Silent Day

Once a year, people in Bali celebrate Nyepi day. Nyepi means silent. For 24 hours all people stop their activities and the island becomes quiet, calm and peaceful. People fast and ponder their regrets on their mistakes during the year. The day is dedicated to meditation and silence. The airport closes, no cars or motorcycles drive on the streets and no one walks on the streets. There is no electricity used, no work or cooking of food. Essentially everything shuts down. We have to gather our food the day before and can wander around our compound and swim in the pool, but in quiet. The weeks before Nyepi are busy with the construction of ogre-ogre. These are large statues made out of wire, paper mâché and painted vivid colors. They are paraded through the streets the night before Nyepi to help ward off the demons that might be passing through. Then on Nyepi all is silent, hoping to fool the marauding demons into thinking no one is around and they will continue along and not cause trouble. There is an ogre ogre being built at our cottages. All the boys take part and often we hear the kids laughing and carrying on way into the night while they sculpt and paint. There have been celebrations every evening this week. We have been listening to gamalan and drumming late into the night from the nearby temple. The locals are dressed in their best ceremonial sarongs, women often with tall offerings balanced on their heads, pyramids of colorful fruit and flowers. Tonight is the parade of all the ogre-ogre. Tomarrow we will be quiet and enjoy a day of silent meditation, celebrate nature, and the coming of the new year here in Bali.