HARI RAYA NYEPI or Nyepi day is the silent day and also their new years day. The airport is shut down, as are all stores, restaurants, government offices… everything really. You are not allowed to drive or leave your hotel or house. Normally as I lay in bed at the break of dawn… the call of the roosters are actually proceeded by the buzz of motorcycles, which steadily builds from 6 am until a full buzz by 8 am. Today it was eerie, not a sound, no people shouting, no horns beeping, no motorcycles buzzing, or cars and trucks with gears grinding up the hill on monkey forest road. Just the sound of birds and roosters break the silence. The dogs and monkeys have even been silent today like they know they are supposed to be quiet. I went out in search of an Internet signal and to see what the empty street looked like. It was really eerie like one of those apocalyptic films, not a sole in site… like all of the people had been sucked off of the earth. I felt like a sole survivor on the other hand it is very peaceful and kind of nice to have to stay home. As I was writing this with my headphones on to keep from disturbing the silence, in my hammock with my laptop in my lap… a monkey snuck up on me and was right next to me inches from my face on my patio. I just about dropped my laptop as he scared the s@i* out of me! I have mostly been eating fruit as it requires no cooking so my trash can has fruit peels from banana, mangostein, and salak (snakefruit) in it. I’m sure the monkey smells them and I’m sure he will be back, as will others, unless I take the trash somewhere.
As night falls no one turns on any lights. You are supposed to keep lights hidden from the outside. The hotel / bungalows where I stay usually have a lot of garden and path lights on….these are all off. I leave the lights in my room and on my patio off and have only the illumination of my movie coming from my laptop, along with stars and the occasional firefly I think even the moon stayed home as I have not seen it. I noticed in one of the houses by the rice patties someone walking with and actual fire torch, these rituals are taken very seriously. This month there are three major holy days; this is very unusual it will not happen again for years. This is the first time in John’s life 37 years that all three big ceremonies happen in one month. For the Hindu Balinese this is very expensive as 60% of their income goes into religious ceremonies and rituals when you make $6-8 day this does not leave much to live on. Fortunately their meals are under .20 cents each and a full tank of gas on a motorcycle is $1. The Balinese have their own calendar system called Wuku system based on weeks, it is all about auspicious days for farming, ceremonies, etc. similar to the farmers almanac. The last big ceremony this month is HARI RAYA KUNINGAN On March 28th This will be just days before I leave so it will be a crazy time to get all of my export forms completed and all of my jewelry done and collected.
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