It began early in the morning. Saner, a small village near beach black volcanic sand, was quiet. A cock was crowing. Nyepi, The Balinese New Year by Saka Calendar, was beginning.
Bali, a small spot on the map of Indonesia, is a green and fertile tropical island with plenty of natural beauty ready to be used for the tourist business.
The Island has experienced a series of invasions. In 1500 B.c. people from South India arrived and brought with them. An efficient agricultural system and a way of organizing villages. More than 2530 years later, around 1020 A.D. The eastern Javanese began to influence the Balinese and among other things they introduced the mixture of Hinduism and animism which can still be felt in modern Bali.
The Dutch arrived in 1597 and were at first friendly with Balinese, but this friendship became war which lasted until 1949, when the island became part of independent Indonesia.
The influence from these different cultures was changed by the Balinese to suit their way of live. In 1971 the Indonesian Government expressed the intention of not letting development for tourist spoil the natural beauty of Bali, with so many foreign tourists arriving in Bali; will it be possible for the island to stay the same?
The cock was still crowing, in the distance the sound of a drum and gong could be heard, now two white prayer flags, six meters long could be seen.
The music stopped. There was the sound of singing and that hundreds of bare feet moving along the road. Small boys, in bright white shirts and purple and gold headbands, were leading the procession. Behind them were girls with serious faces carrying of ferings. Then came the adults, including many toothless old women, with hollow check and wrinkled skin. The musicians played again and the procession moved more quickly towards the beach.
There was a shrine made of bamboo poles on the beach. It had been built the night before. The offering of fruit and flowers and white rice were placed on a platform. Beside the platform were the prayer flags.
An old woman approached the shrine slowly, and placed small vases of burning jossticks among the offerings then she moved backwards and, like most other attendants, sat cross-legged on the sand.
Now the pedanda (high priest) began to chant prayers every now and the ringing a small hand bell. He sprinkled holy water over the offerings and when he had finished. People began to stand up and undress, and then walk into the sea. The morning of New Year’s Eve in Bali is the time for ritual washing and purification of the body and soul in the sea.
Small groups of people began drying and dressing themselves. The musicians started playing again and the procession returned through the village. Nearby was the tall Bali Beach Hotel. Most of the Hotel’s guests were still sleeping. However, there was still plenty of opportunity to use a camera. Procession kept on arriving during the day. People from the procession were willing to be photographed by the tourist.
Tourist can also attend temple ceremonies. The biggest temple in Bali is Puri Besakih. Mother Temple of Bali. In Fact, most of Bali is Hindu, but the biggest temple is Buddhist. Religion in this island is rather different from “orthodox” Hinduism or Buddhism. To enter the temple the tourist has to wear a sash and pay a small amount of money to borrow it.
A bare –footed middle–aged woman brought offerings into the temple. She placed the offerings of roasted duck and rice cakes near five small shrines, then when the pedanda came and chanted prayers and sprinkled holy water over the woman’s offering. He went around the shrines. After that the music was heard for a short time, the woman brought the offerings because her husband was very sick and she wanted him to get well.
A guide explained to the tourist that the temple stood at the foot of the Gunung Agung Volcano. Although it is a Buddhist temple, many of the shrines and figures in it are Hindu.
As well as attending temple ceremonies, tourists can also watch cock-flights. Formerly a cock-fight used to have a religious meaning. It was usually held before a religious festival. The blood that spilled during the fight was supposed to be an offering to evil spirits so that they wouldn’t harm people and the festival would be successful. Nowadays cock-fighting does have this religious meaning any more but is merely a sport and there is usually a lot of betting.
On the morning of New Year’s Eve men in the villages could be seen carrying fighting cock in baskets. At the place of the fight, the cocks were turned to look at each other while still being held by their owners. If the cocks seemed angry enough, then the owners would agree to a fight.
One pair of owner was ready, so steel blades were tied to the cock’s spurs. Bets were made while the judges made sure that knives had been properly attached. The men making bets were busiest when the cocks were placed looking at each other, still held by their masters.
The noise stopped for a moment when the cocks began to fight. They collided half a meter above the ground. The noise of their flapping wings could be heard. The crowd shouted as the two birds struggled. The coloured cock was cut on the thigh, and blood flowed from the wound. Then the white cock attacked again. Its blade cut into the neck and throat of the coloured opponent. The loser lay on the ground in pain. The judges instructed the owners to put their birds into their baskets. If the defeated cock was severely wounded and dying, the owner would kill it instantly.
Some tourists asked a guide about the cock-fight. He said that the flights were just for the enjoyment of the owners and tourists, but they did not have any special meaning nowadays.
There are still a lot of ceremonies in Bali, but in his opinion a lot of people in Bali who take ceremonies don’t really understand the religious meaning of them.
The guide said that once wood-carvings and paintings were made for temples and public buildings. The artists did it because they were clever at it and regarded it as a religious, sacred duty. They were never paid, however, in 1930 the first foreign tourists came to the island and everything changed.
The guide added that formerly dancing was full religious meaning, but nowadays it is mostly for the tourist business. In olden days Balinese dancing was part of religious ritual and the dancers were never paid because it was not a profession but merely a religious, ceremonial duty.
Well, what about the future of that “Paradise Island”? Should Bali be kept unchanged like a big museum or an “ethnological reserve” so that a few rich tourists can come and look at it? In this modern day time is changing rapidly and no region in Indonesia can be altogether isolated from the current of world development. It is what is called” The Dilemma of Bali”.
One foreigner had this opinion: Nowadays there are in Bali television and newspapers which include news from the developed world. There are modern hotels and many other things that are usually found in Western homes. The people of Bali want many of these things --- they want a better standard of living. Should the people be given what they want? Even though it will change Bali?
The foreigner thought that the Balinese should be given better education, better heath, more food, cars and anything else they want. The money gained from the tourists who come to Bali should be used for the benefit of the people.
GEOGLOBE
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Bali : The Dilemma of a PARADISE
Thursday, February 26, 2009
The Childhood of SHAKESPEARE
For Many Centuries there had been people with the name Shakespeare in Warwickshire. England. Some Villages contained several families of that name, so nobody thought it an important event when John Shakespeare from a village near Stratford married Mary Arden, a girl from Wilmcote.
No one is certain where the marriage took place because the register in which John and Mary signed their names has been lost. This couple had four daughters and three sons. Only the eldest boy, William, is remembered.
John Shakespeare preferred town life to that of the country. He took his bride to a house he already owned in Stratford-on –Avon) Stratford on the Avon River). He worked as a glove maker but he also sold raw hides, leather, wool and wheat. He even worked as a butcher and some say that hi son William was able to help him.
As his business developed. Jhon Shakespeare was given important position on the town council. His first position was as the official ale tester in 1556. Ten year later he achieved the top position of deputy sheriff.
When William was growing up, his father was an important citizen in a busy market town. Of Course William was proud of his father, who was comparatively wealthy and well known in Stratford-on-Avon. No doubt he enjoyed meeting all sorts of people at his fin house near the town centre.
Because his father was a member of the town council William was able to study at Stratford Grammar School. A very special Scholl that taught Latin and Greek and was attended only by the children of prominent people. His father did not have to pay for his education. This school was one of the best at that time.
Lesson began at six a.m. in summer and at seven in winter, and did not finish until late in the afternoon. Discipline was strict and the teacher didn’t hesitate to use the cane to punish his pupils. There were not many books so the pupils had to memorize a lot. Years later William wrote about a schoolboy walking very slowly because he did not want to go to school.
William’s knowledge of Latin, which he learned at school, was very useful when he wrote his plays. He probably went to church which his father every week because of the Bible and the prayer book. He had a good memory for the sermons given by the priest, but often he could not hear the priest well in winter as he frequently ha a bad cold.
Apart from church and Scholl. The people and the scene of the lovely Strafford countryside were also an important influence in Williams’s life. He learned to fish in the Avon River. Practiced archery, walked through the rich farm land, was interested I hunting and wandered among the tall trees of the forest Arden. All these things, as well as different types of flowers and the customs of the country people in his plays.
We don’t know anything about his friends when he was young, but he made some enemies among the adults in the Stratford. There are stories about what William did when he went poaching and there is evidence that he was caught when he was stealing a deer from a certain land owner. As punishment, William was whipped and locked up. William had his revenge when he described one of the strange characters in his play. “Henry IV” as the same as his enemy the land ford.
When William was bout thirteen, his father’s business was no longer successful. His father had many debts and had to give up his position on town council.
William must have worried about what kind of work he could do.
In fact, two of the Queen’s best friends lived at the castles of Warwick and Kenilworth.
The road from London to these castles went through Stratford. Often the queen stayed at Warwick and Kenilworth. Messengers, knights and court actors travelledthrough his town. Certainly, William must have seen the Queen travel through Stratford during his schooldays there.
Sometimes local towns-people and villagers were allowed into a castle to watch the entertainment held for the Queen. Perhaps William went with his father and saw his first play at Kenilworth castle. Best of All, he would have seen and met the actors themselves.
In those days actors had to obtain a license from an important person before they could perform in public. These players came to Stratford and performed the latest plays from London; Young boys always took the women’s parts in these plays.
When did William decide to become a play writer?
Such a questions cannot be answered. Some say that he was as assistant to a school-master for a few years, some believe that he became a soldier and fought in the wars in Holland. Other says that he traveled perhaps as far as Venice in Italy. In one of the ships that used to sail up the Avon River to Stratford. We know that when he was seventeen years of age he was in Stratford and married a lady seven years older than himself. The marriage was quickly arranged and people say that William did not really want to marry at that time. His wife was Anne Hath away and from this marriage they had several children. In the later were more important to him than his wife.
We know that by the time William was twenty, he was in London, playing small parts in plays. Rewriting old play and learning the skill that he needed as an actor of his life he spent in the world of the theater. However, he never forgot Stratford. When he retired as an actor, he returned to this town and spent his last days there.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
DREAMS : WHAT DO THEY MEAN?
DREAMS are like magical shows that are for you alone to see. Sometimes your dreams are fearful.: perhaps you are flying in the air like a bird, and you feel wonderful. No matter if the dream is terrible or beautiful, it is almost always fantastic. Things happen that could never happen in your real life.
People have always wondered about dreams. Where do they come from? What do they mean? In ancient times, people believed that dreams came from the gods. People thought that Gods sent them dreams in order to tell them what they should do, or should not do.
Over that year, scientist and doctors have studied dreams, and they can tell us that dreams do not come from supernatural powers at all. Each of us creates his own dreams.
When you fall asleep. The part of your mind that works during the day (Which is called the conscious mind) gets a rest. At certain times during your sleep, another part of your mind – your subconscious mind – becomes active. It starts to create moving pictures that you “see” as you sleep. Moving pictures called dreams.
Sometimes the dream-picture is brought about by something that is happening to your body as you sleep. Suppose your leg slips out from under the blanket on a cold night, this might start you dreaming a “Cold” dream. Possibly you would dream that you are dipping your leg in cold water.
Scientist also say that most of our dream-pictures are brought about by things we have seen or done during the day. The mysterious thing is that often the dream-picture is not exactly the same as the experience that brought it about. Suppose you went swimming in a pool one day. That night, you might dream that you are at the pool again. Or the dream might change the poll into a river or a bathtub.
Many times the dream changes and disguises things so much that we do not realize it has any connection with real people or experience. But all our dreams do have something to do with our real life.
Why do we dream? Every one dream ; babies, children and adult of all ages. Because everyone dreams, there must be a good reason for it, just as there is a reason why we eat, sleep or breathe. It was easy to find the reason for eating. Sleeping and breathing, but it has not been easy to find the reason for dreaming. People have been looking for an answer for hundred of years. Even today no one is completely sure, but we have some good ideas.
One of the first good ideas came from psychologist who lived in Austria more than seventy years ago. Dr Sigmund Freud. Psychologist is interested in what makes people act the way they do. Often they help people who are very worried that they cannot live normal, happy lives. Dr. Freud felt that dreams might tell a lot about a person and that he could help his patients get better if he knew and could understand their dreams.
Freud thought all dreams were caused by wishes. As one simple example, he told of how on one occasion his little daughter was sick and was not allowed to have anything to eat all day. That night, someone heard the girl talking in her sleep, mentioning some of her favorite foods, and what would a hungry child wish for more?
As they grow up, most people try to hide some of their wishes, Dr. Freud said. That is because they are ashamed of the wishes, or even afraid of them, even though there is sometimes nothing to be ashamed or afraid of. But the person cannot forget these hidden wishes so they come out at night when he is sleeping. In the form of silly dreams.
Most psychologuists do not think that all dream are caused by secret, hidden wishes.
Some dreams, they say, may be caused by problem or worries that we do not want to think about. When we fall asleep, our subconscious mind tries to help us solve the problem in a dream. Scientist have discovered that if a person is kept from dreaming for several nights in a row. He will become very nervous, and may get upset very easily. They think that are worrying him.
In the last few years, dream experts have made discoveries that lead them to think that dreaming may also allow up to clear useless pieces of information out of our minds. We need to do thos, the scientist say so that can we can make room in our minds for new information and for new sensations we are receiving every day.
This new idea would explain why we often dream about things that happened long ago, Many adults can tell you that they have had dreams about people and places they knew when they were children. These memories were stored up in their subconscious minds for many years, and the dream brought them out of storage, perhaps to make room for newer memories.
Do you dream in colour? Everybody who sees colour, dreams in colour. But it usually does not seem significant enough for you to speak about it. You might speak of a colour when you dream of certain object: you are wearing a red dress, for instance, or you dream you are seeing your sister in her white nad blue school uniform and so on.
Do Blind people dream ? People who are blind from birth do not have dream-pictures as sighted people have. But They do dream. Their dreams are made up of sound, touch, smell and taste sensations they know in their waking life. Blind people who at some time been able to see will sometimes “see” images in their dreams.
Do Animals dream? It looks as if they do. Of course , no one has been able to find out exactly what they are dreaming about. But scientific test have given convincing indications that they probably dream too,
