Get ready for some serious culture!
Not a lot new has happened recently. I'm still very busy helping with administration work. Because our group is growing quickly, we're having to look at all of our systems and readjust them. Most of our systems were made when still operating with a few people. We are now over 70 staff (with many families and kids) so there's a lot of readjusting and change to do. I'm in the midst of brining and creating a lot of that change. Who knew I was good at making systems. Sometimes, I surprise even myself :)
Other than that, I'm just trying to have a social life with my Indonesian friends, build relationship with my non-family member friends, and as always....language.
Here are a few random pictures then I'll start explaining the biggest festival here on the island:
Nyepi
Hanging out with my Indo friends....at a local eat spot. I got peanut-sauce grilled chicken and fried rice for about $1.50. I love this place!
As Dr. Pepper is pretty much non-existant outside of America (at least on this side of the world), you can imagine my shock when I saw this at a grocery store. God DOES love me!
My Indonesian friend showing off his "head set" (do you see the pink phone stuck in his helmet?). This is how they go "mobile" with their "mobile". Scary thing is....I'm now doing it! I wonder if I could get away with this riding my motor bike in the States?
We love themed parties here. This night was a birthday party themed "Nerd". Apparently everyone had the same idea of what a "nerd" is suppose to look like......
except me :)
Nyepi
This island is the only place in the world that celebrates it. It's their form of "Christmas" because it ends one year and brings in another (lunar calendar). It's a 4 day celebration.
I won't go into all the details but here are a few highlights:
1) A time to cleanse the island of all evil spirits
2) A time of reflection and meditation and repentance
3) A time to invite the good spirits in
Good thing I have friends who are photographers or you'd would be enjoying a series of pictures of elbows, sand, and blurry faces.
Ok! so....above is part of the "Day 2" celebration. Everyone wears their cultural cloths. The colors they wear represent what tribe they're from. Above, they're carrying offerings to the temple
Yes! The guys ARE wearing skirts. They are called "sarong". It's all a part of the tradition. You NEVER break tradition here
Just a cute kid
People on their way to their ceremonies
Now, the next 100 photos (haha! just kidding....only 50 :) show the lead up to the big parade (much like our Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.....only.....much scarier). Again, Day 2, after the offerings are made, the men begin to construct these statutes. The purpose of most of these statutes are to represent the things that lead to sin, actual sin, evil spirits, and some represent stories from their religion.
After the huge parade, they take these representations to designated areas and burn them to represent the cleansing of evil things off of island.
Enjoy!
Apparently, Hulk Hogan is a sin around here.
This little guy stands outside one of the major temples here in my area
A group taking their statute to the parade
The craziness of traffic because these statutes are carried on busy streets and everyone stops to look.
Another surprise.....cotton candy!!!
Entertainment for the kids (actually, you see these every night all year round)
Another site I see every day. Families making their daily offerings to keep their ancestors happy.
The rice on the foreheads protects them from evil spirits and brings blessing
The beginning of the parade. It usually takes place on the street where my apartment is but there was a last minute change. Apparently, the people found out that an actual god was going to visit a temple near this area (about 10 minutes from my apartment) so they changed location. Because we found out about the change last minute, we couldn't make it to a good location to see the good parts of the parade (like the dances) so we had to be content with watching the starting point of the event.
The tradition is that at each major intersection of the road, these things are rotate 3 times. This action causes all the evil spirits at in that area to latch onto the statues (later to be burned and forced to leave the island).
This was the last statue. I never found out what it represents, but the crowd went crazy over it. I saw the same statue last year so I guess it's an important story from their history.
Almost done!
To get the full picture of Nyepi, you need to know about what follows all of this celebration. The parade and ceremonies go to about 4:00am. However, by 6:00am, everything shuts down....literally. The airport, traffic, lights, everything. It's the most important day....the "Day of Silence". You HAVE to stay in your house, use no lights, or make loud noises. This is when the family sits in silence, fasts all day and cleanses themselves. The belief is that evil spirits will be roaming around trying to find a place to settle so if they think nobody is home, they won't settle there.
It's a weird day because there's absolutely no noise. There are even "religious" police that walk around (the only ones allowed out) to make sure nobody is breaking the rules.
This is where it's good to be a foreigner. A bunch of us just went to hotels because they're allowed to have electricity (tourism IS the largest source of income here so they have to keep us happy).
The next day....Day 4, 6:00, the extremely loud dance music starts all over the streets and the men get wasted.
Until next time!
