Celebrating Sexuality

Rounding off the Nyepi (new year) holiday, our final evening in Kalibukbuk Lovina was spent at a beach party and dance. We met Nicholi and Judyth for dinner in town, and then headed to the beach. Dinner was great, I had classic Satay (peanut sauce with chicken or vegetables and rice) and a Bintang beer for about 3 bucks. We discussed travelling a lot,and learned more about Holland and Utrecht! Maybe I'll headover there at some point...
So at 9pm at the beach we paid about Rp 2,000 (almost 20 cents) to hang out with the townspeople by the water and in the night market/festival party extravaganza (whatever you want to call it). The scene was sort of a cross between Lost Boys (great movie from childhood with Keifer Sutherland if you haven't seen it) and The Beach.
A man sitting by the stage area next to the beach offered us tickets to "the dance" for about 3,000 each. We declined, thinking perhapsit was a scam (we already paid to get in!). Well, we found out soon what we had almost purchased - I wish someone had made the mistake.
The highlight of the night is the dance ceremony. It begins with a musical introduction - about 12 old men on the side playing an assortment of strings, drums and bells, all in traditional Hindu garb. A young girl then comes out dancing to the next number, to the roar of the crowd - the entire town has gathered. She is dressed like a traditional Hindu Princess (think Aladdin) and dances in an elaborate and colorful jewelled outfit with a gold fan. There are a lot of precision hand movements and talented hip thrusting. Basically every young man in town is starting to go nuts for these girls, who begin coming out one at a time, and you can feel the energy building. Finally, they literally start calling numbers (the dance tickets!) and individual men delight in taking the stage to attempt to dance with the girl. We found out later they had been bussed in from the next town. So it is a bit of a funny scene, the girl teasing the guy while he makes a fool of himself in front of his friends and family. But after a while you start to realize it is a bit obscene, not artful. The guys try to jump all over the girls and force them into sexual positions, etc., while the crowd roars. Needless to say, the people are not as quiet and reserved as I would have expected in Southeast Asia. It was great spending time with our Dutch friends, and we hope to rendezvous again in Bangkok.
We are now in Kuta Beach, probably the main attraction in Bali. We decided against travelling to Lombok and the island for lack of time. Kuta and Legian (next beach over) are the prime spots for surfing - huge waves incessantly pound the shore. We are burnt and tired, but happy, after renting boards for 2 bucks all day and pretending to be Laird Hamilton (I barely got up at all, obviously, because it was so damn hard just to swim out there).
Kuta is a massive town, lined with name brand shops, McDonalds and 7-Eleven - feels like an 80's movie beach town - but still retains the authentic Bali flavor, especially by the beach. Sunset by the expansive beach here, as hawkers push carts past and women attempt to sell you homemade jewellery or massages, is gorgeous. Plus our room is only 40,000 (almost 5 bucks), half of the Lovina spot. What continues to amaze me is the sincerity of the locals' attempts to get to know you. It's like they want cater to tourists, yet haven't lost their sense of pride and hospitality. I hope this trend continues. Last night we had a great meal at a Japanese restaurant, and recieved a dish on the house after hitting it off with the waitress, who was from Lovina.
The bad part about Kuta is the tourist infestation - I've never seen so many blonds in my life (not a bad thing, I suppose). But there are relatively few Americans, probably because we are one of a few countries that actively scares our citizens into staying away from here and elsewhere. Thank you Dept. of State, for striking fear into my mother's heart. We are surrounded by Aussie's, British, French, and Japanese mostly. And many, many surfers.
Tomorrow we'll head to Ubud, the cultural mecca of the island and supposedly the best food. Wednesday we leave for Singapore.