The cultural divide in Bali

The other night Ika, Jevon and I went out to Cabe Rawit, the Indonesian food place on Jl. Kunti, for some ayam taliwang (grilled chicken in Lombok style sauce. Its always good and is served with hot sambal and lalapan (raw vegetables).

Inside people were smoking so we decided to move outside, next to the street. While eating I noticed Ika piled bones and chicken skin on a napkin. “You think its okay for him to eat?” she said. Looking down I saw a scroungy mutt at my leg, gobbling bones and skin. “Why are you feeding this mutt?” I said, “That just encourages them to come in here.” “He like it.” said Ika. I told her that you should not feed a dog chicken bones, as they can splinter in their intestines. “Maybe he can eat anything.” she said.

I carried on eating and said nothing more. This was one of those occassions where 2 people see something entirelyy opposite, and living in Bali you have to deal with this. We foreigners are never going to get locals to see things our way, or should we necessarily.