by Chi Jiang (Tim Jiang)
Waking up knowing it was the final day made me a little sad, but I was looking forward to tonight’s show, nervous and excited.
I walked down the usual path. The primary school kids were playing soccer as usual. I turned left and walked past the two statues in front of the temple, and then turned right. I knew it would probably not be the last time for me to learn and play gamelan in the morning at Cudamani, but our trip was closing. Last night we already had a run-through of our show tonight.
The cremation of the painter’s uncle was also yesterday (Jan 17), and that’s why we switched our rehearsal schedule to later yesterday evening. Some of us stayed until pretty late last night. I was practicing Gender Weyang and playing Selunding in different tunings. During the day of Jan 17 we attended the cremation ceremony and watched the festive parade with the Cudamani gamelan ensemble and the burning, and then I went to Seeds Eatery again for some food. It was Jan.9 on my way back, when I visited the painter, that he told me his deceased uncle taught him painting. And after I saw the kecak fire dance at Pura Dalem Ubud on Jan. 16 with Tom and some ensemble members and met the son of Pap Rai, the next day Pap Rai, a founder of Swarthmore Gamelan ensemble and a dear friend of Tom and Dewa, died.
Speaking of the final day, when I arrived at Cudamani, Tom was recording the demonstration parts of Genggongan for our ensemble. We went over each piece again and did some cleaning over the details of the songs. We mainly practiced the start of Sekatian, the changing sections for the Baleganjur, and the angsels (rhythm breaks) for Tabuh Rejang Lente. After lunch, Pak Dewa Barata taught me how to make decorations with a plant. The plants turned into beautiful hangings.
[Pasta, one of our instructors, walking by the plant hangings]
We took a break in the afternoon at the hotel and returned to Cudamani. Judy organized a final circle, where we shared our thoughts and feelings of the program.
[Judy sitting next to Tom, explaining to us about the final circle]
Our Balinese instructors then came and sat in front of us at the stage. Most of them spoke English. Some in Indonesian.
Don’t forget us.
Yangde (In Indonesian, originally)
Many instructors were so humble and apologized if they did something wrong during the instruction. They were grateful and said that they learnt a lot from us, which humbled us even more.
Cudamani will always be open to you,
24 hours.
Dewa
Everyone was getting a little emotional.
We (the Swarthmore ensemble) expressed our joy experienced these days playing and learning gamelan and immersing into the community and culture. We were more than grateful. Angelina, Caroline and Tom spoke Indonesian. I said I enjoyed a lot making friends and making music and would come here again with better Indonesian.
Right after the emotional moment, we greeted the senior Cudamani group and shook their hands. I recalled meeting the youth Cudamani group on the first evening before the show. The closing moment echoed the beginning.
Then, we went for dinner.
[My dinner]
Short after we finished, the show started.
We played five pieces switching from instruments to instruments, and the show culminated in Sekatian and Gengongan. It was a success.
Check this link for our concert (first half, Swarthmore with Cudamani) on Jan.18: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1mPRvDdnFDlS8h7UjAwLhSmskV79dr1JY
Then, the lights were out and all of us congratulated Judy’s birthday. We took a small break, some having the birthday cake.
Sena and Dode found me. They were sad. Sena told me Dode cried because I was leaving in google translate, and I asked for their numbers and added their Whatsapps. Dode asked me when I would return. I told him I would let him know on whatsapp. They are both around nine years old. We became good friends through gamelan. In the earlier days Dode taught me Barong dance moves and also gangsas. Like his dad Rai, he is a dedicated, good teacher. We enjoyed playing gangsa together and still text each other on Whatsapp from time to time.
[Dode and I playing Baron dance gangsa beats the other day]
We then watched the senior Cudamani group play three pieces, one instrumental Kebyar Palek, two dance pieces Tari Jauk Manis and Tari Kebyar Legong Pangeleb. It was a blast.
[Cudamani senior group playing Kebyar. Rai on the left on kendang, Bisma and Mangde on suling, Dewa on ugal]
In the end, all of us did a wonderful kecak piece together.
[Swarthmore ensemble and Cudamani group photo after the show]
After the show, the senior Cudamani group then started to cook some Sate (kebab) and we shared some delicious sate.
[Sate!!]
The gang was smoking, drinking, chatting and having fun. We chatted with our instructors till very late. Mangde was sleepy but reluctant to leave, because he said, maybe he would never see us again, or the next time he saw us, it would be in heaven, or in the dreams of heaven (a joke). We were all reluctant to leave and most of us stayed till 2 am and said goodbye.
We planned to leave at 11 am the next day for our flight. I went to Cudamani again the next day and met Dewa, Yangde and Mangde. They came to us and said goodbye again. Mangde took a photo of us at Puri Kobot.
[Final group photo of Swarthmore gamelan ensemble at Puri Kobot]
On the way to the airport so many memories of the two weeks flooded in my head and the faces were so clear. I know we would meet again.
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