Greetings from the Island of the Gods

Hello to all from Bali,
I hope this message finds you well and happy. Bali is beautiful. The feeling here is deeply spiritual. The people are gentle, their traditions are a fascinating blend of Buddhism and Hinduism, and they are quite loving and devotional. The streets, even in the most remote areas, are often lined with statues and carvings of Buddhist and Hindu deities. Woven baskets filled with fresh, tropical flowers are offered in reverence to the Gods, they line the streets. It was 26 hours of travel to arrive here. I spent the first two to three days visiting with Randall who has recently relocated here. He lives in the mountains, several hundred feet above the Ayung River in the lush, tropical heart of the island. It was great to reunite with Randall and my surfing bruddah, Dario, after many months.The first few days we got massages, ate like kings (curried veggies, tofu, and tempeh are a staple of Balinese cuisine), and stayed mostly in the highlands. Dario and I didn't last long, however, and fled to a very remote part of the west coast to surf and be close to Mama Ocean and her blue waters. The journey here was about 4-5 hours by local transport to a tiny village called Balian. We are living now in a warung, it's a sort of thatched-roof, bamboo tree hut. We climb a ladder to get up into it. The cost is equivalent to about five dollars per night. It's incredible, it shakes and rocks as the wind blows. It seems totally unstable at times, but it's not, Balinese villagers have been living in them for centuries. We meet lots of interesting bugs though. The warung has a wooden deck where we keep our surfboards and practice yoga. It provides us with a stunning view of the Balian surf point, an amazing array of waves. The surf has been ranging from about5-9 feet. It's quite powerful, but it's somehow softened by the 80 degree ocean - like a warm bath. I have had intense, lucid dreams since arriving here, many of friends and family from home (east and west). The dreaming could be a result ofthe wet earthiness of this land, the amazing floral fragrances, the elaborate carvings and sculptures of deities... or the wild dreaming could be some crazyside-effect of the anti-malaria pills (mainly for India). It's hard to say, reality here is so different, so uncommon,but so deep and rich. From the deck of our warung we can smear our noses across plumeria flowers in the treetops and gaze at surrounding rice fields. I am writing to you all from a tiny resort called Medewi, about forty minutes by local bus from Balian. The resort in Medewi provides the only legitimate internet access on this part of the coast. There is only one computer and it takes FOREVER. But I'm happy to write to everyone. So many of you are flooding through my mind and heart. My feelings are so full.So much to say and tell, but some other time. Sorry I can't respond right now to individual e-mails (it's difficult to even pull up messages to read from here), but thank you to those of you who have dropped a hello my way. Lots of love and blessings to you all. Sending the spiritual love vibes from Bali,
Ari