Kadek brought the
bride and groom to greet us. Shy nineteen year old Nopita was tall and
stunning with crown. Last time we met she was a foot shorter in high
school. Her new husband young and shy too. They'll live in
Denpasar. Maybe they already do. She serves, he cooks at Al Dente in
Kuta. We've heard of it. Good rep. I gave him an envelope with their names on it and a card inside with the Om symbol implying the Bali greeting, "Om swastiastu." Inside were congratulations in Indonesian and English and five nice crisp rupiah bills. Then they were off with parents to go
to the family temple and after that a few hours away to Kadek's village for
more ceremony and festivities. Little by little we had been relating to
others near us young and old - Nopita's little sister Lena and teen friends,
littler brother, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, neighbors. It was obvious only two were used to being with foreigners - a cousin gold and silver
jewelry salesman and a driver, both of whom live in Denpasar. By the
time we left, it was all most comfortable and friendly. That's not hard
to do here. Ketut's sister brought us a box of leftovers with lots of
her little batter fried mushrooms that I'd eaten tons of and praised -
she's got a home industry making and selling them. We were off beneath
dark clouds, passing other decorative wedding sites with people spilling
out into the streets slowing us down. A final stop at a market in
Tabanan with hundreds of stalls to get our favorite bananas that ripen
green, mangoes and mangosteen, little green limes, purple grapes good
for juicing. Back home at sunset paid Komang and we gave him some of the fruit from the market and the box of leftovers. Time for a shower.
No comments:
Post a Comment