-^-for posterity-^-

we went to tiger island again. well, it was the first time for my family but it was the umpteenth for me. it’s really a beautiful place.

we stopped and talked to a number of people. we stopped and admired some incense makers. we were invited in for tea.

all along tiger island there are small stacks of incense drying in the sun. the sticks are yellow and red and vibrantly contrast with the gravel road. there are also large parts of the road covered with green leaves. the leaves are used to make the incense.

an old man was sitting inside of his wooden stilt house drinking tea and smoking. he had a wrinkled forehead and a handful of yellow teeth. across the road there was a small, rectangular hut where five girls rolled the incense sticks. the girls all smiled and yelled hello.

the man said that he was one of nine children. he had lived on the island for all of his seventy two years. he then got married and had eight children of his own. he said he was lucky and tired. he kept pouring tea and talking to my mother as if she understood him. i rattled off a translation as he talked. he really acted as if there was no language barrier which was slightly disturbing. the girls soon left their incense rolling stands and came over to watch us.

the man explained the incense making process. first you take some leaves and dry them. then you pound them into a greenish pulp. then, somehow, you dye the leaves yellow. then you mix it all with water (maybe you dye them after you mix them with water). this forms a dark paste that looks and is treated like pizza dough. then the dough is rolled onto small sticks. the sticks are bought from another island that specializes in making small incense sticks. they are bought in huge bundles and the man told my mother that they were very, very young. he assured her that they were young. the sticks are left to dry and then are burned and the smoke carries the prayers up to dead ancestors. this man and his family were doing holy work.

mom wanted to buy some and the man conceded. he said that he didn’t normally sell incense in such large quantities but that he would make an exception since he never had any foreigners come by. she bought one kilo of incense (that amounts to a huge bundle that couldn’t be rationally burnt in two years) for seventy cents. we all smiled, said our goodbyes and went away.

they tried to have me or jason marry one of the girls but we were too tired from our long trip and couldn’t be bothered to marry someone in the heat of the day.