Is it rude to turn down food or drinkat a ceremony?
The culture of hospitality is very important to Balinese, in fact all Indonesians, and you will notice that wherever you go, you are offered all sorts of food and drink—always with a big smile!
This is even more pronounced at a ceremony where often thousands of people are catered for, and as a special guest, you’ll probably be inundated with repeated offers of coffee, tea, water, sweet snacks, spicy food and cigarettes (if you’re a guy: gals “don’t smoke”). Normally, Bali greenhorns make an effort to accept and consume everything to keep their friendly hosts happy, but you’ve got to be a bit wary: sometimes our weak stomachs may not quite up to battling with the new tropical bacteria. This goes double for dishes that can be prepared in pretty basic roadside conditions, sometimes without running water, especially if the ceremony is in a remote village. Red lawar—a trademark Balinese ceremonial dish that’s fiery hot and prepared with raw pig’s blood—is probably best avoided, or you could risk spending the rest of your holiday regretting it.
Basically, be a bit tactful and come up with a wee white lie: “Thank you but, I’m vegetarian”; “I can’t eat spicy food, sorry”; “I just ate, thank you”; or “I’d rather not have ice because I have a cold” (A charming Indonesian belief about consuming ice). The important thing is not to blurt out something like, “Ughhhh…if I have that I’ll spend all night on the flippin’ toilet!”
Food preparation for ceremonies in Bali has come a long way, though, and in most cases is done by catering companies which have pretty good hygiene standards, presenting everything in a cute cardboard boxes decorated with pretty flowers or thoroughly wrapped in plastic—not so hot for the environment but I guess a little safer for our consumption…
Vaughan Hatch has immersed himself with Balinese culture, living with locals in Bali since 1997. He speaks fluent Indonesian and Balinese, and is unashamedly addicted to playing gamelan. A linguistic, archaeology and publishing graduate, he works for indOKiwi ‘linguistic and cultural solutions’ in Sanur. Email him on contact@indokiwibali.com or call (0361) 8427030 for further queries.
