Balinese wedding in Tabanan Bali-part IV

It occured to me today, that a Balinese local, is really directed through life, like a river reaching the ocean. Even at a young age, children are present at upacara (ceremonies) and there are many weddings to go to. In a Balinese village, everybody must be invited to a wedding, if you leave one person out, it is considered a major disrespect.

Wayan must of seen hundreds of weddings before actually attending her own. The older ladies sit around in groups, chatting, commenting and occassionally giggling at the goings on. In one part of the ceremony, Wayan and Made sat on the bale I was on before, with the banjar guys, who offered advice for the husband. Wayan’s giggling could be heard from time to time.

I’d say the general tone of a Balinese wedding is one of relaxation, with people eating, drinking and chatting. After moving back to the house with the buffet, I met some people from Finland, who were harder to communicate with than the Balinese. Made’s brother told me an interesting thing. In Balinese tradition, the newly weds move into the house of the man’s parents. Wayan and Made would be moving into her parent’s house. The reason for this is, if a family does not have a son (Wayan only has a sister, the hottie Kadek), then a special agreement is reached whereby the husband, moves over instead of her. This can mean a major lifestyle change if he is from Gilimanuk and she from Amed, but fortunately in this case, they only live a block apart.

Chatting with many locals today, I asked if any ‘bules’ lived in the area. They said no, but many in Canggu (‘Campung International’). If Canggu is called that, I wonder how my neighborhood, Seminykak is viewed. Anyway, today I met many lovely people, who were hospitable and had nno other motive for being friendly. One can see how life for a Balinese person can seen fun, when surrounded by smiling people. Of course they have stresses too, with the changing times and costs of ceremonies, but they hide it well.