Global Citizens

92 year old ikat weaver    Today we visited Tenganan. This village is home to approximately   families. This is one of three places in the entire world in which double ikat weaving is produced. In double ikat (geringsing) weaving there is a pattern dyed onto both the warp and the weft fabric before being woven.  The elder to the right is using a back loom weave. She is sitting on the floor and there is a wooden piece strapped to her back that helps to stabilize the loom as she weaves. It can take up to an hour to weave 1 inch of the double ikat weaving below due to both the intricacy of the process and the eye strain involved with completing this kind of detailed work in low and poor lighting. Double ikat weaver daughter of the elder above  I also found an artisan that did carvings and paintings on palm leaves. He added my name in English and in Indonesian onto my purchase. This now means that I have my name in other languages on things from at least t...

2 year old Komodo Dragon Today was a free day since yesterday we were broken into smaller groups in order to facilitate the indigo dye workshop. So I decided I would explore Ubud and instead of going to the Monkey Forest which I think I will try on Friday I went to the Bali Bird Park.  As part of their programming I arrived just in time for the Komodo dragon feeding. Did you know that Komodo dragons are quite dangerous. I got to watch one feed today and saw two babies.Komodo dragons can lay motionless for hours waiting for their prey. The ends of their forked tongue samples the air which when put back in the mouth is brought to a receptor in the roof of the mouth called a "Jacobson  Organ". They can "smell" food ie dead meat from up to 4 miles away. There are serrations in the teeth that harbor pieces of meat from previous meals supporting about 50 mostly poisons bacterial strains.  The teeth are also carved allowing it to tear flesh efficiently. Their mouth...

copper tjap layered indigo dyeing. Two waxings Today's expedition included an indigo dying workshop and a lecture on Indonesian textiles. The dye workshop took place on a beautiful property that is dedicated to natural dye plants. Our instructor explained how this process worked for the various colors and how it is used in the various villages and communities that Threads of Life works with. I spent my morning learning how to use two different methods of designing fabric in order to create a design. We did some of the design with a copper tjaps( pronounced chop) and the rest with a tjanting . The thin lines in my design are all the tjangting while the gecko, elephant and butterfly were all tjaps. Lunch was provided as part of the morning activities and was a vegetarian feast beautifully wrapped in a banana leaf. After leaving we were transported back to the Threads of Life storefront where we were treated to a lecture on the different communities and villages th...

Our tour guide for the day is Yudah(sp?). He is full of odd and interesting factoids about Bali and Hinduism. He is a wedding singer, a former (19 years) leader in his village, a tour guide. He used his various personas to explaing to us the notion of why god here has multiple names. It is not about there being three different Gods but one who is represented by different apsects Brahma(creator)Red Vishna(Protector)blue/green Shiva(destroyer)white/yhellow Riding down the streets is always an interesting feat here I sometimes wonder if there actually traffic laws :) Besides the whole driving on the wrong side of the road thing :) cars and more often motor bikes are parked at odd angles on two way streets that require right of way and passage for cars going in one or the other directions. Between1-2 am the trucks arrive with fresh fruits to sell at Market for the day. Since many Balinese are still lacking refrigeration in their homes. These open air market places are an opportunity...

Travel is the one thing that you buy that makes you richer. ~anonymous This quote while brief is the epitome of what I keep telling people about getting out and traveling. The experiences that you have while traveling is what enriches your life. The people that you get to meet all teach you something whether about yourself now or a new something that you can take on in the future.So get up go out there and see the world. Be a global citizen.But Henry and I took some great photos while in the terminal as I wandered. 23.5 hours of air time  10 hours of layovers in 3 different countries a 12 hour time zone difference  I get to knock of three more places  Someone remind me to never layover in Frankfort again please. Henry and I took some fun selfies. Henry is the science room dinosaur at the elementary school where my office is that I was told by a mutual friend I was coparenting for the summer so that he could see more of the world. So everyone meet Henry who ...