Meanwhile, here is a photo I took during dinner two nights ago in Bali, Indonesia. Five Balinese musicians, dressed in Green t-shirts, belting out a fine rendition of "The Wild Rover". What brings these gentlemen to dedicate their professional lives to playing Irish folk music every night of the week, I don't know. Is this a sad case of the worst side of globalization, or is it something to be cheered and celebrated? Like I said, my head is spinning, and maybe it isn't just the jet lag. All I know is that on Thursday night I had a great time on a tropical island in Indonesia, and by the end of it these Balinese musicians had me longing for the wind and the cold and the lashing rain of the country that reared me - Ireland.
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| Bali's The Leprechauns |
jet-lag...yes, it's a hard one, and you must be quite jet-lagged if you long for Irish rain and cold... have a panadol and a good night sleep, you'll have clearer ideas... :))
ReplyDeleteDon't worry DeeBee - it was a very fleeting moment of nostaglia that I experienced.
ReplyDeleteGood question about globalization. I remember being in Munich at a restaurant with requisite oom-pah-pah band made up of young adults "doing" German in lederhosen for tourists and seeming not so crazy about the whole gig. Local or global,profit rules! One hopes the Balinese "Irish" band loved the music.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back! I hope your jetlag is a thing of the past now! I have always wanted to visit Bali, hopefully I will one day.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it strange that we can go to the most exotic locations but there are often these signs of globalization and multi-culturalism? Perhaps it is that the locals take their culture for granted? I know we used to love Irish pubs in Johannesburg; they were all the rage in the mid-90s.
Hi Emm, I hope you have partaken in the pleasures of an Irish pub in Ireland. They have improved since they've become smoke free.
ReplyDeleteHiya! Yes, I've been to Limerick and Dublin before. Smoke didn't bother me in my 20s but I am so relieved that it is banned now as it began to bother me in my 30s.
ReplyDeleteI love Ireland and Irish people. It almost broke my heart to leave the first time.
that sounds like a slightly surreal experience!
ReplyDeleteIt felt surreal indeed. But in the west we are used to appropriating non-western cultures and we consider it normal to play non-western music. In fact we think it is cool.
ReplyDeleteWas just looking through your posts with interest
ReplyDeletecame to you via the Hattatts.....
was fascinated by the Dutch footage from WW2.
reminds me of a post ww2 film by Humphrey Jennings: A Defeated People
that I managed to summon up at the Imperial War Museum when doing research.
Anyway your travels fascinate.
Thanks Elizabeth. I'm happy to hear you have found something of interest here. Thanks again.
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