What heaven looks like

A few words about Bali

The sun is shining, palm trees, fruits, the smell of the sea, the sound of the surf, butterflies are flying. You admire the family of monkeys playing on the railing that protects the terrace from the cliff, you go down the stairs into the grotto, with a surfboard in your hands, you look forward to how you will be ...

The sun is shining, palm trees, fruits, the smell of the sea, the sound of the surf, butterflies are flying. You admire the family of monkeys playing on the railing that protects the terrace from the cliff, you go down the stairs into the grotto, with a surfboard in your hands, you look forward to how you will catch the waves, and you look both ways so that the Balinese instructors do not throw out another childish joke. The island, where the sun shines all day, where people smile and joke kindly, seemed like paradise to me. At six o'clock the rise, the waves cannot be missed. Tea and bread before going out, you don’t feel like eating, but you know that you will need a lot of energy. When you enter the cool water and the first wave of the day wash over you, the last traces of drowsiness disappear. After two hours of fighting waves, you return to the camp, have breakfast with fruit salad and surf again. Then lie in a hammock, sunbathe in the sun, chat with the guys or go to explore other corners of the island, beaches, temples, rice terraces, artisan villages, monkey reserves or cloud-shrouded volcanoes. Sunset at six, and at eight the stars are already shining with might and main. Dinner conversation (at a good restaurant it costs four dollars) is leisurely, some talking excitedly about their adventures while boarding, and some trying to stay awake from fatigue. After dinner, you can go to the neighboring town for a party, but everyone is sure that even those who return at four in the morning will not miss the morning surfing.

Many avid surfers come to Bali not for five or twenty days, but for several months, and live on the island, as long as they have money. Then they return home, work and again go to Bali to surf. People wander the world, chasing the waves. Where there are good waves, they fly there. In many resorts popular among surfers, such as Bali, Sri Lanka, the Dominican Republic and Brazil, if you wish, you can live relatively inexpensively. For example, in Bali, an inferior room can be rented for $10.

And there are those who, having left for Bali, never returned home, but remained to live on the island. They work in hotels, surf schools, restaurants; work as musicians, guides, photographers. That is, mainly in the service sector. The economic situation in Bali is not easy. For tourists, food in a restaurant seems cheap, and for most Balinese it is out of reach. For example, a builder-installer earns a dollar a day, and to become a highly qualified employee, you need money for education.

Reference

Evgeny Kreid was born in 1962 in St. Petersburg. Has been surfing since the age of 15. This summer, the first Russian surf competition was held in Vladivostok, to which he was invited as the chief judge. According to Yevgeny, this was a historical event: the first Russian competition on the waves, on the soil of Russia. The competition went great. Waves had to wait a long time, lucky on the last day. "Neptune smiled and the normal waves came in." The participants were both from Vladivostok and living abroad. Surfing is excellent, despite the fact that the Russians do not have as much experience as the Americans or Brazilians. But in this relatively short period of riding the waves, they have advanced very well, and Russian surfers have many prospects. In addition, Eugene was very glad that he returned to his homeland and people understand him.

Eugene draws all his life. Two main directions in his work: photo collage (computer art) and oil; sometimes a combination of the two. According to Eugene, he draws without rules, draws what comes to mind, something uniquely his own, without imitating anyone. What he has inside pours onto the canvas. And often he does not even know what he will draw. This is born of itself, it is a process that grows during the work until it is completed. Evgeny also writes electronic music, which is difficult to attribute to any particular genre. Although most accurately it can be described as electro with a psychedelic element. According to Eugene, this style, like paintings and his other works, can only be defined as Eugene Kreid.

Compatriot from the island of Bali-Russia

Interview with Evgeny Kreid - surfer, musician, director and artist

When my friend and I were in Bali, we met a creative local Russian surfer. A surfer, because he has been surfing for 30 years. Russian, because he lived in Russia until 1973, when he went to live in America with his parents. Local, because he has been living in Bali for 20 years. Creative, because he writes pictures, electronic music, photographs and films. Is his move to Bali an escapism, an attempt to escape from the familiar world, an attempt to find himself, or was it fate? Is he now happy in Bali, away from his homeland and from the center of civilization? Are there many Russians on the island and what do they do here? This is what I tried to figure out when I interviewed Yevgeny Kreid.

How did you first come to Bali?

— It was in 1986. I learned from a friend who had already been here about the existence of an unusual and interesting island of Bali, where there are good waves. Then Bali was a curiosity. Many in my town in California have never even heard of Bali. At that time I was looking for radical changes. I was then very young. With difficulty I found a ticket through Sydney and flew here alone. This first trip changed the whole course of my life.

- Did you plan to fly to Bali and stay, or did you still plan to return to America?

- It was just a trip: I came to surf. Before that, I had already skated for five years in California… After the first trip to Bali, I traveled all over the world. Surfed in different places, lived in Hawaii. After two or three years, I felt that I needed to return. Since that time I have been here and Bali has become my main home.

— Do you consider yourself a Russian pioneer in Bali? How do you say, when you arrived, there were few Americans, and probably there were no Russians at all?

- It's not my opinion, it's a fact ... Soon after perestroika, Russians began to appear on the island. It seemed odd at the time, but I was glad for it. Some unsuccessfully tried to open a business here. Now, of course, Russians are adored here because they spend money. It seems that a little more, and the whole island will become Russian.

Author: I met a lot of Russian tourists during these three weeks. There were surfers, and just came to sunbathe and ride on excursions. But what struck me was the signs in Russian in the city of Jimbaran, where there are very good seafood restaurants: “lobster”, “ukha”, “Brazilian cuisine”. And in the restaurant itself, musicians approached the tables on the beach and offered to perform Russian songs. In addition, a Russian restaurant has been opened in the Nusa Dua resort area. We went there to explore. The food was of high quality, tasty, although by no means cheap. There were not many visitors, mostly Russian and Asian tourists. I didn't meet the owner, but I was told that it was his dream to open a restaurant of Russian cuisine. And he managed to fulfill his dream, only after arriving on the island. In addition, a Russian surf school has already been opened in Bali, and our Balinese instructors did not make a mistake and shouted to us in Russian: “Row here!”.

- Who was your social circle when you first arrived?

— During the first trip, I met cool Brazilians, Australians and Americans. Then friends from other countries began to appear. Now I have friends all over the planet. Through the International Surf Community I met many interesting people.

— Do you participate in surfing competitions?

- I used to participate, but have already stopped. For me, surfing is a way of life. This is the main part of my life, but not the only one. I am also engaged in creativity, and this is another facet, another direction of my life; and one influences the other. In fact, surfing, yoga, music and drawing are things of the same order, because something from within induces a person to them. Something that brings harmony with nature.

— Do you feel that you have found harmony with nature and are you in harmony with yourself?

— I'm working on it. But there are times when I ride the waves, or wait for the wave, or just sit on the beach, and I could spend the whole day like that. Although I rarely do this, I have too many other things to do. I enter such a natural meditative state when thoughts about the past and future do not disturb me, but I am in the moment, breathe and enjoy the beauty of creation. For me, this is a great pleasure. People get it when they do yoga, write or play music, draw, paint pictures. In addition, I take pictures and make films. In those bright moments when my creativity manifests itself in one form or another, I am in a state that in English is called “flow”. “Flow” means the flow, the flow of the Universe, when I dive into this river and swim with it. It's an incredible feeling.

“It seemed to me that people in Bali are very smiling, and they smile, and they are sincerely happy. And in America they also smile a lot, but this is just politeness, an acceptable demeanor. What do you think of it?

- I agree, there is even such a song: “Plastic smile” (“Plastic smile”). This is fairly common, but there are exceptions. For example, Bali. But I will add that there are thousands of different smiles in Asia, and each of them has its own meaning.

- And what, in your opinion, are the shortcomings in the modern Western world, because of which people have a “plastic smile”?

- People are afraid. They are afraid of each other, afraid of the rules. After all, society has very strict rules. People are afraid of close contact with each other. That is, the biggest flaw in human relationships is fear.

— What do people lack to achieve harmony in the modern Western world?

“What the whole planet lacks is love. Love, in sufficient quantity, would heal the planet. But materialism, the pursuit of career success and material wealth, prevents us from getting out of the vicious circle. Materialism is the biggest disease on the planet. I see two directions. One direction is internal, to your spiritual heart. And the other direction is materialism and maintaining the illusion that more, more and more is needed. When there are already twenty cars in the garage, but you still need a Cadillac, or a Rolls-Royce. It has no boundaries. In India, this illusion is called "Lila" - this is a great illusion that envelops humanity ... I believe that in order to stop destroying the planet and stop being a squirrel in a wheel, you need to look into yourself. People are scared. But everyone needs to figure out what is inside him. When you pass through these things, through this dense forest, you will find something very, very beautiful inside. Everyone has it, and everyone has it the same, as I believe from my personal experience. Thus, you can get out of this circle.

- And yet, people still have to earn some money for life. How did you start making money in Bali? I got the impression that it is quite difficult to earn even a modest living here, especially for the Balinese.

- Everyone, probably, has his own monetary karma. I started a clothing company that I called "Sun and Moon". Started the company from scratch and developed it for twelve years. She was an expression of my creativity: I created new designs and patterns for materials. They were sewn in Indonesia, and I took them to America, Brazil and other countries to sell them. One day I felt like the cycle was over and I got carried away with my next dream: making a film about surfing and my experience in Indonesia. It was 1997, I called the film The Year of the Tiger. Since that time I have been taking pictures, painting, making many films, I have been hired a lot. For the past five years, most of my energy has gone into painting.

Was it your childhood dream to become an artist?

— No, my childhood dream was to become a yogi.

- You are now doing yoga, do you think that you have fulfilled your childhood dream?

- I'm on my way.

What other dreams did you have and did you manage to realize them?

- Move to the West. It was a joint dream with parents. (Laughs.) But as a result, I left for the East through the West.

— Don't you think that being in Bali, you are on the periphery of civilization?

— On the one hand, Bali is quite a progressive place, due to the fact that many interesting characters come here. I have friends artists, musicians, DJs, creative people from all over the world who come here every year and live. Interesting mix of people. On the other hand, if you “just live” here (yes, in fact, if you “just live” anywhere), then you can get stuck, so I love - and I find it very necessary - to constantly travel. Travel fills me with inspiration and new ideas.

— Don't you feel the fragility of this unique world of Bali, due to the fact that it is becoming a very popular place with more and more tourists? And the owners of huge capitals are interested in the development of tourism and are ready to buy land and build huge hotels ...

— Yes, Bali is a completely different island than it was twenty-five years ago. When I arrived here, there were much fewer people and everything was much more interesting. This is not only noticed by me, but also by many others who have lived here for many years. Now here is a pandemonium ... So Bali has partially lost its uniqueness. Will I stay here? I don’t know, I don’t plan far ahead, but we’ll see what happens.

Author: No matter how ridiculous it may sound, but now there are traffic jams in Bali, and this is a common thing.