Okay, my posts about my Europe trip will come. The first one or two will come soon, in fact, because I’ve already typed out all of my journal up to the Eurostar to Paris, and will do more. I’m going to give you all something very close to what’s actually in my journal, just a little more streamlined.
But today! I can’t believe these things happened. My goodness. I knew there would be social excitement, but…read on.
So I managed to wake up for breakfast this morning, and had it with Sarah and Emily and Emily’s friend (she has had SO many friends visit). Then I went to the computer lab for a bit, then to the Forest, just to hang out, and hopefully to work on updating my 2-week-behind journal. I got there and did that for a bit, then struck up a conversation with the person sitting next to me. Her name is Susie, or some such spelling. She was working on creating her Beltane costume. She was making “Thai fisherman trousers”, which are the cool ones that don’t have a solid pants leg but instead wrap around your legs individually like some sorts of aprons. I’ve admired such trousers before, and think I may try to make some for myself for Beltane too. They’re very easy to make, apparently.
So, we got to talking (background: she’s from Aberdeen, was studying Chinese stuff for a postgrad at Edinburgh, but just dropped out because she didn’t want to do it anymore), and she was mentioning how she had just come from a yoga class on the upstairs of the Forest. I mentioned that I had signed up for a yoga class for next semester, and was hoping to hear back about that all soon (turns out I find out on Monday or so). A friend of hers, Danny, came and sat down and chatted. He does that yoga class too, and it turns out both of them, though relatively new to yoga, are doing a yoga instructor training class by their yoga teacher. I think they do tantric yoga? Or something? I don’t know, but I was invited to come check it out, and I think I’m going to; it’s on my calendar for tomorrow morning. Oh, it’s free; that’s why I was so willing.
Danny also got to talking about something else he’s doing, which is parcour. I don’t know if you’ve heard of it, but it’s this form of “street-running”, which is best described (as far as I can tell) as the sort of running, jumping, swinging from things that children do for play, except evolved into an art form. If, perchance, you’ve seen either Casino Royale (the new James Bond movie) or District B-13 (a French action movie), there has been parcour featured strongly in a chase scene in each. It seems really cool, and Danny invited me to join he and his friends who do it. I said sure, and gave him my mobile number, and he’s going to call me sometime and we’ll figure stuff out.
So that was the afternoon.
At 7pm I went to a Beltane workshop that I had been advised to go to by the person who runs my group. It was mainly for the Stewards and Torchbearers, those people involved with Beltane whose job it is to keep the enormous crowds back from the performers. There was some useful information; I’m glad I went. At the end of that workshop, I saw a friend from my group (green point). We hung out briefly and watched some drummers involved with Beltane practicing, and the Red Men practicing next to them. This was all in the Meadows, this big grassy area near the center of the city. I borrowed a drum and drummed a little with these people, and then went and planned with my friend to meet back there in an hour. I brought my drum and a frisbee back with me. I drummed with the same folks (who are apparently “no point”, a group that wanders around Beltane mocking the performers and making mischief), and chatted with someone I’d met at the Equinox party. Then I threw a tennis ball for a dog for a little bit (which also involved a good deal of searching around the now-dark fields after the the two of us had jointly lost the ball). I was tossing my frisbee around for a bit, then my friends got there. We walked up to the Forest and sat there for a bit. We drank wine and I played with a candle that was there, getting a flame that was 6 inches high or so, just as a by-product of tossing flamable stuff into the candle. Oops. I had about 4 glasses of wine (oh, I’m 21 now, since Sunday, cool, eh?).
We left, and I parted ways with the two of them. I walked home, drunker than I’d ever been while out by myself before. I would have been stumbling if I hadn’t been paying close attention to walking straight. It was weird. Blurry senses, but not blurry vision like when I don’t have my contacts in. It was sort of like when you’re cooking soup, and it’s all bubbly and swirly, convection currents making it slosh around a little. It was a little like that. Tell the truth, I’m still getting over it. Ridiculous. I’m developing a slightly more favorable taste for various types of alcohol (beer and wine; haven’t had anything stronger yet), but I still really don’t like the feeling of being drunk. I like to have my wits about me, at all times, and being drunk is pretty explicitly not having your wits about you.
Okay, I have a really big day tomorrow, with Yoga, costuming, MY FIRST CRITICAL MASS, and a Beltane party. Oy vey. Don’t worry parents, I am looking at a big blank space on my calendar for next week during which I intend to do much studying.
Hope you all are well; I will tell you about my travels as soon as possible.