This week I read "Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese cockfight" written by Clifford Geertz. The story describes Geertz's trip to Bali with his wife, where they intended to learn more about the Balinese people and culture. At first they had trouble understanding the Balinese culture, specifically their traditional cockfights. Both Clifford and his wife are anthropologists that did not understand why the people were so obsessed with cockfighting. But after they observed a fight for themselves and ran from the police just like one of the Balinese people, they started realizing what the culture is all about. They began realizing that cockfighting is something that the Balinese  people did for more than just entertainment, it meant more. Cockfighting is a way of showing your manhood in their society, the stronger your cock, the manlier  you are. The people go as far as to bet large amounts of money on their  cock, not particularly for any monetary gain, but just to get themselves pumped up for the match. It was through the cockfighting that Geertz an his wife discovered the true aspects of Balinese culture. Overall this story was very interesting to me, as it was very easy to spot the differences between their culture and ours. The idea of fighting animals for money in America is very much frowned upon, and only practiced by very few people in our country. The concept of betting money on a fight only for the reason of getting pumped up is also foreign to American culture, as most gamblers in America look only for monetary gain. Overall the read was very interesting to me because it gave me knowledge of a culture i knew very little about, and the way in which it compares with our own.