amazing...
so, there really is no way to sum up this past week...
being at the aboriginal camp was one of the most amazing experiences i've had...the warmth and love and sense of connectedness was like nothing i've ever come across before...
i think i may have to bullet point...
--the entire time we were there, it was in the 100s...humid, and blazing sun...intense...many of us almost passed out from heat stroke...
--first day i was there, i got bit in two places by green ants, which was one of the most painful things i've felt...feels like you are burning, and it lasted for 4 hours...fun fun.
--literally burned myself with a piece of hot metal wire while i was desiging my emu instrument...now i have a lovely 'ol scar that will always remind me of my time there...
--learned more about life than i can express right now...--patience, jealousy, selflessness, honesty, being genuine, fear...
--got one of the most amazing hugs of my life...made me burst into tears when the grandmother held me, looked straight into my eyes and said..."you, you're a good one..i can tell....you're one of the reasons i held on this long..so i could hold you in this moment"..i can't begin to explain how that made me feel....
--laid out under the stars...I have NEVER seen so many stars in my life....talked about love and taking chances...talked about racism, spirituality, trust, what we want out of life, what life wants out of us...--intense bonding...intense physical exertion...intense everything.
--heard some of the dirtiest jokes i have EVER heard in my life around the aboriginal campfire...hilarious...saw an impromptu pole dance (well, a big stick)...bizzare cultural overlappings..
--we all had a dance performance, topless...the guys were nearly naked...we painted each other, and it was one of the most liberating experiences for all of us...to just look at each other and recognize how beautiful everyone is...to be comfortable in your own skin...one of the girls told me that it was the first time she had ever felt beautiful in her life....we both ended up in tears...
--after the final performance everyone (about 30 of us) ran down to the river in the pitch dark and went skinny dipping...there was ochre everywhere where it was coming off of us...so much laughing and "oh my god, this is amazing" moments for all of us...we all floated there and stared up at the stars...beautiful, so beautiful.
--saying goodbye about killed me...a few of us were sobbing on the bus...felt like i had been given another home, another family, another world...amazing gifts...
--there is no word for "goodbye" in any of the aboriginal languages...i wish that our language didn't have a word for it either....it's a word that doesn't make sense...
--there is simply too much to recount right now...but let me say that it was one of the most awe-inspiring moments in my life....
left me breathless....people are so beautiful...it all is.
being at the aboriginal camp was one of the most amazing experiences i've had...the warmth and love and sense of connectedness was like nothing i've ever come across before...
i think i may have to bullet point...
--the entire time we were there, it was in the 100s...humid, and blazing sun...intense...many of us almost passed out from heat stroke...
--first day i was there, i got bit in two places by green ants, which was one of the most painful things i've felt...feels like you are burning, and it lasted for 4 hours...fun fun.
--literally burned myself with a piece of hot metal wire while i was desiging my emu instrument...now i have a lovely 'ol scar that will always remind me of my time there...
--learned more about life than i can express right now...--patience, jealousy, selflessness, honesty, being genuine, fear...
--got one of the most amazing hugs of my life...made me burst into tears when the grandmother held me, looked straight into my eyes and said..."you, you're a good one..i can tell....you're one of the reasons i held on this long..so i could hold you in this moment"..i can't begin to explain how that made me feel....
--laid out under the stars...I have NEVER seen so many stars in my life....talked about love and taking chances...talked about racism, spirituality, trust, what we want out of life, what life wants out of us...--intense bonding...intense physical exertion...intense everything.
--heard some of the dirtiest jokes i have EVER heard in my life around the aboriginal campfire...hilarious...saw an impromptu pole dance (well, a big stick)...bizzare cultural overlappings..
--we all had a dance performance, topless...the guys were nearly naked...we painted each other, and it was one of the most liberating experiences for all of us...to just look at each other and recognize how beautiful everyone is...to be comfortable in your own skin...one of the girls told me that it was the first time she had ever felt beautiful in her life....we both ended up in tears...
--after the final performance everyone (about 30 of us) ran down to the river in the pitch dark and went skinny dipping...there was ochre everywhere where it was coming off of us...so much laughing and "oh my god, this is amazing" moments for all of us...we all floated there and stared up at the stars...beautiful, so beautiful.
--saying goodbye about killed me...a few of us were sobbing on the bus...felt like i had been given another home, another family, another world...amazing gifts...
--there is no word for "goodbye" in any of the aboriginal languages...i wish that our language didn't have a word for it either....it's a word that doesn't make sense...
--there is simply too much to recount right now...but let me say that it was one of the most awe-inspiring moments in my life....
left me breathless....people are so beautiful...it all is.
posted by heather at 9:03 PM
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