love, rain down on me
someone just put on yoshimi battles the pink robots (only my favorite album of all time!) in the common area here. could this place get any better? yes, there could be communal tea, or i could’ve thought to buy some last night when i got (minimal) groceries.
but, guys, this is how my day has gone so far: i woke up with the sun; i made breakfast; i stood outside and looked at the amazing jungle all around me; i got a tour through the volcanic crater in the middle of the property (~200 years old, totally forested over, but with a volcano tube of unknown depth); i used the outdoor shower (there’s a mirror behind the showerhead, so if you turn around and look into it you see yourself and the rainforest and that’s it); i was offered seeds from a giant lilikoi; i watched a woman and her dog crack open a sprouted coconut together, i was offered some of that too (it’s kind of like eating a sweet sponge); i made a sandwich for later and set off down the road towards the ocean, about four miles away.
last fall on my first day in europe i walked from salisbury, england, to stonehenge. it seemed appropriate to begin this trip in a similar way, but i didn’t actually think of the parallel until i was most of the way to the ocean. the walk was really lovely. a good chunk of it was through a mango grove, and there were rotting mangoes all over the ground and the smell in the air was amazing. the smells and sounds of the jungle are incredible. all last night frogs were singing.
it started raining when i was maybe half a mile from the ocean, and by the time i got there it was pouring. it was pretty much everything i hoped for.
it stopped raining and started raining and stopped again. i turned around and walked back up the road again. maybe a mile back, i ran into somebody who’s also staying at the hostel–he got in last night, too, and we shared the ride here from the airport. so i turned around and walked with him. we found this:
a warm pool in the jungle maybe twenty feet from the ocean.
this is tropical paradise, folks!
