So I've been back for a good week now. I'm still at a loss for what to say.People ask me, "Dude! How was the Burn??!" and I still go, "....uhm..."
Or people ask, "Did you have a good time at the Burn??" and I say, "Uhh.. I don't know if I would call it a good time, well, not your usual kind of good time, I had a great experience, but ..."
The trip down in my friend Yossi's beautiful, older-than-i-am van was spectacular. I was being blown away by how much the United States looked like I always thought it would. There is some beautiful country down the west coast.
I was also being blown away at how much advertising there is, all over the country. Something else that blew me away was the infrastructure of the freeways. Since this was my first excursion outside of Canada, I couldn't conceptualize just exactly how densely populated 300 milllion people would be, in a country roughly the same size.
The trip down was great, it was a solid group of people. The crew packed a giant sandwhich costume to wear at the Burn, so at one point, we went shopping in a grocery store dressed as a giant BLT.
The locals weren't expecting that one and we had a lot of fun with the reactions. When someone would call us on being a sandwhich someone would yell "Sandwhich Formation!" and we'd all run at each other and compress into our "true self."
Upon arriving at the gates just past Gerlagh, Nevada, it was my time to exodus from the vehicle, Betsy. The temperature must have been down to 5 Farenheit or something like that, it was coldish, and I didn't have a ticket. It had been my intention to have a ticket for the gate to avoid the fiasco of finding a "miracle" in the crowd, but earlier this last summer, a person I'd let close into my life stole from me just weeks before the Burn. Left with relatively nothing in a city far from my own hometown, I almost decided to turn back. It was with help from very close and real friends that I remained inspired to make this trip. I had been planning on making it to Burning Man for more than three years, preparing myself mentally and spiritually, meticulously. So with $80 American, I found room in a van, and headed South for the Burn. The driver was going to California post-Burn, and wasn't planning on driving North for at least six months, but I would deal with the rest later.
I was blown away by the dust. And the miles and miles of nothing. What we call the Playa, is a massive alkali mud-flat. I dried up lakebed, known as Black Rock Desert. I walked up and down the 6 lane entrance gate to the city, and for four hours accepted tiny, sometimes larger cash donations, explaining my situation to anyone who'd ask. One man gifted me $50. Then the line got smaller and smaller. It had been daylight for 5 hours or so, and it was getting HOT. I decided to move locations to the will call ticket box office. I also decided that it was a very very good idea to have brought 10 gallons of water with me.
I sat by the entrance on my backpack, crosslegged, and closed my eyes. An hour later, I was the owner of one (1) Burning Man 2009 ticket.
The Burn was one of the most amazing things I've ever done. The Burn was also one of the most amazing things my eyes have ever beheld.
The whole week up to the burn is a big party. People deck out their cars and busses, being made to look like giant lizards or spaceships. Alcohol is served free of charge at themed Bar Camps, there are operating restaurants and coffee shops, free of charge, there are even Shower Camps. To form the best idea of how the City operates, check the website; www.burningman.com, and read articles about it or watch interviews on it.
My week consisted of a few drinks at night, some dancing a few of those nights. One night I saw Bassnectar at 10:00 and Esplanade, one night I went for a very exciting walk around town with a friend, one night I banged my shin really hard and had to spend the rest of the night waiting for the doctor to give me sutures (7) in my right shin! People were worried about that one, but I was a little bit proud inside to have acquired a scar my first year onplaya, hehe..
The night of the Burn was intense. All I can really say about it is that it affected me so deeply, so immensely, that I had to lay down after. It was over and I had done it and I had no idea what to do with myself. Extremely overwhelmed, and having experienced over an hour of extreme sensory overload, I was in a shape.
Post-Burn I had to spend a lot of time alone, and wasn't spotted back at camp until well into the afternoon. That night we burned the Temple and as soon as the temple fell I was on my way.
I found a ride with three guys my age heading back to Vancouver who were great to travel with. I also did not want to be in the United States at all, and the fact that I was making it back to Van in one shot was a gift from the universe to me.
I'm still sorting through the ashes, so to speak. Transition back into the default world is difficult, and the default world is very foreign and seems so redundant. Winter fast approaches, summer's fleeting, and it's time to keep busy until the next leg of the trip.
Goal now: Australian Summer.
