The first thing I see when I arrive to Surf Camp Lombok is the skatebowl. It's the only one on the whole Lombok Island and one of the few in whole Indonesia.
The bowl is packed with kids, or rather boys. The youngest looks only like one year old. He goes to the ground by the side of the bowl with one knee on the board while he takes off with the free foot. An older guy picks up the little boy on his back, drops down in the bowl and run some eights. The little choking with laughter and can't help let his arm of around the older boy's throat to wave proudly to everyone thats watching.
Some girls, maybe five years old borrows now and then the boards to hold them and sometimes to stand and swing a little on them, but they leave the boards quite quickly back to some of the guys. There are boys who shines. Some are absolutely outstanding. Barefoot without any protection literally throws away the bottom panel in the bowl, jumping on and carving around, usually they end with some 360 on the only hipp, run a final tailstal and rock n roll before leaving the boards on. They are maybe five shared boards between the boys.
But then Lisa and her little sister Sally arriwes. Lisa has her own board which she won in a competition just the week before. She drops confidently in to the bowl, run a few laps before she pass it on to her little sister. Lisa laughs and smiles all the time and Sally asks if I want to try. I hesitate at first, I must have shoes and helmet and preferably knee pads, elbow pads and wrist guards. But I can't resist and thinking to myself that a little drop can't do any harm. The grip tape feels comfortable against the soles and I am surprised it's such a good grip. It's a great feeling to skate barefooted, but Lisa's board is vobblig and she gets it back pretty quickly.
Mega works at the camps kichen and she is just like Lisa 15 years old. A few days later I see her skate, barefoot and in a sarong. Of the 30-40 children (between 4 to 15 years old) I see skateboarding, only three are girls, just like at home. But it feels even more unique to see girls in this small village skate when most active children and adults I see are boys and men. In addition to the school, where it seems to be evenly distributed.
I ask if I can interview Lisa and Mega and a few days later, we sit at the side of the bowl to talk. Lisa speaks fluent English and is very forward and outward. Mega is a bit more shy and I've got Rin one of the surf instructors to help translating. My idea of the interview is to try to find out why these two girls skate. It turns out to be a bit difficult. Both has been skateboarding for a year and started -yes, exactly why I can't figure out- but I sense that it is a mixture of having seen many guys skate, got the chance to try, visited a skate compitition and the fact that Lisa loves surfing. But why it's just these two girls and why the other girls just watching or not even come here I really don't understand. Lisa says that the other girls have no choice, that it is difficult for girls to get to do things like skateboarding. But why do you do it, I wonder? No real answers and my questions beginning to be a bit leading. I'm trying to ask Lisa and Mega if there are some special skills that a skater needs and why they think that they are so damn good skaters. Eventually Lisa says that it is probably just a matter of patience, just keep practicing and practicing and that she simply fell in love with skateboarding. And that's the last thing she says before she lose her patience with the interview and want's to continue skate.
" I do not know why but I was already in love with skateboarding".
