Intarissable et prolétaire

C'est affreux, j'ai le bout des doigts démolis: craquelés, coupés, brûlés... Le travail de cuisine! Plus précisément encore: le problème fundamental de l'éternel récurage des choses.  L'éternel récurrence de la vaisselle sale.
La job de ''cuisinière", en fait, c'est vraiment pas du gâteau. ah! ... Au fait, peut-on déclarer être des cuisiniers, en bonne et due forme?  Bonne question.  Certains parmi nous le sont sans aucune doute; ce sont ceux qui créer et qui préparent les ''plats du jour''.
Moi... je fais le brunch du weekend et les soirs de semaine, je suis la bible - comme dans 'suivre' - des recettes Touskiennes, je fais ''de la prep''.

Une nouvelle vérité se formule en moi depuis un certain temps.  C'est une vérité qui me rend un peu inconfortable, mais que j'ai de plus en plus envie d'accepter et de partager: j'aime que mon travail soit mécanique.
Je n'aurais jamais cru m'avouer cela: je fais bel et bien partie de la classe ouvrière!  (L'ouvrier se définit comme un salarié qui effectue un travail manuel.)  Je suis en quelque sorte, donc, une prolétaire!  (Quoiqu'on définisse le prolétaire comme ''quelqu'un qui vit uniquement de son salaire'', et que cela ne me semble pas tout à fait juste.  Je vis aussi d'amour, et d'eau presque fraîche - plutôt filtrée, désinfectée, et chlorée.

Or le fait demeure: ce travail manuel, physique, dangereux, je l'effectue pour un salaire plutôt médiocre.

Mon travail est pourtant noble - dans le sens qu'il est moral, et qu'il y a une fierté à retirer du fait de travailler à offrir de la bouffe maison concoctée à partir de produits le plus saisonniers, locaux et équitable possible.
La restauration en soit est peut-être un luxe.  En cela, le domaine ne répond certainement pas aux grandes problématiques sociales auxquels plusieurs autres nobles métiers font face.  La restauration ''moderne'' n'est peut-être pas fondamentalement nécessaire, mais elle représente, depuis son avénement et désormais, sans contredit, un phénomène vecteur de culture.

Mais je tergiverse encore!  Revenons-en donc au point de départ qui était tout simplement, mais absolument douloureusement, le fait d'avoir les doigts démolis et de réaliser que je fais partie de la classe ouvrière.

Je dois avouer que ma relation avec le concept du travail d'exécution, en opposition avec le travail de gestion ou de création, par exemple, est un peu ambivalente.  En outre, il m'est forcé d'admettre que la division des classes demeure un fait bien réel et que l'analyse de Marx est toujours aussi pertinente.

Au fait, saviez-vous que Karl Marx lui-même ne décrivait pas seulement deux classes sociales:

Dans son ouvrage Les Luttes de classes en France, il définit sept classes sociales² :

• l'aristocratie financière
• la bourgeoisie industrielle
• la bourgeoisie commerçante
• la petite bourgeoisie
• la paysannerie
• le prolétariat
• le lumpenprolétariat

Ne peut-on pas associer ces termes - une fois nuancés, bien entendu - aux phénomènes de classes perçus dans la société d'aujourd'hui?  D'abord et indéniablement: l'aristocratie financière et la bourgeoisie industrielle, nos banquiers et nos PDGs... le 1%.

Selon un article paru sur Radio-Canada.ca :

Les 100 chefs d'entreprises du Canada les mieux payés ont gagné en moyenne 7,3 millions de dollars en 2008.

La rémunération de ces dirigeants représente 174 fois le salaire moyen d'un travailleur canadien.

C'est ÇA qui est le plus fâchant.

Car mon problème n'est pas l'existence de la classe ouvrière.  (C'est celui de la classe ''lumpenprolétaire'', par contre!)
Non, le problème c'est le manque de valorisation du prolétariat.

Mon problème c'est que celles et ceux qui travaillent dans les milieux de l'éducation et des soins ne soient pas mieux reconnus.  On ne comprend rien de ce que mijotent les grands chefs dans leurs tours de béton.  On leur concède le droit d'accumuler des millions de dollars sous prétexte qu'ils sont les dirigeants de nos sociétés.

Je me demande combien de leurs décisions servent le bien-être de la société globale.  Je me pose la candide question:  pourquoi un PDG gagne plus qu'unE technicienNE en garderie?  (Quelqu'un peut me répondre?)

L'une des résultantes néfastes de la mondialisation, c'est que l'intégration des marchés et des systèmes financiers permet une telle mobilité du capital qu'il est tout ça fait naturel pour ceux ''qui détiennent les moyens de productions'' de ne pas ressentir la connexion avec les milieux - humains et naturels - qu'ils exploitent.

Des relents de colonisation.

Pourquoi serait-ce si fou de vouloir imaginer une société plus juste?  Pourquoi certains devraient-ils nager dans le luxe en étant confortablement assis dans leur chaise ergonomique, alors que d'autres se détruisent le corps pour un salaire à peine suffisant pour s'occuper de leur santé?

Travailler en coopérative c'est s'offrir l'opportunité de redéfinir ''business as usual''.  Nous sommes des travailleurs manuels de l'industrie du service, des êtres intelligents et créatifs prenant soin d'un espace dans lequel la culture s'enrichie et se diffuse.   

Nous tentons l'expérience pratique d'une utopie égalitariste.  Nous ne possédons pas tout à fait nos moyens de production, ou même notre loyer, mais nous n'avons pas de patron!  

Nous sommes les seuls administrateurs de nos affaires, nous procédons par l'assemblées générales; nous sommes notre propre conseil d'administration.  Nous cherchons à démontrer qu'il est possible de mener une entreprise de façon radicalement différente, décentralisée et diversifiée: humaine... organique.

J'ai le bout des doigts craquelés, brûlés, coupés, démolis.

J'ai l'inspiration à grand feu et je bouillonne de réalisations.

Je suis fière, et je suis agacée.

Je vous offre ces quelques réflexions, quelque chose à grignoter.

Je vous invite, comme toujours, à venir ajouter vos propre épices, vos commentaires et questions, à ce grand bouillon...

À une semaine des élections

La balle est dans les airs!
(manif du 22 juillet)

Je me sens un peu prise entre deux langues, but what's new?

Nous sommes à quelques jours des élections.
Selon les médias- ceux qui ont le jeu des ficelles dans ce théâtre de marionnettes qu'est la scène d'information populaire- ce sera le Parti Québécois qui prendrait le pouvoir...

Je ne comprends pas très bien.

Ici dans ma bulle, sur le plateau Mont-Royal, il est plus qu'évident que le peuple a soif d'une politique tellement plus intègre, et radicale.  On vote Québec Solidaire parce que c'est le parti qui valide nos besoins et nos demandes:

On ne peut plus se permettre de nier la crise écologique et de persister dans la voie obsolète et pernicieuse d'une industrialisation gavé au pétrole et autres ressources non-renouvelables.  On à mal au coeur de savoir que nos terres agricoles se font de plus en plus ''dézoner'' dans l'étalement de la banlieue.  On veut parler du futur, prendre les moyens de bâtir les réseaux et les structures qui pourront faciliter l'évolution de la nation.

On a la rage, c'est vrai.  On n'en peu plus de l'hypocrisie, de la manipulation, et de la peur.  On s'indigne devant l'opacité des milieux financiers et administratifs.  On s'efforce de dénoncer la corruption et le manque flagrant d'éthique des instances au pouvoir.



Je n'aime pas porter accusations ni m'entendre qualifier d'autres humains de malveillants.  Mais il ne faut pas fermer les yeux non plus: le système néolibéral est un véritable merdier.  C'est une fausse à mensonges, un manège de violences cachées...

 C'est difficile de vivre en sachant et en comprenant l'étendu de la violence commise par l'élite.  Je ne veux pas paraître révoltée comme une adolescente, mais je le suis.
J'apprends à célébrer la lumière, la créativité, et l'interconnectivité.  J'aspire à partager des moments de joie et de communion avec de plus en plus de citoyens, de la campagne à la métropole.  Je crois à l'autonomisation (empowerment) par l'art et l'éducation populaire.  Je prends refuge avec le Buddha, le Dharma, et la Sangha.  Je sais qu'il n'y a rien que le présent; l'existence est une série de carrefours où se pose, avec chaque respiration, une nouvelle question.  Nous avons toujours le choix.

Alors pourquoi choisir le PQ?
Parce qu'on ne veut plus des Libéraux et qu'on croit que le vote stratégique est la seule solution?
Parce qu'on a peur de ''perdre notre vote'' si on suit vraiment notre conscience-coeur?
Parce qu'on entretient de vieilles rancunes, parce qu'on a peur de regarder de l'avant et de rêver à un avenir meilleur?
Parce qu'on a peur de l'espoir inhérent en chacun de nous?
Qu'est-ce qu'ils ont a offrir, le PQ?  (Péquistes, je vous invite à me répondre!)

Il portait jadis l'étendard d'un projet de souveraineté-association.  Aujourd'hui, c'est Option Nationale qui prend la relève.  Le PQ m'apparaît comme un parti sclérosé, réactionnaire et tout aussi avide de pouvoir que le parti Libéral.

En fait, parlons-en!  Comme il est bon de sentir le renouveau de la question ''nationale'' au Québec!  (Ou est-ce seulement dans une partie du milieu francophone Montréalais?)
Je sais pertinemment que le débat est plutôt embryonnaire pour l'instant.  Je sais très bien qu'il attise les passions.
Or les Québécois n'ont pas envie de se chicaner.  On n'a pas envie de se chicaner avec nos proches.  On préfère être confortables, au chaud,  et la programmation télévisée de la prochaine saison semble fort intéressante.

Le fait est qu'il reste beaucoup de place au développement de meilleures habitudes démocratiques au Québec.  Nous avons de très bonnes bases - don't get me wrong.  Le printemps érable aura re-réveillé la fibre politique et militante québécoise.
Parce qu'il est impossible de considérer l'expérience québécoise sans admettre les dynamiques de pouvoir qui y jouent.
De ce fait, nous sommes fondamentalement politiques, quoique nous sommes aussi prisonniers d'une mentalité dualiste et antagoniste.  Et nous pourrions peut-être apprendre l'art de la négociation, de l'écoute, et de la communication non-violente ?  Peut-être alors serions nous capable de discuter des projets de sociétés autours d'une bonne table, avec les membres de notre famille et autres gens qui ont des opinions différentes?  Peut-êter pourrions nous identifier les besoins qui nous unissent, et travailler ensembles à la réalisation des étapes servant à y répondre le mieux possible.

Un duo de pancartes qui m'a fait verser une larme de joie

Au risque de me répéter: Il serait grand temps de transcender notre mentalité de victime.  Il serait grand temps de faire le recensement de nos forces et de nos valeurs.

J'anticipe l'élection du 4 septembre avec un brin de doute, pour ne pas dire de dégoût.  J'ai l'impression que plusieurs citoyens auront vécu une mini révolution grâce à tout ce qui s'est profilé dans les derniers six mois, et que nous pourrons dénoter une petite part de changement.  Or j'ai bien peur de voir le status quo l'emporter à nouveau.

politics and the phenomenology of paradox

Sitting in my former school, the California Institute for Integral Studies. Soaking in. Reading and meditating on the different objects of my attraction.  On the one hand, mysticism and the taste for a free, unconditioned experience of Life.  On the other hand, visions and fears concerning the condition of matter, humankind, society, and Mother Earth.
I've been reading Mircea Eliade on Yoga.  I've also been seeking those with explicit inclinations towards consciousness studies... taking full advantage of this special Bay Area spirit.  It's clear to me, a region produced by the frontier mentality had to be permeated by idealism.  This place was born out of the necessity and capacity to see further, to open up paths into the unknown, to envision riches and dig for it.  The gold rush is of the past, but furher riches are being unearthed here. 
We've colonized land to the very edge of the new continent, and so came facing the unchartered territories of the mind, aided by the wisdom of Indigenous (behind) and Asian (ahead) cultures... This to me is one of the greatest gifts of San Francisco.

I am re-membering the pieces of my own journey.
I am considering the nature of time, and space.
I miss Montreal and the nation of my ancestors.  And in the material plane I wonder, I feel, that I can contribute something of what I've been learning...

Back in Quebec, the elections have been officially announced by the prime sinister - uh, minister.  Given what has sprung out of the "Printemps Erable", Charest might be right on one point: these could be the most important elections in the history of the province.  Or not.

It's 2012.  How many are able to dare and be visionaries?  How many would agree with my intuition; that we too are of a certain frontier mentality?  We are made up of pioneers (though we were first enslaved to the Catholic Church, and since then, to our fears and victim mentality.), ingeneers (for we had to keep ourselves warm and sufficiently fed) and hard-working families.  We were multicultural from the start, all immigrants on indigenous territory.  We have wide spaces and tons of ressources; water, minerals, wood.  We have circumstances, which point to warmer climates and future population growth.

We have so much potential.  If we acknowledge it.
If we can truthfully consider the power structure and the dynamics that are making up our society.  If we can keep talking amongst neighbours to revitalize the connections we have with one another; if we can let this be a strength that helps us out of fear and stagnation.  If we can imagine what is possible through emancipation and cooperation.

I cannot deny my vocation for political philosophy.  I also cannot deny my understanding that there is an Ultimate reality, beyond the illusion of separation and the fear of ego death.
I wonder how to honor both.
I am sitting at the California Institute of Integral Studies.

solstice on the island...

We're getting closer to the solstice here.

A people of festivals.  A people that used to go to Church every Sunday... ?

I see many movements... There's a huge movement, to create spaces for neighbors to meet one another and talk about common realities.  I see organizers.  Leaders.

I had an idea for a new creative ''manif'' ...
I see hundreds of people dancing... une gigue!  (a jig)

Imagine everyone crossing arms and spinning, meeting one another with a laughter, a face, a look in the eyes... skipping around and switching partners, until we meet everyone and make 'them' dizzy watching us from their glass towers and helicopters!

It would be such a gesture, to dance... Emma Goldman's revolution.

Or Nietzsche's revolution - as far as my exegesis goes - for it is an unleashing of our greater potential as creators.

We don't go to Church anymore.
In the summer time, we sit on our front stoops and our balconies.  In the winter, however, we sit facing the television, still.  And that's definitely another angle of the revolution we must look into! (The concentration of the media is REAL my friends... )

This island has potential.  The summer time brings such an explosion of life!  Balconies are full of tomatoes plants everywhere, strawberries hanging down, basil, onions, roses...

We're coming close to solstice.  Which also means Saint-Jean-Bapstiste.

What is it gonna be?
Another drunken celebration of our gregarious tendencies, or ... an event?  I want to see things move forward... so bad, though I know the resistance is real and widespread.  Here, amongst my people, we are ready to take a chance...

I was thinking.
Québec has a strong history of syndicalism.  I haven't read much about the topic, actually.  I don't know much about the struggles in the sixties; but I do know that today's unions are often considered as power thirsty as their counterparts, bosses and owners.
What if the unions got rid of bosses and owners?
What if workers united together, and between industries, to create a large network?  What if the superfluous disappeared?
Could we make it work?
That's the question !

I have been working at Touski for two months now; and I am witnessing a wonderful experiment in self-management, of team work, of doing business, and making food for the people.
You should see the amount of emails that go around on our mailing list list, each day.  But it works.  We are all concerned.  We are all asked to do a bit of extra work, and take some responsibilities, in order to make the restaurant prosper...

I love it.


 

And after work, I like to take my camera out... 

Noticing that a great number of schools were indeed founded by the religious community.

Roduction Éalisations Ndépendantes de Ontréal

Réflexions sur le St-Laurent

Life goes on... so fast!
Je ne sais pas quoi penser de se qui se passe.

Le Québec, ma tête,
en effervescence,
À voir une identité se forger,
les tensions qui l'habitent
Les peurs et les espoirs les plus fous

À parler de la langue
le français et l'anglais co-habitant sur une île
depuis 370 ans
Ville-Marie l'utopie
...

En ces temps politiquement chauds
En ce printemps de l'année 2012
Des manifestations d'hommes et de femmes
d'enfants et d'aînés
d'étudiants, de générations,

Des voisinages qui s'animent finalement
Des jardins communautaires

I am getting a privileged perspective into what it might be to be anglophone and live in Montréal, because I am seeing my friends looking for work and facing a reality I never considered before... to work here, you need to speak French.
And that's a good thing, I think.  I think I think.
This is how we preserve a language.  This is how we keep it alive.  The money, the economy, drives exchanges and thus keeps our connections alive.  What happens to our beautiful français if we let English take over the world of our daily transactions?
(C'est comme ça qu'on préserve une langue!  C'est comme ça qu'on la garde en vie.  L'argent, l'économie, c'est ce qui créer nos échanges et garde en vie nos connections. Non?  Qu'arrive-t-il à notre français si beau, lorsque l'anglais commence à s'imposer comme unique langues du monde des transactions?)  (C'est ce qui est arrivé au 20e siècle.)

The reality is that Montréal has always been populated by both Anglos and Francophones.  And there were Native inhabitants too, and soon came the Irish, the Italians, the Portuguese, the Chinese, the Vietnamese, the Haïtians... (who am I forgetting?) and now the Arabs, the Africans.. the Canadians, the French!

I asked my friends, ''Do you feel... discriminated against?''

''I love French and I think we should all learn to speak it'', responded K.
''I think one should come here and expect (I always rather thought ''to respect'', perhaps in my feeling victimized?) to live in a new language.  It's like going to Spain.  You can't say 'I should be able to work in English!''', explained E.

Québec is another, different place.

It's not too late to make something of it.

It's not the Berlin Spree, but it's still gorgeous.
(coucher de soleil au Canal Lachine)

Métro quelconque

We've been living in two ghettos, and that's perfectly okay.  in a way.
Two cultures of different values, or business meets religion.
(Two fundamental activities for humankind, I must say.)
...

Civil engineering
 

''It's a very interesting dynamic here,'' added E., ''because you can easily live and go by in Montreal without speaking a word of French.''

C'est bien vrai.

Quoi que tout le monde n'ose pas parler de politique.  ''On ne devrait pas parler de politique dans sa  famille.  Ça enflamme souvent les discours.  On le prend personnel.  C'est trop désagréable.''

''Oh! Je ne pourrais jamais afficher mes opinions politiques au travail!''

Quelle tristesse!  Pourquoi ne pourrions-nous pas débattre des meilleurs façons de vivre ensembles?  Pourquoi ne pourrions nous pas apprendre, dans nos écoles, à discuter et à écouter, à dialoguer et à médier, à s'organiser et à gérer tous ensembles les secteurs de nos vies qui nous concernent tous?

Je sais, je sais. Mais pourquoi ne pourrions-nous pas au moins essayer?

Je reviens encore à Nietzsche, mon éternel compagnon... Il y a ceux qui choisissent encore de se faire mener.  Ils préfèrent la loi du moindre confort, ils ne prenne qu'un minimum de responsabilités et se contente d'un minimum de liberté.

Et ils y a les sauvages, les illuminés, ceux qui ont le besoin de faire pousser la barrière du possible.  Ceux qui voient au-delà de la servilité confortable et se sentent appellés à la Créativité...

Ils y a ceux qui se veulent maîtres d'eux-même.

Bien sûr personne ne l'est vraiment.  Les forces du subconscients sont bien réelles après tout.  Il faut rester humble dans cette histoire d'Übermensch.

Orion nebulla / La nebuleuse Orion

From Spring to Summer... the Movement keeps on...

Helicopters are filming everything.  In the streets, violent clashes are taking place.. at this very moment.
The government of Québec just passed a ''special law'' making popular assemblies illegal.  Bad move: now it's explicit: you are fascists.
It's a strong word, but it's a reality: the government is desperately trying to repress the revolution.  Riot squads are out, day after day.
It's been 98 days.

The temperature has been particularly hot here in Montreal, and it got me thinking...

We are entering Summer season.  This means that Spring is ending, and what does that mean for the movement?  We've been calling it the Québec Spring, but now a new season is at our door...  What will it look like?  How long can the students persist?

They have been made to look like their are alone with their cause.  Everyday we talk about the situation, and everyday I raise the same point: for change to occur, there needs to be more sectors of society that join the movement.  Students don't have much power... they are just a bunch of idealists.  They're not part of the machine yet, so they can't actually stop it.  They can make a lot of noise, but it's easy for the common people to overlook what they are trying to say.

Who can say that this crisis does not concern them?  Who can say that education isn't the concern of everyone?  Who can say that they wish for education to become accessible only to those who 1) can afford it, or 2) play the game and get into debt?  Who can say that this isn't going to increase the gap between the rich and the 99%?

Now, some may say that they understand all of this, and they still choose to denounce the student movement.  Those people do not value socialism.  They have opted for the race... to the mountain top; they may believe it's a matter of ''survival of the fittest.''
They haven't understood the concept.

The fittest are those who know how to work together, how to share, how to communicate.  The fittest are those who understand that we are all interconnected.

I don't understand how the movement can be so isolated still.  Their are plenty of supporters: teachers, parents, professors, workers, thinkers, artists, doctors even... They are out there, marching every night.  They march in peace, by the thousands, and not a single newspaper is talking about that.  The media focus on the violence...

It must be the movement's ''fault'', in part.  How come they didn't try to get more unions to show support?  Now is the new season.  This Summer, every one who believes in a more equal and loving society must get up from in front of the tv screen and get out to see what is happening.

Historically, revolutions happen when the discomfort becomes too great; when too many mothers become unable to feed their families.  Then, they take to the streets.  It is true, many of us are quite comfortable and well-fed in today's Québec.  (Though many struggle, too.)
History is a spiral, however.  There seems to be a pattern unfolding... a mix of repetition and linearity.  And to me, something very special has the potential to take place.

Sure, we have made it this far.  Sure, we take long hot showers and we eat fancy foods.  We have worked hard to acquire all of this, we deserve it, and we shouldn't complain with our mouths full.  We shouldn't make a fool of ourselves by raising up our hopes, or ideals, our utopias...

Or should we?
Québec is a relatively comfortable nation.  It is a nation, yes.  We are proud of our unique identity, even though we are still working at defining it.  But the world is One now, more than ever.  My generation barely remembers a time before the internet.  We can choose to travel or work abroad, we are fully aware of the global village and of the issues other nations struggle with.  We are well aware, also, that we are all in it together.
This is why we march in the street.
This is why we want to bring about a revolution.   From our place of privilege, we want to create an even better world for our children to grow up in and take care of.  We want the integrity and equality of all human beings to be recognized.  We want to organize in ways that can reflect and sustain that.

If you are reading this from another country, please tell me, have you heard about the Student Protests?  Do you know about the DAILY confrontations between the police and the people?  Do you understand what I'm talking about?

Goodbye studio, Hello Community

I love my music.  I love that I am spending this tuesday afternoon dancing in my very own studio... Sun shining through the windows, and a wooden floor to die for.

I should stop saying that I can't dance.  Sure I feel pain in my foot, but I just have to be careful, right?  I can't quite jump or bounce, but hell I can dance!  

In fact, I dance pretty much everyday.  I do it on the streets, waiting for the bus or the métro sometimes... I do it in my head most of the time.

The apartment has been emptied of its furniture.
The funny thing is that everyone seems to worry about the quality of my life. ''You mean, you have nothing?''
''Are you kidding me?! I'm having a blast!''
They know me, so they know it's true...
I took a walk today and noticed that there is at least seven or eight dance and yoga (often combined) studios lined up on Mont-Royal between St-Laurent and Christophe-Colomb!
And I got my very own.  Blessed!

I just returned from a 24h trip in Québec city.  This time around it was different, I mean... in a ''new'' way.  As if I was seeing it with completely different eyes now that I ''live'' in Montréal.  I had never had this impression before.  Of course, that's because I'd never had my own ''chez moi'' here.

Landscape, Via Rail between Québec and Montréal.
And it makes me wonder...

I'm almost there.  ''Chez moi'', I mean.
Though it's true, I'm also in the process of defining it for myself.  Gathering thoughts and visions, setting intentions, trying things on.

I have found a new place to live.  I'll be moving in in the next several days.
The place is everything I've been setting myself up to manifest... but I'm nervous now.
I've been living the dream life: all this space, and this time, to do my own thing and be with myself.  Abundant space and time!
I am now moving in with more or less 13 people.  Adieu spontaneous butoh jam sessions, crawling on the floor like a wild animal and pirouetting like a ballerina.. Adieu clean and gigantic kitchen.  ''Things they come, and things they go...''
At my new place, we get bulk food and cook communally.  We also subscribe to a Community-Supported Agriculture program:

(A CSA consists of a community of individuals who pledge support to a farming operation where the growers and consumers share the risks and benefits of food production. wikipédia)  

 And yes!  Like me they faithfully practice composting as well!  I mean, isn't this pretty much what I've been talking about for months? (The only exception is the lack of a backyard garden, which is so central to the little utopian scheme I've been playing with in my head).  But!!! If I take the lead on it, we could grow our own lettuce in a window like that vidéo I saw on YouTube!
I gotta say.  It's a reasonable price, but the room is rather small...and it has no windows.  It has a skylight but it's quite dirty up there.  I wonder if I could get the landlord to let me go clean it...
I'm anxious.
Another transition baby!  Bring it on!

Ecovillage.. in the name of ?

The revolution is happening.
Well, it has the potential of happening.
And I feel a bit scared.

I am facing an opportunity to step into what I have been professing to be my dream!  (Careful what you wish for, hehe).  Less than two months after my return to the native land, and I have already found and met a group of people who speak the language of permaculture, who share visions of organizing into ecovillages.  They speak the language of permaculture and they agree that it is essential that we begin to learn, how to grow our food, and how to grow... socially, together.
I've been thinking about socio-political organization for at least ten years now.  I've been talking about egalitarianism, and community-living for almost as long.  Yesterday, as I sat in the living room of a fellow visionary and discussed the potential of the ''Institut de desurbanisation'', I gradually came to feel the significance of my conclusions.

The idea would be to live communally, in the city, while preparing for a transition to the ecovillage.  We'd be learning several skills to regain some autonomy, like sewing, knitting, canning, brewing, fixing and renovating the house, etc.  That's exactly what I've been ranting about for the past six months!
But the thought of actually doing it: living and working together, makes me a bit dizzy.  Have I grown to comfortable in my individualistic modern ego?
The truth is, I don't know these people as well as I know the friends I have had over the past fifteen years.  With my old friends I have sweated and fought (most of us played soccer together), won and lost, cried and laughed.  We have witnessed and supported each other through idyllic and horrendous love stories, through break-ups, confusions, joy and dreams... We have been through so many changes together...
Now there is a brand new group of people I could be moving forward with.  We could be entering a new phase of change together.  We could create change!
But we don't know each other yet.
And is that even what scares me the most?

Or is it the thought of eventually leaving the city?  No more world-music parties, no more impromptu meeting at the pub for a drink, no more sitting in a café with my laptop, no more dance classes, no more théâtre, no more daily multiculturalism.
Do I want to retreat from all of that?

In the name of energetic autonomy, in the name of food security, in the name of building an example of what could be...

In the name of every human being who is being oppressed, beaten, starved, raped, and forgotten... just because they live on a land where natural resources are being extracted...  In the name of voluntary simplicity... of anti-consummerism... In the name of indigenous people in Northern Canada, who are watching their last frontier getting drilled and destroyed by the oil industry...
In the name of fresh water and the hundred of animal species who have gone extinct over the last fifty years... In the name of heavenly Pacific islands, which are now slowly sinking under raising levels of ocean waters... In the name of ghettoized populations being plagued with pollution emanating from irresponsible industries and the spread of landfills (it's called 'environmental racism, look it up)...
In the name of my Cuban, Mexican, and Salvadorean amigos, of Palestinians and Israelites, of Syrians, Russians, Tibetans... in the name of my neighbors in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve... In the name of PEACE, in the name of Love for this planet and all the wonders it has gifted us with...

In the name of Life, simply.
Out of fear that we'll end up blowing each other up for fear of scarcity?

I am trying to re-trace the line of thought that brought me here today.

In the course of my political, environmental and philosophical studies I have come to consider most wars and injustice as symptoms of deep-seated unconscious fears (that stem from the illusion of separation).  Fear of lacking.  And from that fear, the sprouting of greed, lies, violence.
Peace doesn't mean the absence of struggle or dialectic.  But it does mean the end of violence.

In the course of my study I have come to value egalitarianism as an ideal to strive for, if we are to develop a sustainable peace.  And I have come to value wildness as the necessary source for creativity to keep flowing.

I'd like to eat food that is wholesome.  I'd like not to depend on the industry for my sustenance.  I'd like solar and wind power to replace the nuclear.
We're not mature enough, as a species, to make use of such powerful a tool.
We must learn how to live together.

Dreams are bubbling

I am tired, but I'm happy.  Life is good and full of new connections.
And I like connections.  They mean more mirrors, more reflections, more truth.
There is so much I want to convey that I run the risk of going abstract.  It happens like that a lot.
But the theme of today was Grounding, so in that spirit I will make an effort to focus my entry a bit.
And besides, I am extenuated.
I just got back from an important meeting.  No, it wasn't a job interview.  It was a preview of a possible future though, a taste in what my life's work could be... of what life could be.

There were 37 of us and we came from many different regions of the province of Québec.  (In case you wonder: that's 1,667,926 square kilometers, which is three times the size of France, and a big 20 percent of the USA.  In short: the province of Québec is LARGE.)

Some of the people there already knew each other through the Occupy Montreal movement, others came form small villages that are 5 hours away from the big city.  Some were veterans of the 70s and the 80s commune experiments, some of us don't remember a life before the advent of the internet.
I didn't know anyone; I had only had a few cyber exchanges with one of two of the organizers.  We came from the four corners and spanned at least two generations, but we all shared one basic intention:  the creation of a self-sufficient and healthy eco-community, according to the principles and philosophy of permaculture.
37 strangers, one utopia.
For where is this place going to be?  Are we talking about one, or more communities?  What land(s) do we have available?  What does the process involve?  What resources do we already have?
Do we mean the same things?

Permaculture means that we recognize how fundamentally interconnected and interdependent we are.  It means we are ready to see, observe, and learn from what's before our eyes: the Earth is wise and she is teaching us about diversity, complexity, and unity.  She's teaching us about relationships, cycles, and change.  She's teaching us about equilibrium.

We have had enough of buying into the false promises of the capitalist system.  We don't want to waste anymore resources and time: we'll create the alternatives.  We'll build new models, propose new ways.

Changes happen at the periphery.  If Darwin was right, the fittest organisms will be the ones living on.

There is so much I would like to revel into while reflecting back on today's experience.  But I want to go sleep for now.  It is only the beginning...

A wonderful experience is in the works...

Arab Winter in Montréal

Calligraphy-Graffiti touches me so deeply!
Arab Winter Exhibition @ Fresh Paint Gallery.

My discovery of the metropolis continues.

I did go to the open house for that physical theater class.  It was good to move in the studio, it was good to emote.  However, I couldn't help comparing the teacher with the one I had in San Fran.  I miss James Donlon!

After the open house, I made my way to another free activity I had read about on the web.  It was called ''Révolution: Bilan et Perspectives,''  and was organized by the Collectif Tunisien au Canada.


For an entire day, Cinéma du Parc turned into a cultural and political hall.  The collective had organized a full program, with conferences and debates, art exhibitions, films and documentaries, food and flags and culture.  I wondered if I might be one of the few white girls in the room.... and I was.
But it was good.


I got there just in time for the second conference, which was entitled: ''Arab revolutions and the international geopolitical situation.''  The panel consisted of three university professors: two in the field of political science and international relations, and one historian.

Serious intellectuals agree to not know what to do.

I sat in the movie theater with my little plate of Tunisian goodies and a cup of black coffee.  Then I got out my notebook and a pen, ready to delve into the topic of Arab revolutions and international relations.  I felt that I was reconnecting with a part of me I seemed to have left behind five years ago, at the term of my internship with Global Exchange.  I felt that I was back in Maine, studying international affairs and working for professor Baktiari, talking about national security and international relations, and going to conferences in West Point and meeting professors and ambassadors... getting a taste of ''the scene.''

I've actually been pondering this previous time in my life, recently, because I'm working on my résumé and all.  Thus I am revisiting, wishing to integrate the political thinker part and the creative spiritual part of me, all the while finding myself back in the region where I existed as a child and a teenager, before I did all these years of university.  No doubt, this is all a big spiral.

The first lecturer didn't move me.  In fact, I had a hard time following his talk.  He sat back and spoke from such a disenchanted place.  ''First of all, I have to state that I'm speaking from a subjective standpoint,'' said he. (Thank you Mr. Raboudi, for acknowledging that).  He explained: ''This is not an Arab Spring, as people say.  It has been a cold and bloody winter.''  He paused.  ''But I guess people need to romanticized whatever liberation movement takes place.  It gives us hope.''  (This is all paraphrased)

Yeah, I remember my bachelors in international affairs.  Disillusion and cynicism show up quickly.  Same old games and manipulations, same old diplomatic paradigms.  Any idealist is bound to hit the wall.  And it hurts so much you have two choices: to harden up, or to walk another path.

Luckily, the next panelist made me feel better.  His voice was much warmer, and he spoke clearly and intelligently.  Yet he didn't deny the stalemate and gravity of the geopolitical situation.  Leaders might have gone but the regimes themselves aren't much different.  Money is lacking; there's that humongous debt still burdening African nations.  As long as business and tourism are the main avenues for profit, power is bound to remain centralized.  The changes that need to happen for people to gain freedom and security are deeper and more radical.
At this point I'm thinking- rather, a voice is screaming in my head: ''Empowerment through decentralization! ...  Micro-financing... of sustainable communities and farming project!  Etc.''
I want to know whether those topics are even on the table over there.  Would I come off as culturally illiterate and a ''first-world-centric'' fool for talking about the potential of co-operative models, and community gardening and agriculture in the Middle East?  Probably.

The third panelist is also engaging.  He says he didn't pay much attention when the rebellions started in Tunisia, a year ago.  As a historian, he saw that ''non-organized, spontaneous movements never created sustainable changes.''  Historically, leaders will first try to repress the protests, and then perhaps make a few concessions. Nothing changes, at least not unless the bigger powers (the U.S.) decide it would benefit them.  BUT, this time, he was surprised.  The departure of Ben Ali had not been planned by the US government.  What happened is that people discovered their own power, and THAT, is revolutionary.

As he explained, ''A government falls, but the dissidents have no alternatives to propose.  In the first de-colonization wave, in the 1960s and 70s, the Left fought for socialism and nationalism.  Today, they have lowered every standard and are asking for a bare minimum.  They want dignity, and basic human rights.''

Arab Winter Exhibition.
180 St-Catherine Est. Montréal

Of course, the question was raised as to whether or not there was a connection between the Arab Spring and the Occupy movement.  Scholars were ambivalent and uncommitted with their answers:  ''There is an undeniable parallel and mutual influence, but we must remember that we're talking about different cultures.''

I personally believe there is much more than a parallel.  The 99% are demanding accountability, equality, and justice.  The 99% are pointing at fraudulous behaviors on the part of the elite, and at the absurd imbalance of power that results from that.  This is not very different from what caused uprisings in North Africa.  We are talking of about neoliberalism, centralism, and fraud and hypocritical propaganda.




It is true, the roaring of ''civil society'' has a different meaning in countries that have been ruled by dictators.  For Tunisians to debate and speak freely about politics is a big deal and it should be celebrated.
Still, the root causes seem to be the same.

Why is it so hard to see, that the counterweight to neoliberalism might be localism-communautarism?  That the continuous use of highly centralized energy resources is bound to centralize power in the hands of the few?

One lecturer said, '' Civil society must organize at a national level to come up with coherent demands and alternatives.''  I disagree.  While cultural nationalism can be an beautiful and powerful thing, I don't believe it is the best solution when it comes to economics.  Bioregionalism makes more sense.



Throughout the day, I thought about what my friend asked me before I left for the event:  ''Ève, can I ask you... what is your interest in going there?''

Houssem and another friend tell me about freedom of speech
in Tunisia, pre-Jan.14 2011.

I went there because I wanted to inform myself on what happened in North Africa, and what is going on now.  I like to try to understand what is going on in the world, and to know what aspirations other human beings may have.  I want to hear about what they dream of, what they think about, what they hope and what they see.  I want to fraternize with people of different cultures, because our home, the planet, has gotten smaller and the family is getting bigger... and family ties can become a powerful thing when calamity arises.  Suffering is an essential part of existence.  We're all in it together.
I went there to expose myself to the debate, and experience that phenomenon: flashes of knowing.  When a statement makes me react at the core, not emotionally though, rather intellectually, creatively.  It's not something I have control on; sometimes my brain synapses seem to spontaneously connect to create new pathways, and visions appear and they make so much sense.  Perhaps not in the immediate future, but in the long run, I can see things unfold.
I went there to gather new perspectives and challenge my own opinions.  I went there to refresh my memory on the realities we have to deal with.  I know I can easily forget the gap between my visions and what life is really like, down on earth.  So I make sure to keep exposing myself to real life, like power dynamics, and the problem of ''evil'' (though I'm not quite able to accept the idea of evil as an intrinsic phenomenon.  I've come to consider that it has its roots in fear.), and the conundrums tied to agriculture in general.
At the same time, however, it's a way to fuel the fire and the flame alive.

This Algerian woman raises the crowd with her rapping and singing!

Please feel free to comment, ask question, enter the conversation.  I might be wrong in many ways... I am asking to be challenged and enlightened... I am hoping to generate thought, in you as in myself...

Thank you.

Montreal walking tour!

Today, I felt like a traveller again...

I joined a small group of couchsurfers, for a casual -and free- historical tour of the city.
I had found the event posted on couchsurfing.com: ''L'histoire de Montréal par ses immigrants''.
''Perfect!'' I thought.  ''This is exactly what I'm hoping to delve into here!''

I wondered how many people would be brave enough to show up for a stroll in the winter cold.  I didn't know what to expect.  I thought it was a nice day out though.  So I just went, hoping I'd be warm enough, and that my foot would hold off okay.
(I have been diagnosed with a plantar fasciitis.  Darn it.  Other story...)

We met our guide Philippe in front of the  Grande Bibliothèque de l'UQAM, and we follow him inside for a look at the map and an introduction to the cultural history of the metropolis.  There was a guy from Lyon, another Peruvian born but raised here, in Laval.  There was a girl from Malaga, in Andalucia!  Another joined us at the beginning of our walk; she is from Guadeloupe (and is white).

I've been to Montréal countless times before.  I came here as a child, on summer vacations with my family. And in the past several years I've spent lots of short stays with my friends who have now settled here.  But I really don't know much about the history of this place.  I'm disturbed because I hear so much English spoken on the streets.  It's irrational; I know it's been a dual occupancy since the beginning.
So I was curious and impatient to learn about that whole cultural process...

Copper apparently changes color with time.
This roof used to be shiny and... well... copper-colored!
(It's just like an oxidized penny!)

I learned that the Natives never had settlements on the island (yes, Montreal is an island), but instead came sporadically, to trade furs and other goods.
I was brought back - in my imagination - to the time where the first French explorers came and created trading posts along the river - rather than ''colonies'' per se.  They were here for commerce, strictly.  Along the St-Laurent - in Québec, Trois-Rivière, and Tadoussac - they were but a small 300 surviving, and trading with the Natives.
They also wanted to convert them to Christianity, of course.  (At that time, France is experiencing a strong boost of Catholic fervor, in reaction to the Protestant Revolution.)

1641.  Eight dreamers set out to build their great project: the ''Société de Notre-Dame de Montréal pour la Conversion des Sauvages  de la Nouvelle-France''.  They have a clear goal: they want to build a walled city, a colony, where they will educate the settlers and the Natives into the glory of their fervent Catholicism.
Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve is one of these enthusiastic christians.  Today he is considered the founder of Montréal.  But according to our guide Philippe, we should give the most credit to Jeanne Mance (a nurse), since she was the one who persisted the longest, and stayed long after all the initial utopists had died or returned to France.
Ville-Marie, as it was originally called, was far off into the wilderness back then.  There were Natives roaming around.  There were the rapids of St.Louis (Lachine), which couldn't be navigated but had to be portaged instead.  There were the seasons.
On the island, the population stagnated at 42 people during all of the first decade.  Some left, others died from malnutrition and harsh conditions, a few were killed by local Iroquois fighters.

It's a harsh place to try and settle.

By the late 1650s, there's about a hundred people living in Ville-Marie.  Maisonneuve has returned to the mother land, Jeanne Mance is still here.  The Roi-Soleil, Louis XIV, takes over the French monarchy and decides to centralize his North American assets.  This is the end of the religious utopian project for the Société Notre-Dame.  Ville-Marie is but another piece in the colonial, commercial, battle.

There will be more than forty wars between the Nouvelle-France and the New-England over the following hundred years.  From the start, the Canadiens (I learned that the word originally referred to French settlers, before it turned into French Canadiens and British Canadians.  Only in the 1960s did the identity of Québécois really take shape in the collective psyche.) are outnumbered by a ratio of 20:1.  There are English settlers everywhere.  And in 1760 it's the infamous battle on the Plains of Abraham, and the rest is history.  Nouvelle-France is no more.  Canada becomes a British belonging.
But the first waves of English speaking Montrealers are mostly Irish and Scottish.  They come to take over the fur trade, since there is now a law prohibiting French Canadians to do business.

Our poet: Émile Nelligan,
son of an Irish man and a French Canadian woman.

During the first forty years of the nineteenth century, there are 70% anglos in Montreal.
The Industrial Revolution is shaking things up here too.  The city (which, by the way, is still only a fraction of the island) becomes a port of confluence for trade and shipping.
French peasants go to the United States looking for work.  They go to Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts.  Some will come to Montreal in the 1850s, and the city will expand a bit, east of the Main street: Saint-Laurent.

I learned then, that this is the street that divides the island between East and West.  It's something anyone living here finds out quickly.  I'm glad I didn't have to get terribly lost before learning that fact.

Our guide actually took us for a walk up Rue St-Laurent.  He explained that it shows pretty well the different strata of immigrations that constitute the metropolis.

La ''Main'' is history.

Irish, Scottish... then Germans and Jews (''Germans'' also including Eastern Europeans who then lived under German occupation), as well as Italians, and Greeks... and then Chinese people immigrated.  And Vietnamese people also came, and Haitians (two waves; the first were intellectuals fleeing the dictatorship of Duvalier Père, the second generation, under Duvalier Fils), and Moroccans and Lebanese people, then more Maghrebians, and some West Africans too.  And Chileans (leaving their homeland under Pinochet), and Argentinians, etc.  Portuguese immigrants apparently came from the Azores island (when?), and I know for sure there is also a big Brazilian population here.

You get the idea.  Montreal was always a metropolis!  I think this is both fantastic and disturbing.  And I'm very inspired to seek out more information on the subject, to read historical books and novels, and to talk to everybody about where their ancestors come from...

And to go back to all these old restaurants we walked by, and try it all..

Schwartz's smoked meat sandwiches are apparently an institutions.
Is it kosher?

Chinatown

Also on St-Laurent...

More info on the history of Montreal...

Un merveilleux site web sur l'histoire de Montréal:  ici

Se puede hacer lo

It's my last night in Europa and there's a free Cabaret at a wonderful community circus space, called La Nave Espacial.  I discovered the place thanks to David, who I had met and exchanged contacts with back in Berlin.  He's a juggler, and he's Mexican, and I've never met anybody which such original and protuberant piercings and scarifications on their face.  Yes, David looks like a member of the new tribal culture, some kind of "postmodern shamanistic" type.  He's colorful, but quiet.  He's a nomad too, and well... he knows where it's at.

He landed in Barcelona about a week ago and immediately found the Nave.  Meeting on our favorite social network the next day, he invited me to come check the place out.

"Should I bring my juggling clubs?" I asked.

"No. We have everything here."

... Yes they do!!

We're talking about a gigantic industrial hangar kind of space.  In front, a few caravans are parked alongside the curb.  Upon walking into the vast entrance lounge, one might greet a few hippies, some acrobats (with that kind of unmistakable body), or some b-boys.  Children, sexagenarian, locals and wanderers.  All meet here. 

"Como funciona todo?" I asked some circusy folks smoking cigarettes in the /communal kitchen.

"Pues. Puedes ir por allá, esta el gym.  Todo bien, si quieres practicar.''

"Y... es gratis o .. ?"  

"si, todo gratis..."

"Vale!"

No entrance fee!? Free access to all of this?

I notice a chalkboard with a weekly schedule on it: those are all the free classes offered: spray paint, flamenco, breakdancing, body awareness, etc.

Una Nave muy especial!

I go to the gym to find David and... wow: the place is fully equipped!  The full array of circus apparels - trapezes, fabrics, mats, ropes, rings, etc. - the heavenly sight of which spiced up by some good sound system blasting in the breakdancing area.  Jugglers, acrobats, b-boys share the space.  There are even some  weight-lifting machines on the side!

There it is: from babies crawling around to young teenagers, folks in their prime and old activists, whites and blacks, latinos and spanish, etc.   All here practicing their passion, their trade, on a wednesday afternoon.

"La Nave"  also counts a computer lounge, a sewing room, two dance studios, a laundry room, a ping pong table, plus a theater area, and, I assume, some cubbies or rooms for those who live and sleep there.

How can all of this be open to free use?  Well because the place was abandoned and is now "occupied", of course!  The project was made possible by a few leaders - who somehow came up with the equipment -  many of which are originally from Latin America.  The place has been running for about three years now.

How freakin'' inspiring!

''Eso es... cómo... Utopia!'' I suggest to an older Argentinian man I'm chatting with.

''No es utopia,'' he corrects me, '' se puede hacer.''

Please, let there be a place like this in Montreal!

Last night in Europe then.  I haven't seen half of the common attractions of Barcelona but I don't feel like getting myself lost in the meanders of yet another city.  I'm satisfied with what I have experienced: the fantastic modernist designs of Gaudi and his contemporaries, the museum of Catalunya (which by the way I didn't get to visit in its entirety, even though I was there for three hours!), the Barceloneta beach, and the old city.  That alone is enough to feel overwhelmed.  Too much would be hard to digest.  I like to keep it delightful and inspiring.

I really wanted to write about my visit to the Park Güell as well.  That's a park on a hill, where some rich industrialist named Güell had Gaudi and his architect buddies design modernist village of "modest" habitations.  

 

It was 1900 to 1914.  It was the industrial boom, and Güell was inspired by the English Garden City Movement (super interesting wikipedia discovery!).  The area is surreal and superbly gorgeous!  I wish urban design could still find such inspiration instead of giving us those sad, uniform, unicolored, developments.  Aargh, it makes me nauseous just to think of it.

But I digress! I tangent! I parenthesize! Pardon me (and quantum phenomena) for this.  As I was saying...

Last night in Europe.

Free Cabaret.

I have seven Euros left for the rest of my time on this side of the pond.  I must be intelligent.  I must plan.  I decide to find a grocery store in order to buy myself some lunch/dinner as well as something for the airport.  (I'm flying out at 6am, so I'm going to have to sleep at the airport.)  I could have saved so much money had I done more home cooking, but then I wouldn't have had tasted all these local delicacies!

Way up to the Park:
outdoor escalator!

I arrive there and sit outside to eat some bread and cheese.  I don't know anybody and I feel awkward.  I'm not feeling very extraverted.  I think that my Spanish might actually have regressed a bit recently, because I'm tired. So I just sit there for a while, reading my Kerouac and enjoying some sun despite the cold air.  In 24 hours, I'll be in winter land.  

I eventually go inside to find a bunch of people busying themselves in the kitchen.  Turns out they are serving dinners for one Euro tonight!  Ah!  This is just incredible.  I wonder how much of the food have been "recycled" as they say here.  How much of it was dumpstered...  I hang around the space, offering myself to help with whatever needs to be done.  I'm assigned to the setting up of tables and chairs, which I accomplish quickly so that I'm left again to read my novel.

A quote from The Lonesome Traveller:

"À force de penser aux étoiles toutes les nuits, je commence à comprendre: 'ces étoiles sont des mots' et tous ces mondes innombrables de la Voie Lactée sont des mots, et notre monde en est un lui aussi.  Et je m'aperçois d'une chose:quel que soit l'endroit oü je me trouve, dans une petite chambre pleine de mes pensées ou dans cet univers infini d'étoiles et de montagnes, tout est en moi.  Il n'y a aucun besoin de solitude.  Il faut donc aimer la vie pour ce qu'elle est et ne se faire aucune idée préconçue.'' (p.203)

At 7h30 the lounge is full of people waiting to grab a seat in the theater.  It is really cold and I'm hoping things will get a bit warmer once we're all siting side by side.  There are some hundred and fifty people here.  And what a beautiful crowd!  I got a spot on the bleachers, but most people are sitting on pillows on the concrete ground.  Not sure they're warmer.

The actors begin the show while people are still finding their spot and chatting.  They don't have microphones.  On first impression I think: ''wWait! There are still people talking and moving around..'' But then my impression changes; it feels like a public square or a parochial gathering.. it feels amazingly intimate this way!

Little by little the attention focusses on our masters of ceremony.  The first act is a clown woman... She is GOOD!  The little physical habits, the mimics, the candor, her absurd relationship with the objects of her world... she is wonderfully lovable!  Wow... This is the approach I want so bad to take... this innocence... this childlike joy ... this lightness.

I'm inspired.

The second act is an aerial straps duo.  I have never seen anything like this.  The mise en scène is wonderful, the technique is sharp, the moves are original.  The images of two hobos flying and spinning in the air is tender and poetic.

Applauses to warm the artists and ourselves.  I'm experiencing a small revolution:

This is it.  That relationship between audience and artists, this is the real circus.  Our MCs remind us: ''Esta frío, no?''  They are not ignoring this reality we are all experiencing together, they are naming it.  And that's magical.

I think about Cirque du Soleil and how far it is from accomplishing this.  That's spectacle, that's corporate, mass production, it's form above all, it's professional perFORMance.  No room for presence, for spontaneity, for community.

And I'm thinking that it's a shame in fact, because Cirque du Soleil is such a global phenomenon.  There would be such an opportunity for them to let their clowns take on that sacred function: to name the realities we are experiencing together, globally.

I'll have to write an editorial about this one.

More acts, some incredibly original and mind-blowing, others much less.  After half-time (you'll never fully take the athlete out of me!), a few dance numbers.  I shed a few warm tears when I see that group of teenagers take on the stage.  There they are among a crowd of adults, courageous enough to share their passion and skills with us.  Good stage presence, impressive saltos, nice choreography.  The crowd is loving it.  How heart-warming.  

And the last act: woman-man acrobatic duo, with yet another superb story line, unseen moves, and strong technique. I've never seen such muscles on a woman before.  I've never seen a man stand with both feet on a woman's head!  Dang!

Little revolutions surrounding age and gender relations... That's what I'm talking about.

Flying hoboes...

And in my mind a torrent of ideas... I'm so full of them, these big visions so vivid yet so complex.  And if I can't perform all of them, I'm thinking, I could have other people make it happen.

My last couch surfing host studied arts management... that's sort of what he does.

Parc Güell (wish I could provide the soundtrack too).