Today was our tour of the island. We went to many places, and our guide, Pak Ketut Sareng, had many insights about culture and spirituality in Bali. A few things that he said particularly stand out to me. First, he talked about how sometimes non-Balinese visitors ask him if every Balinese person really believes in the culture’s religion. He answered that while there may be Balinese people who do not subscribe to the religious beliefs, there isn’t a choice whether or not to participate in the religion because being a member of the community requires participating in the ceremonies and rituals. His answer brought up questions of what community-building entails, and how to balance the individual with the community for me.
Later in the day we went to a wood carving workshop. I was surprised to learn that they get many orders from overseas, such as to carve Tiki totems for a hotel in Hawaii or carve souvenirs to be shipped to Greece. I thought it was interesting that these carvings will be bought by tourists to represent their time in Greece, but the carvings were made across the world.
[Batur Mountain in the distance]
[Tiki totems in the wood workshop]
Leave a Reply