In 2016, I had the opportunituy to go to Bali in Indondesia. It´s touristic, majestic, Hindu and far away from the Western Hemisphere. One of the reasons so many people to visit Bali is for the rituals practiced there. Now, when I think of some of the rituals I was able to participate in, I remember the smells.
Tanah Lot, Balí
I don´t want to feel like a human who is only from the 21st Century. I want to remember, consistently, a sense of ancientness in my life. Of all the times before me that I don´t understand.
Back in the the midwestern US, my great grandmother (the mother of my mom´s dad) created a sense of home with a signature coziness. Sadly, I never got to meet her, but I have inherited how she dug her fingers deep into the sand of home.
In honor of her, the Peruvian Catholicism smells and bells surrounding me, my island visit to Bali, and everything else, I am constantly seeking comforting smells. I have lit things on fire all weekend during this weekend in Lima conjuring smells of the past.
Here you are, Anna.
