Made Merte
Made had a job selling the International Herald Tribune to tourists in Ubud, Bali when I first met him.
unch with Made Merta
Lunch with Made Merta at the Hotel Viceroy in Ubud
Made Merta, 20, sells newspapers for a living in the town of Ubud.
For the last seven and one half years from 6 am to 11am, (sometimes until noon) he walks the streets selling three Indonesia papers and the International Herald Tribune.
He finished going to school when he was 12 in Karangasam, near Ahmed, where his parents still live, about three hours from Ubud. His parents could not afford to continue Made’s education, as his father is a farmer. Made had a friend that was selling newspapers and one day the friend gave him a ride to Ubud. Made first got a job for about 4 months in a laundry business drying clothes and then got the job selling newspapers.
He sells the three local papers for .27, .33, and .38 each, making a profit of about eight cents each. The Herald Tribune, which he sells 3-4 per day, he makes about fifty five cents each. There are six other newspaper sellers in Ubud, before the bombs there were 12, but they lost there jobs. Most of the newspaper sellers have always been from out of town.
Sometimes his boss gives him tips and he says of the customers, the only one that gives tips, are the Americans that buy the Herald Tribune.
Made rents a room which is 3 meters by 3 meters for $11 per month and his meals are basically the same as what most Balinese workers eat, Nasi Champu, a rice, chicken dish.
Ubud has changed in last 8 years, Made explains, with many new art shops and businesses. The local market used to be unpaved, he recalls. He also remembering first arrived in Ubud and noticing how different it was to his home village. He tells of his village’s unique traditional dance where the women dance and touch the male with a scarf in order to have a dancing partner. Made likes rock music now and does not have much interest in Bali culture. He only had a limited exposure of Hinduism from home. He has had eight girl friends and currently has three, all from his home town.
He has 2 older brothers one of whom in last 2 years has joined Made in Ubud selling newspapers and the other older brother still lives in the original village making palm wine. He has a younger brother who is still in elementary school
When I asked him of his dreams he mentioned the problems for someone like him of getting a normal job as a waiter or something as almost impossible, though he would “like to be a gardener or something”.
He had never mentioned to anyone before, an experience he related to me. He says that he simply thought nobody he new would believe him. When he was eight he was near his home village, in the country side. It was early evening and he saw a man, whom he describes as a Priest dressed in white fairly close to him, within a meter. The man was walking about 12 inches off the ground. Made claims he watched the man for about 2 minutes and then he disappeared.
It is common for Balinese to have had paranormal experiences, though most Balinese do not talk openly about their experiences with supernatural partly because they are familiar with Westerners skepticism, though this paranormal subject is a large part of the Balinese Hindu culture.
This article is about Made and his experiences with three interesting sightings.
Made’s parents are farmers and the family lives about an hour from Pandagbai and the village is quite far off of from the main road.. I went to visit him while he was on a short vacation from his job as a newspaper salesman in Ubud. He had told me he had seen a mysterious man when he was about eight years old, in a field walking about twelve inches above the ground.
I was interested in seeing the area (see Lunch with Made Merta in Ubud). He met me in a nearby village on his motorbike and we drove for about 15 minutes on a path to his parent’s house. We then walked on to another path, passing a rock that a priest had put a cloth around as the rock harbored a spirit.
Eventually we arrived at the area of the mysterious sighting that Made had reported to me. It was a beautiful view overlooking a mountain range. The town of Ahmed and the ocean could also be seen.
Made showed me the path that he reportedly saw a man walking.
Then more stories were recalled to me; apparently when he was five he was in the same area as the family had rigged an outdoor shower. He looked over to where a tree stood and saw what he described to me as a red monster, a little larger than a person, which soon disappeared. He showed me the area and demonstrated the movements the monster made.
Nearby this mysterious area we also went to see a stone that water flowed over. Made told me he had seen a ghost there when he was 19. Other people in the area had seen the ghost, as well as had encountered the mysterious man that Made had described.
His grandfather had mentioned to Made that the man whom Made had seen mysteriously walking, slept in a place near the path.
We went to see that. Local people were known to sleep there until the mysterious man that Made had seen, told someone in an encounter, that people were no longer to sleep there, as that was where he lived.
