rice

being in ubud at the resort here where twenty three of us have gathered for a sacred circularities hoola hoop retreat is quite the different experience then the two months up north alone by the sea, temples, villagers...at the moment i am sitting outside in the open air pavilion in the center of bali in ubud, watching the group of six women working together harvesting the rice from the paddies that are dotted among the different areas of the resort which has over the years made extensions in all direction. it is a scene i had been hoping to witness this trip, but since the cycle is usually 3-4 months, when i came they had just harvested, and so i didn't think i would find a paddy that still had rice ready for harvesting. the most impressive thing for me is watching the team work, always,...people just do things together, in couples, whether it is sieving the sand or beating the long sheaves of rice onto a board in a big basket so that the grains fall into it, and then throwing the stems on the ground later to be burnt. lots of giggles and chit chat between the six of them as they work at a comfortable pace together, but still physically demanding, with three of them bending down all the time to cut the sheaves and gathering a big enough quantity to toss the bundle into the arms of her "partner" that catches it and turns around and bangs it four or five times onto the board in the big basket, that has a tall screen around 2/3 of it so the grains don't fall out, and then they just drag the big basket by the big bamboo handle, through the field wherever they are harvesting.

Now on the way to lunch it was possible to watch the women ‘winnowing”(?? I may have just made up a word!) the rice from the chaff (here too!) as they emptied out the big basket of rice grains onto a big sack in the middle of the field. They then proceeded to scoop onto a woven bamboo tray with two inch sides a quantity of rice and then in circular movements horizontally swished it around about 3 times, and all the stems and leaves rose to the top as the heavier smaller grains stayed on the button of the tray. She then removed the few stems and dumped the tray of grains into the empty rice sack. This they did in twos…and when the bag was full, they placed a heap of the cut rice sheaves on top of it so that the rain that suddenly comes down, and which is coming down now, will not dampen the harvested grains. The sack is lifted by both women, (how many kilos are in those huge sacks of rice?!) and placed on the head (YES!!!!!!!!!!) on one of them, and she could even be my age!, and is carried to the rice company, where it is then spread out on the ground on big tarps and is raked every now and then so it can dry in the sun, and then again placed in sacks and sold to the people either by the sack or at kiosks, in smaller quantities. The day for harvesting is of course checked on the calendar, and since tomorrow is the new moon, today is an auspicious day for harvesting.

All very fascinating, for someone like me that opens up a plastic bag of a kilo of rice at home and measures out 2 cups to cook, without really knowing what was involved in growing the rice that I eat.

tsunami?

life was chugging along as usual and suddenly nicole began to receive phone messages from a friend in australia and another one in sri lanka, notifying her that there has been an earthquake in japan and there is a prediction that it will also hit bali as a tsunami and to leave the resort by the sea.

hmm...everything looks so peaceful and simple, like always, so who do you believe?

she began to try and find out information on the internet, and to check with the locals, but it was a mixed bag....no one could say that this north eastern coast of bali was in danger, but, when it hits it hits, so do we chance it? the gardener and maintenance man, madie, is also the head of the fishermens clan here, so they called him to see if he knows anything. he is so nice and quiet and clever and humble, and he said that the fishermen will keep an eye out and let us know if there is any danger...okay...so instead of listening to all the world forecasts, we will just listen to the fishermen....hmmm....

now there was already fear and tension and uncertainty in the air....along with photos of the damage done in japan, and the warnings of how it can hit australia, indonesia, south america, hawaii....in short, the world!

do we just trust our natural instincts that all of us felt totally safe and normal or do we go along with the precautions necessary if there is a tsunami warning and go inland into the mountains?

we were only 8 of us altogether; an english woman that had just arrived the night before and all she wanted was to have a quiet day here, after finally getting to this lovely paradise, and there was a family with a mother from jarkarta, her german husband, and their 2 sons aged 1 and 5, me, and then the owners, a german couple....as we gathered around the computer and tried to verify what is really necessary to do at this moment, the little 5 year old walked into the courtyard with his just packed backpack and shoulder bag on him, and seriously marched up the steps to the porch where we were gathered around the laptop....

my heart broke. this young 5 year old was so serious and so certain that we must pack our bags and leave now, that that is just what he had done and was requesting us to do also, but in silence. it touched me so, to feel his fear and to want to assure him that we are safe....but he is clever and knows all about the past tsunami and the destruction it did, and he wants no part of that. he just remained silent, prepared to leave at a moments notice.

an attempt was made to verify kinsiologically if we need to leave, and the answer kept coming up: yes. so, what to do? i suggested we rent a car now and drive up to their mountain property that is about 15 minutes away. i was planning on going inland anyways first thing in the morning, and wondered whether i should just order a car and leave already, but there was a feeling of " abandoning a sinking ship" and so i decided to stay with them too, but with my bags packed in the car in case i need to leave from there later.

the english woman was not happy about the decision to leave. she and i were just on our way to visit a balinese family in the village, and not this?! she refused to budge. i went to the car with the things, and met there one of the villagers, out with his knife to cut grass for the cow, we spoke...so sweet...asking me if i enjoyed seeing his daughter dancing on stage the day before, and when i will return, and if i am going to say goodbye to my friends in the village now.

it was so strange to see the men out fishing as usual, life just going on, and us busy packing up our things and driving off into the mountains for safety, the 2 cooks at the resort were sitting on the floor preparing the coconut fish mixture for dinner which would be soon, and couldn't understand why they were being told to go into the double walled cooling room if they see that the sea has suddenly receded very far back. that they should stop the cooking and close themselves inside it ...they smiled and said yes, yes, but asked what time we want to have our dinner? what is reality??

i tried to walk over to the little girl i tutor in english to say goodbye before driving off, and when one of the young fellow in the gang that were hanging out by the sea saw me, he said "tsunami". i thought that was very kind of him...to let me know, even though he and his friends were not going anywhere...he was warning me.

the forecast was that between 6-10 in the evening it could reach bali,so we left quickly at 5:30.. we were the only ones from the village leaving...everyone else just carried on as usual. the english woman was in the car, but angry. the little boy in the back seat was relieved, the owners in the front seat were doing their best to stay calm and confident that we are safe and i was trying to share with the english woman that according to my kabbalah studies, the effort we are invited to make now is that their be unity among us and not dissension and that even if we don't agree, can we agree to go along with someone elses decision and not be in disharmony amongst us, eight people in a van....she was not interested...i let it go...tried to make conversation unsuccessfully, and then just remained silent.

when we got to the property, i took out my laptop to check e-mails and the first one i opened was one that said "LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL" from mitha, the 13 year old that i have befriended....she had again saved up her money and had gone to the internet cafe to open her mail and see the photos i had taken of her dancing the day before, and now, while we are rushing off, she is sitting there writing me that life is beautiful...

i was wondering what we should all do now sitting together on an open bamboo platform with a thatched roof for the next 4 hours? sing? tell personal stories? jokes?play games? do a workshop? hmmm...and then i opened up the next email i received which was a "message from the universe" that i receive everyday and it said "wisdom is in silence"...okay got the message! and chose to sit and meditate for the next hour, while everyone else sat their chatting quietly or reading their emails or calling friends to find out what they know and think is the situation at present.

the funniest was that about once an hour madie the 40(?) year old fisherman/gardener would call and say "i look at the sea, it look quiet". or "dinner is ready, you come back home now to eat?" . and here we were looking on the internet at all the headlines and world news reports...who are we supposed to believe,.,,the fishermen and villagers that are so in touch with nature, breathing, living and praising it 24 hours a day, or some professionals that understand global repercussions...and this was global...in almost every direction in the world people were being warned....globalization...

next, each one of them received an email from a different place in the world from family or friends, notifying us that it was safe to return. it was over. our 4 hour stay in the cool air of the mountains, overlooking the sea, with the crickets as our only background sound, and our pleasant time together in this emergency situation had ended...and as we drove back home i wondered how the villagers had chosen to remain in the village? was it from naivete, from intuition,from experience, or from faith?

something much greater

a few minutes before five i awoke, and then the morning chanting began. so the long slow melodic voice echoed out from the darkness of the predawn world, making me feel a part of something much greater as soon as i heard it. i showered and walked over to the outdoor pavilion to sit at the big table made from a slice of the length of a tree trunk, and began to journal. i sit at the head of the table so i can be looking out at the sea as the sun begins to rise, not needing to watch my fingers as i type.

slowly the dawns early light began to glitter on the flat surface of the sea, and the long narrow fishermens boats were silently gliding across the sea, the lapping of the small waves against the shore made me curious to see them and not only hear them, and i decided to go outside the low stone wall that surrounds the resort, and sit right out there on the shore with my laptop.

as i found a comfortable spot i realized that at every moment i have a choice; i am the one creating my own reality every moment. so why not make it just the way i want it, with the view of the orangey pink sun coming out of the sea for a minute and then it is already above it and shining in the sky. i love seeing the sunrise. whenever i used to take my daughter down to the bus stop for 3 years at dawn, i was always grateful that i could see the orange colored clouds above the valley and distant rolling hills as i drove out to the intersection and back. it is so nice to start the day with watching the sun rise....and i always wondered how i could have a house where i would be able to see it everyday. and now here i was, awakening before dawn and watching it rise over the sea, with the boats, and some roosters crowing, in the pleasant morning weather.

two 14 year old girls walked along the shore in their school uniforms and mandatory pigtails, a boy passed by after them, smiling hello. i wondered what it does to someones soul everyday to walk along the seaside and cross the little stream in order to get to school with the morning sun rising,,,,or what it does to the fishermen that see this magnificent site every morning as they sail out at sea in their fishing community, usually two to a boat.

for me it is a kind of nourishment for my soul that i need. and as i connect by journaling, and praying, and then doing tai chi and my new routine of the 5 tibetan breathing exercises, i feel ready to go out in the world from a place of gratitude for being given another day of life to live in the healthiest, most beautiful and inspiring way i can.

jochan had shown me the book about the tibetan breathing exercises a month ago and i decided that if he recommended them and i was here, why not try it out during my stay. it is interesting. and once i had the whole series down pat, he translated the affirmations that i am supposed to say while doing them. i have quoted a few of them below, since they are very inspiring for me and help me start the day from a place that feels positive and empowered. maybe others can gain from them also, so here are some:

My mind and my heart are in balance

I trust the wisdom of my body

My inner world and my outer world are in balance

I am always at the right time at the right place and I do successfully exactly the right thing.

I allow my body to follow the rhythm of its ebb and flow

I feel and enjoy my vitality

I open myself to the beauty of life

these are some of the things that connect me to something much greater and lead me to make the choices that i do.

come dance with me

on the last day of the tejakula arts festival i went to see mitha performing on stage with 3 other girls in a balinese dance. i thought i would come early and photograph her as they put the heavy exotic make up on them, but that 4 hour ordeal was done at the home of the teacher, and not where i had arrived at, so i missed that. and as i sat with her family, happy to get a front row seat before the crowds arrived, i realized that the price i was paying was that my eardrums were being blasted by hard rock and electronic music at full full volume a meter from my face as background music before the traditional gamelon band would accompany the dancers...again the mayor came up to me, since we were sitting in the first row, but i had purposely sat us down on plastic chairs on the side, knowing that the upholstered sofas next to me would be for the elite (high priest of the village, governmental officials, mayors family....) and he shook hands with me and motioned that i am supposed to be sitting on the upholstered sofas...i motioned to him towards the 4 balinese that were with me so that he would understand that if i move, they move with me....he gave a glance, understood the situation, and chose to then motion at the little containers of water that were on the tables for free for the elite guests, so that, at least i should take a free water....thank you mr, mayor. and he walked away and continued scanning the crowds that were arriving in order to filter out who gets to sit on the sofas...

eventually the show began with three 2o year old balinese beauties that were as if dancing traditional balinese style but they had added a hip sexy twist to their movements and it was great! usually the balinese dancers are "wrapped around" with ceremonial cloth from top to bottom, giving the appearance of a colorful ice cream stick...flat chested, flat stomach, tall and thin. and then when they dance they stand quite erect and make sudden slight movements with their fingers, or eyes, or neck and lifting up parts of the material to hint at wings and tails of flirtation between 2 birds as they tell some drama of love or betrayal and overcoming the demons, etc. these girls added long long yellow scarves to their costumes and they made exaggerated movements of their hips and more sensuous slow hand movements to the rocking beat of the gamelons. when they were finished, or so i thought, they walked off the stage into the audience...as we all applauded. and then suddenly they were each taking their scarves and putting them around the necks of the guests...how cute! and when one came up and lassoed me with her scarf around my neck, still rocking her hips and waving her fingers, i thought, isn't that nice, and i smiled...but she quickly sign languaged me that this means i am supposed to stand up and join her in a dance on stage.
me being the "ham" that i am, laughed loudly and immediately i began mimicking the exaggerated hip and hand movements as we tangoed onto the stage, along with the two other lassoed men that were grabbed. i managed to remove my flip flops on the steps as i ran on stage following her, and the crowds loved it! laughing and applauding and enjoying the "kerioke'-esque" event. after a few minutes of me mimicking them she again sign languaged me that we are done and to return to my seat as she goes out to catch another innocent bystander for the entertainment. when i was seated i too was able to laugh and enjoy the hams that were up there having fun dancing with these attractive women....all men, with their sarongs, and all very talented, including the overweight mayor that looked so cumbersome until now, suddenly turning into a sexy balinese dancer too!

so if the villagers haven't noticed me until now....they finally had their chance to watch the strange foreigner that has showed up in their village enjoying all the interactions with them all whether at the temple ceremonies, or walking along the road with the ogoh ogoh parade, or sitting at the internet cafe, or just "jaleng jaleng" ("walking - walking")....which they don't really understand....since, why would you just be walking???

a late night at the internet cafe

after the drama with my computer, and happily finding someone that could drive the virus out and install new insides to it, i needed to go to another computer man to reinstall new insides. i went to my local tejakula hotspot (wireless internet cafe) and the man worked on it for about 10 hours, receiving a big $5 in return, and suggested i return again the following day since it was already midnight and there was still work to be done. i had had enough of it so i just let it go and figured i would manage with it the way it was...but each day i discovered something else that had disappeared with the formatting and that i needed in order to breathe with my computer everyday; blogging, photographing, studying kabbalah, e-mailing, and browsing....so...off i went again last night after dinner, to the tejakula hotspot!

the owner a young man, only arrives at 7 p.m. most evenings, after he has finished his regular job, but when i got there at 8:30 and was surprised to find the young girl there instead of him, and sign languaged my disappointment and confusion and need, she sign languaged me back that he would soon return ...so i sat down and waited...dripping sweat after the walk and the still air that filled the small internet cafe, wondering whether to ask her to turn on the ceiling fan, even though she herself was wearing a long sleeve sweatshirt on top of a t-shirt....hmmm,.,.i let it go...all the balinese sitting behind the computer screens in their partitioned off booths seemed quite content too...so it was just me.

every now and then i glanced up at the clock as it ticked away wondering how long i will peacefully accept the circumstances believing that everything is perfect and the timing is right and all is exactly the way it is supposed to be at this very moment....every now and then wiping the sweat from my face, back and neck and glancing around again to see if maybe someone else also thinks its a bit hot and lets use the fan...one 20+ fellow smiled at me and said in quick perfect english "it's very hot for you." "yes." silence.

each time another motorbike parked in front of the open fronted room (no door) that faced the main street, i thought, aha, maybe it is him...but it was usually another young teenager, smoking a cigarette, or wanting to buy some (they also sell cigarettes, make cell phone calls for you, sell soft drinks...). finally "the boss" arrived, and we smiled at each other, since i am a regular there already. when he finished doing the urgent things he came over to ask what he can do for me, and i told him that i need hebrew back on my computer...and that i have indonesian. he smiled, "ah, yes, when i install, i forget and put indonesian" smile smile smile. and then for 2 hours he tried to get hebrew, which apparently is not the most popular or even recognized language here in indonesia where israel is not even recognized as a country that exists....so also no hebrew as an option on all of the paths he diligently tried to improvise in order to help me.

second problem: (2 hours later) that ever since he reinstalled the insides, i cannot download my videos that i film anymore! and that is most important! he knew it was most important, since the last time that i spent an all nighter there with him, it was the night before the new year celebrations and the chanting in the temple opposite the hotspot went on all night instead of the usual half hour, and i was so thrilled that god had arranged for me to have to sit there all night, and thus enjoy hours and hours of the once a year chanting close to the source! and as he worked on my computer that evening, waiting for programs to slowly (very slowly) download, i kept standing at the entrance with my camera shooting into the night sky with my camera on "movie", using it like a tape recorder just so that i would have recordings of the chanting to later listen to and possible imitate and enjoy. he and his wife and father, who had all gathered there with us as he worked on and on to help me, wondered what i could possible be photographing in the pitch dark? and i eventually explained that i love to hear the mans voice that is singing these long slow drawn out mystical chants about the meaning of life and our connection with god (my liberal translation of what i hear since i do not understand a word of balinese or indonesian, but can just feel the vibrations entering straight into my veins.). they smiled....ah, yes.

so, he understood the importance that my videos will be on my computer. "please give me your camera so we can see" oops....didn't think to bring it! ugh...so i quickly pressed on the picasa icon to just try and explain to him how all the photos download or upload or whatever it is, and it is just the videos that don't. and as i am saying that, he points one of his long thin delicate fingers to something on the screen and gently says," here are the movies. they are now transferring, it take long time, need patience." sure do! videos from yesterday were only know appearing on the computer, even though it had been on for almost 24 hours....i love it! so all the gamelon music and chanting was not lost after all!!

but when he caught a glance at my photos, of ogoh ogoh and the music and dance festival, he asked if he could copy them onto his computer too. of course! it hadn't dawned on me that someone without a camera and who had been stuck in the internet cafe or at work all day and night would enjoy these colorful memories of the happenings in his village. me being very computer illiterate thought it would be a few minutes and then i can finally go home since it was now very late and i had been up since before dawn...but....yep, just like it took a whole day to get them on my computer....to copy them also took a very long time, since he wanted the videos too....

he asked if i could please come back the next night so he could copy all my photos, but i told him i was leaving in one more day for another city and then back to israel...so, instead of going home and showering and having something to eat finally after a long day at work, he just lit up another cigarette and took his USB stick and started quickly choosing what albums he wanted. and as we sat there we began to talk.

i asked him if he is a dancer, since his hands and feet sure look like one, and he laughed and said "oh no, for dancer you must have inside you special feeling," "so, do you play an instrument?" "yes, some guitar, organ, and harmonica" .
"and how what do you work at during the day before you come to the internet cafe?" "in the government, family planning...i go to peoples houses 5 days a week and teach them about contraceptives." I asked if he also makes sure to go to the junior high and high schools and he said he does. good to know...since there are a lot of very young women here with babies that found themselves after their first flirtation, pregnant, then married, then unhappy (universal theme not praticular to bali, but at least nice to know they are doing something about it)

"and how did you have enough money to buy 7 computers for this internet cafe?" "from the year 2002 i lost my WINDOWS and i not know what to do. so i ask friend:what to do for WINDOWS and i try, and other friend tell me something and on and more. i buy DELL, you know DELL? I buy parts and put together computers, much better, also cheaper, but very good computer. Now i want to bring hotspot to all of Tejakula village." "Great! when?!!" "Have no time, this is hobby, need time to do geographic measurement, so tall towers at right distance, ""But don't put any antenna es next to the resort! It isn't healthy." "Need tower to be taller than coconut trees. Must measure" so, my sweet computer guy loves computers and wants his village to have wi-fi...so nice...he doesn't really think about it for the money but because he wants his village to grow with the progress in the world.

i told him i want to come live in tejakula. he listened to that sentence and then asked me "why do you like Tejakula?" Oh....i know that every single person that i am in contact with is god in disguise...and here i was, faced with a very simple and straightforward question....why do i like tejakula....hmmm....no beating around the bush here...really...why do i like tejakula? how to put into words the feelings i have inside of me from the moment i drove down the main road the first time and they had decorated the streets with the palm decorations and everyone was out on the sides of the road in their temple clothing with the offerings on their heads getting ready to celebrate the opening of the newly renovated temple, and i went driving through them all, with my window open, in the old broken down bemo van, the foreigner coming into town....and i felt i had just entered a fairy tale...

"The people are always laughing. everyone is friendly, i love the chanting and the temple life, i love the sea, and the fishermen, the gamelons, everything is slow,simple."

"You trust in god?"

"Yes"

"Ah."

"In bali many religions: hindu, moslem, christian, and you?"

"Jewish"

"Jewish..."

by now, all the photos had finished downloading and i was ready to walk back home, the gang was still drinking and smoking and sitting on the steps by their motorbikes laughing and talking, men only of course, and as i was slipping my tongs back on my feet to start my walk home, the one that spoke to me previously asked" do you prefer to walk or would you like a ride back?" "oh! if you want to take me for free, i would like a ride, if not i will walk." "Yes, sure." and i hop on the back of his motorcycle and we ride down the main road a bit and then down the narrower dark side road that ends at the sea. i start up the conversation in the back asking him how he knows english so well? from "transport" (being a driver for tourists) and now he is learning italian and he knows also some german. and he likes the sound of american english. i asked this 20+ year old how he did when he was in high school.... "not so good" yeah, and now he is motivated and enjoys learning alone how to speak foreign languages and it is nice to see. the same thing happened to me on the beach the day before as i walked back from the festival. a young 14 year old girl proudly approached me with her friend and said "hello, what is your name" "eileen, what is your name" " Itu" "How long are you staying in bali? and then after a while i asked her "How do you know english?" "I like hearing and speaking it so i take every opportunity when i see someone that i can speak english with so i do. it is fun." good for her! she will go far. it is that inner drive, not because of the english, but because they want to succeed and discover the world and enjoy it, like mitha who wants to win the english storytelling contest for bali junior high students, and be a tour guide or elementary school english teacher.

a few minutes later we had reached the 4 steps that lead down to the sea and where i have to cross a tiny stream of water and go past the fishing boots into my entrance at the resort. he says he will keep his light from the motorbike on the way so i can walk and see. i laugh and say that i have a flashlight, thank you anyways,,,and start to feel my way down the steps to the sand. once i crossed the little stream with a jump i waved him goodbye so he could see that i was fine. he waited. i walked another few steps and reached the fishing boats and looked over to him. he waited, when i reached the entrance to the resort he gave a little beep "goodbye" on his horn and drove off....that is tejakula....that little extra act of kindness and concern and parting comes from a place much larger and deeper than i can describe here.

the royal treatment

the day after the new years day of silence, the village staged a 4 day dance and music festival with local artists. this was the second year they were having it in an attempt to allow all the talented musicians and dancers in the village to perform for each other and for special guests to see what a great place tejakula is! (and it is!) i went with mitha (13) and gita (8) and we were among the first ones to arrive for the 10 a.m. opening down by the sea to the site they had set up outdoors with a stage and a partitioned off area with a combination of seating options: the first row was 5 burgundy brocade upholstered sofas, behind that were 3 rows of red and white satin covered folding chairs and long tables with bottled water and little cardboard decorated boxes with food at each setting. behind that were more rows of tables and chairs without red and white satin and beyond that was a rope partitioning off the area...

as we walked on the dirt path past the fast food stands of fried doughy stuff and the cotton candy and the plastic inflatable toy vendors, an official from the city council approached me and pointed towards the satin covered chairs and told us to please sit down,,, who me??! yes you!,,,okay...but why??

and as i sat down with my 2 balinese girls from my "adopted family" that i tutor, a big english speaking american boisterously introduced himself and told me a concise version of his past 10 years of living here. as more and more people arrived, i noticed that all the balinese were standing on the outside of the roped in area, and all the foreigners were being seated in the covered decorated area, along with balinese officials and other elite....

it was meant to be a gesture of honor, but very uncomfortable for me to have that division going on between me and the balinese. i forget that there is still the mind set of caste system from hinduism..,,i asked my neighbor why we got to sit in these seats with the little boxes filled with rice sweets wrapped in palm leaves in all kinds of triangles and rectangular shapes. he said that he donates money to this...ahh...so they thought i was a rich foreigner that was going be a future investor.

i knew this must be very exciting and strange for mitha and gita, who live in a straw hut together with another sister and parents on 2 beds without mattresses, and take a shower by pouring water from the neighbors hose into a bucket and pouring it over themselves in a small area closed off with some bricks for privacy...but riding with them on the motorbike to this show was actually a real eye opener for me i was the last one in the back on the bike, and as mitha drove us the 15 minute ride to the festival i could smell the sweet clean scent from them both after their morning shower...and me....uh...didn't even shower...let alone sweet scent....

i watched them as they kept their eyes on all the villagers that were arriving, and gave a little wave or smile to their relatives and friends from the "elite" chairs...i think even just sitting next to me, a foreigner, is already a very high status for them...and for me,,,,it is a high status to be with such simple sincere happy people. i thought that the first thing they would tell their parents when we got back was where they sat! but after a while when i asked her father if they told him, he said no...but gita was kind enough to save one of the sweet rice treats that were in the box by her and gave it to her younger sister upon arrival home...i on the other hand, took mine and quickly ate it as we got up from our seats at the end of the performance, greedy not to leave any free food that i was given!

the passport photo

had some good laughs yesterday when i went to get some visa photos done here in the village. first of all i needed a white collared button down shirt....standard dress for both men and women, so i borrowed one from the owner of the resort. then i was told that i should tell the man that my face has to be 80% of the picture. and thirdly, so as not to fall in the tourist trap, i clarified how much people usually pay for passport photos...equipped with all of that i walked down the tree lined little road from the sea to the main road of the village, where i had noticed on one of my former walks a store front that said "photo"...and hoped they would also do passport ones...

as i walked along, suddenly a car stopped and the woman rolled down the window and asked if i am american, because she and her american husband are moving in to a new home today and she is looking for friends....i laughed and said yes i am, but i am on my way to the shop and maybe will meet another time. she was balinese and had been living in new jersey, and they had now built a little house on the path past the temple...so that was the address...just go to the end of the path and you will see a house that isn't finished yet and it is ours...i haven't met many americans here....mainly germans and dutch, so that was nice to know.

when i got to the shop there was a sign in balinese, which uses latin letters so i can read but not understand, and it looked like "pas phot" or something, so with sign language i managed to get my message across and they told me to sit down. when the photographer entered, again with sign language and numbers on paper i told him what i wanted, he pointed to a little enclosed space the size of a shower and with curtains for 2 walls, and i assumed that is where he is going to photograph me. but when he walked away after having closed the curtain on me, i noticed there was a mirror on the wall and a pink comb that was black from use, and a nail on the wall with a dirty collared white short sleeve shirt...aha! the changing room so that i can comb my hair and put on "the" shirt that everyone has to wear against the red backdrop.

when i was ready with my collar buttoned down looking like a prim school teacher he showed me into a typical space that photographers use in the back room, took out his Polaroid and i smiled and he clicked, he looked at it and didn't seem happy so he asked me to pose again, but this time without a smile, which i did. then he showed me the second result with a sound of approval, and wanted my consent...but i wanted to see the one with me smiling! yes, that's the one i want. he asked about 3 times, showing me again and again the serious one, trying to encourage me to realize that a serious expression is more appropriate, but i am so used to seeing smiling faces in photos as "nice", that i stuck to my choice and he shrugged his shoulders a but bewildered why someone would want it...(because of my teeth? of because it means i am not serious? who knows?).

when i had first communicated with him i also asked the price in advance...an important action which saves unpleasantness when paying later. he told me the price, which i mistakenly thought was too high (there are so many zeros in the numbers here! 20,000 rupias equals $2!) . i told him that in the big city of Singaraja which is an hour away, it is cheaper, so he crossed out the numbers he wrote and gave me a 20% discount...thank you!

at one point he invited me to the computer to see the results...i had told him my head needs to be 80% of the photo...but he was showing me results that were not at all the right proportions, and as i tried to explain what 80% meant, he just kept changing the borders but not the head size...so i picked up a piece of paper from the ground and drew a smiling face which was more or less 80% of the inside of the rectangle and showed it to him...ah..."zoom?" yes! and then he got it.

while i sat waiting for the photos to be ready, which he said would take 10 minutes, i decided to count out my money and have it ready. earlier in my room i had divided it all the money i have left so that i wouldn't suddenly find myself in amman jordan without enough money to take the cab to the border. so i had carefully counted out how much i needed for the photos and took a little extra. and now, when i began to count i realized that i didn't have enough money with me! oh gosh, now what?! i would have to explain to him somehow that i need to walk back to the resort and get more money...how embarrassing...and how to explain that? in sign language?! i started pulling out dollar bills too, thinking maybe he would agree that i pay with them...we are talking about the city of tejakula which consists of a main road with a few little tiny storefronts that sell necessities...no banks here! no ATM machine, no post office, etc...just little tejakula....

i could feel how confused i was and suddenly he was there in front of me with the photos ready i needed to pay. i had laid out all the bills i had on a little table after having counted them again and again hoping they would suddenly turn into more money that they were when i counted the last time...and as i started to explain in sign language that there is a mistake and i don't have money and maybe he will take $ and and...he just stood there looking at me shaking his head no...oh gosh...he doesn't agree....and his stern face of disapproval made me even more uncomfortable and confused and how stupid i was not to take more money with me just in case! and then he picked up 21,000 out of the 200,000 that i had scattered there in all kinds of denominations...and waved it in my face and laughed and i suddenly realized that the price he had told me was with one less zero than i thought. i started laughing so hard, at the sudden change in circumstances and then they all began to laugh at me laughing so hard and as i gathered all the bills up and put them back in my wallet, i thanked him profusely and he laughed and said: Tejakula is cheaper than Singaraja!

and he actually took even less than the lower price he had told me after our bargaining...so funny....a big $2 for 8 passport photos... at the famous tejakula photo shop!