Attending a ceremony as a bule in Bali

Today in Tabanan, for a good while at least, I was the only ‘bule‘ in a crowd of Balinese locals. It didn’t matter, and was actually a bonus for me, as I didn’t have to listen to the whole ego routine, of ‘how great I’m doing in Bali’.

Indonesians as a rule, do not display an outward sense of ego. You ask them to tell you about themselves, and they’ll mention their village, their family, their religion. After getting used to this, it feels really strange to hear westerners, talking exclusively about themselves…”Yeah I guess the reason I’m such a great surfer, is that I have a phenomenal sense of balance, not to mention exceptional atheletic ability.” Who needs to listen to that crap?

You’ll never hear a Balinese person, ranting on about themselves in that manner, they are much more down to earth. This afternoon, sitting on a shady edge of a bale, in full view of a crowd of locals, I was concious of the fact that 95% of them, were looking at me. One thing I try to be at times like this, is low-key. Its tempting for some westerners (I’ve seen it happen) to realize they are ‘on stage’ and try to somehow, ‘steal the show’. Today’s event was for Wayan and Made, not me. So I endeavoured to sit still, shut up, and be a spectator like everyone else.

After one part of the ceremony was over, I was joined on the bale by a few older Balinese guys (actually not so far away from my own age ). The guy on the left was head of the banjar in Nyitdah, a handy man to know. I asked the fellas which was more powerful here in Nyitdah, the government, or the banjar (community). They said without hesitation, the banjar, meaning We’re the law around these parts’. These guys were all cool and we chatted about marriage, women and stuff in general.