I wanted to help out with the holiday preparations and offered to do whatever is needed. But no one needed my help. So, I just stood there as the grandmother and her youngest daughter-in-law, whose' duty it is to serve her mother in law, were busy preparing the 20 some offerings. They were lining the palm leaf baskets with 2 banana leaves cut to size. I thought, "Oh, I can do that!" and asked if I can help. The daughter in law smiled and handed me some banana leaves. I clarified and said, "Cut a circle, right?" and she said, "Yes, but not a circle." And then I gave another look and saw that my observations were wrong and that only one side is rounded and the other is straight. Got it!
The little 5 year old loves watching me and so while I tried to look cool with my knife in my hand shaping the banana leaf, I made a mess of it, and we both laughed. I tried again, and it looked a bit better. Feeling confident I took some more leaves and did a few more. Then I took another pair and thought I would try an even better way of folding and cutting, but when I opened it up to lay in the basket, I started to giggle, and they did too…instead of a rounded end, I had one too many folds and it turned into a heart shape! The grandmother, daughter in law and little girl and I were all laughing and laughing about "the tourist" that keeps trying to be like the Balinese. But what happened next was even funnier. The more we laughed, the more the 5 roosters in their cages next to us started laughing! What a ruckus that was! And I kept laughing even harder because who would think that these cocks could laugh?! (And they didn't even see the heart shaped leaves!).
Later I came back to my room and noticed that the little square banana leaf rice offering that I place on my bed in the morning in gratitude for the nourishment of sleep, was no longer on the little pedestal, but was upside down on my sheet, with no rice on it. This is the second day in a row that it has "disappeared". I immediately glanced to see if the offering on the table next to it had also been consumed, but it was fine. And then I just shook my head in disbelief and resignation, that there is apparently a little mouse (hopefully, and NOT a big rat) that likes to come when I am not around, and eat that little 1/2 teaspoon of rice each day. There are lots of offerings all around, but that is the one he chooses each day. I have tried to barricade the crack where I thought it may be coming in, but like in the cartoons, those mice can just squeeze through any crevice. I am no longer threatened by them. I haven't seen any. But last week when I was walking back from the sea after sunset, I did a double take on the path because I wasn't sure if it was a big dry leaf or something else. And sure enough, it was a light brown, sweet little mouse that had died. It is rare to see things on the path, since twice a day the Balinese sweep and clear and clean everything, and so I wondered how it was that just now, as I pass by, I was meant to see this little brown mouse. Maybe in order to see one that wasn't moving around and that there is nothing to fear. They don't want me, or to harm….they are just scuttling around trying to get from place to place, so what's the problem?
The other morning when I had stepped down from my veranda to place the rice offering (again, just a teaspoon of cooked rice on a little square of banana leaf on the ground) a big beautiful rooster came strutting over. (They really do strut! So proud of their beautiful feathers and the care and grooming from their owners!) I wondered if he would start pecking at the rice while I was still in the middle of blessing it, but no. he stood on the side, as if he knew the routine and was quite polite. Only after I myself had started to walk away did he come over to eat it. I have been in Bali too long already and am losing touch with the possibility that things are not like this everywhere in the world. It all just flows and seems so natural that everything is in harmony. But I remember the shock at the beginning when I saw cats, chicks, dogs, roosters, cows, pigs, all just living together. No one was chasing or attacking or killing anyone else. My experience with dogs and chickens and goats had been quite different in Israel, in spite of the fact that there were cages and all, and here they all just roam around freely, eating the offerings, crossing the street, laying their eggs, moving to the side of the road when a car or motorbike comes their way.
The cows and pigs are card for like prize possessions, with time and money and energy spent to cook them healthy food that will make them worthy of their ultimate goal of being sold in order to be slaughtered as an offering at the temple, and later eaten by the family. So even the animals are being raised as a gift to god, since they usually do not eat them unless for special occasions when they are used in a ceremony.
The dogs are a whole other story. Most of the families have a dog, as a guard. But all they usually do is a bit of barking when I go by. None of them would think to snap at me. They just want to announce my presence. They all seem to notify each other too, that I am coming. They all look pretty much the same, black and white mutt variety. If I turn towards one of them to challenge him, they go running in the other direction, and bark some more. I have never seen anyone be violent with the dogs, no yelling or kicking or reacting much. If they are strolling around in the middle of the temple, someone may casually speak softly to it, or make a slight gesture and the dog just goes out, even though there are many dead chicken offerings and rice and food all around they could be eating. Maybe they know that when it is all over, that's when they can come and eat the leftovers…but they just seem to be hanging out...no big deal...and no one buys them dog food...they just eat leftover rice and whatever.
the roosters are another story. the men raise these cocks as a hobby, training them for cock fights. they take great care and pride in grooming, feeding, stroking, and training them. a small chick is bought at $10 and sold anywhere from $100 if it is a good fighter a few months later. i watched my friend and his brother having a go at it with two of their cocks. it is a whole ceremony in itself! lots of rules and bowing and etiquette between the two cocks, and the men stand still, as if in a trance, when they watch them. each movement of the cocks tells the story of the winner, whether he jumped or stayed in place, whether he moved his head to the right or left or looked his opponent in the eyes...my friend told me it is just like a karate match or any martial art. it's just here they have added the element of gambling to it. and today, when all the women have been up since early in the morning working non stop for days on the ceremony offerings for the celebration tomorrow, the men are busy playing! playing billards, playing cock fighting, playing with the children....
The other day one of my friends was cutting up a big chicken, the kind I know from Israel. I was surprised and asked where it came from, since the Balinese chickens are usually thin and small. He said these are poultry raised and are big and fat at the young age of 3 months already, and that it would take a year for the Balinese chicken to reach that size. "But the taste does not compare with a Balinese chicken! These have cholesterol and are not healthy for us to eat. But Balinese chickens have delicious tender meat and no cholesterol. I will invite you one time when we make them for a ceremony so you can taste the difference." I was surprised that even when it comes to chickens they have such pride in their country and are sure that it is the best.
I guess that since they believe in reincarnation, they treat the animals with a sensitivity and kindness that they would a human, since you never know who it might be! And you also don't want any bad karma added to you just because of the way you treated an animal!
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