Reflections on Bali & Introducing Alma Rose




 I've been thinking about my experiences on Bali, about why this little island attracts so many people. What makes it so special? Certainly, the amazing scenery, the sun and the surf are all factors. But I've come to believe that it's the Balinese people, and their palatable spiritual energy, that draws people to Bali. During my recent visit, I had a chance to explore their way of life. This is a bit of what I learned:


Most Balinese live with their family for their entire lives. Each walled family compound has enough small homes for each nuclear family, a centrally located, shared, open-air kitchen, areas for livestock and a garden and most notably, a temple that is strictly for their family’s use.




Home of a family's elders   

Senior family members live in the compound’s nicest, and physically highest, home. Though females generally move to their husband’s home upon marriage, males stay in their parent’s compound for life. Family members eat together on special occasions but on regular days, each nuclear family eats by themselves.

Family members gather in their temple three times a day to pray.  The Balinese firmly believe that their ancestor’s spirits reside in their family’s temple thus family temples are vitally important to the Balinese. And so, regardless of income level, family temples are remarkably elaborate.  The Balinese believe that when someone prays in their temple, they are not only praying to their Gods, they are also beseeching their ancestors for guidance and care. This belief drives most Balinese to live with their family in their compound for their entire life, to destroy the family’s temple if they move, and to build a new temple at their new home. If a family member moves away for work or marriage, they return home regularly to visit their family and to pray.

Large numbers of Balinese gather regularly for weddings, funerals and spiritual festivals in village temples, community temples and public temples. Gedi Widianta, the wonderful driver who taught me about Bali’s form of Hinduism, estimated that there are more 1 million temples on the island of Bali. Though no one knows the exact number, temples are everywhere across Bali!

Balinese prayers do not stop at the temple gates. Every day, most Balinese make “offerings.” They make offerings by placing rice and flowers in a small, hand-made woven basket, which they reverently set on the street, the dash of a car, or in front of a statue or business. Some make offerings of beautiful arrangements of flower petals.  From what I understand, it’s the act of offering that is important. So if the dog eats the rice two minutes after an offering has been made, no one worries; the offering has already been heard.  

I read the phrase “All of life is your offering” painted in colorful letters on the side of a barn.  Gedi explained that these words explain why the Balinese pray so much, as well as why they are always happy to help others - it’s their offering.


The fact that generations of family members choose to live together in the same location, and that neighbors, whole villages, have known one another, have helped one another, and have prayed together for generations is simply remarkable. I can’t help to think that these deep bonds change the way a person lives, how lives are played out.  It’s fascinating to witness the ramification of so many long term friendships, such strong communities and of communities that pray together so often.  The Balinese people might not have much in terms of wealth, but they are truly rich in spirit!    


Jakarta Time and Introducing Alma Rose

From Bali, I headed to Jakarta, an absolutely massive, crowded, fascinating city. But it’s my second home, due to the fact that my oldest son, Jocean, his wife, Ayu and their two children, Nazla and Howi, live there.  Their third child, Alma Rose Maharani, arrived on October 18^th, healthy as can be. I think Alma going to be a very kind girl; she must have known that I had to go home in early November so she came two weeks early so we could spend a bit more time together.  I feel so blessed to have had extra time to spend with perfect little Alma. It was also special to watch her family interact with and to get to know this new, tiny person! 

It’s fun to watch the enormous impact a tiny, 6 1/2 pound person can have on the people around them! Alma is 3 weeks old now. I thought you would enjoy my son’s recent report,

“…..Ms. Alma finally showed signs of sleeping at the proper hour last night. She is doing well, rounding out about the upper cheeks/temples, actually

considered naming her Alma-hungry-mungry, starting to smile and getting rather noisy. Still tiny, but growing quickly, avoided the flu that all the rest of us got, it seems. The combination of heavy antibacterial milk intake and her setting the rest schedule for herself in total disregard for all other family members seems to be treating her well...Oh! It appears she heard these complaints, time to grab her!"

Besides spending time admiring and tending to Alma and hanging out with with Howi and Nazla, I was able to celebrate Halloween with them, Jakarta-style. This means that we had a lot of fun dressing up and prowling about but not a lot of luck in the candy and trick-or-treating departments. The evening's highlight was having dinner in a mall restaurant. Folks thought our duck/dinosaur/p.j/old hippie clad crew were truly crazy Americans!  Lots of stares...

I also had time to work with my son at his organic farm and soon-to-be-open farm stay, Lodges Ecologicia.  I got to help arrange furniture in the main buildings, one of my favorite activities. They are creating quite a place there, a true refuge for those wishing to escape the Jakarta scene. I can’t wait until it’s open in earnest!    

         

While in Jakarta, I spent time at two schools, Global Jaya International School and Jakarta Montessori School. I had a fabulous time at each school. I would like to thank Carol Engmann and Deborah Clohesy for inviting me to their schools. A few photos from those visits are below.

 All hands up at Jakarta Montessori!

Miss Noni's preschoolers may be small, but they are good listeners!

Cute kids, especially the one to my left, who happens to be my grandson, Howi!

I had a wonderful day at Global Jaya International School, which has 700 students and is located in West Jakarta. 

Whenever I spend time in schools, I tell students, "Find books that you love! Books can take you anywhere you want to go! Adventures of the Treasure Fleet takes you back 600 years to explore a fascinating piece of Asian history, Gecko's Complaint takes you to a Balinese rain forest that's packed with foolish animals, while fantasies take you to places that don't even exist! There are books on every topic, so no matter what you enjoy, what you are interested in, there's a book for you. Go to your library and find that special book because..... books can take you anywhere!"

Luckily, the students at Jakarta Montessori and Global Jaya International Schools have great libraries to utilize. I wish all Indonesian children were so lucky!

I had one last snuggle with Alma Rose before heading home. 

Time with Bali's Children

I spent last week on Bali, Indonesia's famous vacation destination. Bali is known for its friendly, relaxed atmosphere, its stunning rain forest to rice field landscapes, challenging surfing and amazing dive locations. As you may have understood if you've read the book, Eat, Pray, Love, Bali is also known as a spiritual place, a place that seekers of many kinds flock to, especially when their chips are down. I have been to Bali many times, but this was the first time I traveled there alone. This visit gave me the opportunity to get a better read on what makes Bali so special. More on this topic soon.

All activities at  Yayasan Anak Community Center, located in Bali's Guwang Village, begin with a prayer.  The prayer before my story reading was devoutly lead by an eight year old boy.

I went to Bali to participate in one of its finest events: the Ubud Writer's and Reader's Festival. 135 authors from 27 nations presented at the festival which was attended by thousands. The festival offers so much- workshops on travel writing, writing for the media, editing and publishing, writing a memoir, a short story or a novel, as well as the opportunity to hear many fascinating authors speak. The festival has a decidedly adult focus, but there were numerous story readings for children. And that's where I came in.

Being one of the few children's writers that participated in the festival, I was kept quite busy! But I didn't mind at all. I spent time at two wonderful international schools, did storytellings at numerous community centers, places that are similar to America's Boy's and Girl's Clubs, and a reading at Periplus bookshop.

I always love reading my books with kids. But my readings in Balinese community centers were extra special for me. Why? All these readings were bilingual and bilingual readings are always a bit of an adventure. But that wasn't the main reason. It was the kids. They came from local Indonesian schools, schools that don't have much in the way of materials, books or guests speakers. I am sure these kids have never seen anything like me- a crazy American woman dramatically telling a story and asking them to play some kind of odd musical instrument! The children were transfixed! When the story reading was over, they just didn't want to go home. This was especially true of the older children, who came entirely of their own accord; they soaked up every word I said. Their eyes were so bright when I talked about the power that books can have in their lives. Those moments were so dear, they brought tears to my eyes. Below are pictures from all my readings on Bali. Enjoy!

A bit of fun in the Pondok Pekak Library, located in the arts community of Ubud.

Most Indonesian communities don't have libraries, something we take granited in America. Though anyone can read in Ubud's small library, one must pay a deposit to take books home.  But the librian sadly informed me sadly, the deposit is too expensive for many Indonesian families.

 


The children of Guwang village were great listeners.

 

They probably thought I was a bit crazy, but the kids from Guwang seemed to enjoy every minute of the story readings.

Chunggu Community School students may have been dressed like their favorite storybook character, but that didn't stop them from participating in the story reading!



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These are some of the eager kids who came to the Pondok Pekak Library in Ubud for my first ever bilingual reading of Adventures of the Treasure Fleet.  Whenever I talk with children, I always encourage them to read. I tell them, "Read books that you enjoy because books can take you anywhere you want to go!" However seeing how eager Indonesian children are to learn while knowing that they have very limited access to books, made my readings on Bali especially poignant!  

I enjoyed getting to know the fabulous interpreter, Alex Ryan, and her family. Thank you to Alex, Pauline, Gustra, Margareth, Caroline and all the festival volunteers who helped with my story readings! You were awesome!  

 

Superman, Dorthy and other favorite book characters played the musical instruments during Gecko's Complaint readings at Changgu Community School. 

The Ubud Writer's and Reader's Festival was begun in part to promote literacy throughout Indonesia and Southeast Asia. Many schools take advantage of the Festival by encouraging their students to attend story readings and by celebrating books in a variety of fun ways at their schools while the Festival is going on.



Fun was had by all at the the Pondok Pekak Library.



The kids enjoyed the songs.

The treats were greatly appreciated by youngsters who attended my Periplus bookstore reading.



The adults enjoyed the songs too, especially Margareth, who has quite a dramatic flare! 

 Margareth is a gifted interpreter. She flew in from Jakarta to take part in the Festival. Margareth's story is an interesting one; she is one of four sisters who developed a love books because of their mother who wouldn't allow them to watch TV or wander out in their village much.  However, their mom loved books and learning and she shared her passion with her daughters.