Bali

I had four events in Bali. The first was at Udayana University in Denpassar. This was a a little different because it was broadcast to two other Universities around Indonesia. Their grasp of the technology is very impressive and it went off better than I bet it would at an American University. There were about 40 people in the audience and maybe 5 to 10 at each of the other Universities.

The Hindus almost never asked about US Foreign Policy. All of those questions came from the TV screens behind me (there were two, one broadcast the other two places, the other screen my powerpoint) -- from Muslim students. The Hindu's tended to ask about our election, the hopes for their democracy, race and american politics, etc.

After Udayana University I had a television interview. They gave me six questions ahead of time. Four for me and two for Caryn McClelland, the Consul General out of Surabaya. The interviewer was the "face" -- I don't think he really knew what was going on and he conducted the interview in English. He plowed right ahead asking questions about Indonesian democracy which I wasn't really qualified to answer and then, predictably, asked me the Consul questions "Will the US build a new Consular Office on Bali?". I said, "That's not up to me, I don't work for the Government". and "Will the US have a consular officer on Bali" and I responded "I'm available, but, again, I don't work for the Government.".

The consul was not pleased (not about me) with the interviewer and the kid lined up again and asked her those questions and a few others.

One night I went to dinner with three (I think three) guys from PKS which is a Muslim political party -- a distinct minority in Bali -- and they said that "tensions had settled down since the Bali bombing'. Tourism is the economy on Bali and so far the people don't seem to resent it as residents in tourist areas sometimes do. So the Hindu majority was angry with the Muslim minority after the bombing -- which isn't fair as they had nothing to do with it -- but still a part of human nature. The site of the bombing has not been redeveloped. When I drove by there was an interfaith group singing peace songs -- but in the standard confused travel world I wasn't sure if that was the site but my driver vaguely suggested in English that it was.

My second larger event was on the other side of the island. The traffic was faster but the roads no wider -- and we went over very large hills in this case so it was always exciting. Very beautiful volcanic island. Around the top there were a number of monkees -- which I, as tourist loser, did not photograph, so you will have to take my word for it.

The University was in a non-tourist area and it was the first place I visited that was large and open. it was very beautiful. We met with the rector and had tea and entered the lecture hall. There were about 130 students and professors -- all of the students dressed in light blue and dark blue uniforms. This is the lecture hall with the offering on the floor. There were a few questions on the electoral college, Obama, race, and one odd question on "nude beaches" but maybe not so odd.

One of the parts of my talk is that Americans, and people everywhere, argue about Money, Security, and Identity. Money involves economic issues; security safety at home and abroad; and Identity questions about who we are as a people. Gun control, gay marriage, etc became much clearer to Indonesians when explained as identity issues because they have a lot of them as well. Both share a mutual suspicion that identity questions are used by politicians to hide failures in the other two areas but any intelligent observer has to admit that identity issues "who we are as a people" are real and important to many people.

So on Bali a lot of tourists sunbathe nude or partially nude and some local people find that offensive. it is a question of 'who they are and can they control that" thus, it has meaning to many people. I suggested that most people look better with their close on and, after a delay for translation, that got a really big laugh. People talk about overweight Americans --- I hear it from Europeans all the time -- but that must be because they have shipped all the fat europeans to Bali.

The rest of my two days there involved trying to run in the heat, getting sick. laying in the sun, reading, and taking my tour with Ratna Haris.

I went for a run along the beach. There just is NO place to run in the cities and the beach had a very nice brick runway that went a few miles in either direction. I hadn't run for two weeks and it was about 90 degrees so I thought I would take it easy. unfortunately, on the way back, I spaced out, and ran right past my hotel. it extended the run/walk by about 45 minutes. Despair set in.