I have now lived on this small Indonesian Gili Air island for about two weeks. Last week it suddenly hit me. I realized that the biggest dream that I have ever had is now a reality. I have dreamt about working under the Asian sun, teaching yoga, and enjoying the ocean view and the perfect weather.
I teach yoga six days a week (about 7-10 hours) in a place called: "H2O yoga and meditation center". I also do karma yoga two hours daily, and this covers my living at the center.
Every day on this island is like a dream to me. I keep staring at the ocean, and I feel like I have to pinch myself so I can feel that this is true. I mean, everything that led me into this situation has been like a dream to me, and it all happened so fast.
On Sunday, 5.8. after being on the island for exactly one month, I talked with my boss about my future in the center, and we agreed that I would continue to teach there for the next 7 months. It would mean that I’d get more responsibilities to also teach on retreats and workshops. I have to admit that after this conversation, I still was unsure about this decision but then thought it’s only 7 months, and those 7 months would be such an excellent opportunity for me. It was all that I had ever dreamt of; teaching yoga daily.
By the cup of coffee, we were thinking about our next move. Or actually, Becci was, I was desperately trying to find my way (flight) out from Lombok to Bali, anywhere actually. Connection in that cafe was so poor that I asked my friend from Bali to help me find a flight. She also told me that I'm welcome to spend some time at her house. Finally, after an hour, I found a flight to Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday night. Meanwhile, Becci had found us a place to sleep the next night, and next, we headed to check that place out. It was a two-story building, and our room was on the ground floor, which made us a little tense because we could still feel the aftershock in Kuta Lombok. We were investigating the cracks on the walls, deciding that it probably is just fine for us for that one night. The real issue for us staying there was actual towels or lack of them. 😉 We asked the staff to bring us towels, and they told us all the towels are in the laundry at that moment, but we would get fresh towels the next day. But when you haven't showered for two days, and you had slept on the cows' pasture, this probably is not the thing you want to hear. And because they were reluctant to get us towels from somewhere, we decided that maybe it's better to stay somewhere else.
The next place was quite far, and it was surely kind of hard to find. It was in the middle of the village among the locals. Once we got there, we were told that they are fully booked. But they told us that in the same yard there was this one house with a room and Becci negotiate a room for us for 150 000 rupiahs. This deal also included fresh towels. 😊 We settled in fully aware of the aftershocks that could be felt under our feet from time to time. And we could only laugh when we realized there is a mosque in the courtyard less than 50 meters away from our house, which would mean the wake-up call around five in the morning. Still, we were so happy that we found a place and that the place was only one story high, and there weren't any cracks on the walls of that place (and seriously, I'll never look at the cracks on the buildings the same way than before).
Before we crawled into bed that night, we placed all our stuff by the door just in case there is a sudden need to leave the building. A couple of stronger aftershocks woke us up from our sleep and got us outside, where also the locals were wondering about the situation. We agreed that maybe we sleep in shifts that night just in case. After 2 AM, we decided that maybe we just sleep. All that we had been through was so exhausting that Becci didn't even hear to the mosque in the morning and I only witness the first seconds of it and then fell asleep again.
When I was finally safe in the hotel room in Kuala Lumpur, I broke into tears. Not only because I realized that I was safe from the quakes (hopefully) but because I didn't know what the situation of some people was, people that I've met during this month. I was worried about boys at our cafe, all of them were always so funny, telling jokes which I mostly didn't get but they always made me laugh so hard. They had such good vibes. I also wonder about boys and girls at Orong Villages, who took care of my caffeine needs, always smiling and asking how I was even if I was just passing by them on the beach. Our pineapple lady Hati, who came on to Gili Air from Lombok every day to work on the beach. The family who prepared my daily curry portion at Warung ZZZ, whose living room was the restaurant "hall." Boys at Musa Cookery, whose "Hello Finland, how are you?" greetings I can still hear in my head. Not to mention all the wonderful people I did not even have a chance to get to know. In general, all the people who worked on the island had families on Lombok, and I can only hope that people that I know are all alive and that they'll get through this. ❤
What does $10 buy you in Lombok?
- One bag of 20kg cement
- Enough food and water for 20 people
- 10 liters of fuel to run generators
- 3 t-shirts.
How to do it? Just click on the link at the bottom of this post, scroll to the bottom of the page and use the PayPal' extras' icon to make your donation. Please spread the love. ❤
http://www.h2oyogaandmeditation.com/4-day-unlimited-yoga-packages/
Keep in mind that even the smallest amount of money could be a lifesaver. ❤