15. Dancing Through the Rain

Krui has quickly become our home away from home. My mornings kick off with Pilates classes, and honestly, it’s my favourite way to start the day. I offer them for free, and while that might sound incredibly generous, the truth is, I gain so much more from these sessions than I give. It’s the perfect push for my introverted self to connect with new people and step outside my comfort zone.

And speaking of "connect," I just realised I'm doing some subliminal advertising for my

Pilates studio back home, Connect Pilates – go figure!

Life here is a beautiful, merry mix of Pilates, scooter adventures, and bodyboarding (you probably know by now that I refer to Vicus when I mention the bodyboarding). Today, we took our trusty NMax 150 on an hour-long ride through the lush forest to visit our friends at the Pentecostal church in Liwa, Lampung. The drive itself is incredibly scenic!

We arrived just in time for the service. There’s no denying the cultural differences and language barrier, but Pastor Johnny and Ibu Riama are simply wonderful people. As I've mentioned in a previous post, they always make us feel like old friends, welcoming us with open arms and a place at their table, expecting nothing in return. Their generosity is truly something we can all learn from.

After a delicious Indonesian feast fit for a king, we hopped back on our "stallion" for the ride home. It felt like déjà vu – this is my third trip to Sumatra with Vicus, and every time we’ve visited Liwa, it’s rained on the way back. But today? It rained cats and dogs! We’ll definitely share a video so you can get the full picture, but "drenched" would be an understatement. At one point, the rain felt like pebbles hitting my eyes, even through my sunglasses, which I was futilely using as a shield.

It brought to mind one of my favourite quotes: “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.” – Vivian Greene.

If there’s one profound lesson I’ve learned from our adventures in Sumatra and spending time with the local community, it’s precisely that quote. Many Westerners might come here on holiday, perhaps even pitying some of the local people and seeing only the poverty around them. But what I see are resilient individuals, eager to share the little they have, truly dancing in the rain.