Adventures

Adventures

Yesterday (which I think was Tuesday) we drove in two little mini-buses up through the ancient kingdoms to Tampaksiring, to a huge old temple complex and went through the sacred springs there.  They are a dozen strong streams of water pouring out of stone walls into a big pebble-floored pool.  We wore our sarongs, which spread out like wings in the water. It was a purification ritual, and I think it did work, from the glowing faces of my fellow travelers as we sat in the sun afterwards. Then we changed into fancier sarongs and got a blessing from a Balinese priest, and learned a bit about the mythology of the island and the carvings in the temple from Made Surya, our beautiful and wise guide.  His mother made offerings of rice cakes and eggs, fruit, cake, which we ate as a picnic after they were offered. 

Then we continued on in our mini-buses, up along the tiny winding roads between the family compounds, past many temples and rice fields and chickens and closet-sized roadside shops, to a truly amazing place called Senang Hati (means Happy Heart).  It is a school, home, center, art gallery, and more for disabled people, created by them for themselves. What a loving, welcoming community, and good friends of Made as well as our leader Kate. We sang a few songs with them, looked at their art, saw their dormitories and a slide show they made, which made us all (I think) cry.  We'll be back there a couple more times, to sing with them, do some oral history, buy art. In fact most of the group is there now, but I had to stay back and rest.  

And..still yesterday!...back at our exquisite thatched-roof hotel, we had a lesson in offering making.  We learned how to stitch together the little coconut and banana leaf boxes that are EVERYWHERE, full of five colors of flowers and pinches of rice.  I felt like a magic person, learning to make these everyday ordinary bits of gratitude. Our teacher was so gentle and amused, another good friend of Kate's.

Then, best of all, we sang for a while, around a big table outside (everything happens outside). I am so delighted to sing at the end of the day, and our songs are already sounding rich. 

 After all that I had to go to bed, and was asleep by eight.  Whew.

This morning four of us from the choir group had a cooking class in Ubud with Ketat, a chef at a local restaurant. After we explored the morning market, and went down into the astonishing underground catacombs of food, we came back and made Sate Lillit (pork), prawns, chicken curry, a vegetable dish, Base Gede (the spice base) and tempe something or other (don't have the cookbook with me). I am so full, and I'm also eager to practice when I get home, so if you know me you can expect to come to a Bali food party.  The other people in our group went shopping in the market and had massages; they're going to do a bird walk on Friday instead of the cooking class.  Embarrassment of riches, for sure.

I can't say enough about how great the women on this tour are, how marvelous Kate Munger and Made Surya are with us, and how glorious and surprising Bali is. I am practicing drinking it all in. It seems very real.