Relaxing
Not to be too serious for a moment: it’s actually quite nice here. Waking up slowly, rolling out of bed, and realizing you don’t need to turn on the heating because it’s already 25°C. That’s a pretty good feeling.
The Bus Experience
Then you take the bus. That’s a different business than in the Netherlands. The bus comes once every two hours, and you have to keep track of when the last one leaves. It could be at 21:00 for Line X, but as early as 18:13 for Line Y. You definitely have to check beforehand.
And when the bus app says the bus arrives at, let’s say, 13:33… well, it doesn’t. That is simply the earliest time it can arrive if it left the starting station and didn’t have to stop for anyone. If there are passengers boarding, you have to add all that “lost” time to the clock. So, it’s 13:33 plus the extra stops.
13:33 is just the starting point; sometimes you just have to wait for 30 minutes or so. But Murphy’s Law doesn’t work here. That law says: “It could be worse, it could be raining.” Ha! But it doesn’t rain 95% of the time! So my “punishment” is just sitting in the sun, relaxing.
Volcanic Shores
Then I arrive at the beach. No, they aren’t mostly white sandy beaches—remember, this is a volcanic island. But, take a look:
and:
I go for a swim with my goggles to look at the colorful fish. Purple, yellow, some almost transparent, blue… and no sharks. (“Fish are friends, not food” — Bruce in Finding Nemo).
The Internal Struggle
Naturally, I get thirsty. Happily, there is a bar nearby, but almost all the drinks contain too much sugar. I do have water with me, but there is an internal struggle: I don’t like water that much. Sometimes I do, but not all the time. After some internal riots and heavy roundtable discussions with all my inner voices, I finally make the call:
And it’s cool. I have never enjoyed a Corona this much. This is a way of living I could get used to for a while.