Soggy feet and happy times

Yet another rainy day in Bali. My sandals have been soaked for two days straight. I'm sure they don't smell very fresh...but I've long discovered that feet and hands are never entirely clean here. I've made peace with this fact and am actually enjoying the filthiness. It's like a mud bath - and those are good for you, right?

I went to the market yesterday with some friends and had a good time bartering for 'Bali price.' It's amazing how much of a difference knowing some of the language really makes. I suppose the main thing is that we can chat and make it clear that we're not really here as tourists, but as performers/students/etc. This goes a long way. Many people know Cudamani, too, because they are such a reputable gamelan. I think we will have a local fan base when we perform on the 10th, even if they're just watching us on Bali TV.

We are making friends here in the local restaurants, shops and transport. However, we also recently discovered that the Internet cafe that we all frequent has been ripping us off. It's quite funny actaully, for the first few weeks we were all being friendly and just accepting the price they'd quote us. I don't know who discovered it first but you can check the cost on your computer before you shut down and once a few people did this, they found a descrepancy between what they were being charged at the cashier and what appeared on their computer. We checked this out a few more times, and it's true! Now we check the price on our screen and go up and just give them the exact amount.

In other news...I moved to a new place closer to the sanggar and town, etc. I am much happier. My place is huge and clean. It is only $15 CAD a night...two stories tall with a huge bathroom (and working shower!) and two large decks. It's way more space than I need but the alternative was to spend way more for a small, touristy room across the street. My place is still pretty rustic and is nestled between rice paddies on either side. We have the day off today but rather than jet out of town, I'm planning to stay close by and just wander around town and chill out in my new digs.

Yesterday I caught the dress rehearsal for the kecak/Indian dance performance (which is tonight and tomorrow night - I'm hoping to catch both shows). While I was sitting on the grass by the pondok I got to thinking about how weird life is and about how far music has taken me. Sitting in Bali...watching a famous Hindu story presented as a collaboration of kecak with South Indian dancers and musicians (from Minnesota!). It really is wild.

There have been other circumstances on this trip where I've experienced yet another 'new world' in music. We were driving back from the PKB the other day and Anthony (yet another ethnomusicologist from the Univeristy of Northern Ireland) was with us on the ride. He started singing these Irish tunes as we weaved in and out of the insane traffic (motor bikes wedged in between cars between bikes between cows) - it all seemed very surreal.

Anyways...I'm looking forward to completing Michael's piece soon. We only have 10 days until our performance. I think I will need a vacation after this trip has ended! Ha ha!

Ciao for now,

R.

I'm still going full tilt tourist here and making up for lost time. Yesterday a big group of us (doesn't that always make the tourist thing worse!) drove to Kertha Gosa or the "Floating Palace." It was a total bust. Apparently the Palace hasn't floated in over 40 years! We arrived to find a large-ish hut surrounded by a moat of dead, rotting fish (some sections had a small amount of dirty water). I thought it was actually quite funny.

Of course a tour guide inserted himself into our group and began regaling us with tales of Balinese kingdoms long past - at the end of his mostly incoherent speech he stood waiting to be paid. We all chipped in about 5,000 Rp. ($0.70) and he looked really ticked off. It was rather uncomfortable and I was glad when we finally left the sunken palace.

After the "Palace" we took a beautiful, long drive in the mountains and viewed some spectacular cascading rice terraces. It was my favourite tourist activity to date!

Today I (finally!) went to Denpasar to catch a performance at the Bali Arts Festival (aka PKB). We saw the two teen groups (boys and girls) of Cudamani perform. They did great and it was so much fun to be there as part of the group.

A similar thing happened to us the other night when a group of us went to hear the children's gamelan perform Colin's new piece. We were with Michael so all the Balinese composers and judges at the concert instantly recognized him and the whole group received the royal treatment - priority seating (second row!) and on each chair, a little box of "baked goods" (mostly glutinous rice delicacies) and Aqua - bottled water - for us to snack on during the performance.

Meanwhile the standing room only crowd was packed in so tightly they were practically standing on top of one another. I actually felt kind of bad about having the best seats in the house...I'm sure the villagers and parents of the performers would've preferred to be up close - but then again they've probably been going to all of the rehearsals already!

So I think my tourist times are winding down. I'm going to catch the Cudamani kecak rehearsal after I send this blog into cyberspace. Kecak is a type of vocal gamelan performed by a group of men seated in circle - usually there is some choreography as well. In this case the piece is very modern and they are working with a group of Indian dancers. Very cool...this will be my first time catching the rehearsal with the dancers who just arrived a few days ago.

No rehearsal today!!! And I'm not sick :) Last night's rehearsal went well, though, and we've started learning the second-to-last section of Michael's piece. I can't wait until it is complete and we can get into the 'polishing up' stage of things. Our performance at PKB is July 10th.

Hope you're all well...drop me a line if you've got a spare minute. Ciao, R.

P.S. I've booked myself into a swank new homestay in Pengosekan. I will be closer to everything - rehearsals, restaurants, spas (!), etc. I'm moving in on Thursday - only two more cockroachy sleeps to go!

This one time, in Bali...

I am turning into a tacky tourist. The weather has been nice three straight days in a row. The western musicians (or 'Team Canada' as Michael likes to call us) held a meeting the other night to try to organize our schedules and line up some outings together - it has been so "Bali" here with constant schedule changes and very few breaks so far.

Yesterday we drove an hour south to Sanur beach and lazed in the sun and drank boozy beverages with umbrellas in them. It was so relaxing! Unfortunately, after running about in the sun all morning we were almost too exhausted to make it through our afternoon rehearsal.

Today another group of us went to a beautiful temple called Gunung Kawi. It is centuries old with terraced rice fields and stunning carvings in the mountainside. While we were there a village ceremony was taking place (I think it was the temple's birthay - I thought I heard someone say that it is "Odalan" which is the word for 'b-day ceremony').

The only drawback to visiting Gunung Kawi were the tourist shops - they really attack you to buy their sarongs! And they all pretty much sell the same thing. I hate the bartering, but it's expected here. I'm thinking of heading into Ubud tomorrow to go to the market...so I better get my bartering chops on.

There is a bit of a storm brewing in the group. We have finished learning just over half of Michael's piece (it is still very 'bee boo'!) and we're having a difficult time aligning all the parts. The trumpets can't hear the clarinets and the gangsas (gamelan) can't hear the piano, etc. So tomorrow the rehearsal has been cut and we're going to spend the time working out the acoustic issues. Michael is very scattered and tense about it all...and of course the film crew are just eating it up!

Anyways...more later. Stay tuned!

R.

The sun has come out both literally and figuratively. For the first time in four days my stomach has felt completely normal all day (still no appetite for greasy Indonesian food, though). And also for the first time in four days, the sun has returned. Thanks for all your kind comments and emails! I think I'm back into this trip!

Sarah, you were right this has been a highly memorable birthday. I woke up this morning (well, first, to no shower - of course!) and then to our film crew who decided to pay Nicole, Leslie and me a visit at our homestay. We had a good time eating our banana pancakes and goofing around for the camera and then our producer, Sylvia, interviewed us about the project and about our role as women in the group. Of course all the Cudamani members are men (there are no mixed gamelans here) and I'm playing with the boys in the brass section - it was a good fit for the documentary, I guess, but not really something I was dying to talk about. Oh well...our crew is really cool, so we had a good time anyway. Afterwards we just hung out and drank (fresh!) pineapple juice on our porch.

During the filming Jon and my fam called to wish me a happy birthday. It was great! It was such a relief to have a long conversation with Jon without the delay that we usually encounter on the Wartel (rustic "payphone"). After the phone call, our camera guy shot me walking back to my room with a huge grin on my face - I didn't know he was going to be there so it was rather funny.

I never made it to the spa or to the Monkey Forest today...it is so difficult to follow through with plans here! But tomorrow we've booked our driver to take us to Sanur Beach (about an hour south of Ubud). I'm looking forward to some sun and wading on the shore. I'll be sure to take lots of photos.

Tonight we're having Pizza Bagus (Bagus means "Good" in Indonesian!) at the nice house where our clarinetist and his family are staying.

Ciao for now! R.

P.S. I had two cockroach sightings today - the first was a small one in my bathroom and the second was a HUGE one in Leslie's bathroom. It was the length of her hand!!! I've got pics :)

What happened to paradise?

I knew coming on this trip that it wasn't going to be a vacation...but I have to say that I'm probably at my lowest point yet. Michael is relentless with rehearsals and my only day off (yesterday) it poured with rain - sheets of rain!!! - and I spent the whole day and night in my dank little kamar kecil (bathroom) throwing up. Sorry to be so graphic.

The Indonesian food that was so tempting when I first arrived now makes my stomach turn. And you can smell it everywhere. Nothing is going right. And the beauty of Bali is fading in my eyes because all I'm seeing is the bathroom and the rehearsal space.

Sorry to be so depressing. On the upside I am starting to regain an appetite, but only for touristy Western food. I would kill for a bowl of my favourite organic popcorn or a swiss cheese sandwich with lettuce and mustard on grainy bread. I'm sure I'll be able to suck it up and get on with things once my stomach settles for good and the sun turns back on. It is drizzly today and I am typing through water-spotted glasses.

I miss you all. I'll write again soon...my fingers are crossed that it can only get better from here.

Happy birthday, Tyla! Mine is coming up soon, too, and I plan to go to a nice spa for a massage - I can't wait.

Ciao,
R.

Day Four

Hello everyone...thanks for your comments! Keep 'em coming, or write to me at racecar_rach@hotmail.com

I'm still doing well here even though half of the brass section (there are four of us) have come down with "Bali belly." Also, I am once again without water at my homestay. It's almost comical...and yet not. At least I am putting those bandanas to good use.

There are chickens, roosters, skinny dogs, and offerings all over the streets. I took my first ride on a sepeda motor (motor bike) yesterday - very cool. I actually enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Nicole says I have been initiated!

We have had four rehearsals of Michael's piece and things are progressing nicely. We are also rehearsing a piece for small gamelan and trumpet and sax (we performed this piece in Vancouver last spring).

On Monday I will start my pemade lessons with my new teacher, Guste. Later in the trip I will try to arrange some suling (flute) lessons. More on this later.

So much to say...and I did already as this is my second post since the last one I spent twenty minutes of warnet time typing didn't upload properly. As you can imagine, I will not be able to upload photos while I'm here. The internet is slow and circa '97. Hopefully this one will work!

Ciao and miss you all. R.

I'm in Bali!

After two days of travel and over 16 hours of flying, we arrived safely in Bali on Monday night (Bali time). After some confusion at the airport regarding the visas for our film crew, we were transported to our homestays in Ubud around midnight.

I am amazed by everything I see. There is a lovely balcony off my room that overlooks a lush garden of fruit trees - including coconuts and bananas. It is surreal.

The bathroom of my homestay is also surreal - it is filthy and yesterday there was no water to speak of. Apparently some pipes had burst in the municipal sytem because of recent heavy rainfalls. Today the water was back on and I washed my hair for the first time in four days!

Rehearsals are going well. we've had two so far. On Saturday we will have a formal ceremony to initiate the project. The ceremony will coincide with a sacred Balinese holiday in which they celebrate all things 'metal' - this includes the gamelan instruments...so it is very appropriate.

We will wear temple dress...sarongs and selandang (I bought an apple green selandang - like a sash) at the local market. I think having some knowledge of the language (and culture) has made the transition here rather smooth. Plus I was able to strike up a pretty good deal for the selandang at the market using my broken Indonesian.

I hope everyone is doing well...please leave comments for me if you have time. I would love to hear what is going on in Vancouver (or wherever you are) - I am so out of touch with the Western world at the moment.

More later!

Leavin' On A Jet Plane...

We're off to the airport in 30 minutes...next post will be in Bali! Can't wait to see you all when I get home :)

I'm into the "I can't sleep" stage of getting ready to go. I almost never get up before 7 am, but lately there are so many last-minte-details running through my head. Plus I'm still recovering from this cold I caught over the weekend - so I'm a bit foggy and slow-moving.

Wow - only two days to go. I'm still stressing about the trumpet part, but at least I've spoken with Malcolm (the other tpt player) who described the piece as "inplayable by a human being" - that made me feel better...at least we're both on the same page.

The worst part is leaving Jon for 5 weeks - I hate thinking about it. I'm going to miss him so much.

Ok...need to think of the positive aspects of the trip - cultural exchange, music, beautiful scenery, visiting Balinese friends I haven't seen in months and years. Oh yeah.

Louder, faster, higher!

Only 8 days until we blast off to Bali. I picked up the music from Michael a few days ago and have been recovering from the shock of seeing the score for the first time.

I've played trumpet for almost 14 years, but I've never considered the instrument as having a useful three-octave range. I'm quite certain that I do not possess a beautiful sounding three-octave range - but hey there's no time like the present to find out.

Today is Friday and I have only one weekend left in town before leaving. If someone said right now 'oops, we're actually scheduled to leave tomorrow' I would probably be just fine. However, because I still have a few days to go, I will probably spend more money on other travelling goodies that I could otherwise live without. Oh well - it's all part of the fun!