Hey guys, I'm Leo Correia
welcome to my Bike Vlog
Today's topic is as promised 'how was our
experience doing volunteer work
in an ecovillage in Sweden'
You must have noticed that
this video has captions
I decided to do
english subtitles for this video
because I want to send to our ecovillage friends
I promised them that I would do it
and they don't understand Portuguese
yet
This story started before
we leave Brazil
Bibi received a facebook post
a invitation, "come be a volunteer
in an ecovillage in Sweden "
that simple
we are interested in this kind of thing, community life
and try to understand what solutions
people give to problems
that arise from this way of living
we had a reasonable experience with this in Brazil
although they have not been
experiences of living in community settings,
as if was our residence
but to live together, to work, to do things together,
to cook, to party and make friends
Bibi and I even met
because of that experiences
so this is something inside
our scope of interest
but still, it sounds bizarre "come and do volunteer work
in an ecovillage in Sweden"
so Bibi got in touch
we had some bureaucracy to solve
of registration, of contracts, things like that
which was difficult because the agency
I think we had some problem because
the agency was taking care of this
the agency that mediates this kind of thing
between who is volunteering
and who will receive the work
this agency no longer has her brazilian branch
so we had to workaround
apply through the international branch
and there was a whole story
but in the meantime
Bibi ended up doing
a skype call with the ecovillage staff
from Suderbyn, this is the name of the ecovillage
and she talked to Sergey
and it was so cool, Sergey is such a cool guy
who welcomed us so well in that first chat
practically was like "if you
are in the mood to come, send the documents
let's try to make it viable somehow
we want you to come"
it was a very strong welcome
and that's how it ended up happening
So when we came to Europe in August
We already had this thing
of ecovillage all set
all prepared
Well, we came to Germany
It was about two or three weeks living here
at first, when we came here
we didn't expect to
get an apartment so fast
so the plan was to stay at friends' houses
maybe do same traveling
during this first month
until the Swedish thing
and then, when we came back from Sweden
would start looking for apartment
and start life here in Berlin
but things did'nt happen this way
We got an apartment in two days
and suddenly, in a week living in the city
we already had a life all set
I was already discussing work proposals
and had some social life
and an apartment happening, and I was in a rush
to deliver some works from Brazil
so when it was time to travel to Sweden
Bibi was very eager
to do this trip
and I was grumpy
because I had that feeling, like
"I just got here in this city
I have not even started things yet
and have to leave for three weeks?
I don't want to take vacations now
I want to work! I am in the opposite energy to do this "
but anyway, I was in a bad mood
but I was not going to give in
I'm not like that
We had already arranged everything
so we ended up traveling
and then he went to Stockholm
it was a good moment, because we stayed at some friends' house
Porto Alegre people
It was almost like staying at Mom's house
feeling of welcome and care on their part
Pri and Maiz are awesome
we stayed there for a week
until the day we had to go to the ecovillage
this ecovillage, Suderbyn, lies on an island
it's not in the mainland of Sweden
it's an island in the middle of the Baltic Sea
which is call Gotland
I remember having researched then
but I'm not sure right now about the size of the island
if I'm not mistaken the island is more or less the size of Florianópolis
to give you some dimension
So it's a big island
but I think it has 20,000 inhabitants, the whole island
Florianópolis, as a comparison, has 400,000
so we see that it is an area
very sparsely populated
To get to Gotland
You can get there by plane, there's an airport there
but it was not our case, we were in Stockholm
so we have to travel to...
travel south
It can be by train or by bus
an hour journey, more or less
to this city
I can't recall the name
I'll put it down here
so we travel to this city
from there take a ship, which they call a ferry
but I was expecting something like a ferry, the kind I know
but when we got there it was a ship
a ship that people go by car
so it's cool to get by car in Gotland
and this ferry trip is another three hours
three and a half hours
so it's a 'little adventure'
when people go to the ecovillage
they usually arrives in the center of Visby,
which is the small town, and take the bus
but in our case we arrived too late
past midnight
I think the buses were over
and the ecovillage is far
some kilometers from the center
It was going to be difficult for us to get there
and then we experienced
the second great hosting experience
the first had been Sergey talking to us
by skype call and the second was that
they picked us up
at the ferry station
they were very very very very nice
then there were Sergey, Robert and Maja
Sergey, as I said, it's the guy we talked to first
he lives in the ecovillage, works there
Robert is one of the founders
he is from the first group who bought the land
and has lived there since the ecovillage started
he is a well conected guy
he participates in the Gotland Green Party
He seems to travel a bit
in the meantime when we were in the ecovillage
he said goodbye and traveled, went to Brazil
for a meeting, a congress,
an ecovillage convention, not sure
is a super active guy and present in this community
and finally there was Maja
who was the girl responsible for the workcamp
she was hired from the intermediary agency
and she was responsible in loco
so she was not a resident of the ecovillage
but she was there to take care of us
which she did in an incredible way
ok, so what about this whole thing?
What the hell did we do in this place?
the purpose of the story was to do volunteer work
that we didn't know exactly what it was
in their invitation material
they talked about building
some composting thing for heating
it was some crazy thing like that
but I was not very interested
in what exactly would be the job
I was more in the mood to be there
to live the experience, to do
whatever lay ahead
After we went there
during the experience
we discovered that what we did there
they call it 'workcamp'
It's something I didn't know in Brazil
workcamp is like a camping holiday
on which you do some work
like volunteer work
so a very common thing
and the people who were there with us participating
several of them were simply
people who were on vacation
and instead of going to a hotel
or, I don't know, travel randomly
went to this place and stayed there
working and meeting people
and I have to say
after that, I don't think I'll ever
going to be able to take a normal vacation again
because it was very cool
this aspect of taking a rest from life
it seems like a contradiction
go to this place to work, and we worked hard
it was not easy, was a super-hard work
moving stones, breaking concrete
moving manure over and over
with a trailer and a shovel
it was a heavy job
but at the same time it was not my regular job
the day-after-day work
here at home I work all day on the computer
so it was an experience for me
opposite to what I live in my daily life
I do intellectual work all day
sitting on a chair
and there I was doing a job
much more physical and social too
because all the tasks were group tasks
and I'm not suffering from the things
that I suffer in my daily life
here at home
for all this I can tell you
I highly recommend this experience
workcamp, I really recommend
and it was this story, we went to this place
with these people living there...
when we were there
because this number varies
when we were there
were living about ten people
among regular residents
and people who spend a longer time there
but who are not regular residents
and our group
people volunteering in the workcamp
we were ten more
so this was it
we woke up early the first day for breakfast
and it was very difficult to wake up early
because I was in a bizarre routine here in Berlin
but we woke up early, went to breakfast,
and there were those twenty nice faces
around the table, new faces,
and some have become great friends after that
but anyway
to say a little of what they do there
In short, they are an ecovillage
the people live there
they talk a lot about sustainability and the purpose of ecovillage
for all that was said there
is to experiment with tools and
construction of things and technology
hard technology, like machines
and social technology, on what sort of arrangement of people
and what kind of conversations
we must have to make a
sustainable experience work
It's very difficult to dream about a sustainable world
thinking only about technology
We also need to think about relationships
they have this approach
despite the ecovillage being a farm
which has a barn
that they transformed into a workshop
of some sorts
despite being a farm, they don't have
the goal of grow all their food
like, being self sufficient
planting their own food
things like that
so they buy food from local producers
organic and stuff
then the farm looks like more of a testing ground
of sustainable construction
or sustainable technologies
is really cool, and this was a first break of
expectation for me, because one of the
things that were giving me the bad mood before we went
was the possible 'hippie mambo-jambo'
like hugging trees and praising the sun
and all these things that
I don't have much patience nowadays
I've had it in other times
but nowadays I don't have much more
and of course folks, I'm not making judgment
about people who like to hug trees
and praise the sun, but it's something I got tired of
I'm tired of this language
and I still like things about
the development of deeper relationships
between people, and nature, and everything
but there's this language
the more spiritual approach
that has worn me out
and I'd rather stay a away
so I was there in the ecovillage
gathering all my patience
waiting for the hippie things, but no
they are super deep and super subtle people
and at the same time respect who
comes and brings this spirituality
but it is not something that is impregnated in the place
in people, it is not a vocation
of the space
it's important to be told
So, like I said, we woke up to breakfast
and had all those faces smiling
willing to connect
and I assume that must be super difficult
to the residents
seeing these groups coming and going
having a super intense experience
and the people go away
and they have to deal with the void
I imagine that the tenth time that happens
they wouldn't even want to connect anymore
I imagine it would be ease to be like that
but again, it was not what I found there
So we were there, ten people
new to that place,
without knowing what to expect and those
people hosting us super incredibly well
super warm, super loving and careful
each of us who arrived there
arrived with a certain ease
some very shy, some very outgoing
some wanting to listen, some wanting to talk
some even wanting to be alone
and each one came with its own way
its own energy, with its own vibration
but the place and local people
well received all these varieties
This too was very special
and at the same time, as I said,
without bringing a heavy language
spiritualized, exaggerated
it's about the desire to be together
do things together, and less about
what specific words we speak
so we got there, spent two weeks
throughout the process I discovered
what the hell was the
crazy composting thing
to generate heat
I'll try to bring it here with my
lay explanation, so please
if I'm talking shit
please correct me in the comment section below
but here is the thing:
there in the ecovillage
they built a biodigestor
which is a huge tube of concrete
half buried inside of a geodesic dome
as the weather gets really cold
in swedish winter
they need a more controlled
more stable environment
the biodigester works on bacteria
bacteria that decompose the organic matter
that they put it in there
like kitchen trash
food leftovers, stuff like that
during the summer this works well
but in cold winter
the bacteria stop working
they kind of freeze
so they built the biodigestor inside the dome
to try to keep the heat inside
a more stable ecosystem
this biodigestor is very impressive
because it is
a compost of organic matter
that one of the by-products is biogas
so they generate biogas
from the composition of this
matter placed there
biogas that will be used in cars
that can be sold, it has several purposes
this, by itself, is already a very crazy thing
but to sustain the temperature inside the dome
they need to build
some kind of heat generator
preferably something sustainable
so we get to this thing
it's not new, it's old technology
this thing called "Jean Pain Compost"
Jean Pain was a weird Frenchman
that lived in a farm
and some 40 years ago, I think, he invented
this way of generating heat
in which we pile up a lot of wood chips
this wood decomposes, and the
decomposition of this wood generates heat
So, how's the scheme?
We build a little hill
well compacted matter
wood chips and manure, which was basically what
we used to build the Jean Pain Compost
there in Suderbyn
and as we go depositing
the layers of this material
we put water pipes
those black plastic tubes
I'm not sure what the material is
we put the pipes and make
a long spiral inside
a long spiral that goes
inside the decomposed matter
and then, when it is finished, we pump the water from one side
the water passes through this compost
gets warm
because the matter is decomposing and heating
and goes out on the other side, hot water
I was skeptical at first
of the potential that this thing
had to be enough to say
"We're doing this aiming to
sustain the temperature of a
controlled ecosystem within a
large geodesic dome"
but it was very impressive
It's okay, I was there more for doing things
for fun, and among many other things
that's what we did
during the two weeks
these other things that included potato harvesting
because although they didn't have
the proposal to be self sufficient
on food planted there, they do
experiment planting food
preferably with different ways
of growing
they planted potatoes with
this method called "lasagna"
I don't know the technical name, don't ask me
but we put layers of decomposed matter
also straw, I think, with the potatoes, and they grow
and this has much less impact to the soil
the potatoes are not buried in the ground
they grow among these layers
of organic matter
There were people that, during the workcamp
worked on this lasagna
other people worked in
some side projects
of the ecovillage
there were things being build
beside the Jean Pain Compost
one of those was an outdoor toilet
and this is a very interesting topic in the ecovillage
because, like I said before
they try to cause the least possible impact
experimenting with different ways
to relate to the space
and one of the things that impacts the most
in our life is what we do
regarding the toilet
on the sewage issue
there they use dry toilet
that's a super simple thing
is a normal toilet, the person seats
on which would be
the equivalent of a toilet bowl
but below that, rather than water
there is a bucket, basically
an important thing about dry toilet
that I learned there, is that we need to separate
stool and urine, because feces and
urine mixed does very bad
it is very difficult to be reused
causes a lot of impact
but separate feces and urine may
be used for very interesting things
so there they had this practice
of collect the two separated
so you sit in the toilet
there is a hole, with a plastic piece
which separates what is solid
and what is liquid
and it all falls into a tank underneath
a bucket, basically, and then when
you go there, if you're going to pee, you pee
and it's all stored underneath
if you're going to poop, you poop, and when it's over
you put two handfuls of sawdust
and this makes
the fecal matter more inert
it doesn't stink so much
it doesn't attract so much flies
it's much easier to deal with
so every time that
this buckets are full
someone has to go there, collect
and do something about it
there in the ecovillage, they have
different destinations for both things
fecal matter, poop
turns into compost
so they take these buckets
with poop, with a little toilet paper
which is also inert, no problem
they deposit it in this place
outside in a corner, in a composter
this composter is divided into three stages
separating the oldest poop
the middle poop and the fresh poop
the oldest, I think the time is six months
or a year, it's a long time
it turns into a very potent fertilizer
that is what they were using
in the lasagna of the potatoes, for example
so the people who got this job
to take care of the potatoes
in the lasagna field
had to go and collect this poop
that was in the composter
and mix with the potatoes
but that's it, the task of collecting poop is to pick up the buckets
take to the composter
later, someday, when someone use that
take from the composter and put it on the ground
and after the poop spent those months composing
it almost doesn't look like feces, looks like dirt
it smells very soft
doesn't smell like crap
sometimes you see some toilet paper
which is strange
dirt with toilet paper, but ok
about the pee, the liquid part
they store in large barrels
this was one of the first things I did in the ecovillage
it was a great assignment
we had to get this thing
this large barrel, with one thousand liters of
urine inside, and dilute this urine
to a ratio of 3 to 1
or 4 to 1, maybe
they have an electric cart
some kind of golf cart
which they use in the ecovillage
as an electric tractor, called Tully
Tully is awesome!
We went with Tully
collected the urine from the tank
diluted with water collected from the lake with a pump
into another tank on the back of the Tully
and went spreading this diluted urine
in plants, especially on large trees
and that was our task
to close the urine cycle
which is to return the nitrogen
to the soil
when we grow things
grow things on the soil
here again, correct me if I'm wrong
But when we plant things
the plant, among other things
take nitrogen from the soil
that we consume, and life goes on
but sometimes, if we don't restore it
after a while, the soil it becomes sterile
it loses the ability to be fertile
so we get this urine, rich in nitrogen
dilute and distribute
we used to do this, usually on large plants
in large trees or large shrubs
because the urine is very strong
if we put in a small plant maybe the plant would die
and it was a great job
because that white electric cart
with a big white tank in the back
parked backwards in front of a tree
with the pee valve opened
letting go this stream of pee
looked a lot like
a white elephant peeing in the trees
that is very way an elephant
would pee
it's very similar
because the pee goes straight to the back
so everything we did, all the tasks
they were funny in their own way
we turned everything into a joke
everything became fun
even the task of having to deal
with the pee, that they called
affectionately of "gold water"
but anyway I was talking
on this issue of bathrooms
they have some outdoor toilets
where they make this collection cycle
there is also an indoor toilet
that is inside the main house
where some people live
where is the kitchen, living room
and everyone get along
there is a whole schedule
in which every day someone is responsible
for this task, collect pee and poop
take to the tank, take to composter
or distribute in the trees of the property
in those days when we were there
they had this project in progress
which was to build another outdoor toilet
and this was an important task
because they sometimes host big events
there in the ecovillage too
I think there was a big summer festival
this year, recently
and there were, I don't know, maybe 200 people camping
and toilets always are a concern
I think they have today six outdoor toilets
or there are four and they are building two more
I don't remember
but they were building the "Rapunzel"
that was this last pair of toilets
and some people choose this task, during workcamp
others choose the task of planting the potatoes in the lasagna
some people took
the mandalas painting job
in an area that they built for the
geodesic dome entrance
the workcamp people could choose
between different tasks
things different from their daily routine
I spent most of the time anchored on the task
of build the Jean Pain Compost
because I was very curious about the process
first thing was to go to the forest
to cut down some trees
the trees were going to be chopped
so we cut a certain type of trees
that grow fast
which is pretty much sustainable
within this closed cycle
so we cut the trees
put in a machine to chop
chopped the trees
and stacked to make the compost
this first task
to have to go to the forest cut down trees
was already far outside the comfort zone for many
people who are accustomed to a life
of offices were in a forest
cutting trees
that's very cool
I got involved with this task
and that's what we did over
practically two weeks
some people from the ecovillage
were skeptical if we
would finish the compost
within the span of two weeks
which was the workcamp duration
we had forecast of rain
that ended not happening
we've got very luck with the weather
and this was crazy
because we finished building
we "inaugurated" the compost
on the last Friday that was the last workcamp workday
it was a perfect timing
It was a magical moment because we finished
and most of the people of the ecovillage
and the camp came
to where the compost was
and we were on top of it
it was a mound with two meters
two and a half meters tall
with a lot of people on top
trampling to compact the matter
and then someone put dancing music
at the sunset
the people doing a crazy dance
trampling on top of the compost
it was a very magical moment
for what they said
they had already built a compost
a Jean Pain
and it worked, it generated some heat
but I think it was smaller, with fewer pipes
they built a first attempt
and it was not so powerful
I think that after a week
organic matter had not yet
started to generate heat
and it should be faster than that
so they had to activate throwing urine on top
to get the bacteria to start working
they had some expectation
but were more in the field of experimentation
this time, we built a larger compost
with all the pipes
in a nice spiral, well built
carefully built
We finished building
and the next day
the team went there to check
to see what was going on
started pumping water and hot water began to flow out
we didn't have a thermometer
but the calculations said that
it should heat water to 60 degrees
between 60 and 70 degrees of temperature
which is a very hot water
we didn't have a thermometer, but keep the hand underneath
of that water that came out of the pipe
it was uncomfortable, it was like taking a
too hot bath
it was very hot
It was crazy, everyone was very happy
because it was only the next day
the compost activated almost immediately
it was great!
back to the explanation
the compost is this big pile
of organic matter
with the water pipes inside
mostly chopped wood that heats up
it was surprising
because when we were chopping the wood
we had a weekend between the end of this task
and the beginning of the next
And then when we arrived on Monday
to pick up the wood chips pile
which had stayed in the forest
we started to shovel
and the inside of these piles were smoking
because it was already super hot
I put my hand inside and felt a warmth almost uncomfortable
almost burning
crazy
so you can see that the thing is powerful
we chop the wood from these fast-growing trees
build the compost
the prediction of this compost
is to generate heat for 18 months
a year and a half, which is quite a lot
after this year and a half
which is more or less
when all organic matter decomposed there
all it's left is a dark dirt
this dirt is a fertilizer
extremely powerful, that they use
among other things
to replant the trees of the beginning of the process
the trees that were cut
so it's a pretty good closed cycle
This is what we went there to do
in the most superficial layer
which was to build these things, work in the workcamp
but a lot of things happened
that we could not predict
or maybe we could predict
but they were surprising anyway
mainly about getting along with the people
we also had tourism, it was really cool
because the first weekend...
we got there in a Monday or a Tuesday
started work, and when Saturday came
we went to a bike ride
people in Suderbyn don't work on weekends
they respect the working hours
are very well organized
and on Saturday we went for this bike ride
with local people
so they were doing almost a tour
showing some viking ruins
something of what was a piece of a fortress
had a lot of cool explanations
we went by bike
I turned on my Strava that day
we rode about 37 kilometers, I think
I'm going to put the Strava link in this video description too
it's these images you are seeing on the corner
We rode along a dirt trail
rode down the road, stopped at the edge of some cliffs
very beautiful cliffs
Gotland is a GORGEOUS, MARVELOUS place
and the tour ended with the sunset in Visby
Visby is this little town
which I think is the main town of Gotland
where ferry arrives
It's a city that lives, I think
mostly on tourism
it is kind of a preserved medieval town
much of the city is
inside a medieval wall
which is super well preserved
we could walk in those narrow streets
and it's all quite touristy
There are a lot of things for sale, there are many cafes
this feel of a tourist place
very nice
we had a good moment there
It was amazing to know this city
we went there several times
and I recommend it
if you are hanging out in Sweden
You can drive, get the ferry
make a road trip around the island
grab a coffee in Visby
a very cool sightseeing tour
we did all this in those days
and also had all this social part
because as I said at the beginning
we don't do this
we don't build a sustainable world
if we don't build sustainable relationships
between people and people
people and places, places and places
and so on
so while Suderbyn is this
space of experimentation of technologies
building these instruments
of permaculture, blah blah blah
it is an experimentation space
of these social things as well
and it was very cool there
We spent two weeks making friends
when we stopped working
we sat in the living room
they had drums, guitar
we just stayed there, playing music, chatting
very affectionate group
we were always together (in a non-sexual way)
it seemed that we couldn't detach ourselves
and sometimes, at night, make tea, play a game
or just chat, or whatever
anything
at some night we made a bonfire
it was a whole coexistence
an opportunity for socialization
for people to know each other
perhaps we made friends
for a lifetime
last week we met Alisa and Herman
Alisa who is one of the residents of Suderbyn
and Herman, who was one of the
workcamp people
they met here in Germany
and we went out together
I had this feeling
of meeting friends of a lifetime
a two-week coexistence that was worth a lifetime
the people who were there
as I said at the beginning
we were much different people, shy people
extroverted people, academic people
there were people of all numbers, colors and tastes
a super international group, there were me and Bibi, Brazilians
João, a Portuguese guy
I'm referring mostly
the workcamp group
Maja, who was organizing everything
a Swedish girl who loves Brazil
lived a little while in Salvador
if I'm not mistaken
Meisze, a funny girl from Hong Kong
she was the on that filmed my front flip
at the acrobatics class
Alexandra, who is Ukrainian, she was one of those people
that arrived super shy, not wanting to talk too much
but she was always fully present
always supporting the group, always connected
Alexandra, I'm still tying my hair
with the bow you gave me!
there was Alba, Catalan
a girl who was suffering a bit in those days
because she is Catalan
and that week
Catalonia was posing a plebiscite
about the separation from Spain
it was happening some armed confrontation on the street
a very tense atmosphere in her country
she is very involved with these matters
and was there, isolated on a Baltic island
talking about sustainability
a little divided
I don't know what it was like for her
but I got the impression that Suderbyn was
a good space to process those things
because the people living there
are very engaged on the subject
of seeing the world
from a broader perspective
then this subject was kept on the agenda all the time
all the time this generated a discussion
powerful conversations
there was also the other Alba, German Alba
or how she's called on facebook, Koko
who was also there going through her processes
and I think a lot of us, who went there
carry with us our lives
our moments, our personal stages
and many, I'm sure
arrived not wanting to put themselves so much
not wanting to participate
wanting to stay behind the scenes
living in that environment
collecting and learning
but during the process everyone ended up putting themselves "on fire"
because it was a welcoming environment for that
people were prepared for it
I went through several processes myself
as I said at the beginning, I was in a bad mood
I didn't want to go there, and suddenly I was
with my four legs mired in cow manure
and laughing, and talking to people
and interacting, and expressing myself
and leading some processes
and being led by others
this things are always very powerful
We also met Louisa, a German girl
who is this kind of person
who become the comic soul of the party
with her acid humor
She has a British accent
and all acidic humor gets much better
with a British accent
we partnered up into smart jokes
so often the conversations
started up being fueled by this energy
by the comedy that she brought
very cool
Herman, that we met
here last week
the guy is a little older
escaping from the average of the group
which was between the mid 20's
and early 30's, I think
he was traveling before
went with his car, took a longer trip
he is Belgian, so he left Belgium with his car
made a very long trip
and he was the anchor of peace and serenity of our group
always the guy who woke up early
every morning, when I got in the common room
to have breakfast, there he was
with the open newspaper, having coffee, or sipping tea
he was always the first 'good morning'
and we had the opportunity to meet again
it was very cool
also because most of the work
I did at the ecovillage
I did with him on the team
we had a lot of opportunity to exchange
He is a very special guy
I think these are the ten "working campers"
and yet all the very special people
the residents of the ecovillage
receiving us, very nice
at some point, I think at the end of the activities
on the eve of leaving
We were talking
processing everything that happened
and how potent it was
This was not my first experience of this type
these immersion activities
of interacting with people like that
because I did several of this kind of thing
of travelling, meeting new people
since college time
We traveled to these students events
and it was a lot of this feeling, friends for a lifetime
then when I became part the Art of Hosting network
going to Art of Hosting meetings in Brazil
that are also very powerful
maybe even more
because these meetings has the purpose of being powerful
they are about practicing tools
that help build meaningful conversations
so all the conversations are very meaningful
and this is always very intense
even cathartic, in a way
sometimes the people cries, screams, breaks
transform themselves
so for me it's nothing new
what we lived there in Suderbyn
but I found out, while I was there
that is very different to experience
deep ways of relationship when people
are not only talking about ways of relationship
but when they are doing things together
pratical things
Art of Hosting is powerful
and to this day, it's one of the
life-transforming experiences I had
but it's a lot about the conversation
is always about talking
because it the meetings aim to this goal
it's about social technologies
relationship, and so on
and I discovered something different
to be practicing this, to be interacting with people
and building more sustainable relationships
at the same time that people are
carrying horse poop with a shovel
cutting a tree, driving a cart full of pee
or riding on a bike together
on a dirt track, or whatever
Doing things together
it's a very powerful thing
I think it's similar to dancing
dance, when we dance together
it is an exchange
it is a relationship that happens with the body
we touch each other, we occupy the spaces
or gives spaces, we interact
in a whole layer of the unspoken
in a clear way
a direct way
it's not only the BODY LANGUAGE
but it is a warm, strong, intentional interaction
and work together, do this legwork
at the same time as
experiencing new forms of relationship
It's a bit like a dance
it's about interacting
is to see how the other hand deals with your body
with space, with the touch
carry together a heavy thing
all this
this was all very emblematic for us
and I got there kind of bad
wasn't feeling whole, completely present
because it was a very tiring year, since São Paulo
leaving Brazil was very tiring
have to move, close the apartment
have to leave our dog
there in my father's house
all this was very painful, difficult
and all self-questioning
that comes from it, like
"I'm here in Berlin, not getting a job"
"Am I incompetent?"
"I can't speak the language, what now?"
all the little sufferings end up
turning something bigger
and sometimes we don't even notice
so when I was there in Suderbyn
many of these things ended up on the table
because we were there as whole
I ended up having an opportunity
to connect with some sides
of my personality that were left behind
for some reason
What do I mean by that?
At one point in my life I played drums
and I really enjoyed playing the drums
I had to stop because it's difficult
because it is a large instrument
because it's noisy
You can not live in an apartment
it brings a whole lot of difficulties
This is something I carry
I wish I could play the drums again someday
have a suitable environment to do this
So, what do I find when I get to Suderbyn?
a suitable environment with a drum set
so almost every day
I played the drums
and played for about 15 minutes
that was enough for me to have
that relationship with the instrument
and feel a little of who I am, when playing the drums
also, the people who live there
have a drum set ready
and they didn't know how to play
and when I arrived, they saw
that I could play a little
and they went crazy, like "teach us something?"
and one night, on a Saturday
I sat down and gave some "lessons"
with the little knowledge I have
I could teach some moves
and it was also a intense experience
a affirmative experience, like "this is part of me"
"I like it", "this is who I am"
this happened with the drums
this happened with chess
I played a lot of chess as a teenager
I stopped playing for some reasons
but there was a chessboard
And what do I find?
a guy, Ukrainian, playing chess with me
this is an 'achievment' in life
to play chess with a guy that can speak Russian
the guy plays very well, and this is Sergey
He's a guy who plays chess just fine
and playing with him was very interesting, too
obviously I lost all matches
but all of them were dialogued matches
were understood matches
and we interacted
and I know, because he said,
that for him was also interesting
those matches were intense
because of this exchange
like "I'm not just playing, I'm not just
interacting in the game field, but everything that is behind
what is going on in your head while
I'm calculating the next move
and I put it out loud
and we process together"
a very interesting game
and another totally unexpected thing happened as well
We were on this day
I think it was a Friday
one of the residents of the ecovillage, Nils-Erik
a Swedish guy from the region
He turned to us and invited us
"Do you want to join me in an acrobatic class?"
"what?"
and he explained "Tuesdays and Fridays
I do acrobatics classes, do you want to go along?"
we accepted, of course
when we got there, it was a gym set up
inside a school in Gotland, Visby
and the guys have a circus class
acrobatics for inexperienced adults
they also have circus and gymastics classes
for young people
who train seriously and such
we could see these young people training nearby
so they had these classes for adults
clumsy like us
he made this invitation
and it was so simple, so unexpected, so cool
we arrived there
the training was extremely heavy
we almost died trying to follow
that crazy teacher
a very nice guy too
welcomed us in his class
and again, when I was a teenager, I was a gymnast
and this is one of the things that stayed behind
in my life and what I miss
then all this ecovillage experience
It turned out to be a time travel for me
and I reconnected with
lot of who I am, what I like
what I do, my own story
was very, as I said before, affirmative
So we went to this acrobatic class
and went to the others that came after
became a regular activity during the workcamp
oh that was great
it was an extremely heavy workout
to do after a hard day's work
carrying wheelbarrows with cow poop
and wood chips
It was very suicidal, but it was very good
the best day, for me
was when we were training and, almost at the end of the training
I was a lot tired
and they had this kind of a gymnastics floor
long, was inflatable
that could give some rebound
not as much as a trampoline
but a little more than ordinary gymnastics floor
something in between
and I thought "man, I need to try to do something here"
"I need to do one of the things
that I did when I trained"
Then I put on a mattress and started to try
make a front flip
and I fell on my butt about ten times
and then I started to do it right
I started not to fall on my butt
I started to fall on my feet
and Meisze was passing by
she started filming and recorded that moment
I almost cried when I got back to the ecovillage
because it was very special
it was maybe 15 years since I had stopped training
Yes, 2002 I think
and be able to have that sensation again
and find out it's still in my blood, you know?
I'm old, I'm fatter, I have a knee problem
but it's still part of me
Everything I've done in this life is still part of me
and be in this place with these
special people
was this time to reconnect
with myself
no wonder that it was very difficult
say goodbye to these people
and maybe every day
since we came back home
At some point of the day I think
"what would it be like to live in this ecovillage?"
"what would it be like to be a resident there?"
"how would it be to try these things
and build things, and relationships
and growing plants and composts
and also relationships, every day?"
I'm not naive
I know the experience of a workcamp
is more intense because it is
a storm of sensations
all at once
that the life of a resident might be, perhaps, much more stable
Yes, with some experiences
but with highs and lows of intensity
a much broader perspective
so I know this magic
part of this workcamp magic
it's just because it's short
but still, I reaffirm the feeling
that maybe that's what I want
for my life, for the medium or long term
to gather some people
and experience a life similar to that
to be present every day
to be able to experience a small bubble
of a different world
I have some friends who live in Brazil
who has this same feeling
and we always talk about this dream
at the bottom of the head, like
"will one day, when I am a little older,
with a little more money,
The plan be to buy a land
and try all these things?"
may be
anyway, Suderbyn was very special
because it was, beyond all individual perspectives,
these transformations, these connections
it was an place where I could
see that it works, you know?
realize that it's not so difficult
realize that we deal with problems
that appear every day
and everything goes on, and the village sustains itself, and what happens is that it makes sense
and what doesn't make sense just stop happening
and if someone is not connected to the place
it just goes away
and that's how life goes
without much control
and a bit more experimental
"This is Visby... Bye Visby!"
For more infomation >> Lan Hương Và Gia Huy Đóng Phim Về Noel 2017 !! - Duration: 5:13. 
For more infomation >> Dự Đoán Chuẩn Xác Vận Mệnh Người Tuổi Hợi Năm 2018 Qua Nghề Nghiệp - Duration: 11:30. 
For more infomation >> আধুনিক পদ্ধতিতে মাছ চাষ বাংলাদেশে, সর্বপ্রথম দেশে এলো Android Apps "চাষি বার্তা" মাছ চাষ করে সফল হতে - Duration: 15:32. 
For more infomation >> Mei Snow Ball Achievement Hunting. - Duration: 46:59. 
For more infomation >> hoàng tân - PHT / anh thơ nụ phiên bản minecraft - Duration: 3:39. 
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét