if ( typeof UNCODE !== "undefined" ) { UNCODE.initRow(document.getElementById("script-469658")); }“Surfing became my everything… my religion, my peace of mind, my ego checker,… my happiness meter, … it’s really everything for me. But that doesn’t mean that I’m like a surf rat and I’m only hanging at the beach all day, it’s just, the surfing frame of mind extends outside of the actual act of surfing.”                                                                                                                                                           Andrea Kabwasa   Transcript Interview Date: June 2016   My name is Maia Dery. This interview with longboard surfer Andrea Kabwasa is the first in a series called Waves to Wisdom. The project is a simple one. I seek out people I admire, surfers with what look to me to be ocean centered wisdom practices, ask them if they’d be willing to share a surf session or two, and then, after we ride some waves together, talk to me about their oceanic habits, surfing, work, love, meaning, and anything else that comes up. Andrea was generous enough to agree to two surf sessions in Malibu, the Eden of modern surfing if ever there was one. The sessions we shared were a little bit terrifying but magical. The interview was even better. Welcome to Waves to Wisdom. Andrea: My name’s Andrea Kabwasa and I’m 47 and I’ve been surfing, I dunno, about, I dunno, what is that about 15, 14, 15 years or something like that. Maia: And we are in Malibu right next to the beach and we surfed this morning a building swell, [mm hm] pretty exciting [laugh] and uh I don’t have a lot of experience with big crowds and it was unsurprisingly [yeah] well populated. Beautiful wave– you’ve been surfing Malibu for most of your time as a surfer or did it take you a few years to get there? Andrea: Yeah I been surfing there maybe about 12,12 or 13 years yeah quite a while. Maia: How long did it take you to get comfortable with the crowd? Andrea: Oh, I accepted it right off the bat. Maia: Right away okay [LAUGH]. So you were a full grown adult when you started surfing? Andrea: Yes I was. Maia: What, what led you take it up? Andrea: It was something I thought about when I was a child and I remember watching surfers. My aunt,