Balinese

Anti-social behavior is fertile ground for humor. In America, where sexual expression was for long repressed, sex jokes abound. When Clifford Geertz asked a young Balinese man the funniest thing he could think of, the answer was "A younger being rude to his older brother."

Margaret Mead ascribes to the Balinese she studied an inability to follow complex directions. I ask, "What of her ability to express complex directions in Balinese?"

I went to Bali for temple-gazing, as I was an aspiring amateur archeologist. Also, I had an interest in indigenous languages like Indonesian and Balinese. I looked there for Balinese linguistics books, but to no avail. There were craftsmen, though, who sold Balinese calligraphy written on bamboo or paper. I knew that the carvings and objects in the temples had esoteric meanings, but only experts knew. I enjoyed eating exotic tropical fruits in Bali, as I first tried the "salak" snake fruit. Bali was a Hindu oasis in the largely Muslim country of Indonesia. In a souvenir shop, I met a lady vendor who had an interest in Buddhism. I befriended a hotel worker named Made Budi Artawan, and I had an avocado shake with him in a cafe near my hotel.

A car is taking us to a traditional Balinese dance at a nearby temple. It is on a cliff top with scenic views of the Indian Ocean and sheathed in what the internet calls a “peaceful ambience.”