More Interesting Cultural Stuff...

This is going to be weird...

The majority of Indonesian babies do not use diapers. At least not what most Americans would call a diaper. It's more like a thin t-shirt material covering the baby's lower region. Now you might be thinking, "That wouldn't stop anything from leaking out." And you would be totally right in that assumption.

On more than one occasion, Kristi has been affected by this. After holding a neighbor's baby, she has had to walk home with a wet shirt or pants because the baby tinkled all over her. Now you also might be thinking that this is a gross, completely undesirable thing to have happen. However, pregnant ladies actually hold little baby boys for a long time, in hopes that the baby will tinkle on them. They say that this will cause them to have a baby boy. Some of our neighbors say this is why we are having a boy, because Kristi was often tinkled upon by a baby boy.

Why is having boys so important for the Balinese? All family land is only passed down to male children. So not having any boys means losing your family land to a second cousin or uncle's children.

So if you come to visit, be careful when holding the babies...