12::Sanur Beach, Bali
2.1.97 Saturday
The little girls dancing last night were beautiful. Of course, being end-of-the-century Americans, we pondered whether or not this show of little girls was exploitative. I remembered my dancing school class performing the "Ball & the Jack" on the Admiral [an entertainment cruiser on the Mississippi] at the age of 5. Wasn't that just cute innocence? A chance for our parents to be proud? An opportunity to develop self-esteem?
But now we see everything through the lens of the Jon-Benet tragedy and everyone becomes a child abuser. We see through the lens of girl gymnasts and young tennis pros. Every coach/parent/manager is a beast. We are appalled, yet value children all the less. We condemn child labor, but not child starvation. We love to cluck righteously over the sins of others, but not of our own.
Sanur Beach cremation. They announced with great excitement at the dance last night that there would be a cremation today. It's one of the big attractions.
The procession initiated at a temple where they piled many offerings onto the body of an old woman . They marched her through town to the beach. Our taxi driver suggested we drive ahead. At the beach, another cremation was in progress for a less wealthy person. A bier was constructed of banana tree logs. The coffin was carried around bier several times, then the body removed and placed on the bier. Family and funeral pros unwrapped the body, washed it with flower water, sprinkled it with many offerings (including money), covered it with beautiful sheets and woven cloths and folded linens.
Interesting that the Balinese, as an island people, don’t look to the sea for life and sustenance. It is death. The ashes of the cremated body are sent out to sea.
We worried about being gawking tourists, but someone told us that having visitors -- especially foreigners -- only reinforced the belief that Bali is the center of the universe.
After lunch we got our morning taxi driver to take us to Batabulan to tour antique shops. The taxi driver understands the word "antiques" but doesn't have a clue what we're really after. The shopping isn't too bad though. I found a strand of heavy silver beads in the dusty unlit corner of a display case, which made me feel good.
We had a "ristaffel" dinner in the large open-air pavilion, where we were joined by several dainty Balinese cats who begged for bits of Jim's fish. In the background lurked a dog that we named Durga, after the dark Hindu goddess.
The swimming pool was closed and unlit after 8 p.m., but we went wading anyway.
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