Well here you go. A little inside information on life in Bali (from the 6-day moderate adventurer).
1. Banana leaf utensils. Before they had plastic on the island, they used banana leaves for everything. Plates, bowls, spoons, straws, etc etc etc. I mean, that would be super cool to experience first of all, but also, the plastic waste is absolutely destroying their ecosystem. It's a real big issue (that's right, real big). Let's solve this problem by using natural resources again, Bali. Come on now. **If you are able to travel there, work your butt off to be as eco-friendly as possible; Bali will not sustain itself at the rate we are going.
2. Watch out where you get your whiskey. It's offered as a greeting in many of the swank hotels, and in that situation I'm sure you're fine. However, on the street- No. No. No. They mix it with methanol, which will kill you sure as the sun comes up. I don't really get this one. How can you make a profit when your product is killing your customers??? Not the best business sense if you ask me, but we were told they do it to try and save a buck. I would advise them to mix it with water, but I guess that's not good enough for the Balinese...
3. Placentas. Umm, yes. Are you aware of the placentas? They don't throw them out, but clean them. And keep them. Every Balinese has a placenta buried near the front porch of their family's compound. Makes you feel all warm and cozy inside, doesn't it? They also don't let their babies touch the ground for three months after they are born as the baby is pure and divine until that point. At three months, it is time "to reach full incarnation of human status" and be named. This site has a poor set-up, but good information if you are interested in further reading.
4. Menstruation. Women are prohibited from visiting several places and doing certain things while on their period. I had read this while researching, but it really hit home when I walked in a temple and a man with broken english said to me, Miss, are you bleeding? I'm sorry, what? Ohhhhhhh, you're serious about the whole period thing, huh. And serious, they were. At the main temples there were signs in english asking you not to enter if you were menstruating. They're lucky I wasn't wearing my hyper-feminist hat and I was able to let this one slide. You gotta' learn to pick your battles, and this definitely wasn't going to be one of mine. So I shut it up, smiled politely and said, No I am not bleeding, but thank you for asking. Tee hee hee.
5. Everyone and their dog has the same name. It pretty much went like this:
Cycling tour: Hi, I'm your guide, Wayan. And I'm your guide, Made (mahd-ee).
Volcano trek: Hi, I'm Made. Let's get moving.
White Water Rafting: Nice to meet you. I'm Wayan. This is Made.
In Balinese culture, everyone is given one of four names, according to birth order. Starting with the first born, it goes: Wayan, Made, Nyoman, and Ketut. If there are more than four children in the family, they simply start over with Wayan on the fifth. This is specific mostly to the island of Bali, and is not prevalent in other areas of Indonesia.
As children they are in fact given other individual names, but without a doubt are referred to predominantly by one of these four. You can read more on wiki if you'd like.
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