2020. The year of COVID19.
Right before the pandemic situation, my family and I went to Bali. We go there often because we love the island, the local people, and also because we have friends there.
Bali is a beautiful island and everyone can get as much enjoyment as they would like to. You can swim in the ocean, wake up with the amazing sunrise, dine while looking at the gorgeous sunset, go rafting in the mountain rivers, visit all the Hinduists temples around the island (by the way – you can meet Hinduists only in India and in Bali), or watch the local dance shows, have lunch in front of one of the active volcanoes on the island – Mount Batur, or swing in the hammock above the beautiful rice terraces, to visit a local prayer who can give you advise and pray for your future, visit a coffee farm where you can taste Coffee Luwak, do shopping in the small villages around Denpasar – the capital of Bali by buying local art pieces from the local carpenters, to enjoy the weekly God offering ceremony by watching at the local women who carries a tall fruits tower over their heads, or just to relax in peace or meditate deep in the tropical forests in the mountain around Ubud – the second-largest city on the island.
My dad is a very close friend with a local gentleman for years. His name is Suarnadi, but he prefers to be called Mike and he has a daughter – Roberta, who is my friend too. Mike used to be a tour guide, so he shows us all the nice places and secret gems in Bali.
MIke lives close to Ubud. One day after going to a temple he invited us to go to his house. Usually, the houses in Bali are pretty small and aren’t the ones we see almost every day in Europe or in the USA. The living space in every house is small but the yard is usually big because the Balinese people have temples in their yards which are very important to them. Every family member uses to pray to different God (By Hindu religion there are many Gods). This is the reason the Balinese have many temples in their yards. Another interesting thing for Balinese houses is that they usually do not have refrigerators and AC. We can say that every house in Bali is unique by itself, or by its owner.
During our last visit, it was their Balinese Christmas (Galungan) which will happen again on September 16th, 2020, or 210 days after our last visit to Bali. Their Galungan (Christmas) trees are so much different than the ones we are used to but they are very gorgeous and they also look very fun to make.
When we arrived in Mike’s house, his wife Wayan and daughter Roberta were seated in their backyard and were talking to their friends in Balinese. They immediately switch to English and introduced us to each other and we started having conversations. Roberta with the other family’s children was making the baskets for God, you usually make them from palm leaves. My sister and I joined in making the baskets, my parents were talking to the other adults and all of us were bonding with each other. 30 minutes of talking and bonding Mike asked us if we want to try some of their traditional food. We replied positively. Wayan went inside and brought us a bit so we could try. They brought us chicken, rice, pork, and stuffed palm leaves. All of the food that we tried was very spicy except the stuffed palm leaves. The stuffed palm leaves were almost exactly the same as the traditional food we have here in Bulgaria. The name of it is stuffed wine leaves. They are stuffed with rice and if you want you can add minced meat. When Mike let us try the stuffed palm leaves they looked very similar and had almost the exact same taste. At that moment I thought, “It’s the same as in Bulgaria. It tastes so similar and looks almost exactly the same.” That’s when I said, “Mom look, they are like the ones in Bulgaria except that the leave is a different type. They look almost the same and have a very similar taste.”
This story proves that two different cultures can have similar things without a problem and that people from two different religions can be really close friends and I love that!
What do you think about it?
