Rainbow warior

Vive la France! - that’s what I’m saying from time to time, impressed by a view, tasting an awesome cheese or/and wine, or just under another wave of traveller’s euphoria. And Stephane hushes me - he finds it a mauvais ton , a nationalistic saying. Though for me it seems perfectly fine, and I have about one month more to say it and whistle La Marseillaise here and there. 

This time our trip is dedicated to selling Stephane’s bijoux - jewellery in silver and stones which he produced in India. Actually, there are some difficulties in selling silver in France, especially in the South - enough of them to dedicate a separate post to this topic.

I arrived in France on the 12th of July - not even 2 weeks ago! - but it already feels like an eternity. Especially new is the sensation of twisting my brain and consciousness to the French manner - 60 % of the time I use French, crooked and full of mistakes, but still. First 8 days we spent between Paris, Versaille and saint-Syr-l’Ecole (Stephane’s parents’ house). 

On Friday we took TGV, an economical option for 50 euro each (check out ouigo.com), and in 3 hours covered 660 km. The scenery was monotonous, diversified by 2-3 castles. So you can rest easy, sleep and arrive in Marseille refreshed. But - attention! - don’t repeat our mistake and take all the food and water you want to consume during the trip before entering the platform - as there’s nothing to buy. Not at the starting point (Disney Land station), nor during the few station the TGV makes, nor in the train.

Another feature of Ouigo TGV: it provides two types of coaches - a regular one and a calm one. The second is quieter and with a guaranteed outlet to charge your device. Though there’s no wi-fi in either of the coaches. The price differs in 5 euros more for the calm coach. 

Finally, I really like the marketing of Ouigo - it’s bright, optimistic, funny. They have a lot of staff at the station, and they respond quickly in Facebook. 

The one unlucky event was that Stephane’s bag with jewellery wasn’t considered by the staff at the entrance to the platform as a handbag (though it would suit for an airplane), and he had to pay 20 euros extra at the station. By the way, if you add extra luggage at the stage of ordering your tickets online, it will cost you 4 times less. 

Now we’re in Marseille. We arrived here on Friday, 3-4 days ago, and I absolutely love this town. It’s near the sea, classical view beautifully mixed with a crazy amount of graffiti, people are welcoming, food is tasty and less expensive than in Paris. All in all, it’s worth a separate post, also. Maybe even two, if mention social specialities (about sexism, schools, mafia, recycling...) about which our hosts have told us. 

Tomorrow we’re heading to Cassis, which HitchWiki claims to be (one of) the most beautiful spot for camping in the South of France. 

Today it is happening in Pushkar, Ajmer, Jaipur and all over Rajasthan, and yesterday it started in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Everyone who I met there the last week recommended me to stay for it, as it would be HUGE - and such were the preparations: rolls of neon-bright strings; an incredible diversity of kite designs, little boys preparing their devices... Some people are travelling from one place to another, following that wave of kites, going high in the sky. What makes them such dedicated fans?

As I’ve just experienced, there are three components that make it feel special. They are simple and available to experience all the year and all the planet round, but when you put them together and make a massive event - it does feel like a super-cool holiday! Imagine that:

* Everyone, who has arms, eyes, or their analogues, can do it. First steps are simple: attach a string and let the kite fly, manipulating with the length of the string. Most likely your kite will rise for a short time and you'll be trying to keep it in the air. Becoming a real master will take time.

* An Excitement of competition. Once you've become a master - or just met a competitor - time to start a duel! You can cut your opponent's string by your own. The winner stays in the sky, the loser has to start all over with a new kite.

* The process makes you watch the sky. Not only glance on it, checking the weather, but really focus on looking high (?). No more obstacles, no more borders, no superficial things all around. The sky is the limit, indeed. At one moment you are becoming your kite, that little piece of paper and wood, free, surviving in various wind whirls... * You get a valuable life lesson. The moment of crash touches you seriously... One will cry, another one will give up, but the one who knows life will just bravely prepare the next kite.

* Part of the process depends on luck - or it seemed so to me :). I guess, at one moment or another, wind wins from all. But for a while you would feel yourself a master of the Universe, ordering to the powers of nature. It has been happening for many generations.

People grow up, mastering this skill every year, so some adults become real pros. Manish, my Pushkar friend and a yoga instructor in the Savitri palace, was able to put the kite so high in a few moments, that it was higher than all the others around. I crashed it pretty soon, but those moments were very happy. Now I want to shout to all those boring foreigners` faces around, that they must try to understand. Saying "Yes!" brings things you couldn't have imagined before.

Btw, some importance is given to the height of a building from where you set your kite. For a long time Savitri Palace, a traditional house with a few (four) rooms for guests, was the highest building in the surroundings, so lots of people came to its rooftop for the kite festival. Since then some guesthouses around added floors, so today here are only we (guests&family) letting kites fly.

An important role plays the fact that it is really available - nearly all children can afford it, if not to buy - then at least make. So in some places, like Ahmedabad, a city, the whole sky covers with bright squares. People play all the day long, catching the best wind. When it is too strong, kites become very difficult to be raised, when there's no wind - it's just impossible.

To complete the picture, did I mention it is a bit dangerous? Some people fall off rooftops in the excitement of playing, some people get hurt by the strings, so watch out! And if you dare to try it, don't forget to mind your own fingers - better prepare some patches.

Like all other holidays, this celebration is accompanied with loud music and rich meals. Today Prem's family has invited all of us, Savitri's guest, to join their meal - and that's what I'm going to do! :)

I’m Russian and I do speak English fluently. Sometimes these facts are enough to surprise my foreign acquaintances. Especialy those who’ve been to Russia. It’s easy to understand - most likely, they’ve met some difficulties with finding English-speaking people over here. Even among young generation, plenty of russians would answer they understand English but can’t speak it. While I’m taking a course in teaching English as second language the reasons become more clear.

Traditional way to learn English starts with an alphabet, then grammar - theory and exercises, completing with vocabulary, presented through texts. Pronunciation has around 5% of the lessons time, and speaking - from 10 to 15%. Even the most modern theories don’t tell the evident truth: learn a little, use a lot, that`s the key for the ability to use language in the real life, not only in tests solving. 

Now I can reconsider my learning experiences. I used to value one year in a language learning oriented school and one year with a really pricely private teacher higher than 2 weeks at Malta at the age of 14. First two points were filled with exercises, rules, books, the proper Learning; while the last one was the representation of a teenager freedom: alcohol, clubs, boys. Now I start wondering if I should be grateful to those fast connections not only for feeling myself a desirable young woman, but also for my ability to communicate in English, despite some errors I make. 

Many friends of mine tell me: when they get drunk, at some point they start speaking English easily (in a blurred manner, but without eternal pauses between words in search for a proper grammar form). It’s a beautiful illustration of the Affective Filter hypothesis: whille being sober, people`s level of selfreflection is way to high, they are so afraid to be wrong, to make a mistake and look funny, that they can’t even say a sentence. After a few drinks they relax and the conversation with a foreigner doesn’t look like a test anymore; it attracts as an exciting opportunity to learn something new or just have a great time. Then communication floats easily. Brain gives all the words and construction it has learnt. Most likely, there would be lots of mistakes, as the constructions were not learnt in connection with the real life experience. But it doesn’t matter at the moment. Until the person gets sober and regains his/her ego and selfreflection, which block the free speach.

Here’s an English composition, given as an extra studying material in an online course of TSL (teaching English as a second language). It`s powerful, simple and impressing. I’ll probably use it in my future lessons, and I definitely will be coming back in my thoughts to this metaphor over and over again. 

By Haru

Japan is homogenous. This is a word I did not learn until many months after visiting the United States. But I felt the power of this word as soon as I moved here.

Homogenous means being of the same type or group. It means fitting in. It means how I did not feel when I came here to the United States. I remember not even knowing how to order French fries, because the phrase we use in Japan is “fried potatoes.” Because I knew the phrase was English, I thought that is what Americans would call them. I remember wondering why the cashier did not understand me. I saw fried potatoes everywhere, yet when I told her I wanted them, she just stared at me. Was it my accent? Was it my color?

I was not homogenous anymore.

This is a strange feeling coming from Japan. In Japan, there are very few minorities. There, I am the majority. People dress like me, they eat like me, they ARE me. White is exotic. Black is exotic. Only Japanese is normal. And now in the United States, I was exotic.

Back in Japan, my older sister was at her desk studying for a college entrance examination, and something flew into her sight. At first she didn’t recognize what it was. It was a bug that was black, tiny, and moving slowly. She quickly learned that it was a lightning bug because the bug’s behind lit up. She was so happy to see it that she kept it as a pet in a glass. The very day after that she was also studying at her desk when a black, tiny bug flew into her sight. As she reached to grab it, she realized that the bug on her desk was a cockroach. Upon seeing that, she screamed very loudly and then, without mercy or a second thought, killed it quickly. What a difference a lightning bug and a cockroach are for her!

And so I learned there are two kinds of ways to look at people also. I will call it “good” exotic and “bad” exotic. For example, when I walk into a math class, immediately students wanted to sit next to me, and at least two people asked for my number. On the first day. It did not take long to realize that Americans had a positive stereotype about Asians in science and math classes. On the other hand, when I went to a dance club, it was almost impossible for me to get the courage to ask an American girl to dance, although I had my American roommate there to encourage me. I felt like I was foreign, even ugly. Perhaps this is not true. I do not mean to offend, and perhaps it is my own fear of feeling different. I simply don’t look like that so-blue-eyes boy as he glides across the floor. I look like me.

I have to decide if, even though I do not look like him, that I am also something and someone who these girls will dance with. There are many Japanese stories that reminded me to be brave, and I decided to be brave. I walked to a group of girls and said, in my broken English, if anyone would like to dance. One girl turned away not just with her eyes but with her body. Another looked at her friend and both began speaking as if I were not there. But the fourth girl said yes. I could not help smiling.

So I think that, on days that we are not homogenous, we must make a decision. When we meet those who are different from us: are we the cockroaches, or the lightning bugs? And, I think, it is our own choice—it is something we must believe about ourselves.

As for me, I choose to glow.

Questions to Think About

1. In what places or situations do you feel the most different?

While burners are in the desert, creating new stories to tell, I’ll share some memories from the last year preparations.

These are the mirror hats which we made as perks for the Own Way Indigogo campaign.

It took 3-4 hours, 3 old hats, a piece of mirrored plastic, super glue, scissors and 3 pairs of hands in a good mood (try adding a little bit of wine and weed).

You see, there are many ways to turn a hat into a Magic Mirror Hat, so pass some time thinking about the design. Then cut the plastic with ordinary scissors. Plastic is lighter than the real mirror, so it’s easier to fix it. Moreover, plastic is more safe and cheaper, still reflecting the light all right. The better glue you have, less patience you need. Save your nerves and take a good one. If you leave some glue traces at the mirroring surface, you can take if off using fire, acetone or just your nail. The best way is to be careful and neat so no need in further cleaning.

Then just find the right person to gift the Magic Mirror Hat :)

Hey, people. It’s been 3 months as I’m in Russia; two-thirds of this time I was planning to leave it, carry on travelling and explore deeper Paris and Berlin. Fortunately or not, my Schengen visa was refused. It still hurts thinking about it, cause that became a huge obstacle between me and Stephane. I`ve never invaded into a distant relationship so profoundly.The idea of us as modern Romeo&Juliette soothes the ego sufferings a bit, but still... 

Still, I see the element of luck cause while I’m in Moscow I can grow up and become mature as it would be difficult to do somewhere else. I can work and participate in different projects here without big need in money (I have a flat filled with food and no rent pay), speak the same language as everyone around, improve old connections and make new ones, using all the experience I gained in travelling. 

Baking for a cafe in one pretty cool yoga studio in Moscow is one of my new occupations. I’ve dreamt about it sometimes, as I really enjoy baking and sharing it. Now, having put vegan chocolate no sugar muffins in the oven, one more reason of love of baking came to my mind. 

That time, when you loaded the oven, set the timer and occupy yourself with cleaning or something else (writing a blog post, for example), is the reason. It is the feeling you have in this period - the expectation of a miracle. It`s like waiting for a present, which feels stronger and brighter than actually receiving it. 

After, when people taste your creation and, hopefully, like it, comes the second reward, the ego booster: “Such a good cooker I am! I could easily be a chief!”. It goes away fast, with the first unsuccessful meal - but the magic attendance stays with you in every cooking process, no matter what the result is. 

Alcohol and non-vegetarian food are not allowed in Pushkar. Why? It is a holy town. But if you look closer, you can discover the underground...

Truly, in local menu and in shops here you won`t find either "Kingfisher" (popular Indian brand of beer) or "Old Monk" (popular & drinkable Indian rum). But you can easily meet drunk people - how is it possible, my friend? 

Easy. The boy in the little chai shop at the 'French street' will assist you in getting anything you desire. Meeting him for the first time, you`re most likely gonna hear: "Everything is possible here, my friend". Admitting that this rule works all over India, this young businessman is talking particulary about drugs and alcohol (I prefer not to think about sexual offers).

Indeed, half of the year Pushkar is full of travellers from all around the world, who have their habbits, including having a beer in a hot day or celebrating trading success with alcohol. So local people provide what foreigners demand for - and often get involved in a drinking process.The sad part is that Indians get attached to alcohol much faster. And the worst role in this case is left for a wife of a drunkard: being not able to divorce (maybe even not thinking about it), she carries on doing all the home job + now she has to earn money for living, that sometimes brings her to the streets, begging, + she has to stand all the unpleasant moments of being intimately close to a drunkard.

Who`s getting benefits? 

The `grey` sellers as the mentioned boy, but not only - the governement, seeeing the situation, joined in. Now you can buy alcohol with the smallest commision in a governemental shop on the big road which goes by a bus station.

Thanks Gods, all the unpleasant situation above is not a rule, but an exception. Local people who grew up in Pushkar, among which there are plenty of Brahmins (for sure, the town is full of temples - somebody has to look after them!), keep the traditions, living in a pure way. No alcohol, no meat, no eggs, no cigarettes. 

Does it mean that they are not having some crazy fun, staying sober all the time? For sure, not. Bang is the brahmin`s fun. Some people are used to take it everyday, with rare exceptions. It helps to meditate, it cleanses body, it opens to a person the doors of perceptions - I wonder if Aldous Haxley had tried it...

What is bang?

It`s a paste from weed, water, species and mantras. The simple version, i guess just from weed and water, is most wide spread, but the original recepie, which can give all the benefits mentioned above, is given from father to son in brahmin`s families. With the recepie a young brahmin also gets a family stone for making bang. 

*You can see two brahmins from Pushkar, friends from the childhood, who have been making and taking bang together for years*

The proccess is pretty simple: the weed is being boiled, then taken out of the water (which is poisonos for people but super beneficiary for plants), put at the stone, mashed into a paste with an addition of species (could be black pepper, cardomon and zira), mixed with water with a help of a good friend and mantra chanting, put into glasses and drunk while it`s super fresh. Then - shanty time, meditation, nature, prayings, little conversations, art, good food, good sleep.

It is the brahmin`s way, but remember the tourists mentioned above? There are quite a few among them looking for a ways to get high - and they find their Paradise among hospitable Indians, who are ready to share their culture and fullfill tourists` needs. 

So today nearly in every cafe you`ll see "Magic chocolate ball" or "Magic lassi" - just change words "Magic" to "Bang" to understand what it is. The price differs from 10 rup (Shiva street cafe at the French street) to 250 (some restaurants). The difference in effects the determined souls should experience by themselves - if it exists - I can`t tell.

But what I know for sure - that governement is not staying out of this beautiful source of income - on the road to the gas station, on the left side, there`s a little governement shop, providing bang to the people. You can`t hear there mantras or talk to brahmins, but you can get high for 70 rup/1 bang ball. 

Besides these two points, alhocol and bang, there are other drugs in Pushkar also. Sometimes big troubles happen because of them - like everywhere else, I suppose.