Back in Payangan, I did my best to put Kalani to work, but everyone else was more focused on enjoying his time here :-)
Despite the distractions, he got to help me counting bees in Payangan, Tuali, and at Ulapan as well as returning as my field assistant for four days of bait/observation at Susut. Plus, he got to come meet a new (to me) beekeeper on the north coast. He was a huge help.
Despite the distractions, he got to help me counting bees in Payangan, Tuali, and at Ulapan as well as returning as my field assistant for four days of bait/observation at Susut. Plus, he got to come meet a new (to me) beekeeper on the north coast. He was a huge help.
In addition to doing work with me, there was a two-day Odalan at Taman Sari that Tirta came up for. Tirta gave Kalani a batik sarong and udeng and we came with him for both nights. This temple was built after the villagers discovered a linga and a Ganesh statue buried in the mud of Tirta's rice paddy. They fund-raised and built the temple on the site of the findings. The odelan was also important for Chili/Dewi Sri (goddess of rice) and having a good harvest. I am not yet sure how all the temples fit together, but on the first day at this odelan, two other temples sent people and items from their temples. These included the barong, their gamelon players, and their gods. They walked them over and it was a big deal when they arrived. Once the first day prayers/blessing ended, the gamelon played for most of the rest of the time. On both nights we got fed dinner at the temple and on both nights there were multiple dance performances.
And he got to spend a little time with Bagus and his boys. I think that Kusuma, in particular had fun having Kalani around. Wayan took us to a friend of his who roasts and sells coffee and we bought a bunch to send back to Hawaii for oleh-oleh Bali. It was a lot more fun buying the coffee from a small family than getting it in the store! I think we will go back there to get coffee for our morning cup from now on -- they seemed happy that we would want to, and it's so fresh and delicious tasting.
We also had dinner at Kayana with Bagus and Kusma plus Wayan and his family which was a lot of fun although I think the portion size was overwhelming for Wayan's wife.
Here's a video of the two days of Odelan. Turn up your volume and listen to the gamelan: