Liz found her word! Earlier I wondered if she would. I thought that antevasin was the perfect word for her. She is on a constant quest to find out who she is, always ready to dive into unexplored territory. While defining the word, she writes, "He was a border-dweller. He lived in sight of both worlds, but looked toward the unknown" (204). In my opinion, that describes Liz perfectly. She is traveling the world because she wants to explore cultures and ideas that she isn't familiar with. She's in that in-between territory squished between knowing and searching. Do you agree that antevasin is an accurate word? What do you think your word would be/can you define your word yet? I have no idea what my word is. I don't think it's something that you can search for, I think that it has to find you, like it did for Liz.
Another section that I enjoyed was learning about Ketut Liger's life (AKA jolly, toothless medicine man). What I liked most about him was how comfortable he was with the uncertainty of certain aspects of his life, like his age. Ketut evaluates life emotionally, from the way he says that meditation must be joyous to bring joy to the soul, to the way he describes how old he is. I loved this quote: "I've also noticed that his estimation of his age changes by the day, based on how he feels" (239). To me this means that knowledgable isn't understanding everything about yourself, but knowing how you define yourself, or knowing how you want to define yourself. Do you agree?
I just wrote a big long comment and it got deleted. Long story short... I LOVE Ketut, especially the part where he recognizes her. I was so disappointed when he didn't know her, and when he finally did and was like "YOU! I remember YOU!" it kind of made my day.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the age thing, and I think that Ketut seems a lot wiser to me because he DOESN'T put so much weight on age and material wealth. The fact that he bases his youth and his sense of success on how he is feeling that day gives me a lot more respect for him than a person who is rich and young but who might not have as much life satisfaction as he does.
I love the spiritual aspect of the India portion of the book. I think it's interesting that so far the sections on Italy and India have both been so spirituality-based, with many similarities and differences. But as you guys are saying.. I also love Ketut. I think he's my favorite character (are they still called characters in a memoir?)so far. I think his take on life would be a much more fulfilling way to live, rather than constantly focusing on socioeconomic status. His wisdom amazes me, as does the fact that he is a real-life person. I keep reminding myself that these are real-life events and real-life depictions of real-life people. That is one thing that I do actually like about memoirs.
ReplyDeleteI personally think that Ketut is a tourist trap. First, I don't think he remembered who Liz was. She had to describe herself to him and how they met 2 years ago for him to remember. And when he did remember he only remembered the yoga person she was with. That person could have been a friend or colluege of him who brings business to his palm reading location.
ReplyDeleteAlso, he constantly says tell friends to come, because his bank account is weak. I always figured that true medicine men would not be worried about money, yet he always brings it up. I'm sure he's good at what he does, but it seems fishy to me that he is so worried about money and getting more people to come and pay to see him.
Anyone think that Ketut is using Liz? Right when he agrees to let her spend time with her, he makes her read him is english mail. I do not think the there is much in the deal for Liz. He does not give Liz a lot of responseabilty, so I am worried for her. Right now it is like she came all the way to Indonesia for Yoga lessons. I wouldnt be too thrilled.
Liz bribed a cop aswell. There is 0 chance that this is true.