It only took us about two weeks to learn everyone in Bali's first name, and really it probably shouldn't have taken that long. There's a simple naming system that all the native Balinese use and it goes like this: first child is Wayan, second child is Made, third is Koman, fourth is Ketut. After the fourth, the system repeats, so number five is Wayan, number six is Made, etc. For a boy you insert "I" at the front of the name, for a girl "Ni". So if a family has a boy and then a girl, their names would be IWayan and NiMade. As it turns out, though, the "I" and "Ni" prefixes that determine gender are dropped in all but the most formal cases. You might think, "well, these are probably just traditions and they
... read more
