Marta Mari. Theatre Director. Arts Manager

I woke up several days ago hoping being in Asia was only a dream and that I would open my eyes and see snow outside the window. Dream on because you’re still in Asia-my sarcastic self said to my naïve self. There came a moment when I though to myself: what a fuck am I doing here? Ok, I live in a beautiful house, swim everyday, don’t have to clean as I have a maid, don’t really have to cook as we eat in restaurants, I take all my laundry to the cleaners, Amelia’s happy, my husband doesn’t complain about getting up to work because he doesn’t work, I got a cat to sooth my heart for missing my cats that are in Scotland, the weather cooled off a bit…

Am I really that ungrateful? What do I want? What’s missing? My husband said that I feel that way because I’m bored. So I decided to open an arts centre here with drama and dance classes….It is exciting, I admit, but somehow doesn’t fill the void. And then it came to me: it’s not boredom that bothers me, it’s a lack of intellectual challenge, lack of being surrounded by creative and therefore inspirational people, lack of the right stimuli…I see fabulous things happening in theatres in Scotland and there is none here…There is not one professional, western actor here in Bali that I know of! I figured long time ago that in order to be happy I need to feel I’m growing, developing, learning…Plus I really value genuine people-with their worries, struggles, joys and hopes.

And here I get an impression that people are everything but genuine. Everyone is always smiling (just like in that TV movie The Prisoner with Sir Ian McKellen), everyone likes to talk about their pembantu (a general house help-they do it all: cleaning, childcare, cooking, shopping, some also massage etc). Many people have businesses here-but again they like to compliment each other on how they treat their WORKING stuff (read: reprimand them). And then there is a talk like…when I was in Thailand I bought this and that, when I was travelling in India the beaches were amazing, and oh, I just went for a colonic, a massage, what spa do you like? They serve this amazing dish in that restaurant etc.

‘I am loving my lifestyle here’- I hear it quite often. What lifestyle? Of doing nothing useful? Of focusing on getting rid of all the hard things in life? And what’s more putting it all on the shoulders of poor Balinese women who before and after their days work at a rich white woman’s house (for roughly $4 a day!) go to their own households and children? Lifestyle of endless spas and moving from one restaurant to another and either engaging in small talks with friends alike or sitting in front of a computer on Facebook? People even speak slowly here- that drives me mad!

Is there any genuine satisfaction of any kind in that lifestyle? Doesn’t that usually come from hard work and conquering obstacles and doing something useful? I believe that life should be hard sometimes so we can appreciate and know what happiness is. It is a banal belief, I know, but isn’t it true? I feel sorry for those women whose children love and cuddle to their nannies more than their mothers. I really do. Raising children is hard. Sometimes we all have enough and need a rest but hey, that’s real life! See The Prisoner and you’ll know what I’m talking about! I AM GENUINELY SICK OF THIS BULLSHIT!

Some time ago I’ve met this 82 years old Japanese professor of cultural anthropology (an extremely rare event) and when I told him life in Bali annoyed me, he smiled and said that it is because there is no change here. There are no seasons here-all the time the same weather, and so people don’t prepare for the change; they don’t know a change. And with that sentence the professor summarised it all for me. That’s why I like people smarter than me: ‘there is no change here’. And I am all about change-for me change is life. I often don’t know what day of the week it is. If I didn’t host a Polish Christmas Eve party I wouldn’t know it was Christmas…Despite all your beauty and good things I don’t love you, Bali. I don’t belong here.

Every now and then people ask me how I like Bali. Equally nice and annoying I tend to answer. What’s annoying? – they wonder. Well, Balinese standards- I usually say. At this point to visitors on holidays here or some that freeze in Europe I must appear as this unappreciating spoiled brat. I don’t think I am, and I think it’s all a matter of perspective…Here are two (for now) examples:

1)      Cleanliness.  An American woman rents a nice villa (there usually is a cleaning woman contracted as well); It is a first day of a house cleaning, the American is getting ready to leave the house so that the cleaning woman can work more comfortably. While she awaits her husband she’s observing the following situation: the cleaning woman gets a bucket and some rugs; she then goes to a nearby fish pond and then gets some water to the bucket. She then goes to the living room and is about to dump the water onto the wooden floor but at the last moment is stopped by the horrified American. It takes some explaining how (not) to clean the floor. I have a maid clean my house twice a week. She’s nice and tries and although she’s been doing it for years there is a long way to a spotless house-maybe by the time I leave I see the house really clean…Thank goodness for geckos and other lizards that keep the house bugs free! (that’s a good standard)

2)      Tanpa gula! Means without sugar. Very useful to know especially for those who, like me, don’t like drinks with sugar. Balinese tend to put sugar in EVERYTHING be it a coffee, a fresh juice, an alcoholic drink-anything that’s on the drink menu. Even knowing that every now and then I forget to tell the waiter not to use sugar. I have lately ordered coffee with milk-no sugar. I ordered in Indonesian to be sure the waitress understood. After a while she brings me coffee, I taste it and take a deep breath before I ask why she put sugar in my coffee. She says there is no sugar in the coffee. My husband takes a sip and his face is showing his disgusted reaction to the sweetness of the coffee (and he does use sugar!). Although we are calm, the waitress almost in tears says there is no sugar in my coffee. I don’t want to upset her, but the goddamned coffee is sweet. Make another one and this time I’ll watch you make it, I finally say. I follow her to the kitchen. And this is what I see: she makes a black, regular bitter coffee; then she fills HALF of the cup (literally) with CONDENSED milk and then pours the black coffee over the milk. She then turns to me with a typical Balinese smile and says: see, no sugar… So now when ordering coffee not only I have to say no sugar but also to make sure what kind of milk they’re using. And even then I sometimes get a sweet coffee…

When on holidays these seem funny and unimportant. But when you live here and all you want in the not so good morning is a decent cup of coffee then things like that can really drive anyone mad…

P.S About a week ago I gave in and we got a kitten from a local shelter. He is adorable, somewhat Siamese and very cuddly. One time after we fed him, my husband noticed the cat didn’t really wash himself. Our three cats back in Edinburgh could endlessly wash not only themselves but also one another and this one- two licks and done. Why are you surprised?- I asked my husband. Haven’t you gotten used to it yet? Used to what?-he asks disoriented. Well, Balinese standard of cleanliness, of course! We both started laughing…Maybe we should name him Standard...

There once was a woman who loved dogs. And she liked Bali. So she decided to move there with her family. But unfortunately, that would mean that she would have to leave her beloved Tanus-a 9 year old boxer behind because it isn’t possible to bring pets to Bali. In fact out of 18 thousands islands of Indonesia only 2 will let a dog in: Java and Sulawesi. The thought of separation from her ‘baby’ was heartbreaking…Nothing is impossible-she thought. And so she found a way…

She flew the dog to Jakarta on Java-a neighbouring island to Bali. Once there, the dog had to be kept in a quarantine facility for a month. At the end of that month the dog became a little sick so the vet decided to keep him there a little longer but: unfortunately (or rather fortunately) his owner told the vet, the dog is to go with a military on a mission…

And so the military picked up the dog and took him on a big, military cargo plane. Tanus spent couple of days with a military flying around Indonesian islands as part of the military exercise.

And then they stopped on Bali where his overjoyed owner were to collect him…When she came to a pick up point the dog was being guarded by the military until the arrival of the woman that would take him. Tanus has finally joined his family on Bali and is living happily following his owner everywhere.

How on Earth did she manage to get military involved in it? -you might ask. Well, there once was a friend who was a dog lover himself so he understood the love…and as it happened, he was in a military in Indonesia…and that’s how the idea emerged…What a friend! What love for a dog! What a story!

 

One of the beauties of Bali is its cultural life. Everybody either dances or plays Gamelan music here. Not because everyone is into dancing or art but because it is a part of Balinese life. Little children attend dance classes as soon as they start walking. The classes usually take place in temples or local banjars (community spaces for gathering), and are free. Even the poorest children have a chance to participate-now that’s what access to arts is! -Something we-in the West should re-think! The classes are organized by the community and since everybody dances there is no problem with finding a teacher.

Intrigued and amazed by the performance of one of her friends at a school show, Amelia joined local girls at Legong Dance class. I cannot wait to try it myself…After all, we live in Bali now and it is a part of the life...

To learn the correct position of hands girls practice with little bowls and fans.

Girls practice wearing sarongs but the dances are performed in spectacular costumes and make up. There are several kinds of dances in Bali (I’ll write about each individually later). All of them require lots of precision as there is no room for improvisation. What’s interesting is the importance of eyes in the dance-very expressive and again-precise.

Legong Dance is an expression of beauty so all the girls take it very seriously...

Amelia is practising her hands positions with a fan...

A little play during the break with her friends from Australia and New Zealand who also joined the class.