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A group of children approach me as I return<br />
from the ocean. Grinning, they try to tell me<br />
something by pointing fingers. I look in the<br />
direction they are pointing to and see the<br />
members of this trip surrounded by local<br />
children. I walk toward them wondering what<br />
was going on... Coconuts. The children have<br />
short knives attached to their waists. They<br />
have climbed the coconut trees with ease and<br />
harvested coconuts for us.<br />
The children crack open the coconuts with<br />
superb knife skills and then they tell me to drink<br />
the juice inside. My body, sunburnt and tired<br />
from surfing quickly absorbs the natural sports<br />
drink. They laugh joyfully when they see my<br />
delighted face.<br />
One day, we visited Waromo village and Yako<br />
village near the village we stayed at, Lido. The<br />
wind was not blowing preferably when we<br />
were there but when the conditions are right,<br />
good left-hand waves break at both Waromo<br />
and Yako. I peeked into the lifestyle of the<br />
villagers. It was as if time had stopped. The sea<br />
breeze softly blew through the village. Children<br />
popped their faces through the windows of the<br />
raised floor houses. Adults puffed cigarettes<br />
underneath the shades of the trees.<br />
This was a sight that could not be seen in a<br />
hectic city. As I was watching these villagers, a<br />
fundamental question crossed my mind,<br />
“What is happiness?”<br />
jul/aug 20<strong>12</strong><br />
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