Three Little People that Make me Smile

There are Three Little People that make me smile everyday. I want to tell you a little about each one so you might get a small insight into these three Balinese people.

The first and probably the most important is Ketut. She is my everything lady ... she cooks, cleans, interprets, and general explainer of the Balinese life/lifestyle. I recently found out how old she is and was extremely shocked, she is 35 but looks about 25, she is approximately 5 foot 3, slight build and has been working since the age of 14.

Ketut is like most working class Balinese women, she has a child and a husband, she prepares their meals, mine and any other family who happen to be in my area of the puri. She prepares offerings for her family as well as the royal family which involves creating a small basket out of coconut palm leaf and then placing inside the basket flowers and leaves and depending on the religious celebration the offering can also include fruit, rice and a much more intricate baskets.

Ketut also cleans my quarters as well as any family areas when there are visitors, her own home as well. She walks to the market every day (luckily it is not too far around 1km), for her family and for me. When she returns from market all the goods are precariously balanced on her head. Ketut is average Balinese woman, it is commonly acknowledged that women run this island. It is a common sight to see the local men in their front yard surrounding by their fighting cocks smoking.

Gede is Ketut’s son, he is two and a half and the cutest and cheekiest Balinese talking little guy. My first few months here he was quite shy with me, but since returning from Australia he has come right out of his shell. He talks, sings, dances and laughs with me and at me.

Just the other day I was teaching him how to blow kisses and when he was leaving with Ketut he blew me a kiss goodbye! He is also slowly learning some English words.

Of a morning if he sees my bedroom door open he comes running to say hello, he tosses off his shoes and comes in to check out what he can play with. He doesn’t have many things to play with. When I returned from Australia I brought back some stickers, for a whole day he sat peeling the stickers off and then sticking them somewhere else. Ketut brought him two posters at the market, one with transport images and the other with animals, for three days he took them everywhere! There are a number of brooms laying about here and he makes a game out of the broom, he wanders up and down the verandah with the broom above his head making noises like Balinese music. Here is a photo of the little guy, I am sure he will make you smile too!

The third little person is Diah she lives with her Mum at the entrance to the Puri. She is four with a really cute bob haircut. She first started talking to me when I found two kittens on my afternoon walk. She came to have a look at the kittens and loved playing with the kittens, although they were not so fond of her. I took the kittens to an animal shelter and for the next two weeks every time I saw Diah she would ask where the kittens were (in Indonesian of course, which I can actually understand!).

Every time I see Diah (I actually should say every time she sees me and she just seems to appear from no where) she yells out ‘hello Pip’, she usually follows up with something else in Indonesian which I some times understand but most of the time I don’t understand! She usually pops her head over the wall and watches me walk up the street usually calling after me good bye or sumpai jumpa, which means see you later. She is such a bright happy little girl and I don’t know why she hasn’t yet started school as they normally would at her age.

These three little people not only make me smile but get me through each day.

I am going to ask something, but please don’t feel that you have to do anything but if you can I would really appreciate it. Diah and Gede come from families that don’t have much, I would like to buy them a few toys that will help with their education, puzzles, balls and maybe some pencils and books. If you have any of the above or other toys that are educational that you no longer want and happy to give please send me an email and we can arrange for the toys to come over here to Bali.