Arak Attack

One of the great things about traveling with my Dad is that he always is willing to take a drink out of any old scary looking moonshine bottle that is offered by a local which led to one of our more interesting cultural introductions. Yesterday while we were waiting for our transport to the next town we spent some time napping on this elevated shrine pavilion in the center of the losman where the members of the household where I was renting a room lounge about during the day. They were in the midst of decorating it for a birthday celebration the following day. Dad pulled out his can of Grizzly Green (one of the cans I bought for him before leaving on my trip... got to love the looks the grocery store clerk give a girl buying chew) and offered some to our host, Raka. Raka then pulled out his bag of loose chewing tobacco, which had a leaf of some sort in it to keep it moist, and offered some to Dad. Soon Dad offered Raka a drink of the bottle of Arak...locally made wine which we'd acquired in a second hand bottle from an old rice farmer who wanted to marry me ;)... Our host proceeded to tell us about a drink he keeps for special ceremony that has been brewing (with additions) for over 15 years. The jug he retrieves has floating in it a pig embryo, both crocodile and goat penises, baby snake and some other untranslatable creature. The special wine is meant to help men strengthen their manly functions (primitive Viagra). At this point Dad can't refuse a sip of the sacred substance, even though the floating creatures are nasty looking. When we told the story to an American expat who has been in Bali for a decade, he thought the locals were pulling one over on us. Then he asked some locals about it in Balinese and they confirmed it is an old traditional recipe. We had also mentioned it to some other locals and they were aware of it and surprised that our host would let us try it. Thankfully Dad has a stomach of iron and a sense of humor of gold.