I love BALI!

The following are a few mind blowing facts that I learned while in Bali. Our driver turned out to be an incredible wealth of information and I am sure he wished he had stayed quiet after I questioned him for hours about Balinese culture. I also wandered around a waterfall, jungle of spices, and the botanic garden in order to learn some fun facts. I'm not trying to write a guidebook or anything so please don't use me as a reference for any academic papers and act like I am the new Wikipedia (you probably shouldn't be using that as a source either) but rather just read for enjoyment.

1. Mace (yeah, the stuff you spray in a nasty person's face) is bright red and grows on the outside of the nutmeg seed. You peel it off the nutmeg to get to the spice. They are both located inside of a fruit looking thing that grows on a tree. Sweet and spicy all from the same time.

2. Bali is something like 92% Hindu. There are gorgeous temples located all over the island and each family has their own temple for offerings, ceremonies, and family ancestor spirits.

3. There are four classes in Bali but unlike the caste system of India each is respected and valued by the other. Women can switch castes based on marriage and your class does not determine your job or economic value. See the real Wikipedia for more details on this interesting sociological structure.

4. There are not nursing homes here in Bali. It is the expectation that families help and support each other and the youngest son is expected to live with his parents and help to take care of them, just as they took care of him when he was a child. Full circle.When we live with Brads lovely parents for a few months upon our return to Denver I am just going to tell people that it's due to my Balinese beliefs and not because I'm unemployed.

5. Balinese people make offerings of special plants, flowers, and food every day and even sometimes even multiple times a day. Their belief in their version of Hinduism is pure and don't ever insult them and insinuate that these offerings are done for tourism, as some assholes have done. Hard to believe but not everyone's life on Bali revolves around pleasing European tourists.

6. The people of Bali are extremely kind and friendly. So so sweet. They seem to radiate an inner peace that is the envy of many as that peace is what we in America struggle so hard to find. I think the gorgeous weather and beach access helps.

7. Most people in Balinese culture are cremated. Their ashes are taken and placed in the ocean so that their souls can be purified by the water. Several months later another ceremony is held and the soul is retrieved from the ocean and having been cleansed is believed to be ready for reincarnation. It was also pointed out by Dewa, our driver, that Bali is small and doesn't have a lot of room for cemeteries so this cremation serves a dual purpose. Smart man, that Dewa. Smarter than many Americans who have paid thousands of dollars for college.

8. It is believed that are three types of Karma. Direct karma, karma that takes several years, and karma in the form of reincarnation that shows up in your next life. You can be reincarnated as an animal if you do bad deeds in your previous life, or even as an insect if you do unthinkable acts. Your pain and suffering in life is related to your previous karma as is your happiness and joy.

9. Cloves grow on trees. They are pink and green and you pull them off the tips of the branches. After leaving them in the sun to dry out they turn brown and look like the cloves we see in the grocery store. Most cloves here are harvested by hand and smell fantastic.

10. There is a village called Trunyan in Bali that is only reachable by boat as it is across an old volcanic lake. They are very famous for their death rites. Rather than cremating their dead as most do in Bali this village places the body on a special tree called Taru Menyan. Somehow this amazing tree pulls the smell from the decomposing body and the body remains until the forces of nature have disintegrated the tissue leaving behind skeletal remains. The skull is then placed into their temple for honor. Women of the village are not permitted into the cemetery for fear of a natural disaster happening. I am very curious how that later belief developed as it seems like some unlucky lady of the past was obviously blamed for an earthquake because obviously women control nature. Everyone knows that just think American Gladiator names such as Ice, Blaze, Zap. If I was a gladiator I would be Tsunami.

11. There are mega fruit bats on Bali and I met one named Rasta. He has a broken wing and lives in a tree at a restaurant we have been frequenting. He screeches when he is hungry and we got to feed him a few pieces of watermelon. He had a surprisingly cute little furry bat face. These mega bats are also called flying foxes (he is quite furry) and these bats even have very decent color vision! Hardly blind as a bat. He was giving me a serious, "bitch hand over that fruit in your hand and stop taking photos" side eye.

12. Brad is irritatingly good at athletic things. He rented a surfboard for one hour, never having attempted this before, and was able to pop right up like a champ. He had a few minor falls but nothing that warranted any great laughs. Who goes surfing and is able to do it in less than an hour with no lessons?! That guy. Ridiculously good looking AND athletic.

13. Muslims and Hindus live side by side here in Bali with great respect for one another. Even during the infamous Bali bombings ten years ago the Balinese Hindus did not retaliate against the Muslims and continued to pray for them, pray for peace, and treat one another with respect understanding that a few bad apples doesn't ruin the entire bunch. Interesting concept.

14. Traditional Balinese dishes involve many of my favorite things including super fresh seafood, lemongrass, shallots, garlic, coconut, chili, fresh satay, vegetables, palm sugar, and herbs such as mint and cilantro. YUM! Mee means noodles and Nasi means rice here. I learned the recipe for traditional satay here email me if you are interested- must have mortar and pestle.

15. Villages in Bali have committees and members (mostly men) serve to create a tight knit sense of community. There is no social welfare system here and it is neighbors that help neighbors in times of need. Divorce is not common either as the committee is involved and has to approve. The community all celebrates weddings, births, and mourns deaths together. In Denver I didn't even know my next door neighbor's name.

16. The Balinese have a special calendar called the Wuku for mostly religious purposes. There are 30 weeks in a cycle, better known as an oton. There are two otons in a year and one Balinese year consists of 420 days. The calendar helps them to recognize many auspicious days such as the best day for farming, weddings, cutting one's hair, digging a well, castrating animals, and much more. Each month has specific days for different purposes. Tomorrow (the 25th) is the best day for going hunting and starting a business. The 26th of June is the best day for learning, purifying one's self, and training livestock. They obviously follow the traditional solar calendar that the rest of the world follows for business purposes but the Wuku determines all religious holidays. I live training livestock day!

17. It is believed that many things have spirits. There is a special day here to celebrate the birthday of trees and a special day for the birthday of animals. There are many annual holidays such as an upcoming holiday celebration to honor iron tools and other metal equipment such as hammers, motorbikes, and cars. June 30th you should say a little prayer for your motor vehicles and saws. Without knives you wouldn't be able to cut that watermelon for the 4th of July.

18. Pineapples grow on bushes, lychee grows on trees, and dragon fruit grows on a cactus. We still are not sure how star fruit grows.

19. You can get an hourlong amazing facial and head massage for $10. Hell yes!

There are a whole lot of other things I could share with you but I'm just so wasted on sunshine and saltwater. I also ate too much sea bass and chocolate lava cake at dinner so I have to go lay down I'm in the midst of a food coma.

I could stay in Bali for a year I absolutely love it here. It truly lived up to its reputation of breathtaking paradise. Alas, we have to leave tomorrow as we head back to Bangkok for a few final days of fun before our grand return to the States.

Bali... So hot right now.