Culture lessons

We've had lots of culture encounters lately, most were pretty fun. Here's some of what we saw:

A Stick Fight!
This is an age old tradition here, and we were lucky enough to stumble upon it. The pictures are in reverse order, but you get the idea. The first picture is of the whelps the man got after the fight. They usually leave scars.

The tournament goes on all month.

This guy looks so prideful, I kind of want to beat him myself! Instead of trash-talking, they dance to the traditional music that plays while they fight. This guy was a big dancer.

"I am Spartacus!"

We sat in the VIP seats to watch the show. They stopped the fight to call us over the intercom, "Hey Whities, come around the back, we have a special place for you!" For only $3 we got to sit by the band and get a front row seat. In the shade! It was worth every penny!


Pottery that is exported all over the world starts here.

They fire the pots by covering them with straw and coconut husks.

Then fish them out with sticks and let them cool.

Then decorate them with twine,egg shells, sand, or paint.

The ball is on its way to Pier One! Only we bought it for a dollar- I love a bargain!

We saw a couple parades...

The first one was a Hindu parade with floats that look like monsters to scare the evil spirits away. It's a big deal here, even though only 10% of the population is Hindu. The parade goes down the main road in town, and it is VERY crowded. The day after the parade, all the Hindus hide in their houses and remain completely quiet in order to stay hidden from the evil spirits. If they're not found, they will have a good year.

This was my favorite float, it reminds me of Garbage Pail Kids with the bulging eyes...

The second parade we saw is one that is done before a boy is circumcised. You heard me... This culture waits until the boy is 9 or 10 to circumcise the boys. Then they have a parade complete with a band, video camera, and lots of FOOD. This varies by income, of course. The parade takes place before the boys are circumcised, then a couple days after the circumcision they have a party where the boy sits in a chair, wearing a sarong, and neighbors and family come over and check out the doctor's handiwork and give compliments such as, "The stitches are so small" or "It's drying up nicely." Amazingly, none of these children need therapy once the whole process is over. Apparently they look forward to it, because it involves getting lots of presents.

Caleb watched with our helper, Ibu Murni. I think his bewildered look pretty much describes how I felt when I found out the purpose of this parade! "They're gonna do WHAT???!!!"