Ketut Liyer – Visiting with a Balian
Every person in our group gets a palm reading and is told the same thing – you are smart, and you will live to be 100 (after looking at your lifeline). But I got to sit in on all the readings, and there were many other variations. Ketut will talk about some interesting things – your sex life, your work, your need to be married (or not!) and sometimes he will ask you to turn around so he can look at your back. He did not give anyone in our group the kind of invitation that set Elizabeth Gilbert on the path to her enlightenment, “Come live with me here in Bali” but he did say a remarkable number of things that resonated with our guests. In fact, several people said it was the highlight of their trip!
The other thing that was wonderful about the compound was Ketut’s family – one of his sons and two of his granddaughters were there, selling wood pieces the son had carved, and the little girls showing off their school drawings. We were so impressed by the art, we actually asked to buy some of the girls’ paintings, which were extremely colorful and original pieces, and they were thrilled to sell them to us. And outside the compound, a few doors down, was a school with about 15 little boys and girls. We spoke with some of them while we were waiting our turn, and eventually they shyly poked their heads into the compound. Posing for pictures, they grew bolder and bolder, until all of them were hanging, grinning, around the door frame and waving at the American tourists and our myriad cameras.
