Chancla Veloz

San Luis

2010-02-06T22:20:00.006+02:00

I just came back from the desert and the old mining town of Real de catorce in San Luis Potosi. It`s beautiful and magic, pictures speak for themselves.

the chanclaveloz comeback

2010-01-29T20:44:00.006+02:00

I can't believe almost a year has passed and I didn`t write anything or uploaded any pics... Well I`m back (after I lost all my fans for sure.
This is my brand new little house, a dream come true, an continuous satisfaction. Every morning I wake up, look around and feel happy to be inside
this round, warm structure.

It seemed to hard a task but with Balen (the French, super skillful bright man who came to stay to the farm) and many other hands the dome is up and running. About 50 days of work over a period of 4 months, dozens of helping hands, the Bidi Dome is a living example of good permaculture design and joint work.

It has solar passive heating and passive cooling systems, and it works perfectly!, it`s comfortable and welcoming. It has a rainwater collection tank and a small garden.

Here in the pics you can see part of the building process and how it looks now that it´s finished.

Welcome home

Central de Abasto

2009-03-03T14:04:00.005+02:00

La Central de Abasto es un mundo dentro de la Ciudad de Mexico, es de donde sale gran parte de lo que los chilangos y muchos otros mexicanos comen. Las cantidades y variedad son espectaculares y la gente muy amable. Todo habitante del DF deberia ir al menos una vez. Se mueve mas dinero en unas horas del que muchos de nosotros tendremos en toda una vida. Es un paraiso para la fotografia.

I love bubbles

2009-02-14T03:43:00.002+02:00

I`m back, with lots of bubbles

Mud Era

2008-12-17T18:57:00.008+02:00

The mud season is coming to an end, we are almost done closing the building and it's becoming too cold to keep playing with mud. We have done a lot of work, with the help of many hands that made this building project happen. Here are some of them.

Fire of Life

2008-12-01T21:47:00.003+02:00

I recently started a course that teaches hunter-gatherers skills in order to achieve a better understanding of the (natural) world and of mankind. It seeks to provide knowledge and sillks on three circles: man to man, man to the Earth, man to the creator.

This organization (shomrei Ha gan = keepers of the garden) is partly inspired by the teachings of Tom Brown who in turn was educated by an Apache Indian -Stalking Wolf.

I found an excerpt in Tom Brown's Field Guide to Living with the Earth
that brought inspiration and gratitude, here it is

We had thought we could create fire just by ourselves, but now we realized just how impossible that was. Our efforts alone could never make a fire. Sunlight and wood and plants and animals and water and many other entities went into it too. Fire was not just a result of skill; it was a gift from the Creator.

This perspective is not easy to grasp when we know we can make a fire with the strike of a match or the flick of a lighter. But up until the last few hundred years, that is the attitude people had toward it. Fire was a sacred entity. It was a powerful purifier that could transform almost anything. It consumed the cold and the darkness when the sun slipped below the horizon. It purified water and cooked food. In the sweat lodge it purged the body and warded off disease and despair. With time it even broke up and consumed rocks.

It’s when we do without fire for two or three days that we really begin to appreciate it. It becomes precious beyond words. Even in nonsurvival situations we can feel this. Until that spark of life begins to flicker inside a cold, dark shelter, the shelter is dead. But once its heartbeat grows strong, the shelter comes alive with light and warmth that brings much inner peace and happiness into our lives.

As we cast our eyes into a fire, we can feel it not only warming our bodies but making our spirits glow. The effect is almost hypnotic. It’s as though the coals held part of the secret to our existence. There is something in a fire that brings out our own inner glow and pulls us closer to the earth, it is also the center of attention, the center of the lodge, and the center of the sacred circle in our hearts.

Images

2008-11-26T17:17:00.005+02:00

I just felt like posting some pictures

News from the farm 4

2008-10-28T19:08:00.007+02:00

As many other people in the region we picked our olives and cured them, winds of the fall and beautiful clouds started to appear in the horizon and these last few days it already feels like winter, it's raining a lot (thank god) and it's cold.

We are kind of ready, the kitchen and all the furniture is inside the "Center", yes we have walls and windows and doors and have a big living room now.

Ilai is putting up the roof for his house

We cannot catch as much rainwater as we would like bot we have already collected a very good amount that we are using to prepare mud for the walls. We have still a lot of plastering ahead of us but the fact that the building is standing brings a sense of comfort and security.

We are a bigger group living at the farm now and it feels great, it reminds me how important the force of many is, and how rewarding (and also difficult) it is to live in community.

We have a lot more mud on the way and need to finish before the winter really comes, so if u are reading this and are close come and give us a hand, it is as fun as it looks.

geodesia

2008-09-21T12:01:00.004+03:00

we just put together the aluminum pipes that will be my new home (yeiiiii!)

We prepared the pieces from existing pipes and put together 2 geodesic domes

We cut, flatened the ends, drilled holes, made an angle and removed sharp edges for 130 pieces.

We put together two 2v geodesic domes, each one is 4.5 m in diameter and consists of 65 pieces.

It only takes a few friends

and sooner than you think

taraaaaaan one dome is up!

And everyone is on top, it's one of the strongest structures that exist

And sooner than you know
Second dome is up!

Yeiiiiiiiiii

Mouth revolution y pulgarcitos

2008-09-11T21:15:00.003+03:00

La moutholucion, the mouth revolution es un corto de free range studios que va a dejarlos boquiabiertos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nicOP2NLC0

Y pa curiosidades chequense estos pulgares, tres personas con estos dedos coincidieron en un mismo lugar, yo nunca me habia fijado que existen pulgares como estos

News from the Farm 3

2008-08-18T19:48:00.002+03:00

Work in progress!!

This is our brand new taboon, soon we'll be able to bake pitta and pizza.

There is so much happening here lately that if I try to keep up with the changes and the new pictures I will never finish this post, so here it goes after several attempts.
Two big changes have taken place at Yeshmeain (the permaculture educational farm where I live): about 2 months a go we finally moved the kitchen outside, got the composting toilet and shower up and running and just moved there. Life takes place on that common area rather than inside the small house we used to gather at.

The second big change is that we have started building "the Center", a 200 square meter straw bale builing that will host all of our activities. Down here you can see the building; an old greenhouse frame with a new roof, used tyres filled with gravel are the foundations or "good shoes" where we hqve stqrted lying the straw bales that will soon be a wall. The good shoes also have stones and lime on the side. All of this will prevent moisture from reaching the straw and the mud plaster
Here you can see Gal and Merav digging the pool andh channel for out most recent grey water system and in the background the solar water heater that Ilai built.
This is how the garden looks now
After a great workshop on earth building with Tal Bashan we finished Ilai's walls and some shelves for the new indoor kitchen.

On the right you can see part of the 'good shoes', tyres stuffed with gravel.

The best hanging out spot is now under the mullberry tree

We hosted a lime plaster workshop, we made a pond for the Grey water system, lined the canal, did repairs on the composting toilet-shower building and finished the floor for Ilai's house.

We had a mud plaster workshop that was only the beggining of the full refurbishing of what was once the donkey's barn.

This is my own little place also known as 'La Choza Cachorra'; it keeps fresh at all times during the summer.

here's our new open kitchen

If u are around and want to give us a hand we will be very grateful, we still have a long way to go and need to finish the mud plaster before the rain comes.

Season's food

2008-07-16T12:27:00.000+03:00

It's the first time in my life that my vegetable and fruit diet is based almost entirely on what's in season. When you go to the supermarket you can't really tell what's being grown now and what comes from greenhouses or is imported from all over the world.

I now know that in the summer you eat tomatoes (in this case until you get completely sick of them because we have plenty), cucumbers, zucchinis, ocra, beans, artichokes, corn, potatoes, green beans, prickly pears, figs, pears, watermelon...

There is something magical about waiting for the fruits to be ripe, and about being able to associate the seasons with the smell and taste of what's available at that particular time of the year.

cybertrauma

2008-07-13T16:09:00.002+03:00

Today, after 3 weeks I got access to one of my e-mail accounts. One day I just couldn't sign in. I don't know what was more of a pain, the process of getting it back with customer services or to realize that in 3 weeks I got nothing exciting on my inbox .
In any case I recommend making sure that you are on the real web page every time you sign in, to remove any important information from your inbox and outbox (I freaked out because I realized I had details on my credit card there) and to make sure you know the answers to the security questions you set up when you opened the account...
So for those of you who know me as Tmelanie, you can contact me again, I'm back in.

The Story of Stuff

2008-07-02T12:18:00.004+03:00

On a follow up of my last post where I spoke about the consumer culture and the incredible amount of waste we produce, here is the clearest, most concise well made clip that talks about this issue, check it out it's worth it.

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

Mugre ra! Basura ra! y Esmog ra ra ra!

2008-06-28T20:52:00.010+03:00

El ecoloco habria estado orgulloso de las 4mil personas que disfrutaron de un evento en un parque de diversiones en Tel Aviv. Ayer trabaje muchas horas preparando pizzas para muchas personas que tienen una vision muy distinta de la mia en lo que a basura se refiere. Fue un evento para empleados, celebridades y colados de un canal de television. Habian puestos de comida y bebida y juegos mecanicos, todo gratis. Cada puesto de comida regalaba productos con envoltura, en platos desechables o botellas (donde yo estuve solo cartones y servilletas, al menos..). El poco tiempo que tuve para dar la vuelta y observar fue suficiente para entristecerme, la basura se desbordaba fuera de los botes, la gente estaba sentada rodeada de basura en el piso y todo parecia muy natural. En el puesto de pizzas estuvimos como locos tratando de satisfacer las demandas de gente a la que no le falta nada, pero esta lista para quejarse porque tiene que esperar 3 minutos a que salga la pizza del horno o porque no tiene exactamente los ingredientes que quieren. Tambien tuvimos que limpiar constantemente la basura que dejaban en nuestro puesto, botellas de las que tomaron solo un traguito, servilletas, plastico, todo porque no pudieron caminar 10 pasos al bote de basura mas cercano y tirarlo ahi.

Donde vivo reusamos o reciclamos casi todos los materiales que pasan por aqui, hacemos composta de los restos de comida (o se lo damos a las gallinas), y solo lo que de plano esta en un estado deplorable y apestoso se va a la basura.

En contraste, hoy como cada ultimo sabado del mes organizamos un 'mercado'(shuk en hebreo) en el que la gente trae lo que ya no quiere y puede llevarse cosas que otra gente trajo. Lo que para uno es basura para otro es util. El shuk nos muestra una y otra vez la abundancia a nuestro alrededor, llegan miles de cosas, le gente sale con bolsas llenas y aun asi siempre sobrea al final para donar o reusar. Cuando necesitamos algo especifico lo pedimos (al universo..) y muchas veces ha llegado con el shuk. Desde un cable, cera, utensilios, mapas, libros.

Vivimos en una epoca de escasez, escasez que nosotros mismos hemos creado porque en realidad lo que nos rodea es abundancia pero muchas veces no logramos verla porque estamos corriendo para ganar mas dinero para comprar mas cosas.

No espero que todos vivan como yo pero si puedo influenciar el sentido de abundancia y los patrones de consumo de unas cuantas personas estare satisfecha.

Fijaciones

2008-06-04T20:26:00.001+03:00

Hay jardineros que tienen tendencias bien definidas...

Lotan

2008-05-25T19:22:00.010+03:00

Kibbutz Lotan is the place where I found the path I'm on, the path of Permaculture, of doing things, of acting small scale and influencing the world in a big way. We went to speak about Yesh meain 2 weeks ago. I arrived with the usual anticipation, of seeing the progress at the Bustan Neighborhood, of walking into the dining room and hugging people that always greet me with a smile, of walking around the Eco-kef to check what's new (more vegetables, or another structure in the children's playground).

When I studied the Green Apprenticeship Course (GA) a year and a half ago we worked on the bustan neighborhood that was to host students like us in the future. During this visit we saw a neighborhood with students finally living and working there, making it more functional and prettier every day, a dream come true for many in Lotan and a sense of completion for the many hands who have worked there.

The bustan has now 8 geodesic domes made out of a steel frame, straw bales and mud plaster, they are beautiful and very nice, you almost don't feel like going out. Here is a picture of one of them.

The new composting toilets are one of the nicest I have sat on, so nice I could easily spend there a couple of hours.

Every dome is different, with its own personality.

The showers are also a very pleasurable experience, too bad it's not environmentally friendly to take long showers...

We started this part of the bustan! A grill and a wood oven.

This huge project is maybe one of the most important endeavors Lotan has embarked on, a constructed wetland to treat the kibbutz's waste water.

tan tan, the end

News from the Farm 2

2008-04-16T20:04:00.023+03:00

The eco-educational center to be has a roof now!

I'm back at the farm and it feels like I never left. There are many more flowers, and a washing mashine with a tank that can be conected to fill the WC, and one hen less (but one rooster screaming his lungs out everyday), and carrots, potato, calendula and garlic growing on the old sand seedhouse, and yet everything is as small and beautiful as it was before. There is still hard work, financial need and abundance of resources and great people (it's truly amazing the amount of fantastic people that pass through here).

After many plans, many mistakes, many solutions, I am proud to announce that our composting toilet is now in use and I was the very first one to take a shit (sorry but I had to say it like this) and it feels great! I am no longer polluting perfectly clean water when instead I can create compost.

Here is Ilai, doing the things that would take me hours or months in no time. Here you can see the little ethiopian-style house he built.

This is the sand greenhouse with root crops.

Our carrots and peas are sweeeetttt azzzz

Idan and Lara are working on the taboon

Lara, Renato and Maya were our guardian angels during winter and part of spring (taking care of business and of Merav while I was gone)

After months hoping to have a grey water system, we got one and not without a story, when digging the hole to have our little constructed wetland we found a hand grenade from the period before independence. This is our very own constructed wetland, it cleans our greywater an will irrigate a tropical tree area.

Something new also happened while I was away, Yeshmeain started its first Permaculture course, it is a diverse, smart and fun 8-people group, and it's led by Shai which is a pleasure to listen to everytime. For me it's also an opportunity to keep on learning and to increase my eco-freako-hebrew-vocabulary

A 'moving' for our chickies was also planned, so one afternoon we decided to give it a go and now the chicks are sooooo happy under the mish mish and the pomegranate looking for bugs all day.

love thy neighbour

2008-04-06T22:13:00.005+03:00

Two weeks ago our neighbour was killed in a car accident, it took me a while to reflect on it and write. Chemik was a kind, quiet man who gave us a hand with whatever he thought could be of help to us, be it cow dung, straw, tree branches, ropes, you name it. Sudden deaths are sometimes harder to accept, and yet somehow we have to believe that people who leave have somehow fulfilled their mission here among us, otherwise we could stay angry or sad forever. It brought back memories of people I loved and passed away and of how difficult it was at the time to accept.
I guess it is also a reminder of the fact that every moment is precious, that we should live in the present and enjoy as much as possible. It is also a reminder of how dangerous roads are in Israel (more people die on them every year than on wars or any other cause) and again to be present, especially when driving.
Here are some pictures of the Jezreel valley and Nahalal, the place that saw Chemik be born and pass away.

The man who planted trees

2008-03-25T17:02:00.002+02:00

This story makes you want to go out and plant trees (especially on a dusty hot day like today), it's inspiring and moving. Make room for it (it's 30 min) it's worth it or read the story directly from the internet (just google it).

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Middlesex

2008-03-24T15:22:00.006+02:00

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides is probably one of the best novels I have read. I usually read novels very fast but with this one I tokk my time, enjoying his writing style and hoping not to finish it soon.

It was published in 2002 and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2003. Ambitious and brilliantly conceived, Middlesex traces a rampant gene through generations of the Stephenides family, which caused narrator Cal Stephenides to be “reborn” as a boy when he’d previously been raised as a girl. Not a “him” in the strictest sense then, but a hermaphrodite. Cal’s story traces his/her Greek roots through the Depression, WWII and the Detroit race riots, up to the present.

Unlike most of my posts, this is a lot of words and a few pictures, here are a few excerpts of the book, enjoy!

"I'm working up with the foregoing to a physical description of myself...
As a baby, even as a little girl, I possessed an awkward, extravagant beauty. No single feature was right in itself and yet, taken all together, something captivating emerged. An inadvertent harmony was achieved by my irregular features. A changeableness in my expressions, too, as if beneath my visible face there was another, always having second thoughts."

"Emotions, in my experience, aren't covered by single words. I don't believe in "sadness," "joy" or "regret." Maybe the best proof that language is patriarchal is that it oversimplifies feeling. I'd like to have at my disposal complicated hybrid emotions, Germanic train-car constructions like, say, "the happiness that attends disaster." Or: "the disappointment of sleeping with one's fantasy." I'd like to show how "intimations of mortality brought on by aging family members" connects with "the hatred of mirrors that begins in middle age." I'd like to have a word for "the sadness inspired by failing restaurants" as well as for "the excitement of getting a room with a minibar." I've never had the right words to describe my life, and now that I've entered my story, I need them more than ever. "

"To resume my parents' story, I need to bring up a very embarrassing memory for a Greek American: Michael Dukakis on his tank. Do you remember that? The single image that doomed our hopes of getting a Greek into the White House: Dukakis, wearing an oversize army helmet, bouncing along on top of an M41 Walker Buldog. Trying to look presidential but looking instead a little boy on an amusement park ride. (Every time a Greek gets near the Oval Office something goes wrong. First it was Agnew with tax evasion and it was Dukakis with the tank.) Before Dukakis climbed up on that armored vehicle, before he took off his J. Press suit and put on that army fatigues, we all felt - I speak for my fellow Greek Americans, whether they want me to or not - a sense of exultation. This man was the Democratic nominee for the President of the United States! He was from Massachusetts, like the Kennedys! (...) Look at the bumper stickers on all the Volvos. "Dukakis." A name with more than two vowels in it running for President! The last time that had happened was Eisenhower (who looked good on a tank). Generally speaking Americans like their president to have no more than two vowels. Truman. Johnson. Nixon. Clinton. If they have more than two vowels (Reagan), they can have no more than two syllables. Even better is one syllable and one vowel: Bush. Had to do that twice. Why did Mario Cuomo decided against running for president? What conclusion did he come to as he withdrew to think the matter through? Unlike Michael Dukakis, who was from academic Massachusetts, Mario Cuomo was from New York and knew what was what. Cuomo knew he'd never win. Too liberal for the moment, certainly. But also: too many vowels."

siete con palito

2008-03-02T13:05:00.000+02:00

Hasta hace unos meses siempre escribi el 7 sin palito, no se por que, pero ahora quiero escribirlo con palito. Sera como cuando un tipo de comida nos gusta menos o mas al pasar el tiempo? Ahora como mucho mas ajo crudo que antes, y lo disfruto, tambien como gengibre que antes no me gustaba.

Estamos cambiando todo el tiempo pero a veces nos enfrascamos en la rutina y no nos damos cuenta de los pequenos cambios.

Ahi van unas fotos de relleno para el post, de mis ultimas semanas en India, especificamente Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Hay tambien una receta de cocina y un japo curios
Quien necesita tendedero cuando hay tanta playa..

Como dicen, el cliente siempre tiene la razon

Este platillo lo aprendi de mi amigo Gonzalo, bananas aplastadas y granada, super dulce, simple y delicioso!

Si este tipo esta tratando de que le digas no a las drogas no es muy convincente

Despues de 7 anios volvi a estar a bordo del Barco Mundial de la Juventud (Ship for the World Youth-SWY) en su edicion numero 20, cuando llego al puerto de Chennai. Ademas de una recepcion con sushi, vino y la compania de queridos amigos pude disfrutar una vez mas del escusado japones, todo un placer.

Andaman

2008-02-14T13:33:00.029+02:00

I have been out of sight for a while, thank you to all of you who visited and were waiting for my whereabouts.

I made it to the Andaman Islands, for months I have been dreaming about them, I partly stayed longer in India because of the Andaman. For almost 3 weeks I spent most of my time by the beach or on a boat, barefoot and wearing a swimming suit most of the time, doing the things that make me happy. I slept on sand, leaves, concrete, on a hammock and I think only once on a bed. I ate coconut like never before, I snorkeled almost everyday and saw soooo many pretty fish and coral, I did 2 dives and saw a white tip shark.

I got to the Andaman by boat, a 3 night pleasant journey on bunk class but with the ship half empty it was a nice ride (I have heard horror stories about full, crowded, stinky ship rides). I met some grrrreat people on the boat and we all went camping together, Corinna, Peer, Janine and Andy made the place not only beautiful but fun. It was actually my first time camping for many days and inspite of a few days with some rain it was fantastic. The combination of lush thick rain forests, white sand and turquoise water make these islands a beautiful place. The pictures speak for themselves I guess.

There are still many places I didn't visit (like the tribal areas that you are not allowed to as a foreign tourist) but I am glad I got to see these islands now thet they are relatively untouched, there are many tourists but no big hotel chains, very few vehicles, no banks (except for the capital, Port Blair), and sometimes, more coconuts around than people.

de chile y de mole

2008-01-20T12:29:00.000+02:00

Hace tiempo que no escribo asi es que este sera un post todo mezclado.

Pase una semana en Kerala y gracias a las palancas de mi amigo Deep (hasta abajo esta la foto de el y su familia) pude pasear bastante en el parque nacional Muthanga, al noreste de Kerala. Vi elefantes, un leopardo, un jabali, bisontes, venados y un puercoespin.

Kerala es lindo pero pase demasiado tiempo en autobuses, que no son los mas comodos, muchas veces van hastu ma.. de llenos, o ponen musica o peliculas en alguno de los tres niveles de volumen que hay en la India: alto, terriblemente alto, o insoportablemente alto. Mucha gente me dice que India ha cambiado mucho, antes no habia bocinas en todos lados porque no habia electricidad, tampoco habia celulares en cada esquina, ni televisiones en cada casa. Me toco vivir el boom de las telecomunicaciones aqui, ni hablar.

Pase por un lugar llamado Munnar, un pueblo rodeado de plantaciones de te. Mi conciencia de eco-freako se pregunta como era la vida antes de las plantaciones en la zona (a no hay bosque, solo platacion una tras otra), no obstante, las trabajadoras que me encontre alli son sonrientes y en general se ven felices a pesar del trabajo duro (alguien me dijo que India esta en el 5to lugar en el mundo en una encuesta que hicieron a la gente para saber si era feliz, Estados Unidos esta en el ciento y tantos). Esa misma tarde tuve una de las mejores experiencias, unas ninas me hicieron las ticpicas preguntas (whats your name? which country?) y cuando les dije mi nombre corrieron a su jardin para traerme una Dalia amarilla hermosa, despues fui con ellas y me dieron fresas de su huerta y me invitaron un te en su casa. Se sintieron tan honradas con mi visita que me hicieron sentir super honrada a mi tambien, hospitalidad pura, sin otras intenciones, me dejo muy feliz. Aqui ven a mi amigo Chela, el 'conductor' del autobus, ojo no es el chofer sino el de los boletos. Con este sistema el chofer solo tiene que manejar (tarea nada facil en este pais) y el conductor cobra. Lo increible es que estos incansables tienen una memoria para rostros increible, el autobus va lleno a reventar, suben y bajan personas y ellos saben perfectamente quien ya pago y quien acaba de subir.

En Ernakulam me quede con una familia que tiene unas gemelas que son dinamita pura (aqui la foto) y gracias a que olvide mi libreta (y tuve que tomar un ferry de vuelta a kochi) encontre a estas ninas de ojos hermosos en la calle.

En las casa en La India siempre hay decenas de apagadores, y esta es la primera vez que los veo con un motivo religioso, en la Iglesia de Santo Tomas en el sur de Kerala.

Este senor es el recepcionista del hotel donde me quede en Palani, un lugar importante de peregrinacion hindu.

I love kolams

2007-12-26T17:19:00.000+02:00

It's great to see the new designs every single morning, it's surprising as well, some of them are so intricate and beautiful. People devote so much time every morning to a drawing that is going to fade that same day, until the next day when a new one will be made.

Kolam (in Tamil) is a decorative design drawn in a variety of sandpainting using rice powder or chalk by female members of the family in front of their home, especially near the threshold. A Kolam is a sort of painted prayer -- a line drawing composed of curved loops, drawn around a grid pattern of dots. Kolams are thought to bestow prosperity to the homes.

Every morning in southern India, millions of women draw kolams on the ground with white rice powder. Through the day, the drawings get walked on, rained out, or blown around in the wind; new ones are made the next day. Every morning before sunrise, the floor is cleaned with water, the universal purifier, and the muddy floor is swept well for an even surface. The kolams are generally drawn while the surface is still damp so that it is held better.

Decoration was not the sole purpose of a Kolam. In olden days, kolams used to be drawn in coarse rice flour, so that the ants don't have to work so hard for a meal. The rice powder is said to invite birds and other small critters to eat it, thus inviting other beings into one's home and everyday life: a daily tribute to harmonious co-existence. It is a sign of invitation to welcome all into the home, not the least of whom is Goddess Lakshmi, the Goddess of prosperity. The patterns range between geometric and mathematical line drawings around a matrix of dots to free form art work and closed shapes. Folklore has evolved to mandate that the lines must be completed so as to symbolically prevent evil spirits from entering the inside of the shapes, and thus are they prevented from entering the inside of the home.

I got myself a book to start learning but it's not easy when you try it on the floor, I'll start on paper and will keep photographing them in the meantime.

lenguas

2007-12-08T16:48:00.001+02:00

Dicen que no hay tal cosa como ser bilingue o multilingue, mas bien es hacerse peor en varios idiomas (ahora mismo escribo estas lineas intentando decir algo que originalmente pense en ingles, asi es que seguro no se escucha igual de bien en espanol).
Ultimamente he tenido oportunidad de hablar las 4 lenguas que (creo que) maomenos domino y de aprender mas sobre una quinta lengua. Por lo cual creo que definitivamente al menos mi espanol es menos bueno que antes y mi estancia en India no ha hecho mas que empeorar mi ingles pues para comunicarse aqui hay que reducir las conversaciones al minimo de palabras y maximo de verbos en gerundio.
Ejemplo: you beach going? bus leaving now? ok, later? time?
me going she staying, tomorrow paying. Food coming?

Seguire empeorando para seguir ampliando mis capacidades linguisticas.

PD. Yael me enseno este truco fotografico que no conocia (se llama algo asi como TTV) y con el que quedamos muy guapamente retratadas.

Auroville

2007-12-08T15:48:00.000+02:00

Auroville is an international town created in 1968 in Tamil Nadu southern India. Its philosophy as a place for people from all nationalities and with no religion as its base came from "The Mother" a french woman who work ed together with Sri Aurobindo, an Indian nationalist, scholar, poet, mystic, evolutionary philosopher, yogi and guru. The city has its geographical center an amazing banyan tree and the Matrimandir (pictures below), the weird golden structure .
Auroville has may beautiful little corners, nice houses and gardens, interesting farms, many cultural events and yet I cant help but feel that its a bubble where the real India and the Indians are either set aside (sometimes by really big fences) or are simply the people who do the hard labour around. This is of course a generalization but it is also an often heard critique of the place. It is definetely worth a visit and the more time you spend the more corners and nice people you get to know.I have spent about 3 weeks in Auroville, 2 of which I spent volunteering at Sadhana Forest, a project that aims to reforest 70 acres of land that a few years a go was completely barren. So I planted trees, worked at the vegetable garden, bathed in mud, lived in a thatched roof hut and ate vegan food.

This is Sadhana Forest

This is Sat Prem's (an Indian architect) machine for making mud bricks (with 5% cement) it's simple and effieicient, and they're making all kinds of bricks, including these ones, who work like lego so you dont need to apply a cement mix between them and ou could undo the building and take it somewhere else.

During this time I also managed to go see a tamil movie (3 hours, extremely loud volume, claping and whistling in the theather), here you can see Vijay, the local star and next to him one of his fan clubs members. I also went to a first menstruation ceremony, basically the parents throw a big party (with loads of yummy south indian food served on a banana leaf, I love that) to let everyone know that their little girl is now a woman, that she is nw a full member of the community and that suitable candidates can start setting their eyes on her for a future marriage.

Kali

2007-11-12T18:11:00.000+02:00

I was in Calcutta during the Kali Puja. In a brief visit I got to see my friend Ruchira and her husband Mallar so that made my visit to this badly reputed city a lot more enjoyable. I dont know if it was the fact that I had local hosts or the fact that I could only stay 2 days because of the call for a general strike (I had to get out soon or get stuck there for many days), but I didn't see people dying in the streets or hundreds of beggars as we tend to picture the city because of what has been written about it. What I did see and plenty of is Kali altars EVERYWHERE, since I was there during this Pooja.

According to Hindu mythology Goddess Kali is the first of the ten incarnations of Goddess Durga. Depicted with a fierce face and terrifying look Goddess Kali is regarded as the more aggressive form of Goddess Durga. The image of Kali usually shows her foot on Lord Shiva’s chest, a severed head in one hand, her sword in the other and wearing a garland of skulls. Kali is worshiped as the Mother Goddess who is known to destroy all evil and is a fierce fighter for the cause of justice.

According to legends once the demons named Shambhu and Nishambhu grew in force and pose a challenge to Indra, King of Gods, and his Kingdom of Heaven. Gods sought protection from Mahamaya Durga, the Goddess of Shakti or Power. At this stage Goddess Kali was born from Durga's forehead as Kal Bhoi Nashini to save heaven and earth from the growing cruelty of the demons.

After slaughtering the demons, Kali made a garland of their heads and wore it around her neck. In the bloodbath, she lost control and started killing anyone who came her way. There was chaos all around. To stop her, Lord Shiva threw himself under her feet. Shocked at this sight, Kali stuck out her tongue in astonishment, and put an end to her killing spree. The well-known picture of Kali Ma shown with her tongue hanging out, actually depicts the moment when she steps on Lord Shiva and repents.

That day is celebrated ever since as Kali Pooja. Performing the Puja with faith devotees seek protection against drought and war and blessings of general happiness, health and prosperity.

It is fun to see all of these Kalis, ranging from the ostentatious golden ones to the really gory-kitschy ones.

Here you can also see some pics from Puri in the state of Orissa. Puri is a fishermen's village and a small tourist destination, and has an ancient temple to worship Lord Jagarnath, another name for Lord Krishna (the reincarnation of Brahma the creator). Honestly I don't really understand most of the gods and the rituals but I find the little depictions of Jagarnath to be quite funny.

Chayote

2007-11-07T13:52:00.000+02:00

Despues de mas de un ano de no ver chayotes ahora me los encontre en todos lados en Sikkim (Noreste de India). Crecen en los pueblos, en las ciudades, en la calle y el cableado, y sirven tambien para hacer techos y paredes para pequenos establos (para cabras, cerdos, vacas). Ademas, nunca habia visto un chayote fuera del mercado o el super, la planta es hermosa y crece con mucha facilidad.

Ver tanto chayote me hizo acordarme de mi mama, a quien le gusta mucho y que lo prepara de muchas maneras (todos platillos deliciosos). Yo ya no me aciradaba bien a bien cuanto me gusta pero despues de comerlo y verlo todos los dias durante las ultimas dos semanas decidi que si, SI ME GUSTA EL CHAYOTE.

En esta foto ademas del chayote con especias pueden ver el pan de sikkim (hecho a base de maiz y huevo, ahi haciendole la competencia a la tortilla) con huevo estrellado, mi desayuno durante los dias que pasamos en Kachuperi lake.

Sikkim, small but beautiful

2007-11-05T11:39:00.000+02:00

This is just one of the many slogans you can find along the sikkimese roads. India's 22nd state, shares borders with Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet. We also found thank you signs randomly along trails and roads and others:

"Be kind to my curves"

"Drive like hell and you will be there"

"Speed has 5 letters, just like death. Slow has 4 letters, just like life".

Sikkim is a bit less touristy than other destinations in India and its different ethnic compostion gives it a completely distinct character.

People are from the Lepcha and Bhutia groups, and there is also many nepalis and some bengalis. The children could not be cutest, the landscape is beautiful and the people are extremely kind and humble. Tibetan bhuddism is widely practiced so there are many many monasteries.

There are also great hikes through the clud forest hills with waterfalls, streams, rivers, ferns, flowers, lots of moss and lots of leeches (you can see our wounded feet in the pic). Sadly I remembered I am not the greatest hiker (I walk slow, I'm way to careful going downhill and want to pee and/or take a picture every 5 minutes). I nevertheless make it (slowly but surely), we hiked around and walked to another town (yuksam) and back.

At Yuksam's grocery store you can find anything from biscuits to hiking boots.

We were lucky to get a tip that led us to a wonderful place above Kacheperi Lake. A small, simple, magical village with the kindest hosts and the lovliest children, who we had loads of fun teaching english to. They are the kind of children that are really fun to play with but also know when to leave you alone and can be easily entertained by climbing a tree, playing with a machete, hiting each other, teasing the cows, etc. Very different from city kids with playstation and TV.

There we met Pala, a former chef for the Dalai Lama and just a very cool old man. He can speak little english and yet he manages to win the hearts of all of his guests. He has 11 children, of which 4 live in the village.

After a 10 day stay, we taught one last lesson to the children and their last words (as instructed by Pala) were: "Next time coming miss".

Darjeeling

2007-10-22T13:22:00.000+02:00

.

We left the plains behind (but not the festivals, they're everywhere) and got to a nice place with smiling king people. Darjeeling (I like saying the name) has a mix of nepalese, tibetan, hindu and other denominations and origins. It is high up in a cloud forest, and has ferns, a plant I really like. From some rooftoops on a clear morning you can see the Katzendonga (probably miss spelled) range with its snowed peaks and other mountains. It still has the buzzing feel of India but much much softer and friendly. It has good food (love the momo= dumplings) a very nice botanical garden, and many monasteries to visit around.

We are heading for the mountains so I might be away for a while but will be back with great pictures.

Puja

2007-10-20T16:09:00.000+02:00

Puja es algo asi como ceremonia-ritual-ofrenda, y en Varanasi (Benares) hay pujas todo el tiempo, y varias pujas tienen lugar en los ghats los bancos del rio donde hay embarcaderos o donde la gente se bana), frente al Ganga sagrado (el Rio Ganges). Varanasi e stambien el lugar donde los hindues creman a sus muertos, asi es que en dos de los ghats pueden verse fogatas donde dia y noche queman cadaveres. En el Ganga se lava ropa, se manda a los muertitos que no pueden ser quemados, se meten las vacas y los bufalos y con ardiente fervor se bana la gente (yo no me atrevi a meter si quiera la punta del dedo chiquito).
Siendo la eco-freako que soy me costo acostumbrarme a las calles de Varanasi (no digamos a las millones de bacterias que viven en el rio), y aunque me divierte a veces aun me cuesta enfrentarme a los tumultos de gente que se aglomeran en las ciudades de la India. Ahora estamos en medio de las celebraciones de Durgha Puja y TODA India parece estar de vacaciones o amontonada en Varanasi y Calcuta. Salir de Varanasi en medio del festival fue toda una aventura, con el autorickshaw esquivando, bicicletas, carritos, motos, caballos, vacas y millones de gente en calles cerradas para la fiesta, en medio del humo y el polvo vimos decenas de altares preparados para el festival y disfrutamos del deporte de aventura que es subirse a un autorickshaw.

Comment

2007-10-17T06:32:00.001+02:00

If u are reading this now, please make a comment so that I know someone actually reads this..

Si estas leyendo esto, deja un comentario, es la unica manera en que puedo saber si alguien lee lo que escribo...

Gracias, ahi van mas fotos (de Varanasi/Benares).

Namaste

2007-10-13T09:11:00.000+02:00

Siempre me gusto decir Namaste al final de mi clase de yoga, y ahora en India puedo decir Namaste decenas de veces al dia. Me gusta la palabra en si y me gusta su significado. Aunque se usa para decir hola, en sánscrito significa literalmente "me inclino ante tí". Nama significa "inclinación, homenaje, saludo reverencial, adoración a la verdad interna del otro", pero no refiriéndose a su ego. Al pronunciar namasté se llevan las palmas abiertas juntas normalmente ante el pecho.

En el hinduismo, la palma derecha representa la planta de los pies de Dios y la palma izquierda representa la cabeza del devoto.
,La persona que hace el gesto de unir las dos manos elimina sus diferencias con la persona a la que reverencia, y se conecta con ella. La mano derecha representa la naturaleza más alta, la espiritual, mientras que la izquierda representa el ego mundano. La inclinación de la cabeza es una inclinación simbólica de respeto.

Me gusta esta muestra de respeto y reverencia al projimo en el saludo de todos los dias.

Hang, amazing instrument

2007-10-13T08:57:00.000+02:00

2 days ago I listened for the first time to an awsome instrment, jaw open, total amazement I asked this guy what kind of an instrument is this wok- like thing. It's a Hang, invented by a few swiss guys about 5 years ago. They make only 200 a year and they have a selection process to define who gets to have one.

the sound made me feel like I was flying, it's so melodious you can't believe it's only one instrument doing all that.

Check out the sound of this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-Da96dqu8Q http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-Da96dqu8Q

India, which country

2007-10-08T17:11:00.000+02:00

Even before I arrived to India (2 days ago), I knew I would get the same questions everywhere: which country you from? what is your good name? you like India? which currency in your country? I am still answering the truth but I might start making up stories about myself pretty soon (although they probably still tell me nooo, you from Israel yes? I apparentlly look more and more Israeli by the minute).

I met Yael my good friend and we are now on the road, Rajastan now and going north soon.

We are in Pushkar to be specific, where you can find falafel, tahina and hummus in every second restaurant and where people in the street call me 'taltalim' (curls in hebrew).

Here's a few pics from Jaipur, the place with the most suicidal drivers I have ever seen and with the largest movie theater in India (where people clap and whistle when they like what's going on in the film) we watched a 3 hour film in Hindi and was fun, also from Amber fort.

Namaste!

Lumix my new toy

2007-09-29T22:44:00.000+02:00

For all of you who are photography lovers, I'd like to share with you the joy of having a Lumix as a new toy. It is small and light, it has a 28 mm lens (by Leica) and just awesome quality. Here's a few pics for you to see and expect nice pictures from India very soon..

RefuGAs

2007-09-03T14:20:00.000+03:00

RefuGAs means all of the former Permaculture Design course students at Kibbutz Lotan (The Green Apprenticeship), they are scattered all over the world and some remain in Israel. There are some of us who are lucky and share the joy of living together or seeing each other often. Here are some pictures of the current RefuGAs at Nahalal and of our last reunion before Maya returns to Delaware and where we got to see Nachsholl and his new love... So first you can see all of us at Yesh Meain (the farm) Benja, Jacob, me, Maya and Merav. And next to it all of us from the GA 2006-2007 who are still in Israel.

Cheers!

Fotos

2007-08-22T22:29:00.000+03:00

Fotos de una(s) manana(s) llena(s) de inspiracion

Lotan Lotan

2007-08-10T21:29:00.000+03:00

After 5 months I went back to Lotan, it felt like I never left, it felt kind of like coming back home.
Lotan was after all the beginning of a new path for me and for many others; it was the spark that initiated Yesh Me'ain, the farm we are starting in Nahalal.

It's all the same back in Lotan and it's all different at the same time, the Bustan Neighborhood for the Green Apprenticeship students is on its way and it is so good o see it finally coming along.

Enough said here's some pics. Notice the beautiful mud work (including the tourism area), and the beautiful people.

Anitcha

2007-07-23T20:16:00.000+03:00

The natural law of impermanence. Everything changes all the time, and this is what we must understand according to the Vipassana thinking (and other Buddhist approaches) in order not to suffer, not to get attached to things or to people. It's easier said than done, we tend to cherish certain things or moments or periods of time and it's just hard to let go. Time surely helps, but it requires a lot of practice to get to this detachment and to truly understand that everything changes and it is truly OK.
So in the spirit of reminiscing about good times (not that the present is not it's just different) here is some pictures of the girls I have live with for the past months, the girls who made yesh me'ain (this farm) the place that it is now. Merav, Maya and Yael.

De albañila

2007-07-17T09:05:00.000+03:00

Si me hubieran dicho hace algunos años que la haria de albañila no lo habria creido. Esta semana le he dado duro a la construccion y con gusto, entendiendo que es un trabajo duro pero en lagunos casos satisfactorio y que requiere mucho conocimiento. En los ultimos meses mi jornada por la vida me ha llevado a entender que la educacion formal como la conocemos no es tan importante como yo creia. Hace no mucho aun pensaba que quien no estudio en la universidad valia menos que yo, menos que todos los profesionistas. Durante los ultimos meses he llegado a entender que hay mucho mas que una carrera profesional, que saber hacer con las manos es importante para mi y que tal vez, ahi esta el futuro de la supervivencia del ser humano, en regresar a saber hace ademas de saber pensar y poder sentarse frente a una computadora 8 horas por dia. Y no es que todo lo que existe hoy este mal (yo uso tecnologia y lo disfruto) pero como en todo, se puede encontrar el balance.

Estamos construyendo un baño compostero y una regadera, aqui hay fotos del proceso y subire mas en cuanto avancemos con el proyecto. Es mucha chamba, pero saber que lo hiciste tu, que sirve y que esta construido de la manera mas amigable con el medio ambiente que encontramos es extrañamente gratificante.

Construimos tambien una pared de paja que aunque no parece, es estructuralmente muy fuerte.

solar bread

2007-06-29T22:26:00.000+03:00

Today we used our bran new solar oven (built by us with the help of a friend), Yalelmade some brad and we baked it there for 4-5 hours, we put it there, left for the hole afternoon and when we got back it was ready, that's the beauty of it. You can stick your food in there in the morning or noon and a few hours later the food is ready and you did nothing (plus you didn't use electricity or gas to cook it).
If you want to have one there is loads of information on the internet, tens of models to build it yourself or buy it.

Here is the photographic evidence of a successful and tasty solar bread.

veggie fun

2007-06-26T20:51:00.000+03:00

In the hot (very hot) noon hours when we are not working, we got creative and made some interesting things with our garden's veggies, here's some pics.

Solsticio y adobe

2007-06-21T20:43:00.000+03:00

Hoy es el solsticio de verano, para muchas culturas es un dia importante pero en nuestro trajin diario y por estar cada vez menos conectados a la naturaleza casi se nos olvida que existe.

Los solsticios son aquellos momentos del año en los que el Sol alcanza su máxima posición meridional o boreal. En el solsticio de verano del hemisferio Norte el Sol alcanza el cenit al mediodía sobre el Trópico de Cáncer

En solsticio de verano es el dia mas largo del año. En la mayoría de las culturas antiguas se celebraban festivales conmemorativos de los solsticios.

Hoy, en el inicio del verano, el dia del solsticio empezamos a producir adobe, ladrillos de barro/tierra/lodo (mud bricks en ingles). Construir con adobe es sencillo y divertido, todos deberiamos hacerlo al menos una vez en la vida.

1. Se mezcla tierra, arena y agua. Se agrega paja (las proporciones varian dependiendo del contenido de arcilla en la tierra de que se disponga). Mezclar con los pies es la forma mas divertida.

2. Se llena el molde cuidando de llenar bien las esquinas y de que quede bien nivelado al borde

3. Se levanta el molde y listo! Dejar secar un par de dias.

mi nueva casa

2007-06-20T22:05:00.000+03:00

Tengo una nueva casa... de campaña. Es mi nueva mejor adquisicion. Duermo bajo las estrellas, con los sonidos de la noche, me despierta el sol y las gallinas que mueren por salir a comer.

Ayer estabamos sentados bajo la higuera cuando un amigo (de dos que estaban de visita) empezo a gritar volo! salio volando! nos asomamos y era su casa de campaña ! se la habia llevado el vientoy estaba volando como papalote a unos 500 metros, se veia como un punto distante en el cielo.
Lo seguimos hasta donde nos dio la vista y alguien logro llegar has ta la carretera donde encontro a un senor doblando la casa para meterla a su coche. Resulta que el señor lo vio caer hacia la carretera pensando que era un papalote para luego darse cuenta que era una casa de campaña volando... Nos reimos mucho, nunca habia visto una tienda volar de esa manera. Me voy a dormir a mi casita, bajo las estrellas.

Ojos nuevos

2007-06-11T22:42:00.000+03:00

Ayer hace un año volvi a nacer. El 10 de junio de 2006 mis ojos pasaron por una cirugia laser. Todos los cegatones que estan leyendo esto entenderan el cambio radical que esto genera en nuestras vidas. Con casi 8 dioptrias te sientes perdido sin lentes, tal vez puedas estar un rato en casa pero salir a la calle sin lentes es suicida, no ves ni tus pies claramente en la regadera asi es que mucho menos puedes esperar distinguir algo afuera en esa jungla de formas borrosas.
Finalmente me despierto y veo, puedo nadar y hacer cualquier cosa sin preocuparme de que se me caigan los lentes de contacto, al final del dia no me arden los ojos ni se me secan, veo bien!!! Mi primer gran momento de gozo despues de la operacion llego una noche en que un mosquito me estaba molestando, prendi la luz, lo vi en seguida parado en la pared y lo mate en un instante! , todo esto sin tener que buscar a tientas mis lentes, ponermelos y despues buscar al mosquito (que para entonces ya habria volado hacia algun otro lado).

Muchos años dude sobre si operarme o no, no tenia el dinero o me encontraba con historias de gente ala que no le fue bien, escuche criticas y lei y al final el hartazgo ante la cuasi-ceguera y el hecho de que llegue a un especialista que me dio confianza me hicieron tomar la decision y ahora soy muy muy feliz porque VEO!!!

PD para todos aquellos que no estan tan absolutamente cegatones y quieren intentar mejorar su vision, echenle un ojo al libro 'The Art of Seeing' (el arte de ver) de Aldous Huxley. Ya sea que decidan o no intentar hacer los ejercicios, sus teorias son interesantes.

Reactable live in Berlin

2007-06-04T11:31:00.001+03:00

Awesome invention, you can also search for the video that explains exactly how the table works

News from the farm

2007-05-29T20:26:00.000+03:00

Here it is, a garden bursting with life (an organic one I might add). Today everything is actually bigger than in this pictures I took about a week ago. Tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, hot peppers, sweet peppers, herbs, fennel, lettuce, apricot, carrots and the BIGGEST zucchinis we have ever seen (all of us, really). In the picture you can see a normal size zucchini that you would find in the supermarket and our humongous zucchini next to it.

You can also see one of the chickens, today we got 6 eggs! yeiii

It is so gratifying to be in contact with the earth, to pick and eat the food you have grown, to use your body and your mind to take from the earth but also give something back to her.

It is also great to be able to live, eat and work together as a team, as a family (a Lotan family..). Right now there is 6 of us, Merav, Maya, Yael, Shachar, Sierra and myself. But there is always great people visiting for a day, or a few days, or joining us for a bonfire... It's all honey as Maya would say.

Imogen Heap - Just For Now (live at Studio 11 103.1FM)

2007-05-23T02:17:00.001+03:00

Just amazing

F cool things on the internet (for people with spare time)

2007-05-22T22:07:00.000+03:00

There are two fantastic things you have to see on the internet (please do)

1. Nikal (courtesy of dialogos bizarros)
2. Virtual Bubble wrap (try the frantic mode)

en cueros

2007-05-17T19:40:00.000+03:00

Quien de ustedes se encuero para las fotos de Tunick?

living in a bus

2007-05-16T19:10:00.000+03:00

Today, after hearing much about him and after seeing a small clip of what he and his wife have done I met Rael. These master carpenters made a bus into an awesome house. Photos , a small interview and house tour can be found on http://www.bestbus.co.il
the video is in Hebrew, but even if you don't understand I assure you you will enjoy it, the bus is great and he's just funny and welcoming.

He's planning to travel so the bus-house, namely The Imperia, is for sale.

today's quotes

2007-05-11T19:00:00.000+03:00

Quotes I got from Mauricio today
Dichos que recibi de Mauricio hoy

If you have the money, you don't have the time; if you have the time, you don't have the money.

Las únicas personas normales son las que uno no conoce bien.

Las oportunidades se dan en el momento más inoportuno.

Don't take life so seriously...It's not permanent.

Pharmacophilia

2007-05-10T12:13:00.000+03:00

"The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the Eyes of others only a Green thing that stands in the way. Some See Nature all Ridicule & Deformity, & by these I shall not regulate my proportions: & Some Scarce see Nature at all. But to the Eyes of the Man of Imagination, Nature is Imagination itself. As a man is, So he Sees. As the Eye is formed, such are its Powers".

William Blake

Letter to Dr. Trusler (23 August 1799)

This quote appears in the Book Pharmacophilia or The Natural Paradise. Jonathan Ott, 1997.

Greening the Desert

2007-05-10T10:21:00.001+03:00

Swale project near the Dead Sea, amazing what a garden can do

Nahalal

2007-05-06T15:25:00.000+03:00

So here I am, finally escaped the big city to continue learning about permacultre and to spend time with dear friends. I am at Merav's place in Nahalal (Jezreel Valley, Northern Israel). Nahalal is the first settlement of its kind and it is also shaped as a pie, so each family got a piece when it was founded in 1921.
Myself, Maya and Tracey (we all met studying the green apprenticeship at kibbutz Lotan www.kibbutzlotan.com) are staying here now and trying to help out with the garden and future projects that include straw bale/mud building.

It's amazing how the garden has changed in a couple of months time, there are soooo may tomatoes, and also onions, zucchini, fennel ,potatoes, cucumbers, coriander, zaatar, mint, beans and the list goes on.

There is also a small recycling center so it not only feels good to prevent all those things going to a landfill but its also so comfortable to have so many materials around to work with.

Great things are happening over here and there is surely more to come.

Trendy with a touch and Maayan's birthday

2007-05-06T15:11:00.000+03:00

If I'm going to wear crocs I want them to be special, so I made some decoration work including a little fish, some beads, and a dice (as opossed to buying some of this decoration thingys ).

Yesterday I went to my friend Maayan's birthday party at Park Ha Yarkon in Tel Aviv, at some point you don't feel you are in Tel Aviv. Here's a pic of Maayan, so different from when I met her, she was my very serious roommate at a vipassana meditation course, so for 10 days we watched each other, and when we could finally speak we realized we could have so much fun together. Feliz cumpleanos!

Trendy

2007-05-03T20:16:00.000+03:00

Today is my nose piercing's 4th anniversary. I guess I am trendier than I thought, that's what I have been realizing during the past few days. I didn't use to like piercings that much and that one day 4 years a go I woke up and thought I would look good with one so I went and got one.
I now have joined the masses that wear Crocs, and I must say that they are quite comfortable, they are still trendy in Israel (kindda cause they're ugly) so I have become one more.

I have refused to follow trends in the past and have failed. I remember that when I was in junior high all the girls rolled up their trousers and I didn't like it at all, but in the end I did it too.

I am still doing more or less what I want so I guess that makes me less trendy... mmm

The 4 laws of Ecology

2007-05-01T00:45:00.000+03:00

1.- Everything is connected to everything else
2.- Everything must go somewhere
3.- Nature knows best
4.- There is no such thing as a free lunch

Barry Commoner, The Closing Circle, 1971

Foreverismo

2007-04-28T14:20:00.000+03:00

Ya habiendo medio definido permacultura pasemos al foreverismo.
El termino lo vi por primera vez en un mail que Caro envio cuando viajaba por India (o regresando del viaje). A veces logramos poner en papel una bola de sentimientos y pensamientos que se cocinan por algun tiempo en nuestra mente, conceptos, lecciones, experiencias, cuando nos 'cae el veinte'. Todo eso es foreverismo y quiero compartir algunas palabras de Caro (editadas para no hacerlo muy largo) en ese mail que hasta la fecha me parecen muy sabias y producto de mucha reflexion.

" Si uno tuviera los pantalones para hacer poner en los mismos terminos la felicidad y el exito la vida seria otra cosa. Todo es cuestion de vencer los miedos, y yo creo que el desprendimiento es bien importante en ese sentido. Para poder ver lo que el mundo ofrece hay que alejarse de lo propio para encarar el miedo a lo ajeno, y eso es lo dificil. Segun las teorias buddhistas mas rigurosas, Para practicar el desprendimiento mas absoluto, tienes que lograr querer a todos los seres humanos por igual, tomando en cuenta que en todas tus vidas pasadas todos han sido tu madre, tu hermano y tu peor enemigo. Asi, el dolor que te producen los sentimientos terrenales se disminuye al tomar en cuenta que todo es parte de ese ciclo de vida en el que todas las pagas, pero no solo de la vida actual sino de las pasadas. En fin, estoy forevereando demasiado.
Pero creo a veces la clave es no luchar en contra de lo que realmente somos, de lo que tiene la capacidad de hacernos felices y lo que ya sabemos que no la tiene. No luchar es no luchar contra ti mismo, mas que contra los demas, es aceptar que estas en el aqui y en el ahora por una razon, y no por una consecuencia de situaciones que no se relacionan entre si. Es aceptar tu destino sin perder de vista que lo que haces es lo que define ese mismo destino, y lo que has hecho en el pasado es lo que define le situacion en la que estas ahora. Eso del desprendimiento y de querer a todos los seres vivos por igual no es nada facil, y por mas que estoy convencida de que es una manera mas facil de vivir y de lidiar con el dolor, pues no se decirles como esque se logra ese estado. Pero bueno, lo importante es tener, y saber reconocer,nuestro valor intrinseco, y ese es un ejercicio diario. "

Viva el foreverismo! (para los que lograron leer hasta el final...)

Permacultura 2

2007-04-28T13:45:00.000+03:00

Revisando mi buzon me encontre un mail de Irene, de abril del 2003, cuando por primera vez escuche sobre permacultura. Ahora me doy cuenta de que lo lei y lo hice a un lado por 4 anios y ahora lo he retomado, asi da vueltas la vida. Le pedi entonces que me explicara que es Permacultra y esto es lo que escribio:

'es un diseno de sistemas, se usa mas para disenar sitios en donde se usa agricultura, parecida a la organica, nomas que mejorada pues no se escapan minerales y se conserva mejor el suelo, y etc. pero se usa pa lo que se le ofrezca.
Se trata de cuidar a la natura y cuidar a las personas en un sistema donde se administre chido los excedentes y se quite la palabra desperdicio del vocabulario. de forma tal que son lugares donde la energia se aprovecha y maximiza en circulo. y lo disenas de forma tal que se asemeje a un ecosistema que la natura hubiera creado, que funciona por si mismo y es eficiente. Un bosque es el lugar que mas produce y funciona mas eficientemente en el planeta, asi que creas "bosques" que sirvan a tus necesidades y a las del planeta y a las de tus semejantes.
Asi que estudiar permacultura es estudiar los principios de como funciona eso, aprender a ser disenador en permacultura te ensena como usarlos para crear espacios y vidas que funcionen asi.
Puedes disenar tu propia vida asi, usando el modelo de flujo de energia que usa la natura para funcionar. analizas tus itinerarios y el contenido de tus acciones diarias , aplicas los principios y al final ves como mejorarlo. El resultado final es fluir mejor, aprovechar mejor la energia, actuar mas concientemente y que todo te salga mas chido. La gente lo esta usando para analizar relaciones humanas, sistemas educativos y de aprendizaje, sistemas financieros, y , sobre todo, espacios fisicos desde un depa urbano, hasta un rancho de produccion.

Permaculture

2007-04-27T12:58:00.000+03:00

So what the hell is Permaculture?
'You could say it's a rational man's approach to not shitting in his bed.
But if you're an optimist, you could say it's an attempt to actually create a Garden of Eden. Or, if you're a scientist, you could liken it to a miraculous wardrobe in which you can hang garments of any science or any art and find they're always harmonious with, and in relation to, that which is already hanging there. It's a framework that never ceases to move, but that will accept information from anywhere.
It's hard to get your mind around it - I can't. I guess I would know more about permaculture than most people, and I can't define it.'
Bill Mollison interviewed.
You can find the whole interview at http://www.context.org/ICLIB/IC28/Mollison.htm

I myself cannot define permaculture, everytime I try to explain it I use different words, it just comes out differently every time. Yet, it sounds so logical to me, that I tend to think it is as logical to everyone else. I really like the not shitting in our bed definition, it just sums up the yararayara and puts it simply and bluntly.

The secret

2007-04-26T23:49:00.000+03:00

Acabo de ver la pelicula The secret www.thesecret.tv
me gusto, refuerza algunas cosas en las que habia pensado y ayuda a descubrir nuevas. Justo un dia antes me sucedieron pequenas cosas de las que hablan en la pelicula. Pense en dos amigas de las que desde hace tiempo no oia nada, ambas me escribieron al dia siguiente. Ayer sali a caminar y pense que alguien podria ofrecerme trabajo en cuestiones de jardineria, un sr. que pasaba en su camioneta se paro y me ofrecio trabajo haciendo justamente eso, aun hay mas, me dio su telefono pero no se grabo en la memoria de mi celular, fui a un par de lugares a preguntar si lo conocian y nada, cuando salia del ultimo pensando en que podria volvermelo a encontrar asi fue, me lo encontre de nuevo y volvi a tomar sus datos.

El poder de la mente es impresionante, lamayor parte del tiempo las cosas no suceden porque no queremos, atraemos lo que no queremos porque dedicamos nuestro tiempo a pensar en eso y quejarnos, en vez de enfocar nuestra atencion en lo que queremos. Hablan de visualizar lo que queremos como si ya lo tuvieramos, de dar gracias por lo que tenemos en vez de quejarnos de lo que nos hace falta, y de simplemente estar listos para recibir todo aquello que visualizamos como nuestro.
Voy a empezar a poner en practica (o a seguir porque creo que ya empece...) estas cosas.

2007-04-23T17:41:00.001+03:00

Aqui estoy, 7 meses despues del cambio "de la playa a la guerra" como me dijo alguien en Mexico. En octubre de 2005, despues 'sobrevivir' al huracan Wilma en Cancun tuve un 'gut feeling', osease un impluso irracional desde las entranias que me hizo sentir y pensar que tenia que venir a Israel y heme aqui.

Empiezo este blog desde Ra'anana, una ciudad pequena en el centro de Israel donde estoy cuidando dos gatos por unos dias, una lanita para seguir vagando, aprendiendo, conociendo.

Esta jornada por 'tierra santa', o 'La Tierra' como se dice aqui, ha sido de un aprendizaje intenso, tal vez el mas intenso de mi vida.

Estudie un curso de permacultura en un kibutz al sur del pais, junto a la frontera con Jordania y a 55 km. del mar rojo (www.kibbutzlotan.com). Es lo mas util que he estudiado hasta ahora y tal vez incluso cambiara mi forma de vida pues de trabajar por lo general en oficinas, en ciudades ahora lo que quiero es ser granjera, se siente bien ensuciarse las manos y vivir fuera de la ciudad.