Plevyaks in Bali

It's great to have guests.  We get to share favorite things and find new things to experience together. John's dad and sister joined us and almost as soon as they had dropped their bags we whisked them off to Tulamben for some scuba diving.  Sunday we took a slow route home and visited Tirta Gangga and a cool dam.  Rams also did about 6 hours of homework squeezed around the fun. 

I have been reading a non fiction book, Devil in the White City, about the building of the Chicago World's Fair, and a serial killer...  in the book, the author describes the hiring of Frederick Law Olmstead, designer of NY City Central Park,  to design the landscape of the World's Fair.  "Olmsted valued plants, trees, and flowers not for their individual attributes but rather as colors and shapes on a palette. Formal beds offended him. Roses were not roses but “flecks of white or red modifying masses of green.”' I realized I had not shared anything of our last day in New Zealand.  We visited a botanical gardens in Hamilton and it was striking for its many examples of landscape as a works of art.  There were multiple themed gardens (it was hot, so we only saw a handful).  One surreal, one Mondrian-esque, one perfect for a Chinese Scholar, another fit for a Gasby party.  The Egyptian one, we thought was especially fine. ...

 The Green School is excellent at offering parents opportunities to learn new things. Today, I learned about Galungan,  a Balinese holiday celebrating the victory of dharma over adharma (similar to good over evil). It is also a time when ancestral spirits visit the Earth.  When one has their ancestors visit, tt is only polite to put out a welcome mat  and offer them food.  To those ends, we made a traditional Penjor and four Banten Tegehs.  I think Galungan is similar to The Day of the Dead, except the ancestors stay for a week and leave after breakfast on Kuningan. We also learned about Nyepi.  Nyepi Eve features parades with the giant Ogoh Ogoh I mentioned earlier.  Nyepi Day is the day of Silence. The entire island shuts down, even the airport and cellular services, and spiritual police make sure their Banjar is in compliance.  Balinese spend the day with their families and do not work, cook or even use electricity.  Some fast, a...

Another weekend with LOTS of homework.  We opted not to do an overnight adventure.  Instead we got a driver and went North just 30 minutes to the gorgeous Taman Ayun Temple.  Just next door is the cool Ogoh Ogoh Museum that displays statues created for the prw-Nyepi parades (think Hindu Mardi Gras)  Next a stop to Pod Chocolate for a tour and tasting.  Finally the Bali Butterfly Park.  John has a hurt foot and stayed home, but joined us for a delicious meal at Uluman Eco Resort.  

John and I heard of a cool bar South of us called the Iron Fairy.  It is a 20+ club so we left Rams at home and checked it out.  Clubs here don't get really hopping till 9 (and that's our bedtime) so our 7 pm reservation allowed us time and space to check out the cool interiors, and have a couple low octane drinks.