Names

I hate to keep writing about being sick, but, hey, what else is there to think about when you're sick. The good news is that the sore throat and fever have finally gone away. The bad news is that this whole episode seems to have MS to kick in with a bit of relapse. The continued ringing in my ears, as the doc here said, is a neurologic problem, and so likely due to MS. Now, there is also pain from my feet to my ass resulting in a stiffness in gait, and there is also an overwhelming sense of fatigue. So I guess I just have to grin and bear it and wait to see how much of this my system will repair over time. Right now, I'm only good for about half a day, after which I feel totally wasted.

So, I get things done in the morning. This morning, for instance, I went down to Sanur for some decent brown bread, and then stopped by for coffee at a new restaurant. The waitress there was very nice and talked with me while I drank my coffee. There was no one else in the restaurant -- which is common, because there are way too many restaurants and far too few people in Sanur. In any case, I learned an interesting thing. I was already aware that most people in Bali have one of four possible names - Wayan, Ketut, Made or Nyoman. What I did not know is that Putu, Kadek and two other names (I've already forgotten) are the same as the first four. That is, Wayan and Putu are the same name. They both mean "First born" and are given to both males and females. Ketut is second, Made third and Nyoman fourth. However, you see, if the father's name is Wayan, his first born must be called Putu, which also means first. Made and Kadek are the same.

The Balinese also have two birthdays per year, but they don't celebrate them in any big way. This is not considered important. I wouldn't celebrate birthdays either if it meant I was getting old twice as fast as other people.