i thought i would try and show her that i already know it by heart, but then i thought; she is the teacher, you are the student, just continue following her lead. you don't have to impress her, you don't have to rush, just let it sink in, no mind. just letting the body feel it and absorb it organically. again, if i missed a note, there was no going back and repeating it...the beat goes on and you just have to catch up and try again the next round to get it right. and since there is no beginning or end, we just "played" and played. it was lovely. she told her husband that i learn quickly and he offered to bring a family gamelon over so that she could teach me. what a surprise! i thanked them profusely and then tried to explain "i, no , rupiah" (forgetting that i know the words for "have" and 'money") and then he said " no, no , you do not have to pay for lessons." ah....so nice...thank you.
she continued and taught me another song, which i quickly picked up on my hands. but she was concerned since it had 6 notes, and she only had 5 fingers to play on....naturally she just played on the "air" for the 6th note, but after a few times she took my left hand into hers' and used my thumb for the 6th note, and then was satisfied. she is a lovely lovely woman, and the top classical balinese dancer of bali, and she and her husband have aged very gracefully.
i felt that i had been there long enough and that i had learnt so much already, that i initiated ending the visit. i thanked her and said goodbye. and as i walked away she started humming out the first melody again and playing it on her hand, pantomiming for me that that is my homework! of course i had already forgotten it, after playing the second song, but decided to make an effort. so the whole 15 minute walk home i continued to hum and play on my fingers until i could reach my room and jot it down in some kind of symbols so i could remember it for next time. i know that is totally unnecessary...that either my body will remember it, or she will just teach it to me again.
that is the way i play the onkelon too. i just let my body "recall" the sounds and my hands are suddenly playing the songs. if i try and remember or recognize what the series of notes is, i have ruined the magic. can i just flow with them, in the way that they teach and learn, and let go of my western mentality?
as i returned to my resort, i saw the young "builder" and his assistant, looking at the bamboo plant that was growing by the entrance. i wondered what they were looking at. and a few minutes later they were sawing down a few lovely tall stalks, which later became the beautiful bamboo frames and poles for the new signs for the resort. i laughed. i knew the owners wanted the sign from bamboo, but it didn't dawn on me that they would just look around the garden for the materials. and within hours the builder, who is really an artist, had already crafted one of the 5 signs that were being made. he gets paid $4 a day for his beautiful workmanship, whether building the new bamboo spa, or making the frames, or building the yoga pavillion. he works slow, quiet, sitting perfectly upright, like i have never seen anyone sit.
i thought i could help him out and i would prepare the thatch roof from the coconut leaves. i asked madeh if i could. he hesitated. i asked "is it mens' work?" "yes, but you can try if you like". so he brought me 3 big coconut branches that were over 2 meters long, and taught me how the leaves are pulled and then turned around so that in the end you have a kind of two layered flat surface that can be used for roofs or walls. like any craftsman, madeh did it at lightening speed, compared to me, fumbling around until i figured out that the baby finger does all the work. after 2 leaves i decided to leave it for the men....and to use my hands for the ladies crafts which i had tried the day before.
i had visited my adopted family and the mother and 3 daughters (13,9, and 6) were all sitting around preparing the numerous little trays and cups and baskets and decorations from the coconut and banana leaves. the mother held the knife in her experienced fingers and whittled away at the layers of narrow leaves that would soon look like intricate and delicate paper cut designs. then thin sticks of bamboo would be used as the little "pins" to keep it all in place. what was new for me was realizing that the "backbone" of the leaf, which would be sliced off and discarded, for certain designs, would later be gathered up and become the new broom for the household! i was so happy to see that nothing gets wasted, and that with all the ceremonial preparations going on every week, brooms for the non stop sweeping that is done all day, are just a by product, and are "custom made" by each person so it is just the thickness that their hand can grasp. and by the frequency of sweeping and ceremonies, there is always a broom being made just as the old one has gotten a bit flimsy.
the day ended with me recognizing the woman that was having a little picnic with her family on the shore in front of the resort. that is rare that someone comes and sits there, and i thought it must be the woman that i taught to hoola hoop two days ago, that wanted to teach her kids too, or something. i smiled and walked over with 3 hoola hoops and offered them to them, but no one was interested. oops, guess it isn't the woman i thought it was. (just like they think that all westerners look alike, it is often hard for me to remember how they look...). then after a minute the woman, who still looked so familiar, got up and decided to try. she was managing, slowly. her 13 year old daughter took one and immediately "got it". and after about 15 minutes of watching, the husband took the third one and was a real pro right from the start. we were all laughing and having a good time, even though the wife just couldn't do more than a few rounds without it falling. i usually let people learn at their own pace and use as few words as possible, since the body just knows through allowing it. but her husband started explaining to her how to do it and suddenly she was hooping without it falling! she was so excited that....yes folks....i saw it with my own two eyes....a sight unseen of here in bali amongst the villagers, until this moment in time, of having been taught by her sweet hubby how to succeed at hooping.....she.....gave a shout of joy, jumped in the air, threw the hoop on the sand, and ran over to him and jumped on him and gave him a hug!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
until now i have never seen a balinese show an expression of excitement. they are very self contained and balanced, neither showing great excitement or grief. and i have yet to see a husband and wife have physical contact with each other in public. i was so happy to see the fun and joy that hooping brings to the world. and they asked if they can come again! and in the end he told me that he is madehs younger brother....and suddenly i remembered why she looked so familiar....because i had been at madehs helping making ceremonial offerings when he had a baby ceremony, and she was the "sister-in-law" that was very kind to me a month ago. and around we go...
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