Three Funerals and Maybe a Wedding

The front side of the funeral pyre

Today after a
very decent (and secular) Pilates workout, Kathy and I wandered about in Ubud.  We came across preparations for a funeral, a procession, and preparations for a HUGE cremation and procession tomorrow.  Actually, we've been watching the scaffolding and construction of the float and pyre ever since we got here.  A former king of the Ubud region died about a month ago.  I guess they decided that tomorrow was ripe enough.  It must be an auspicious occasion, because today is the first day since we've been here where it didn't rain, but it is extremely hot and muggy.

Procession for a high caste dignitary

Funerals are a big deal here, much more than weddings.  The richer and the higher caste you are, the more elaborate--and traffic stopping--one you can have.

Does this make me look fat?

After lunch we came to the main temple to check on the progress of the huge preparations that have been going on for over a week.

Where the gamelan band will play

I bought my way into the inner temple for the ceremony of the king by purchasing a sarong and headpiece.  That gave me license to wonder around and take photos inside, and I got a lot of approving comments in Indonesian from the higher-ups hanging about.  We had a good time bantering and bargaining with the old woman in Indonesian.  She drove a really hard bargain!

The ramp to the top of the pyre

One of the many offerings

We encountered more drama and excitement on our way home.  A large Nandi (a bull) couldn't fit under the power lines and overhanging trees.  Actually, we thought Nandi was trying to eat the mangoes.  So they climbed up him and cut off his horns. Hopefully, we'll see them reattached tomorrow.  

Nandi on the way to join tomorrow's procession

In the evening we went to the Ubud Bali Sunset Rotary club  to hear a 30-something woman from Canada talk about her blog, "How to be an Indonesian."   Met a lot of interesting Westerners who live here full and part-time  We're not so sure this is the retirement for us, especially given our love of camping, bicycling, our home community, and (for me, at least) snowboarding.    We're trying to plug into some volunteer activities, and there may be one just down the road in our village.  More later.

As for the wedding?  Well, we didn't see one but we're sure there were many, and probably some of them were MBA's (see previous blog).