This morning I woke up at the Havilla Maranatha in Padang, West Sumatra - the hotel i wrote about missing a few days ago.
I woke up yesterday in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia and willed the universe to make THIS day better then the one before... the one where i had woken up in Sydney, gone to the airport and been slapped with a $237 excess baggage fee, boarded one of the worst flights of my life, and arrived in a city I'm not crazy about only to deal with a slew of other issues and little chores that just got under my already irritated skin.
Thank GOD i had a hotel room in KL. Usually I opt to sleep in the airport - but that hot shower and comfy bed made a huge difference to me.
I woke up, boarded my Padang flight without a hitch and looked out the window as i flew over volcanos and endless fields of palms and coconut trees.
Before I knew it, I was landing in Padang - exiting through the shoddy customs terminal - who for the first time decided to open all my bags and ask me if i had drugs.
I got to Spice Homestay which was teeming with people. Apparently a bunch of pros have zipped over here last minute to catch these three swells which are rolling in to Indonesia right now. I met Andre, my new Brazilian roommate and Island chef - who informed me that we would not be leaving tonight as originally planned.
This is Indo.
They call it "jam karet" or "rubber time"... nothing happens the way you think it will or on the time you plan for it.
Andre and I had to find a place to stay and I knew just the place. We headed over to Maranatha and got a room which felt like an AC haven from the unbelievably hot day that was beating down on us.
We ran errands all over Padang (a MUST when you are here)... After MANY stays in Padang I have found that if you don't have stuff on a to-do list, you go crazy here...
So my new Brazzo brother and I wandered around Padang busying ourselves with bits and pieces and preparing for our departure which was now scheduled one day late, as he taught me Portuguese.
We made a deal - i will teach him basic guitar, he will teach me Portuguese.
After we went into the Pasar (known as the vortex) and before our massages at the awesome $4 massage place i am obsessed with which would cap our busy Padang day, we stopped back into Spice to pick up a few things. It was ever busier then it was earlier. A group had just returned from the islands and another group was going out.
There was an adorable little ginger snazz baby running around. (something you rarely see out here being that this is not exactly a family destination)... I started talking to the mom who told me she was from california... and not only that... but she lived in monterey. WOW. this is the first time maybe ever in my travels i have met someone from my birthplace and home to my grandparents...
it got weirder.
The husband recognized a story i was telling about my Grandpere - an amazing 95 year old man - read this LLYOV post to read more…
This man not only recognized the story but called my Grandmother, Merryll Cottrell by name - and told me he was Grandmere's opthamologist.
In a living room on West Sumatra, I was sitting with my Grandmother's opthamologist.
My mind was blown. What kind of serendipitous synchronicity was this?
Andre and I returned to Maranatha and decided to call it a night after some nasi goreng and a pocari sweat.
In the room I received a message from soul brother, Paul who was still in Sydney and mega inspired - writing up a storm of poetry… He told me he has written a poem for me and send this:
Dancing on transcending planes
She shares her inner glow
Like the beauty of melodic strains
You bear witness to her show
A thirst for life
Quenched only by things new
Pure energy runs rife
She embodies the good in you
She is for you, she is for me
She is for whoever is ready
A recipe for being free
She plants roots only to stay steady
Some call her their light
Their guide along life's road
Some say they have seen her in full flight
Carrying the secrets to life's code
So complex yet simply simple
And to think I almost missed her
Wings replaced with angel's dimples
She is my gypsy soul sister
----
I basically just sat there totally floored and next to tears, but too happy to cry.
What an unbelievable gift he just gave me.
LOVE.
Upon waking up at Maranatha, I reread that poem and smiled from ear to ear.
Andre and I ran around and finished our to-do list and then went to the guest's hotel to meet the boys that would be our inaugural group this season.
We walked into Plan B - a bizarre hotel with no windows in the bedrooms - and met the boys… and i mean BOYS… a group of 6 super young professional surfers ranging from 15 - 20 and 4 photographer/videographers. (one Aussie, one Brazilian, and the rest Californian or Hawaiians.)
We boarded the Coast Guard Patrol boat called "The Blue Eagle" and found our cots in the steaming hot loud underside of the boat that would cross us from Padang up to the Telos Islands and land us at Surfing village right at surmise.
I woke up to the halt of the engine and came up on deck to find Mario, my dreadlocked Brazilian surfing buddy and new boss. "E ai!" I yelled and threw up my arms…
(two days of learning Portuguese in Padang paid off in that moment)…
The sun was painting the sky every shade of excitement I have ever seen.
Three at a time we loaded into the tiny dugout canoe paddled by two Indo workers and did our best to stay balanced as we came through the keyhole in the reef.
HOME.
The sun came up to reveal a drop dead gorgeous day with huge pumping waves that the boys jumped right into. Photographers set up on the beach, in boats and in the water, placing their ridiculously expensive gear into high tech water housings.
It was game on.
Me, Andre & Michelle (Mario's wife and my mermaid yoga sister/also new boss) unloaded the boxes of produce that had come on the boat, organizing the kitchen and filling hanging baskets with fruit that looked like this beautiful bountiful tropical wonderland of health and wellness and joy.
There is not one ounce of bad vibe in this entire place.
After lunch I took a nap for a few hours - attempting to catch up on the sleep I lost on the boat… Then i gave two massages and taught a sunset yoga class on the third floor of the A-frame restaurant come community house that is topped with a big open room that looks out of every side onto ocean, jungle and magic.
I feel so grateful to be here.
Tonight i will sleep in my little zen zone room I created and vibed out with scarves and tapestries - folding my clothes and putting them in hanging shelves, which is SUCH an unbelievably joyous thing for me.
I have lived this gypsy life for such a long time now - living out of suitcases and in random places - i forget how important it is for me to have my own space.
I will crawl under my mosquito net tonight and sleep in yet another place
5 nights in 5 beds in 5 very different places.
Sydney, Australia
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Padang, West Sumatra
Indian Ocean on board a Coast Guard boat
Telos Islands, Indonesia
And now i am home.
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