Yoga at Glenn's

I’m staying at my friend Glenn’s property. (Thi is the view from his balcony). His round house sits pretty in the middle of a 4000Sqm property dotted with palm trees and with a neighbouring plot of land that is, curiously, the home to 2 goats – the only ones I have seen on the island, and must admit, have dreamt of savouring for an oven roasted dinner, Ay gulay!!!!!

The house is not built on stilts but is the typical house built one floor above the ground, for no other reason than to have unbeatable views of the waves crashing in onto the Clou9 reef from the balcony. I must admit, whether you surf or not, waking up and looking out onto the water with a cup of anything liquid in your hands (in Glenn’s case a Red Horse beer will do nicely!) is perhaps one of the most soothing and motivating ways to start the day.

So after a bit of TLC, the ground floor underneath the house, usually reserved for drying laundry or parking motorbikes in the shade, has become the venue for my sunset yoga class. It’s perfect and offers me the excuse to do some house-work. I reckon I am one of theose weirdos who find sweeping and mopping to be somewhat sedative. Maybe it’s the physical aspect of it, but I’ve taken nicely to cleaning the area daily before the class, plus it gives me something to do during the late morning when the tide is low and I cannot swim. I much prefer this to hand washing my dirty laundry. Water is not very abundant here – it’s not uncommon to walk past people filling buckets with water at the local pump or well.  I had never stopped to think about anything other than the convenience of a washing machine’s capacity to ‘plug and play’ but apparently (comparatively speaking) they are quite water intensive which is why hand washing is the predominant if not the only way to do laundry here. Yep, large basin, washing board and bar of soap… off you go. So I decided to do it myself. It’s not expensive to get it done and the local women will gladly earn some extra cash from it. I suppose I just felt the need to try it out myself…perhaps the guilt of paying someone to clean all my dirty laundry by hand no less… and I’ve grown used to doing a lot of washing… I don’t know. I felt a certain curiosity to try out the washing board too. I had never tried one before and figured it might make the task easier on a newbie like me. As it turns out, I ended up with 4 blistered fingers and leaving the clothes to soak way too long in the water. Instead of that fresh laundered smell I was so looking forward to, I was left wth funly smelling clothes that needed to be washed again! There is a certain technique and art in hand washing, I know that now, and for only 100 or 150 pesos (3 euros) it certainly made me not take my fresh laundry for granted anymore. There is a reason why people stick to doing what they do best, and so they should. I am far better off sweeping and mopping… and paying for the experts to do the laundry, especially if it helps them earn a living. 

Life on the island is traditional. I am not sure whether the challenges of not having everything at your fingertips (except for the internet!!) and returning to a more traditional lifestyle - that interestingly makes me value those mod coms even more - is what draws me so much to this place. Or perhaps it is nostalgia for times past. I suppose while I am here I am reminded of my childhood, from which I have very happy memories. It’s seeing children playing in the dusty road unsupervised, using a coconut tree trunk as a trampoline on the beachside, riding a carabau water buffalo into town or dancing over an elastic (two kids stand apart opposite each other, holding a round elastic band with their knees, while a 3^rd kid sings a rhythmic song and dances on the elastics). I feel reminded of simpler times, of when I was growing up and entertainment meant using your imagination with what little you might have. It was carefree, un-adultered fun. Maybe it’s not nostalgia, but escapism.  I am not negating the value of my life until now and everything I have lived and learned. Had it not been for that I would not be here now, which is why it is funny. After everything I’ve experienced, I seem to be walking a path to a far simpler life that I was not able to see made me so happy until now. Taking the long route has been the fun part, because whilst all roads eventually lead to Rome, some are surely more scenic and exciting than others.