Kur: Portugalija: Sagres, ir daugybe papludimiu: Praia do Amado, Praia do Bordeira, Praia da Arrifana, etc :) / Where: Portugal: Sagres and heaps of beaches: Praia do Amado, Praia do Bordeira, Praia da Arrifana, etc :)
Adresas: Algarve Surf Camp – tarp palmiu ir banglenchiu / Address: Algarve Surf Camp – among palms and surfboards
Kodel: Daryk, apie ka svajoji! / Why: Gotta follow your dreams!Pagaliau! Shalta ir gudu lapkricio 22-osios vakara, uzhkrimtusi brolio ir savo (ishankstinio) gimtadieninio torto, Karmelavos oro uoste palikusi palta ir zhieminius batus, isitaisiusi Ryanair sedyneje, dzhiaugsmingai maschiau – Yeah, on the road again!... is prazhiu iki Dublino, kur susirangiau ant minkshtasuolio, prie kurio dienomis keliauninkai kramsnoja visokias pizas ir hamburgerius ir snustelejau kelias valandzhiukes, susapnuodama ir koshmareli, kaip ash savo skrydi i Faro prasnaudzhiau. – Uchh, nusipurchiau, zhvilgtelejau i mobilu – ogi dar tik 3:30 ryto! – ir toliau snaust, kol po pusvalandzhiuko piktoji (bent jau man tada taip atrode) bufetininke liepe „atverst” miegamagi i valgomaji. Na bet nieko – jau tuooooj tos 6:10, kai lektuviukas mane skraidins link Portugalijos banguuuu... / Finally! In the cold and dark November 22nd evening, after having a few bites of my brother’s and my (in advance) B-day cake, leaving my winter coat and boots in Karmelava airport and settling in Ryanair seat I was joyfully thinking: Yeah, on the road again!...first to Dublin, where I laid on the sofa used for pizza and hamburger lovers in day time and had a few hours nap, including a nightmare that I missed my flight to Faro – Ouch! Looked at my mobile – it showed only 3:30 am – so I went back dreaming until some time later a demon waitress ordered to convert our bedroom to sitting-room. Oh well – 6:10 am is approaching, when I’ll head to Portugese waves……
Ir ka gi ka gi – 9-a ryto ash jau tarp palmiu!! Viena po kito nusimetu uzhsilikusius megztinius, kol lieku trumpom rankovem, ishsitraukiu akinius nuo saules ir dzhiaugiuos taip, tarsi saules nebuchiau regejus kokius 10 metu! / And so – at 9 am I’m already among the palms! I strip myself off my sweaters to the short-sleeved shirt, pull out my sunnies and feel so happy as if I haven’t seen the sun in 10 years!
Traukinys tokio senumo, kaip Lietuvoj nebebuna, tachiau smagiai nupukshejo iki Lagos, kur pasitiko taksistas ir ishgirdes mano teigiama atsaka i „to surf?”, dar pusvalanduka mane gabeno iki Sagres, Algarve Surf Camp namuko – mano busto busimaja savaite. / My train seems to be from XIX century (no more such antiques even in Lithuania), but it took me smooth&easy to Lagos. A taxi driver there heard my positive response to his “to surf?” and in half an hour took me to Sagres, Algarve Surf Camp, which will be my home for the upcoming week.
Buvo vidurdienis, taigi visi, kas gyvas, ishskyrus viena vyruka, buvo ishvare surfint, taigi ash nusprendzhiau pasidairyti po apylinkes. / It was midday, so everybody alive has gone surfing (except 1 guy who met me), so I went for some sightseeing.
ir netgi vasarkaimis, / even summer-village, 
taigi aplink nedaug gyvos dvasios – beveik tushchias papludimys, uostas su keliais zhvejais ir aplink besisukanchiais katinais ir zhuvedrom, / so not much action is going on around – almost empty beach, harbour with a few fishermen and cats and seagulls around, 
kavines, kur lengvai rasi geriausia stala laisva ir supermarket’as su alum ir kitu paprastu geriu :) Grizhau saulei besileidzhiant, paskaichiau knyga ir... uzhsnudau iki ryto – Dublino „foteliai” visgi neatstojo tikros minkshtos lovos :) / cafes where it’s easy to get their best table and a supermarket with beer and other good stuff :) Came back after sunset, read a book and..fell asleep to the morning – I reckon Dublin sofa was not that cosy after all :) 5 „darbingosios” dienos prasidejo apie 9 val ryto (kas butu 11 am Lietuvos laiku ;-) ), pusrychiais su kitais stovyklos gyventojais. / 5 “working” days started at 9 am (which means 11 am Lithuanian time), with breakfast together with other campers.
OK, susipazhistam - anglai Jonathan ir Robin, jau geri surferiai ir atvyke, “play in the waves”, airiai Troy (pradedantysis, bet jau ragaves surfing’o pamoku) ir Kevin (net savo burlente atsivezhes!), danas Rasmus (besimokantis jau antra savaite, ir netgi ohoho, kiek ishmokes) bei vokietis Cristian (jau irgi padoriai pramokes kaip pradedantysis) / OK, let’s meet – Englishmen Jonathan and Robin, already experienced surfers who came to “play in the waves”, Irish dudes Troy (beginner, but has tasted surfing in the past) and Kevin (who even brought his own board!), Rasmus from Denmark (learning for 2nd week and woooow how much he learned!) and German guy Cristian (also with already decent skills for a beginner)
– taigi vienintelis “nulis” esu ash :) Yra ir pastoviu stovyklos gyventoju – kokie 4-5 surferiai ir 2 surferes, kurie sezono metu dirba instruktoriais, o dabar ish esmes chillin’a: kada nori, surfin’a, kada nori, / – therefore the only “zero” is myself :) There are a few permanent “campers” – 4-5 surf-dudes and 2 girls, who are all instructors during the season, while currently just hang around and surf whenever they want. 
zhiuri TV visa diena ar shiaip abileka veikia. Mums uzhtenka 1 “globotojo” – Alessandro (Alex) ish Italijos, kuris gana griezhtai, bet labai nuoshirdzhiai bande ish kazhka “nulipdyti”. / We are looked after by 1 instructor – Alessandro (Alex) from Italy, who’s rather strictly, though very heartily tried to “model” something out of us.
Dienotvarkes tesinys: po pusrychiu, 10:30 – 11:00 “susimetam” hidro kostiumus (pirma diena ir banglentes parenkamos pagal lygi), pravazhiuojam kelis papludimius, / Further timetable: after breakfast, around 10.30 – 11 am we throw in the van our wetsuits (also, 1st day surf boards are allocated depending on our level), drive along a few beaches, 
ishrenkamas TAS, tada pachillinam ir paspoksom aplink, / until the ONE for the day is chosen, hang out, chill, 
persirengiam, “pasishildom” (ne, ne zhaliom devyneriom, nors jos viena vakara buvo gerai ivertintos – padarom apshilima), / get into wetsuits, warm up (no, not with magic Lithuanian 999 drink, which got some bonus points one night :-) ), 
gaunam nurodymu ir – i bangas! / get instructions and – into the waves! 
Tada lunch break’as / Afterwards – lunch break 
ir – vel i bangas, beveik iki saulelydzhio.. / and – back to the waves, almost until sunset….
Na, pirmas 2 dienas tai ash daug keikiaus ir netgi buvau pagavus save bemastant, jog esu beviltishka, / Well, the first 2 days I was swearing a lot and the thoughts of me being totally hopeless crossed my mind, 
bet paskui po truputi truputi pradejo giedret – kelis sykius sulaukiau Alex’o plojimu, taigi “uzhskaichiau” save kaip 1 laipteliu pakilusia nuo visishko nulio - na, nedaug, bet vis tiek pakilusia ;-) / then it got brighter – a few times I saw Alex’ clapping, so listed myself as 1 little step up from a complete zero – well, up by very little, but anyway ;-)
Penktadieni jau bangos mane visai iveike – artinosi audra, taigi ir vejas, ir bangos gresmingai sukilo – / On Friday waves got me – the storm was coming, therefore the wind and waves got harsher. 
tai tik pridejo dzhiaugsmo mokantiems, vos neishvirtau ish koto, kai priesh mano akis Jon’as isigudrino aukshtyn kojom ant banglentes pavaryt, super! Echh, kad taip ash kada nors ;-)) Tiesa, viena nakti sapnavau, jog Palangos juroj bangos tokios, kad galiu surfint – kaip norejosi, kad tai butu realybe!!! Gal tada ir ant galvos, hehe :) / It only added the edge to real surfers – I almost fell off my knees when I saw Jon riding the wave upside down! Wowow, would be sooo wicked to do that one day ;-)) Actually, had a dream one night that in the sea in Lithuania waves got good enough to surf – hell I wished it were fro real! Then maybe could do the head thing ;-)
Vakarojom arba prie TV su alaus bokalais, arba kabakuose irgi su tais pachiais = smagiai :) / We spend evenings in front of TV with beer or in the bars with the same stuff = cool :) 
2008/11/29
Nuosprendis paaishkejo gana greit pabudus – surfing’o nebus, nes audra, oro salygos neteisingos. Na, nosis kazhkiek nukabinom, bet trumpam – ishsiruoshem apylinkiu apzhiurai: 1) keli papludimiai, / Verdict was clear in the morning – no surf day due to wrong weather conditions. All right, no smiles for a short time, but then went for sightseeing: 1) a few beaches, 
2) Cape St. Vincent – labiausiai vakarinis Europos tashkas = pasaulio pakrashtys, / 2) Cape St. Vincent – the southwesternmost point in Europe = end of the world, 
3) Lagos miestukas. / 3) Lagos (town). 
Ruoshiasi kaledoms ir portugalai, taigis viskas apkabineta girliandom su snaigem, kurios rezhe aki palmiu ir zhalumos apsupty. / Portugese are getting ready for X-mas with heaps of snowflaky-garlands, not really fitting with palms and green leaves. 
Vakare – tradicija nelauzhoma, aplankomi dar vakar matyti bene vieninteliai ir pustushchiai Sagres barai, ir…… / In the evening – can’t break tradition, so went for the yesterday-seen half-empty Sagres bars and…
2008/11/30
… 7-a ryto anglai ir ash skuodzhiam ju nuomotu Hyundai i oro uosta, dzherzhgiant Metallica gitaroms, padarau atbulini Karmelava-Dublin-Faro ir turiu vel konstatuoti: shios surfing’o atostogos baigesi... bet bus kitos! / ….at 7 am English guys and I are rolling with Metallica tunes in their rented Hyundai to the airport, I do a reverse on Karmelava-Dublin-Faro and gotta state again: this surf holiday is over…but there’ll be another one!
Epilogas:
Viena ish surfingo dienu, ryte sustojus parduotuvej nusipirkt geriamo vandens, per radija ishgirdau…….Jeronima Miliu! Pradejau kvatotis. Po to pamaschiau, jog manyje yra taip gyva klajokles siela, kad galiu su Jeronimu uzhtraukt: “Oh moon, I follow you in darkness / It seems we’re nomads in the night / Your cold turns me into the heartless / Until the sunrise burning light brings down her sky blue shining eyes... “. / Epilogue: On one of the surf days, in the morning when we stopped to get drinking water in the supermarket I heard …. Jeronimas Milius song (a song of the Lithuanian guy in Eurovision song contest 2008 – who could ever play that???) on the radio! I burst laughing. Afterwards though, I thought that a nomad’s soul is so settled in me I could join Jeronimas in “Oh moon, I follow you in darkness / It seems we’re nomads in the night / Your cold turns me into the heartless / Until the sunrise burning light brings down her sky blue shining eyes...
