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 The Balinese live in high-walled compounds
made out of reddish brick and decorated with carvings and geometric patterns. They
move so gracefully--even the way they roll up their Levis is artful. The
men grow their nails long and paint them, and many sport long hair. As I said, literally everyone is
an artist--they make amazing woodcarvings, batiks, tatoos, paintings. Even the homeless
man who was trying to sell us chopsticks drew us a beautiful little diagram when he was trying to communicate
to us that there would be a cremation ceremony.
The women carry baskets on their heads that are stacked with
perfectly-arranged flowers and fruits, all of the items placed according to shape
and color. |
The
Balinese seem light-hearted and laugh easily. They
put a lot of stock into personal power. Everybody's first name is by birth order: the first child
is Wayan or Putu (means "first"); then Made ("middle"), Nyoman ("Last") and finally
"Ketut" ("Mistake"). Then they start again with Wayan II for the 5th child!
