Dreaming Big in Bali: Student Blossoming

The students are blossoming before our eyes

June 13, 2013

Being with the high school students adds real depth and dimension to this trip. It’s a pleasure watching them unfold and blossom, maturing into young men and women as the days go by. Gaylon and Zinnia give them the responsibilities of adults. The YGs (younger generation) are learning how to manage their tight budget and have become shrewd at bargaining in the markets, skillfully using their limited Indonesian vocabulary to express their needs. They understand that the goal of bargaining is for both the buyer and the seller to feel they got a good deal. They choose where they want to eat their meals, apart from the adults, and have to figure out how much they can order so they stay within the budget they are given for the day. The OGs eat somewhere else, except when we have “dates” with the students at which time two adults pair up with two students for dinner at a restaurant of the student’s choice, so we can have the time and space to get to know each other better over a quiet dinner. There are times when the students are free to wander around the city on their own and are trusted not to get lost or get run over by a motor scooter or car on main street. On one of the free afternoons, the kids went together to the local soccer field and played soccer, and were soon joined by Balinese kids.

One evening after dinner we gathered in the meeting room with the students. We each were asked to tell an encapsulated story of our lives so that the students could get a better sense of us OGs and be inspired by all the potential choices they have in their lives to follow the paths that most suit them.

Jorge sound asleep after Balinese dance class

We have just begun Balinese dancing class, one for the women and one for the men. It is a style of dancing that is foreign to us and requires the use of muscles that are not toned or flexible. We bend our knees into a deep squat with our butts sticking out, but our backs straight. We sway our hips to the rhythm of the gamelan melody. Our hands are in contorted positions which will eventually look graceful, we hope. Our eyes are opened wide, mouths turned up into a smile, and our head moves from side to side. Each movement of our hands symbolizes something, such as an offering of food or the gesture of throwing flower petals. I never guessed a couple hours of dancing could be so exhausting. After class, at the nearby restaurant, the kids lay on the floor of the restaurant and fell asleep. I took a picture because I thought you might not believe that these energetic kids would be so tired just from dancing. Eventually, toward the end of our time in Bali, we will dress up in the traditional garb and do a performance for everyone’s amusement.

Students wiped out after their Balinese dance class. They are asleep on the floor of the restaurant where they ate lunch

Yesterday we went to another less opulent cremation ceremony for 30 dead people from a village about 20 minutes outside of Ubud. When enough bodies have accumulated to make the ceremony more affordable, the bodies waiting for cremation are dug up out of the ground where they’ve been waiting for the occasion. I was told during the cremation that many deaths are caused by traffic accidents which are a common occurrence around here. Zinnia knew of a woman walking her child home from school who was hit by a vehicle and killed. Gaylon and Zinnia have done a good job in ensuring that the students and the OGs are vigilant at all times when walking along the main streets. I often hold onto one of the OGs while crossing the street because it is sensory overload for the part of my brain that was damaged after the accident. It’s actually somewhat frightening for me because my eyes cannot change position and refocus quickly due to the nerve damage.

Last night after dark our driver took us to a little village that is famous for its Kacek dancers. The dancers are local villagers that are lavishly dressed in ornate costumes with elaborate headdresses and re-enact the love story from the Hindu epic called Ramayana.

Our puppet making class in the afternoons, which alternates with the drawing and painting classes, is taught by a master puppeteer and mask maker named Anom. His wife is Nonick. They are a delightful couple. Gaylon and Zinnia sponsored them to come to the International Fork Art Market in Santa Fe in 2010. They have been coming to Santa Fe each year since then to sell their beautiful work and will be there this July. If you are going to the Fork Art Market this year, be sure to look for them. I think you’ll be enchanted by them and by their work.

Tingklit, with hollow bamboo tubes, played like marimba with both hands.

Our regular gamelan lessons have come to an end. Now we are learning to play the tingklet which is an instrument made of hollow bamboo pipes that is played like marimba. The left hand plays the melody while the right hand keeps the beat. As beginners, it requires us to intensely concentrate to make each hand do something different from the other hand. Another great form of emptying the mind.

As I was preparing for this trip to Bali, a friend of mine who is getting to know me suggested I not let it be known that I’m a doctor and see what it would feel like not having anyone ask me for help while I’m on vacation. Practicing medicine is such a deeply entrenched part of who I am and what my life path is all about, that I thought this suggestion would be an interesting challenge. But within no time at all, word got out and I was asked dozens of medical questions and asked to see a few sick people, including a little Balinese baby who had a rash all over her body which turned out to be related to the laundry detergent. At a certain point, I gave in to temptation and talked freely about medicine when people asked me questions. I’ve nicknamed some of us adults on the trip who are interested in nutrition the “Tanpa Gula” Group, which means “without sugar.” Since sugar is used liberally in the food here, we say “tanpa gula” for each item we order on the menu. By the way, other than too much sugar and too much salt, the food in Bali is delicious and nutritious, as well as fresh and locally grown.