The perfect spot

by Patricia Klein (Germany)

A leap into the unknown Indonesia

The Perfect Spot „So, are you resilient?“ they asked me. „Oh yes!“ I said, not knowing how resilient I would ultimately have to be and how truthful that statement should become only a few months later... The journey of my life had just begun: 11 months together with a Formula One Team travelling around the world, experiencing 19 countries, cultures and different languages. All of that in a mixed team of Malaysians, Italians, British and French people - the expectations were already promising. Little did I know. Over time, we grew together like a family of circus members who travel for so long that it feels like home being on the road with them. Do you know that feeling when you are at the right time at the right place? I had that. At least I thought so. So now, for the first time in months we had some time off. And we decided to take a vacation in Bali together. People warned me – the gods of Bali are dangerous. Strange things are happening there, be careful. People mysteriously get ill or have accidents on the island. Being the optimistic traveler that I am I didn’t listen and packed my bags excitedly. We arrived on a hot and steamy day. The air was thick and warm, so humid that it was hard to breath. But those tropical flowers and little monkeys around me, all the people wandering through the markets, laughing and enjoying their time made up for it. Everything seemed peaceful. The next day I decided to take a surfing lesson. It’s just such a tempting thing to do when you have the ocean right in front of you – with all of its lovely inhabitants. The teacher was nice and really patient. Even when something touched my foot that I couldn’t allocate. I panicked, screamed and started moving really fast. All things that you shouldn’t do in an ocean full of sharks. I should add that I’m afraid of sharks since I am 3 years old. I watched „Jaws“ far too early, the music and the images were stuck in my head forever. But the teacher stayed calm, talked to me with a gentle voice and somehow – the water was calm again. „At least the Gods of the Ocean didn’t get me“, I thought. My friends laughed at me when I entered the beach – they had seen me screaming and waving my arms around like crazy. But they shouldn’t laugh for too long. The next evening we rented a bunch of scooters, explored the island and drove to a restaurant on the other side of it where they served fresh fish directly on the beach. Candles and music were everywhere – it was a magical evening. When we drove back I sat behind a friend on the scooter, felt the warm wind on my skin, the delicious food in my stomach and faded away in memories. Until we reached that dark and lonely forest. The road made a sharp curve and there they were – a bunch of straying dogs. You could hear them growl. They gnashed their teeth, looking at us in a hostile, angry way. There was no way around them. My friend slowed down. I yelled at him „What are you doing? They will bite us in the legs!“ But obviously he knew what he was doing because just as they approached us he took a quick turn and speeded up. Everything went really fast. I thought we were out of danger when I felt a strong sting on my right leg. It had touched the uncovered exhaust pipe. I got a third degree burn on my right calf. First I didn’t notice the pain beacuse I was completely in shock. But after 15 minutes it felt like 1000 needles were constantly stinging me. I didn't sleep that night. Luckily we left the island soon and I got a proper treatment as well as some painkillers. It took 3 months for the leg to heal completely. In the end, the Gods of Bali got me. But whenever I look at that scar on my leg I’m happy that I took the leap. The leap into the unknown.