Bali By Myself: Tentena, Week 4

Where has all of my anonymity gone?

Among other things, this week I’ve had to closely examine how I would fare as a celebrity, public figure, tabloid sensation, pop culture princess, et cetera, and I have learned fairly quickly that, basically, I would not.

Places I don't like to be disturbed: My porch in the morning.

For example: When I’m sitting on my porch at 7:15 in the morning, bleary eyed, still bitter about my rooster wakeup call, with my hair standing up in all directions, my harem pants on backwards, and my first sip of coffee barely consumed, do I want to look up and see you snapping papparazzo shots of me from a far, grown man from Palu and your adult brother? Nope.

Or, after a long day in a hot room attending the opening ceremony for the new cohort of the Women’s School, am I able to handle 100+ females rushing me at once throwing cameras up in my face and draping their sweaty bods around my own sweaty bod in forced attempts to get me to pose for pictures they did not ask permission for? Sure not.

It’s hard to walk many places in this town without locals stoping and staring. “White person. Where are you going? Where are you from? Married? Hello Mister!” Sometimes, I really don’t want to talk. I recenlty listened to Alec Baldwin’s Fresh Air interview where he discusses the perils of being famous in New York City. He says, It used to be my worst nightmare to become one of those Los Angeles actors who never touch ‘public ground.’ Some celebrities, he says, walk through their bathroom, to their living room, into their garage and don’t get out of their car until they get to valet parking. That wasn’t the life he wanted for himself. In New York, though, it’s no longer possible to walk outside without encountering the ‘illegitimate press.’ He understands now the way the LA elite live.

Alec Baldwin, Preach. Sometimes, all it takes is a little trip to rural Southeast Asia to up your LiLo sympathies in ways never before imagined.

SPEAKING OF THE WOMEN’S SCHOOL.

The opening ceremony was lavishly held in Poso this week.

Ibus Masna and Lina. Facilitators/"Agents of Change" for Sekolah Perempuan at the Opening Day event.

The Women’s School (Sekolah Perempuan) is the initial project to come out of the Institute Mosinuwu. In the wake of the Poso Conflict, Lian’s vision was to implement curriculum covering a wide range of topics that could educate local, interfaith women in ways that would enable them to become future “agents of change.” The Women’s School was the effort that initially piqued my interest in this place and drew my attention to Lian’s work.

This week marked the induction of the 2^nd class of participants. Approximately 100 women from nearly 20 villages gathered with us in Poso City to get an official welcome, meet all the facilitators, sing “I’m a Little Teapot” and particpiate in other not-necessarily-intuitive icebreakers, and break off into their geographical locales to familiarize themselves with their new learning communities. It also marked the first ever time I’ve attempted to collect my own data. (You can read about those efforts HERE.) Pictures from the event are below.