Blogging A Little Island

So long...

2007-09-02T02:08:00.000+08:00

I'm back in NY. As it turned out, Lembongan was quite isolated - or at least it was crazy expensive to get Internet access. Thus the sudden stop in posting.

While Manhattan is smaller than Bali, it's not what I would call a "little" island, which is another way of saying that my weblog is now closed. I'll keep it out here so that some of my pics are easily available.

Thanks to my mom and dad for always checking this out.

Cheers!

Not Completely Isolated

2007-06-30T10:08:00.000+08:00

So I'm back for a day in Bali to get survey photocopies and other sundries. I'm taking the chance to say that even though Internet access is scarce and expensive... there is satellite TV! Which means after we met one of the banjar (subvillages) in the morning, I went to one of the hotels and...

watched the Argentina - USA match! Or at least the best part of it (I got there about five minutes before Crespo's second goal).

So yay! For the things that truly matter, I can count on globalization to deliver. Argentina 4 - USA 1.

We finally got started!

2007-06-27T08:29:00.000+08:00

Wow, what a week. On the business side (business first!) the survey started on Monday, but we went to Nusa Lembongan before that, to join a village meeting and inform local people that we would be asking lots of questions of lots of people. We had previously met with the "official" (civil) government of the village, but it was important to check with the traditional/tribal (adat) organizations too.

It was actually hard to organize these meetings, since a very important Balinese celebration, Galungan, is coming up. I'll write a separate post for it - to be posted after it actually takes place - but it's the most important ceremony, and takes place twice a year. It involves the gods visiting Bali for a week, which means villages must be cleaned, and lots of ceremonies will be taking place over the first three days. Preparations have been ongoing since a couple of weeks ago.

There were some problems with the survey, as I guess was to be expected. But I'm sooooooooooo glad this is actually starting. The surveyors (there are nine of them, but only eight could start this week) are getting along really well, and the atmosphere in the house we're renting (part of a larger Balinese family "complex") is relaxed.

Speaking of the house, the first four days there was a wedding party in the house. As I mentioned before, it looks strange to this Westerner that people mostly sit down in one place - there's no mingling, no walking around, obviously no dancing - so there's no much to photograph. Now, there did happen to be something worth documenting:

This turtle was left to die slowly until the third day, when it was slaughtered and used for some traditional dish (I didn't find out which one, but there are several). I know I'm ethnocentric and whatnot, but this kind of broke my heart. And I must admit it kind of gave me a new insight into vegetarianism.

Ok, long post (compensating for a dearth of posts before this).

Low Tide

2007-06-27T07:25:00.000+08:00

We got to Jungutbatu (one of the villages in Nusa Lembongan) loaded with boxes (carrying surveys, consent forms, etc, etc). So of course, what happened? The tide was low.

And when I say low, I mean *really* low. Normally, the tide is like this

But when we got there, we saw this

I had never seen it this way, since I had never been there during the new moon. We walked on the reef to the shore, through seaweed plots. Pretty amazing but I hope I'll never do that again! Some of my photos are in my Facebook Album.

I have seen it all

2007-06-16T14:42:00.000+08:00

OK, so after some bumps on the road the survey will most likely be up and running by Monday. Which means that I will have pretty much no Internet access for about 10 days (we will have one long work week, because there are a couple of really long Balinese festivities coming up - more on that after my return).

But I wanted to share with you my feeling that nothing more will ever surprise me. I discovered the craziest thing today.

The New York City Police Department recruits in Facebook!

Culture Shock - Past the Honeymoon Phase

2007-06-14T14:52:00.000+08:00

What is Culture Shock, you ask? I'm willing to bet we're all pretty familiar with it...

Wikipedia dixit

Culture shock is a term used to describe the anxiety and feelings (of surprise, disorientation, confusion, etc.) felt when people have to operate within an entirely different cultural or social environment, such as a foreign country. It grows out of the difficulties in assimilating the new culture, causing difficulty in knowing what is appropriate and what is not. Often this is combined with strong disgust (moral or aesthetical) about certain aspects of the new or different culture.

Basically, the first stage (which can last any period of time and is called the "Honeymoon" phase) is characterized by loving every new thing you see in the new place (see: my blog). After a while comes the second phase

A person may encounter some difficult times and crises in daily life. For example, communication difficulties may occur such as not being understood. In this stage, there may be feelings of discontent, impatience, anger, sadness, and feeling incompetence. This happens when a person is trying to adapt to a new culture that is very different from the culture of origin. Transition between the old methods and those of the new country is a difficult process and takes time to complete. During the transition, there can be strong feelings of dissatisfaction.

Which is pretty much where I've been for the past week (before that I was in Switzerland for 10 days).

Currently, what I'm struggling with is the tendency for "yes" to mean "quite possibly no, but I don't want to be rude and say it out loud, so I will wait until the moment when a backup plan is unfeasible and just fail to do what I said could be done, without ever acknowledging that things could have been otherwise, and just blandly apologize".

I guess this is one big reason why I haven't posted in a while --- I'm trying to figure out how to know whether my planned schedule will actually lead to something without breaking protocol (since politeness here is paramount). That, and my baby brother's reluctance to share his Switzerland pictures with me... That's an adventure I'll blog about in a few days.

Come to think about it, it just may be that going from the Swiss way of doing things (a plan is a plan is a plan, even if a snowstorm wants to get in the way: see for yourself), to the Balinese (a plan for the next three months is cute! Did you actually mean to do that? Even what is planned for tomorrow? But that can't be done without three weeks notice to each of 15 different organizations! What do you mean you mentioned this two months ago?) is a bit too much to handle ¹.

I just want Buenos Aires!

¹: These assertions should be taken in the spirit they were intended. No actual cultures were harmed in the making of this post. I love the Swiss AND the Balinese, despite my knee and my current frustrations.

How to Know You're Homesick

2007-05-17T11:34:00.000+08:00

I saw a guy wearing a Boca Juniors jersey today... and I smiled!

Back in Bali

2007-05-15T21:46:00.000+08:00

I got back to Bali on Sunday evening, after spending a few hours in Singapore. The "fine" city, as it's called. Unfortunately, I did not check the battery in my camera before leaving...

I got a disposable camera, but I'm a bit skeptical about the results. To top it off, it rained (it's monsoon season over there, and apparently it starts raining at around 3pm every day - only on Sunday it was a bit earlier).

I'm still jet-lagged, but I'll see if I can write a bit about it later.

Back in Bali, back to work... I've started interviewing surveyors and need to arrange accommodation for the group in Lembongan. Also, I'll be meeting the village leaders (I guess they are similar to mayors in terms of responsibilities) of Nusa Lembongan. I'll report back!

Staying Alive

2007-05-06T06:10:00.000+08:00

I've been vacating my Astoria apartment by myself (I'm really bad at asking for help), hence the scarcity of posts. I hope I'll have a chance to go out and take some photos tomorrow.

True Story: I sold a table and a couple of chairs through Craig's List. The buyers were a young Japanese couple. When they came to pick the stuff up, the wife was really quiet. Until it came up that I'd be going to Bali - turns out she had worked in Lombok for a few years. And what do you know, soon we were having a basic conversation in Bahasa!

I don't think things get funnier than an Argentinean and a Japanese speaking Indonesian in New York...

In New York

2007-04-26T06:26:00.002+08:00

Phew! I was in Nusa Lembongan for longer than expected, with no internet access at all, and now, after 30+ hours of travel I'm back in New York. Tired, but trying to see how best to beat the jetlag.

I'll be back in Bali in May. In the meantime, here's an interesting thing I saw in a wedding party I attended in Lembongan (one of the farmers got married): just as there are snacks to eat from, there are trays full of... cigarettes!

Further updates when I regain the ability to think a coherent thought (in at least one language).

Braving the Waters

2007-04-15T13:23:00.000+08:00

There are two alternative ways of going to the islands from Bali. I took the cheapest one (of course I did), the "traditional boat". The price for foreigners is different than that for locals - and it IS pretty easy to tell us apart, so no way of avoiding that. Not even, as it turned out, if you're married to an Indonesian, speak fluent Bahasa, and have lived here for five years. OK, back to the traditional boat now.

It (She?) is powered by a small engine, and on a calm day the ride isn't bad. When there are big waves... let's say it sails at 8 am and I strongly advise against having breakfast. Here's how it looks from the inside:

Now, I'm all for cramming people onto the boat (on the way back they brought a motorbike along as well), but seriously: how much can a lifevest cost?

Anyway, when the survey get started I'll have to make this trip twice a week. Maybe I'll bring my own vest along, heh.

Silencio de Radio

2007-04-15T13:13:00.000+08:00

I've been having meetings with some of the farmers in Nusa Lembongan, arranging things for the survey's pilot. (Yes, you knew I was here for work, but why bring it up?) Which has kind of messed up my Internet schedule...

Ubud - Monkey Forest

2007-04-07T19:54:00.000+08:00

If Kuta is Bali's "Beach Central", Ubud is its cultural capital. Friday was a holiday in Indonesia (there is one for each recognized religion - which means Christianity gets two, one for Catholics and one for Protestants), so Widi and I went to Ubud for the day. I didn't stay to see any dance performances, but I'm sure I'll be back - It's 40 minutes away.

Anyway, we visited the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary - a temple complex built within a forest full of - as the name so helpfully suggests - monkeys. And I just had to share the most brilliantly embarrassing picture I've had taken in a while...

I just think that blend of panic, fun, and "maybe-this-isn't-such-a-good-idea" is great.

The monkeys were all kinds of cute. So here I leave a couple more shots.

ARA Bataclana

2007-04-07T19:44:00.000+08:00

The World Is Flat

2007-04-02T21:35:00.000+08:00

Borobudur

2007-04-02T20:35:00.000+08:00

After Yogya, I left for Borobudur. This is a Buddhist temple built in the 9th century which was rediscovered in 1814. It has 504 Buddha statues and 72 stupas, among other random factoids.

I stayed in a hotel within the temple grounds (thanks Dad!) so that I could see the sunrise from the upper level (otherwise, it opens at 6am). Unfortunately, we had a VERY cloudy day. And as if that were not enough, I discovered the issue of dynamic range and how much I need to learn to take good photos! For those not willing to follow the link, it's kind of hard to get both the colors of the sunrise AND detail in the stone structures...

Anyways, it was a great experience. Yet another reminder of how Euro-centric my upbringing has been and how much was left out. Built in the Ninth century!

Yogyakarta

2007-04-02T19:03:00.000+08:00

Yogyakarta was the second stop on the trip. The city is within a "special area" of the same name, that is governed by a sultan and is relatively autonomous within unitary Indonesia. The reason for this is the support the sultan gave to the pro-independence forces in the war with the Dutch between 1945 and 1949.

By the way, THAT is something that I still find troubling: the Netherlands, for all their discourse in praise of human rights (like when they wouldn't let Maxima's father attend her wedding), and their claim to a superior moral ground, actually tried to re-occupy their colonies after World War II (Indonesia was part of Japan's "co-prosperity" sphere). Colonial rule was particularly perverse already, especially in Java --- but re-invading?

Anyway, Yogya is considered the cultural capital of Indonesia. It is known for its gamelan, wayang kulit theater (shadow puppets) and legong dancers. So... it's a Muslim Bali! In fact, for most of its pre-Islam history the kings of Java greatly influenced Bali - although they left it pretty much alone because it was small and poor. When Muslim kings started gaining influence and challenging the Hindu Majapahit empire, in the sixteenth century, the Hindu rulers fled to Bali and became their nobility.

Yogya is known for is Batik (although nearby Surakarta is the unofficial Batik capital). This is a dyeing technique based upon drawing patterns with wax and then dyeing the fabric - the waxed parts remain in the original color. By doing this over and over again, you can create some pretty intricate patterns. Nowadays, the technique has gone beyond creating patterns for clothing, and you can find galleries with batik painting all over the city.

Another experience that you can't find in Bali is riding on a becak. These are pedicabs - tiny carriages (a friend and I had to squeeeeeze in) led by a guy on a bicycle. You can also rent a horse-led carriage.

Unfortunately, I ended up not having much time for shopping around or walking the city - and the kraton, the sultan's palace, was closed... But what little I saw I liked. The street vendors and becak drivers are loud and can be a bit of a nuisance, but they didn't really bother me. And it felt like it was much more alive than Jakarta.

Notes from Java

2007-03-26T21:44:00.000+08:00

My short trip to Java had three stops: Jakarta, Yogyakarta, and Borobudur. In a nutshell: I didn't really like Jakarta, I had little time to see Yogya (my day off was hijacked by the powers that be and I had a meeting) but from what I saw it seemed a nice place to live (and shop!), and Borobudur is amazing (as a day trip).

Java is the heart of Indonesia, and I saw some contrasts with Bali. In so many words, I remembered that Indonesia is Muslim.

In fact, Indonesia is one of the largest Muslim countries in the world. Bali is pretty much completely Hindu. So the first thing that caught my eye in Jakarta was the number of women wearing headscarves (about one half, I'd say - even though all are at least nominally Muslim).

At the same time, I have the feeling that women have a much more active public life in Java than in Bali. Half the people attending the conference were women - with and without headscarves - which for me was a surprise (used as I am to the 1:3 or 1:4 ratio of women to men in Economics in the US). Whereas in Bali, I get the impression that as soon as women have children, they stop working - or greatly reduce the amount of work they do. It may just be the difference between a mostly rural Bali and urban Jakarta, though.

Random Indonesian Phrase 5

2007-03-26T21:33:00.000+08:00

Mau (pergi) ke mana hari ini?

Where do you want (to go) today?

Safe and Sound

2007-03-26T21:20:00.000+08:00

It's been about 10 days without a serious (read: long!) post, so I've got tons to say. Or at least it feels like I do. So let's start with the flight back to Denpasar from Yogya, and then move backwards...

One word can summarize the flight (via Garuda, of course) pretty neatly: TERROR. About two minutes after taking off, we hit some pretty strong turbulence - not the fun, hey-it-feels-like-a-rollercoaster kind, but the wasn't-this-what-happened-in-the-Lost-pilot kind. It lasted about ten minutes, and the Japanese guy who was sitting next to me and I kept exchanging nervous glances.

We hit turbulence (thankfully, not as bad) three or four more times - in an hour-long flight. And the landing was... less than graceful.

Anyway, I'm back in Denpasar.

In Jakarta

2007-03-23T22:58:00.000+08:00

How to put this politely?

Jakarta is not a tourist-friendly city.

It's not a city you want to live in either.

It only makes sense as a place you come to for a couple of days, on official business, and promptly leave.

This sounds much more bitter than I would want it to - after all, I haven't had a particularly bad time here. It's just that the whole thing feels oppressive. And the most likely culprit is traffic.

You see, the city is one big traffic jam. There is almost no public transport, and scarcely any traffic lights at all. So you have to take a taxi (or pedicab), allow for forty minutes for a 2km ride, and relax. Walking is mostly out of the question, as I have found: sidewalks are usually taken up by food vendors, and in any case crossing an important street is somewhat adventurous.

And I get rudely awakened every day at 5 am by the chanting (lour, LOUD chanting) from a Mosque near the hotel. Which may have something to do with my crankyness I guess...

At any rate, I'm looking forward to Jogja.

Brief Intermission

2007-03-21T20:17:00.000+08:00

Ok, so far the lack of posts has been due to:

- Food poisoning following the first day of Western food (yeah, that was my birthday last week).

- Balinese New Year (To the millions of Balinese who read this blog: Selamat hari raya Nyepi!). This involves one day where no-one is to leave their houses (including hotel guests who cannot leave their hotels), every shop is closed by law, and electricity should not be used. Hence, no Internet...

- Trip to Jakarta (where I am now).

This situation should go back to normal really soon... I have lots of stuff to post about Nyepi (including photos!). And in case there were doubts, the flight from Denpasar was just fine.

(Not so) Random Indonesian Phrase

2007-03-15T12:14:00.000+08:00

Selamat ulang tahun! Semoga panjang umur dan sehat selalu.

Any guesses?

Mysterious ways

2007-03-12T20:14:00.000+08:00

When I'm trying to make up a word in Bahasa, I come up with words in French.

In praise of boring grids (Or: El Denpasar es un Laberinto)

2007-03-12T11:11:00.000+08:00

The hardest part of riding my motorbike in Denpasar (ok, ok, it's a scooter - the people here didn't have much confidence in my driving skills) is that the streets make no sense to me.

And I'm not talking about the fact that they drive on the left. It IS crazy (yes, it is!) and it does take a while to first look right when you're crossing a street, but that's pretty systematic.

Here's a small map of the city (click through to see details from different areas - it goes to an external website)

Brief background. There are two kinds of road. Main streets are called Jalan, and small, narrow sidestreets are called Gang. The blocks you see in most street maps are marked by Jalans, the gang pretty much don't show up (I only recently found an online map that shows them).

So first, streets are anything but straight. You know all the signs they make you learn before you drive? The wavy ones? They are ALL put to good use in Denpasar. Plus, since there are hardly any sidewalks, the corners are pretty scary (what are ochavas called in English?). It feels a bit like being in a videogame (though I'm afraid as a scooter, I would give bonus points if hit). Also, they sometimes change name.

Second, going somewhere by Jalan only takes forever and sometimes isn't even possible. In addition to Jalan are sometimes one way (and sometimes change from two- to one-way without much warning). So you need to venture into gangs. Again, they twist and turn and there's no easy way to know what side of the block you'll go out.

Which in a way makes everything more fun, I guess.

Stranger things have happened

2007-03-12T11:08:00.000+08:00

I held a brief conversation with a couple of German tourists... who
didn't speak English... in Indonesian...

Dónde está Wally

2007-03-11T10:45:00.000+08:00

A little known fact is that Argentineans are all over the place (whether that's a blessing or a curse, is a completely different question). So I guess I shouldn't really have been surprised.

After a day when I felt slightly homesick (played old Cadillacs' songs, and was pretty close to getting my Mercedes Sosa CD... really), I went to Kuta to listen to an amazing Balinese band with some expat friends. We got to the bar early, got our table, and after about five minutes, two guys, mid-fifties, walked into the bar. I think I overheard about half a sentence from 20 m away through the background music, and I was instantly certain they were from Argentina.

So after a while I approached them and asked. Turns out they were two guys from Mar del Plata ho own a clothing factory here. Eventually a full dozen of compatriotas (all in the same age range) showed up, and all came to say hi.

Oh, and the best thing: one of them has just built a parrilla in their house, so it seems I may have an (Australian) asado coming up...

The World is Flat

2007-03-11T10:36:00.000+08:00

From the cremation ceremony...

My visit to Nusa Lembongan

2007-03-08T22:39:00.000+08:00

NOTE: This post was started on Wednesday, and I don't know how to move the draft up to the top of the page.
NOTE II: Ha! I did it!

I spent Monday in Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan, a couple of islands that are about 1 hour by motorboat off the coast of Bali.

I was planning on making fun of the safety standards in my boat ride, but it feels oddly out of place after the crash on Wednesday. I'll leave it for the next time, for now.

The first stop was a cremation ceremony. We had planned to meet the leader of one of the seaweed farming groups last Thursday, but a family member died. Instead, he invited us to the cremation. Widi lent me a kebaya, and off we went. I'll have to make a separate post to describe the full thing, this is just so you know my whereabouts in the last few days. (As has been true lately, I can't stay in this PC for long...)

We first spent some time in our host's house, where his whole extended family and lots of friends and acquaintances had gathered to hear a priest bless the deceased and make offerings. Meanwhile, a cremation tower was awaiting the remains not so far away, and the village was awaiting the procession from the house to the cemetery.

The procession was really crowded. Both the cremation tower and a giant lion were transported by groups of young men who moved to the beat of the gamelan music. Just outside of the town, the procession stopped for a second, to let the priest and other men in the ceremony help four kids onto the "carriages" (what would be a good noun for these?). The two little girls on the lion were terrified (but I could get no pictures of
them). On the cremation tower were a boy and a girl dressed in a very elaborate traditional costume.

The procession proceded to the local cemetery, where the attendants took their offerings to the giant lion, while the body was put inside it (or was it on top of it?). After a while, it was set on fire. As I said, I'll do a bit more research and post a better explanation later. And I'll post more pictures in my Flickr account some other time, since my current connection feels like it's being powered by a very small hamster wheel.

After the ceremony, we headed for one of the seaweed farming groups in Nusa Ceningan, a tiny island that is reached by a bridge from Lembongan. We met the group leader and discussed the price of seaweed and other seaweed-related stuff. Well, the other people discussed that - I just sat and looked silly.

One of the other group leaders called to cancel our appointment, so with the remainder of the afternoon free, Widi and company drove me to the "Mangrove forest". Mangroves are trees with roots partly outside of the ground. They look like giant shrubs, but I'm told they are indeed trees. The forest is more of a swamp. A small boat took us for a ride. It's a beautiful, extremely quiet place.

So, I'll let you know when I can post images to Flickr. Should be relatively soon!

On the perils of not reading Bahasa

2007-03-07T13:23:00.000+08:00

With no Internet access, and no knowledge of Bahasa to understand newspapers, I found out about the earthquakes in Sumatra via email from my mom (which I read just after writing my last post - sorry!).

The earthquake was in the island of Sumatra - which is also where the 2004 tsunami hit (that mainly affected Aceh province). That is pretty far from Bali, and it was not felt at all - all there was here was rain.

In other news, the crash of a Garuda Indonesia airplane in Yogyakarta does worry me. Garuda is the national carrier, and while low cost airlines here have had a number of accidents lately, Garuda so far was relatively clean. I'll have to travel to Jakarta in late March, and was planning to stop in Yogya in the return trip (to see the Borobudur ruins), and this accident was in that same route...

ARA Euge

2007-03-07T12:34:00.000+08:00

So because I think my mom's not worried enough about my being twelve time zones away, I've rented a motorbike. I've been practicing for a while, and tomorrow I'll get my license.

Also, as is clear from the sudden scarcity of posts, my Internet access has been less than perfect. I'm looking into getting a more permanent connection, but we'll see how that goes. In any case, I'll upload a couple of pictures in my next post.

I'm Still Here

2007-03-06T13:02:00.000+08:00

But I haven't had Internet access for the past couple of days - I was in Nusa Lembongan - a small island off the coast of Bali - visiting seaweed farming villages and attending the cremation ceremony of a familymember of one of the farmers. I'll have more updates (including pictures) later today.

Nasi Campur

2007-03-03T11:32:00.000+08:00

One thing I've learnt from hanging out with Balinese people is that 12 pm IS LUNCH TIME. Everything is dropped and we must look for a restaurant or get take out. And the menu is, for a regular day-to-day meal, pretty simple: Nasi Campur (the c is pronounced as ch).

Nasi Campur means "mixed rice". You get a cup of white rice (nasi putih), and add several toppings - such as chicken or pork sate, fried chicken or fish, shredded chicken or beef sauteed with chili pepper, fried tempeh or cornmeal, several vegetable options, and eggs - boiled, fried, in ommelette... There are lots of options, and each warung has their own selection.

In the places where most Balinese get their food - not the restaurants for Westerners - the toppings of the day are displayed in a counter, and you point and choose. Most things are pretty spicy, but tasty. And greasy, of course, but in a way that adds to the tasty.

And everyday, at 12pm, that is what we get.

In Denpasar

2007-03-03T11:01:00.000+08:00

I've left Kuta, and now I'm staying in a guesthouse (kos kosan) in Denpasar, the capital of Bali. The host does not speak English, so I guess I'll have to learn really quickly...

Unfortunately, we've had two cloudy days so I haven't taken any photos lately. As soon as we have a nice day I'll walk around my neighborhood.

Things learned the hard way

2007-03-03T10:54:00.000+08:00

A rooster does not always wait till sunrise to start crowing.

Random Indonesian Phrase 3

2007-03-03T10:44:00.000+08:00

Roti anda sangat enak.

Your roti (was) very tasty.

And by roti, I mean a Balinese bread you pervs!

Bahasa Indonesia dan Bahasa Bali

2007-03-03T10:22:00.000+08:00

Since language is an interesting part of Indonesian culture, and I'm trying to learn a bit about it, here goes a rough summary of what I've read. It is obviously NOT completely accurate, and the usual waivers apply (unfortunately, I don't know how to place this in a footnote).

Indonesia is part of the Malay archipielago (Malaysia being the other part), and it comprises about 17000 islands. The larger islands had their own traditions and governments before (in chronological order) Portuguese, British, Dutch, and briefly (during WW2) Japanese colonization, and more than 700 different languages are spoken throughout the country.

Malay was the common language of trade, spoken widely across the archipielago. After independence, a standard version of Malay was adopted as the official language, and it is the language of instruction from elementary school onwards. So, most Indonesians speak at least two languages: their own native tongue, and Bahasa Indonesia.

Why Bahasa Indonesia, Bahasa for short, and not Malay? Bahasa simply means "language", and the way a particular language is identified is by the place it is spoken. So Bahasa Indonesia is Indonesian, and Bahasa Malaysia is Malaysian, even though both are the roughly the same language. English is Bahasa Inggeris. (And "I'm from England" would be "Saya dari Inggeris").

Balinese

There are three Balinese spoken languages (a fourth one is written only): low, middle, and high Balinese. These reflect the fact that the mostly Hindu Balinese population retain caste distinctions (though not as strongly as India, and ranks reflect nobility but not division of labor).

Basically, middle Balinese is how two strangers would address each other without knowing their ranks. Low Balinese would be used by a person of high rank with a person of lower rank, and High Balinese by a person of low rank to a person of high rank. In addition, High Balinese is used among the nobility, and Low Balinese among the lower caste. An interesting note is that High and Low Balinese are completely different languages, not two versions of the same language.

Some of the rules are more relaxed nowadays. For instance, at the NGO I'm working with there are people of different castes, but they all speak the more informal low Balinese.

So, this is what I've gathered about Indonesian languages so far.

Random notes from Kuta

2007-02-28T16:11:00.000+08:00

I'll be moving to a guesthouse closer to the capital of Bali, Denpasar, tomorrow morning. I thought I'd write some brief notes on what I've seen in Kuta.

- Security: The blasts in 2002 and 2005 have severely affected tourism to the island. Every nightclub has security checks - in theory if not always in practice. I've met several people who've lived in Bali for five or six years, and they all say that things are much quieter than they used to be. There is a huge memorial where the 2002 bombs hit.

- Transport! :The sidewalks are full of men sitting around their motorbikes, offering "transport" to every tourist that walks by. I kind of wonder what the alternative income sources must be for that to be profitable.

- "Very typical" dept.: Walking down the beach yesterday afternoon, I came upon some sort of ceremony, with dancers and gamelan music. I half-believe it was a staged photo-op for tourists, but some of the guys seemed quite serious about it. As photo-ops go, it was pretty good.

UPDATE: After asking around it turns out this was an auspicious day in the Balinese calendar, and so ceremonies like these took place all around the island. So much for my cynicism...

I'll probably think of something else on my way back to the hotel. That's it for now.

Random Indonesian Phrase 2

2007-02-28T16:05:00.000+08:00

My foot hurts.

Kaki saya sakit.

Quejándome de llena

2007-02-27T13:47:00.000+08:00

Quién dijo que en Buenos Aires lo que mata es la humedad?

Random Indonesian Phrase 1

2007-02-26T21:41:00.000+08:00

I've decided I want to learn some Indonesian. This is the common language that is taught in all state schools, since every island has its own local tongue. So I'll just make a point of choosing a phrase at random intervals. The twist: in addition to "standard" phrases, I want to build truly random sentences. Like for instance:

My luggage is black.

Kopor-kopor saya berwarna hitam.

Kuta Beach

2007-02-26T20:41:00.000+08:00

For the past two days, I've planned to write a post in the evening, only to find I'm way too tired to think one whole thought at about 7pm. I guess it does take longer than a day to adapt to a 13 hour time difference. But today I've been able to retain consciousness past 8pm, so here goes the first actual post.

I'm staying in a hotel in the Kuta Beach area for the first five nights, before I move to a more permanent kos kosan, or boarding house, in another area, called Sanur. The hotel is very pretty - it's a series of small cottages surrounding two main gardens.

Kuta beach is very close to the airport, and it's the most popular tourist destination in Bali. This is where the 2002 bombings took place. I'll have to write something about this, as it has clearly marked the city.

The airport was pretty much what I had expected - not the typical modern style, but a more traditional structure. Two small buildings, palm trees all around. And the first sign that I was in Bali: long lines of motorcycles in the parking lot.

Kuta itself surprised me. It is very westernized, in a slightly (read: extremely) cheesy way. The streets are lined with western shops - from restaurants such as Mc Donald's, Starbucks, and KFC, to clothing stores such as Rip Curl, Polo and adidas. In the smaller streets (too narrow for cars), the shops sell all sorts of junk from jewellery to soccer jerseys (Argentina was of course represented by Riquelme, Messi, and Maradona). To my Argentine readers: it was a bit like Once and Retiro with coconut trees.

But this coexists with Bali's strong Hindu tradition. Small daily offerings to the gods, made with rice, leaves and flowers atop a coconut tree leaf, are to be found everywhere. Some are left on the floor, on a store's doorstep, some are left on small totem-like structures. And on every street there are what look like "traditional" sculptures. Of course, until I go further away I won't know just how traditional they are, but the people lighting the incense for the offerings appear to be legit. For now, they provide an interesting contrast to the shops.

And of course, how could I forget the beach? After all, I am in a surfer's paradise! Since I don't want to make this first post extremely long, I'll just include a picture of my first sunset in this beautiful island.

I'm in Bali

2007-02-24T16:56:00.000+08:00

It's official: Singapore Airlines is Maria-proof. No delays, no issues with my luggage, no problems at all. I'm in Bali!

Jet lag's killing me... must... stay... awake... Will write something more coherent tomorrow!

En este breve pero emotivo acto, doy por inaugurado mi blog.

Enjoy the Saturday! It looks good from here.