You Don't Stand Up, You Don't Pay

Another KVD guest blog...

This morning Jon and I hit the beach early. Yesterday, Jon met a few Indonesian guys on the beach, and had chatted with them about renting a board. Jon is rocking the locals scene here - people come up and pester tourists really aggressively here to buy things, but since Jon's so nice, he doesn't ignore them, and then once he says "no" a few times they usually start smiling and get into a nice chat together. Here's Jon with Mama Puket, a really funny beach massage lady he's made friends with. She kind of reminds me of Aunt Julita!



So he made friends with these surfer guys yesterday, and we went out to see them this morning. They have a little post set up on the beach near the McDonalds, where they hang out with their boards stood up, available to rent. He bartered for his board rental while I arranged for my first ever surfing lesson!

My teacher was Yam Yam, and he's from Sumatra, another Indonesian island. We started out on the beach, and I practised my pop-up a few times. My board was a real longboard, not a special beginner board, so he waxed it up and then put it down on the sand. I practised pretending to paddle, and then doing a kind of push up and jumping up onto my feet on the board. After that, we hit the Indian Ocean! We went into the white chop, which are the little waves breaking near the shore. He'd pick a good wave and tell me, "Paddle, paddle!", give my board a push from behind, and then I was on my own, trying to pop up and ride it. Here's a picture of me and Yam Yam:



I have a big smile on, mostly because I DID IT!

I could stand up, and rode a few waves almost all the way in. Most tries I got up and then fell a few seconds later, but by the end I was popping up most times I tried, and I even rode a few waves all by myself, without my teacher giving me a push. Woot woot!! Surfer Kir!

Here's a photo of our front yard - isn't it beautiful? On the right you can see a stone post, and it has religious significance, but I don't really know what yet, since I don't understand Balinese Hinduism too well. Well, at all, actually!



I do know what these are though - they're little offerings. You see them all over here, mostly on the curbs and sidewalks, but other spots too. They're about the size of a CD case, and they're made out of flowers and rice and usually a Ritz cracker in a woven leaf dish. It's not considered bad to step on them accidentally, which is a good thing, since they're everywhere!



We're having an amazing time here!