Hi Gram,
I didn’t sleep very well last night. I ate a cracker in the evening and started feeling like I was going to throw up shortly after that, and woke a few times throughout the night wondering if I needed to run and find a receptacle. Noting came of it, but it wasn’t a restful way to spend the night. I woke up this morning and threw the rest of the package of crackers in the garbage. I can’t see how a dry cracker could upset my stomach, but no sense in risking it. Once I got downstairs, my roomies had cut up the mango so we all enjoyed a light breakfast and talked about our day. We decided to go to yoga barn in the afternoon, and we’d each get a little stuff done for ourselves before that. I headed upstairs to do some stuff on the computer while David sat through an online course. Ashley came up and asked if I wanted her to take some laundry for me and we decided to both walk over there. We had a little trouble finding the place – addresses here are unreliable – but got everything dropped off and decided to reward ourselves for the hunt with a milkshake and a lassi. I learned today (I probably already knew this, but it was news to me) that a lassi is a yogurt-based drink while a milkshake is made with ice cream or milk. We got back just in time to head out for yoga, so we gathered David and grabbed a Grab.

At the yoga barn, we signed in then found out that Amy and Stacey were there! We chatted with Amy about some post-retreat options while we enjoyed our pumpkin curry. That girl tries SO HARD to make everything perfect down to every last detail, I think she overdoes it sometimes… but if anyone can pull off perfection, it’s her! We’re all so lucky to have this paradise retreat coordinated by someone who cares so much. After lunch, she dashed off to get some more work done and we headed down to sign in for our classes. Dash (I’ve decided to give them a cute couples name instead of typing out both names every time) decided to do a sound meditation while I did the beginner yoga class. I was a little nervous walking in there, seeing so many fit, skinny youths milling about. Was I going to embarrass myself? Would I fit in? I grabbed a mat and props and found a spot on the floor, positioned all my stuff, and did some basic twists and stretches to show that I wasn’t a newbie. The instructor came in and encouraged everyone to fill in the gaps and move forward, then got started.

I have done a lot of yoga, at least for a middle aged white guy from the Midwest. After my accident, Taneva pushed me to do yoga every day to help regain strength, flexibility and balance. Since then, I’ve followed along with some YouTube videos, sat in some classes, and done yoga with friends. This class, however, was arguably the best class that I have ever had. The instructor was encouraging and cheerful in an authentic way, he enunciated his words and explained each move slowly so we were all able to follow along, demonstrated if something was too new or complex, came along and adjusted each person as needed, and led us through a flow where each of us could challenge ourselves as much as we wanted without feeling incompetent at one end of the spectrum or bored at the other. I peeked around the room a couple of times when my pretzeled body was at an angle that allowed me a view and it looked like everyone was in sync and following along. Before I knew it, the hour was up and we were all lying prone and relaxing. This guy was so good at leading the class, I even chanted along with the “ohm” and “namaste” without feeling silly.

I put all the props away, chatted with a couple of the students about how we all enjoyed the practice, then I headed down to lounge around the center waiting for Dash to finish so I could hear about their experience. I went back to the cafe and ordered a ginger root beer, found a table with a square bean bag thing to lounge against, and just chilled TFO. Soon, Dash came out and we found each other, all of us excited to tell about our experiences. I finished my drink and listened to David recount his experience while Ashley went to the spa to book an appointment for later in the week. David was zoned and sleepy after an hour of calm and meditation, so we all found our way to the entrance for our ride home. One of the benefits of riding a scooter in Ubud is that traffic is a gridlock most of the time and especially between 4-6pm, which was the time we were trying to move ourselves across town. We considered just walking, but since I was wearing the cheap sandal/slippers I’d bought a few days ago, we all agreed to get a car. The driver was friendly and prompt, and we spent the next half hour talking about our experiences, how we planned to come back for more classes, and how Google maps kept telling us that we would get there faster if we walked. It reminded me of a comedian that I heard years ago talking about New York, and asking “should I walk, or do I have enough time to take a cab?”

We arrived home, none too soon in David’s mind, and they both went straight for a nap. They’re both still getting over the jet lag a little and an hour of dark, calm, quiet meditation hadn’t woken David up any. While he napped, I went upstairs and poked around my computer a little until Ashley, who hadn’t been tired enough for sleep, came up to discuss dinner options. We decided that she’d order some food delivery so David cold sleep some more and I’d walk into town to find shoes, then eat some leftovers from the other night. About the shoes – apparently the fad right now is to wear flip flops. All the street vendors had cheap knock offs of the type with the peg between the big toe and the rest, or a platform with one strap over the front of the foot but nothing that wrapped around the back and nothing soft and comfortable. I did a search while we were in the car, and all of the stores that I could find had a wide variety of the same toe thong or single strap, all in different qualities, colors, and materials – all except one store. When we had almost reached the house, I found a boutique called “My Summer Shoes” that sold the type of sandals I was searching for and of course they were almost right next door to the yoga barn relative to the house.

So I put on my regular shoes and socks and went for a walk, hoping that the store would actually have what I saw in the pictures, that they had them in my size, and that they were actually comfortable. I stopped in a couple stores that I saw along the way with sandals, but quickly saw that none of them were what I wanted and kept going. I reached my destination and walked into a boutique slightly larger than my bathroom with shoes displayed on both sides. There were stacks of boxes behind the cashier, probably 5x the number of shoes on display (so not very many, and it didn’t look like there was a back room of inventory). The proprietor greeted me warmly, answered my questions, and we quickly narrowed down the options to a specific shoe. She dug through the boxes and found one pair of the one color of the one style that I wanted in my size. Nervous, I tried them on. There was a lot riding on this moment, at least in my mind:

• I had found the one store in all of Bali that had the type of shoes that I wanted.
• I had walked a mile to the boutique an hour before they close.
• I was hot, sweaty, and tired.
• She had one pair in the whole store that might fit my needs.

They fit like a dream! I tried them both on, walked back and forth in the store a few times, adjusted them, walked some more, took them off and on, walked some more, tested how quickly I could get them off and on, walked some more, then told her “I’ll take them!” She looked at me a little confused and asked “you wear them now?” I laughed and replied, “Yes. Do you have a bag for my old shoes?” and moments later, I walked out on clouds. I headed a little further down the street to a sign that looked promising, but it turned out to be a full restaurant and not a convenient spot to get a drink. On my way back past the store, I remembered that she also had bags that I wanted to look at. I walked back in and she had a look of “oh no, what does this weirdo want now?” on her face. I assured her that I was still happy with the shoes but wanted to look at the bags.

None of the bags suited my needs, but there was one more thing about this boutique that made me really happy. She wasn’t pushy. Walking down the streets lined with vendors selling their wares, I’m almost afraid to show any interest or make eye contact. If someone touches something or takes a look, the seller comes out of nowhere and tells them how it will look good on them, how they’ll give you a special price, how you will bring them great luck as their first customer of the day (I’ve heard this in the late afternoon and hoped that they were lying – otherwise they’d gone all day without a single sale). As you walk away, they yell after you with lower prices and questions to draw you back in. Now, I was raised that you don’t ignore someone. If someone asks a question, you answer. If they say something to you, you say something back. It hurts me a little to just walk away when someone is obviously talking to me – I’m not rude. So it was refreshing that this kind woman just answered my questions and took an air of not caring whether I bought something or not. When I told her that none of the bags suited my needs, instead of trying to find another bag that was slightly different, or offering it at a lower price, or telling me that it’s a good bag, or that it looks good on me, she simply said “okay, good luck. Thank you.” and let me walk away.

I bopped down the street, happy with my new shoes, the evening feeling crisper, more alive, and full of energy. After dodging some scooters and cars, watching for potholes and obstacles, I arrived back at the house. Dash was awake and had just finished their dinner, which was, of course, amazing and delicious. The best burger and chicken wrap that they’d each had in a long time, possibly ever. We talked about how the food here is like that, just always phenomenal, while I ate my cold Indian leftovers. I showed off my shoes, told them all about my adventures, and we made plans for the next day. Tired and grimy, I headed upstairs for a shower and bed. I was asleep before I even hit the pillow.