March 2002

The lead up to Nyepi day is as follows:

Melasti or Mekiyis or Melis (three days before Nyepi) (Wednesday, April 10)

Melasti is meant to clean the pratima or arca or pralingga (statue), with symbols that help to concentrate the mind in order to become closer to God. The ceremony is aimed to clean all nature and its content, and also to take the Amerta (the source for eternal life) from the ocean or other water resources (ie lake, river, etc). Three days before Nyepi, all the effigies of the Gods from all the village temples are taken to the river in long and colorful ceremonies. There, they have are bathed by the Neptune of the Balinese Lord, the God Baruna, before being taken back home to their shrines.

Tawur Kesanga (the day before Nyepi) (Friday, April 12)

Exactly one day before Nyepi, all villages in Bali hold a large exorcism ceremony at the main village cross road, the meeting place of demons. They usually make Oogah-oogahs (the fantastic monsters or evil spirits or the Butha Kala made of bamboo) for carnival purposes. The Oogah-oogahs monsters symbolize the evil spirits surrounding our environment which have to be got rid of from our lives . The carnivals themselves are held all over Bali following sunset. Bleganjur, a Balinese gamelan music accompanies the procession. Some are giants taken from classical Balinese lore. All have fangs, bulging eyes and scary hair and are illuminated by torches. The procession is usually organized by the Seka Teruna, the youth organization of Banjar. When Oogah-oogahs is being played by the Seka Teruna, everyone enjoys the carnival. In order to make a harmonic relation between human being and God, human and human, and human and their environments, Tawur Kesanga is performed in every level of society, from the people's house. In the evening, the Hindus celebrating Ngerupuk, start making noises and light burning torches and set fire to the Oogah-oogahs in order to get the Bhuta Kala, evil spirits, out of our lives.

Nyepi (Saturday, April 13)

On Nyepi day itself, every street is quiet - there are nobody doing their normal daily activities. There is usually Pecalangs (traditional Balinese security man) who controls and checks for street security. Pecalang wear a black uniform and a Udeng or Destar (a Balinese traditional "hat" that is usually used in ceremony). The Pecalangs main task is not only to control the security of the street but also to stop any activities that disturb Nyepi. No traffic is allowed, not only cars but also people, who have to stay in their own houses. Light is kept to a minimum or not at all, the radio or TV is turned down and, of course, no one works. Even love making, this ultimate activity of all leisure times, is not supposed to take place, nor even attempted. The whole day is simply filled with the barking of a few dogs, the shrill of insect and is a simple long quiet day in the calendar of this otherwise hectic island. On Nyepi the world expected to be clean and everything starts anew, with Man showing his symbolic control over himself and the "force" of the World, hence the mandatory religious control.

Ngembak Geni (the day after Nyepi) (Sunday, April 14)

Ngembak is the day when Catur Berata Penyepian is over and Hindus societies usually visit to forgive each other and doing the Dharma Canthi. Dharma Canthi are activities of reading Sloka, Kekidung, Kekawin, etc.(ancient scripts containing songs and lyrics).

So HAPPY NEW YEAR! I'll have some pictures of the festivities in the next Bali-Update for you. I can see all the preparations of this annual 'party' as I go to work. Looks like Carnival on a HUGE scale.

My friend Darrell wrote: "Couple questions perhaps all your readers would appreciate knowing from you...

1) What time is it there when it's 7pm on a Thursday night here? How about when it's 10am Saturday morning? I need a frame of reference. When it is 7PM on a Tuesday in San Francisco, it is 11AM on Wednesday here in Bali (16 hours ahead). Here’s the formulae:

Take the day/time in SF (Tuesday, 7PM), add 4 hours = 11PM Tuesday. Now if the answer is PM, change it to AM and it’s the next day here = 11AM Wednesday. OR

Take the day/time in SF (Tuesday, 7AM), add 4 hours = 11AM Tuesday. Now if the answer is AM, change it to PM and it’s the same day here = 11PM Tuesday. OR

Take the day/time in SF (Tuesday, 11PM), add 4 hours = 3AM Wednesday. Now if the answer is AM, change it to PM and it’s the same day here = 3PM Wednesday.

2) You mentioned taxes in the story about bread. What's the tax situation in Bali? Are you paying any taxes to Uncle Sam? How much does the local government take from you via withholding? We're all just curious. I just did my US taxes (actually, my CPA brother did them for me – thanks Jack!). But, I understand there is a $72,000 exclusion on income earned overseas that doesn’t make it to the US. There are some special tests to ensure I qualify, but I do! There are minimal taxes here of around 10%. But, the tradition is that the employer PAYS the taxes. So, now that I have my KITAS (official resident of Indonesia), I'll be putting in my share of the taxes here. I also have an 'official' work visa now. So I don't need to leave Indonesia every 60 days as I did when I had only a tourist visa. Feels pretty good!

Looks like my great friend Craig will be leaving my Oakland house. He and Paula are expecting their 1st (a little girl) so they'll be moving in June. Luckily, my friend Greg will be moving upstairs (he's been living downstairs for about a year now). So it looks like I won't need to return to the Bay Area in June. I hope to come back for a visit (2 weeks or so) in August. It'll be short because it is SO expensive to even visit there. How do people 'vacation' in SF. God! They must either be rich or they save for years to do it. Anyway, I'll keep you all posted as to my plans; dates; etc. I hope to see all my Bay Area friends AND my family. Perhaps my family can take some time off and we can do a Briscoe Family Reunion in the Bay Area this year. We've always done them in So. Calif. or Las Vegas; so perhaps, SF in 2002!