Today in Paradise...

Today in Paradise…

May the somethingth, 2012 (time barely exists here and really doesn't matter much as far as i'm concerned)

I had only tried Stand Up Paddle Boarding once before…

Last year in this very same bay - but my girlfriend Liz and I were out a bit deeper on her then-fiance's boat and the wind was strong… It was actually the day i learned the word "guyang-guyang" which means choppy, wobbly waters.

I have used that word often in the year since that day to describe how i feel emotionally if i am wobbly and unstable.

That day out at sea in the wobbly waters, I found the SUP really difficult and could only stand for a  short while.

If you don't know what a Stand Up Paddle Board is - its a big heavy board, like a fat long surfboard with a paddle you hold on to…

You stand up and and paddle - hence the name.

Today I gave it a go again since everyone except me and the monkey were out surfing and discovered once again for the first time how magical this activity is.

Standing on the water and looking down at the coral I snorkeled through all season last year, I suddenly felt like if there are aliens up there in outer space (which I am still non convinced of)  this is what it must feel like - looking down through the window of the atmosphere and this entire world below.

I looked over my shoulder and saw the island  I called hOMe last year and have returned to for a visit… Togat Nusa Retreat - this incredible piece of paradise that makes the rest of the world pale in comparison. The colors are somehow brighter and more vibrant here then anywhere else on earth - i am fairly certain of this.

I saw the Uma or as i called it last year 'the driftwood castle'…  i saw the sagu palm roofs of all four bungalows.  The first time i came here there was half of one built.

I looked out at the break and saw black dots sitting on boards as the swell rolled through in sets of big glassy beautiful barreling waves… I saw a couple of charter boats and remembered the time i spent on the boat last year… riding these Mentawai tides onboard a ship before shipping out to India to ride the tides of the Ganges.

The same boat gave me a ride out here from Padang the night before last.

Kaimana - which means Ocean Spirit or something awesome like that…

I woke up yesterday morning to the sun creeping in through the little porthole windows in the cabin below the wheelhouse. I stretched and yawned and rolled out of bed, walking up the hallway of the boat as it swayed and purred in the morning breeze. The anchor was dropped and after a few moments of orienting myself I looked off the side of the boat and saw that we were right in front of Pitojet Island… the 12 hectare private island surf camp retreat owned by my dear friends Ainsley and John.

I could barely contain my excitement and practically leaped into the sampan when it pulled up, driven by my friend from Siberut named Toni. We hugged and exchanged brief hellos and then started the drive into the island. The water is like looking through an aquamarine crystal and feels like silk when it leaps up and caresses your skin.

I must have dove in the water 15 times that day so happy to finally be there after a solid week and half of trying to get out of Telos with the guests (typical Indonesian obstacles we came up against) - and then finally made it to Padang only to find that I was stuck there for 8 days. 

Everything happens for a reason I'm sure…

I absolutely LOVE Surfing Village and my Portugese fam over the last 6 weeks I had up there… I was so happy to spend a little more time with Tawney, my Aussie travel companion who came to the islands RIGHT as i came down with Malaria and was there to help me through the healing process…

The ride we finally got out to Padang on the charter boat called "Nomad" was the best crossing I've ever done and well worth the wait to enjoy such a treat…

And my time in Padang was actually really amazing.

I got to rekindle things with someone from the past, see lots of my friends and then go on an incredible adventure up to see the Sumatran Orangutans in Bukit Lawang… raft down rivers… sleep in jungles… play in the forest… eat amazing food and laugh and love away the residual illness i still had from the Malarial parasite.

And finally I got HERE.

My best priMATE, Beaker remembered me as if no time had passed and ran straight into my arms - shoving her little hands under my armpits and cooing and singing as she nuzzled in, sticking her little black foot in my hand, demanding a foot massage.

Jo-Jo the most loyal, beautiful dog in the Mentawais also seemingly remembered me and walked me all the way back along the beach to my room in the new worker house at the edge of the resort…

I had tried to walk through the jungle down Lizard Lane but twice I got lost carrying only my little handphone light… so I opted to take the longer round-about beach way - climbing over and under fallen down trees and through knee deep sea water.

Jo-Jo trotted along side, and just slightly in front of me as though he was truly escorting me.

He slept at the foot of my bed and when i woke up this morning, he escorted me the same way back to the Uma.

Ainsley is working hard as ever and making Togat Nusa better then ever (which is difficult being that it is practically perfect in every way as Mary Poppins would say)… She played me two of her songs tonight as the sun was going down and painting the world tangerine and turning the ocean silver and lavender… and I remembered the words to her songs as i heard them again after 8 long months i spent in Thailand, Malaysia, India, England, USA and Australia. I remembered these beautiful songs that perch on your heart and make you feel every word. Her smash hit single "temptation" should definitely be recorded.

I played her a few of the songs I have written lately and she was actually legitimately impressed with my progress on the guitar since studying with Baba Aaron in India and my dedication to practice since then.

I also got to catch up with Yona, the bartender and Mentawai magic woman that I befriended last year. She makes me so happy.

The new chef from Bukit Tinggi turns out gourmet meals every lunch and dinner with the help from Masseuese and Yoga Ninja, Miwa - who is the most grounded, beautiful woman of all time.

Tonight Miwa made the most amazing ginger salad dressing I have ever tasted and for desert we had fresh sweet pineapple,  a chocolate and coconut layer cake, and frozen chocolate covered bananas.

I wore a red hibiscus behind my ear the last two nights and one of the guests told me i was a really pretty girl - which as simple and sweet as that is… really kind of touched me and made me feel so good. I felt good paddle boarding… I breathed deeply and rocked the hibiscus behind my ear because I wasn't even gonna fall in. My hair never got wet until i finally carted the board out of the water (You really need a caddie for those things)… and ran back to dive into the sea.

My heart keeps wondering whats going on up north at Surfing Village… I miss them too.

My heart is always stretched between worlds.

About to fall asleep on my second night here - i already feel like i have been here for months again.

I love this place so much.

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I fall asleep on cabernet sheets under a mosquito net - lulled into a vivid dreamland by the sounds of the jungle… chirps and squeaks, snaps and coos, always squaring off to the lapping waves creeping up to the sand around the island.

I wake up at sunrise and practice yoga with John E and Miwa in the newest bungalow that I hadn't even seen since it was a shell last October, before JohnE and I took off for India.

It feels like a million years and ago and just yesterday that we explored the North of India together, wrapped in Tibetan yaks wool blankets freezing to death under colorful prayer flags.

After a few cups of post-yoga coffee and finishing my book "Mao's Last Dancer" about a ballerina in Mao's communist China…  I grab the Paddle Board and once again head out to look down through the crystal blue waters like an alien looking down at the intriguing, beautiful world below the surface.

I paddle all the way around the island. I used to paddle around on a surfboard to try to get my surfing muscles working, but I have given up on being a surfer. I don't do very well with failure and being bad at things, so I decided to stick to the things that I am actually good at this season.

Standing, breathing and watching the underwater world ripple through the tides that dance across the surface I am standing on while chanting "OM MANI PADME HUM"  as i circle the island?

Ya.

I think I found something i am good at. (Not that you can really be bad at it)… but i found this beautiful meditation out there today and upon returning to land, my muscles are actually already sore. Its more of a workout then you think paddling around like that.

I started a new book today called "The Hunger Games" about a post-apocalyptic world…

I have been finding myself thinking about an apocalypse often lately.

It doesn't necessarily scare me.

I'm not sure why.

I think if there is going to be an apocalypse (especially if Dec 21, 2012 means something like that) - I am doing exactly what I should be doing…

I am living my life to the fullest - seeing the world - living and loving and loving living every moment.

And starting in a matter of months I will start training to be a nurse and be able to actually help people who would need nursing were global disaster to strike…

and if nothing happens and its all Y2K all over again - I will be able to go to Africa and help children with Malaria - the nasty disease I fought off last month - and in time, i will build my wellness lodge/organic farm/retreat center somewhere beautiful…

Though i am quite sure that I will never be blown away by the beauty of anywhere on earth after having the privilege of living here at Togat Nusa.

I freaking LOVE this place.

So so happy to be here! :)