Rainy Days

It´s raining here in Raglan, a nice steady rain that has no foreseeable end for at least 3 days. The surf is flat, the wind is horrible, and everyone at Solscape has caught a little bit of cabin fever from playing too many card games of "shit head". And it´s days like this, when there´s not much to do, when you can really sit down and think about things.

I´ve been doing a lot of reflecting recently on this trip, I love Solscape and the people here; it really is a home away from home. I have settled into a comfortable routine here, wake up, work, go for a run, surf, eat, play cards, surf, eat, hang out, drink tea, play music, sleep. But the other day as I was running down the beach barefoot, I stopped as if I got punched in the gut. Here I was, on the other side of the world, settling into a "rountine" that felt so incredibly...well...normal. I was a bit frightened by this realization- had I really managed to find normalcy and homely comforts in a place halfway across the world? Isn´t this experience supposed to be stepping out of my comfort zone, to challenge myself with the unfamiliar, to experience a new way of life that´s different from my own? And here I was in my Corolla Ocean Rescue tank running barefoot on the beach, just as I do back home every single day.

I walked into the station house kitchen and started myself a cup of reflective tea. What was I doing here? These things that I have found at Solscape, the things that make me happiest, the sun, the ocean, like-minded people, playing music...these are all things I have back home. But then, i looked around me. There was Aussie Scotty and Estonian Kristi playing shithead in the corner. And Spanish joann was cooking Pi-eh-ya for lunch, talking in catala about his fire brigade back home with the Brazillians. And the Isreali surf instructors outside explaining to the Dutch guys about their mandatory 3 year service in the Isreali army. And the English couple chatting with the Germans about the waves they caught that day, Sabrina was making German bread in the kitchen with the Canadians. And then I realized-although this lifestyle is familiar, these parts about it are so, so new. There is much to learn every day from every person who walks through those doors. and i suppose that´s why I am here. To learn, to think outside of the box, to try to understand the world through many different sets of eyes.

The other night, a bunch of us were outside drinking a few glases of wine and chatting about what we did that day, our home countries, etc. My friend Patrick, a German, offered me a glass of wine. I accepted and told him, "thanks man, that´s really nice of you!" because alcohol is one of those pricey indulgences that I rarely can afford. But he just smiled at me and said, "No problem, we should all just be nice to each other. It makes things a lot easier.¨. And then we all toasted, to being nice. It´s how it should be, really. To be able to solve the world´s problems over a box of goon and spaggetti on toast. Wouldn´t that be nice? Just be nice.