a little grass hut

i packed up my laptop and internet stick and went off to visit a balinese family that i am friends with. i thought it would be a treat for the 13 year old, since going to the internet cafe involves saving up money for a few weeks in order to have an hour looking at facebook and reading e-mails, etc. since i had unlimited use with my usb stick i thought she might like taking some time to practice excel and Word options that she needs to learn for school too, but does not have access to a computer other than for the lesson itself.

so there we were, sitting on a wooden bed frame in her "courtyard" in front of her little grass hut, with the laptop and internet stick. kind of surreal, but there we were! their compound is a nice sized piece of earth that has one small room with 2 beds and a table, where the parents and 3 children sleep and do homework, with a small television on a shelf, the other room is the small kitchen with the open fire and thermos for the water they have boiled so they can drink it. food items are placed in big covered plastic containers so the animals (mice, chickens, ants...) won't get to them. another small area without a roof which is the toilet and tub for washing up.

the cow is in a small shed on one side, the pig in another, the mother hen and chicks are pecking around, and the laundry is drying on the line. the entire area is nicely shaded most of the day, by the many fruit trees. the earth is spotless from the constant sweeping that is done when there is nothing else that needs to be done. it is quiet and lovely and a true palace.

as mitha tried to get into her facebook account, i decided to hoola hoop in the meantime. her 7 year old sister was playing with a girlfriend in the yard. as i began to hoop, they stopped their game of dolls and excitedly joined me. they could both hoop really well, and i realized that the 3 girls of the family had taught all their friends too. i was happy that they had 3 hoops and had fun with them. i hooped over in the direction of where the girls had been playing and marveled at what i saw: some odd pieces of wood that had been made into a raised platform, with ascending red and white little stairs leading to the top where an impromptu dollhouse had been made with a few pieces of cardboard, a silver rhinestone heart resting on its roof, with empty cigarette boxes used for furniture. the 3 dolls were wedding cake ornaments about 3 inches high of 2 brides and a groom, dressed in tuxedo and white lace hoop wedding gown.

i was amazed at how these little girls already had instilled in them this western lifestyle and fantasy world. just like in africa where children draw a house with a chimney and red roof and winding path leading up to the front door...the collective subconscious american dream.

just as i finished comprehending that, i suddenly heard the 11 year old singing along with a song she had just opened up on my computer. it was adele, singing "someone like you". and there was gita, who doesn't know english, belting out this song in english of lost love. how did she even hear this song, let alone know it is a worldwide hit?! i wondered what adele would think if she knew that in a little grass hut in a small village in bali, the young teenagers are singing along with her.