ONE BALINESE VILLAGE (part 3)
Part 3 continues to describe Munduk, the Balinese village where I taught English to the staff of Puri Lumbung in 1995.
As you walk in the village, you notice sometimes new and sometimes decaying decorations of natural fronds, leaves, and flowers standing along the roadside. In many places, including Puri Lumbung, you will see small leaf baskets containing a few flowers and grains of rice. Such offerings are made daily to satisfy the needs of the many gods and spirits requiring attention and care.
For the most part, the villagers cannot speak English, but they smile widely and sincerely to greet you. If you try to capture these warm smiles in a photo, they turn quite serious-faced and stiff when a camera is aimed at them. After the click, the smile returns. Some may greet you with “Where you go?” which is not meant to be intrusive, but is a translation of the customary greeting they give each other. A smile in reply is fine. Many of the women will be gracefully carrying any variety of large loads on their heads. Can it really be so effortless?
Reminders of the Dutch occupation are in the architecture of some of the buildings, and the statues of soldiers along the road. You will pass several small stores selling simple supplies. From early morning until about 11 a.m., there is a food market just off the main road. And, of course, there are the warungs, small eating places, which are also gathering places as well as places to eat.
On your walk, you can stop in at the pool parlor to pit your skill against the locals. Continuing down the hill, you will see a large open meeting hall near the end of the village. This is the center of the all-important banjar, which is the lifeblood of the village that provides a structure to village life and takes care of most social welfare needs of the villagers.
Each man joins the banjar when he gets married. Therefore, membership totals just about the entire village since the families of the men are included in the membership. The community center never lacks volunteers because the social obligations are enforced by peer pressure. They give of their time, energy, and money. In return, they receive support, a sense of identity, and practical help when needed. It is a successful exchange.
If one of Mr. B.’s proposed projects receives funding, this meeting area for the village will provide a fuller community center offering a library, a place for local crafts to be sold, and a training center for youth to gain marketable skills.
The many temples you pass are family temples. The village temple, as in all Balinese villages, is at the end of the village. The very last end of the village is a cemetery, which offers another quite spectacular mountain view.
New Year in Bali comes every 210 days in the Balinese calendar. Munduk’s observance is unique within Bali. After a day of strict fasting, the villagers all cook outside on the roadside in the middle of the night.
Although I spent a lot of time in the Puri Lumbung cottages, my home for two months was right in the village where there were two renovated Dutch buildings for guests. Nearby is the family of Made (pronounced Maday) B., Mr. B.’s cousin. Tourists can also choose to live right within their home. He, his wife, and always smiling niece did everything they could to make me comfortable. Made, who knows some English, was born in Munduk and has spent most of his life in the village except for seven years in Java where he went to high school.
In 1966, Made B. became a teacher at the school you pass on your left on your way into the village from Puri Lumbung. In 1968, he became the principal of the school. His wife, Ketut P., also teaches at the school. She was once a dancer in the village and still teaches dance. She is a leader of the women in the village and also teaches sewing. They have three children — the eldest daughter is in school in the main city in Bali called Denpasar, a son is studying in Java, and a teenage daughter is in high school in Singaraja, about 45 minutes away.
Afternoons, Made tends his gardens in which grow clove, coconut, banana, selak, rambutan, cocoa beans, and pineapple. He was happy to show me around the traditional style family home and his yard where the woodcarvings he has made are displayed. A very large number of Balinese are artists in carving or painting, playing gamelan, dancing, or simply doing everything in a visually pleasing, aesthetic way.
My one-room building in the family compound of Made B.’s extended family had a wide, rain-protected porch. Sometimes I taught on that porch. At other times, I just enjoyed sitting there absorbing the beauty around me. Every day, Mr. B.’s father, walking with the aid of a cane, came by, stared at me quizzically, and then went on his way. He was a healthy, still-smoking senior citizen born in 1900. His wife had died at 95 years old.
It is at first puzzling to meet so many people that have the same names. The similarity comes because children are often named number one, two, three, four, five — in order of their birth. Added confusion for the foreigner comes from the many names that one person has depending upon who’s addressing him or her. The specific way you must address each person makes it very difficult for foreigners to learn the Balinese language. However, all Balinese understand the Indonesian language.
Tags: Bali; village life in Bali; Balinese culture, Munduk, Travel
