School kids in Bali are full of life, and not afraid to show their stuff. Today on Jl. Kartika Plaza in Tuban, I passed a school that was closing for the day. Young kids dressed in red shirts or shorts, with white shirts, were crowding the sidewalk. Some walked home, some road bicycles along the busy main road, while other caught ride with their parents. Passing groups of boys and girls, they shouted out for a photo, delighted by the fact I would oblige and show them the result.
Ika told me that school in Bali starts at 7am. For 7 years olds, the day finishes at 9am, for 8 year olds at 10am, for 9 year olds at midday, with 1, 15 minute break. After that age, school goes till 1.30 pm, with 2, 15 minute breaks.
You will often see school kids carrying wicker brooms, to clean the school yard and even 7 year old kids, hailing a massive yellow trash container out to the street, for the garbage collectors. Hey, when I was in school, we did cross country all winter long, charging through the garbage dump, so this maybe the Indonesian equivalent. Most kids I see seem to enjoy the school environment and the company of the other kids. Jevon’s schooling will probably be around other mixed kids, and also Balinese kids. I’ll need a ton of money for his education, but I’m working on it.
