The past 5 days in Alice/Uluru were intense and incredible, and if I try to write about it all, you would never want to sit and read it all. So I'm going to put in just a few journal exerpts that capture some of my red desert epiphanies. Check out the photos for the rest.
(First off, I don't think I mentioned yet that I did some very fun and successful busking (singing in the street) on Valentines Day in Adelaide. I made $35! And had a lot of happy couples and children smiling at me. (worth more than the money))
16 February
"All the white Australians I've spoken to have said, "stay away from Aboriginals in Alice, they'll mug you, don't go out alone, they're bad people." So how can they be so racist agains the culture they are selling, celebrating, proud of? It's a backwards racism perpetuated on both ends, kind of world out here. You only guess or hear about it from other Australians, but it's so real here."
But then I met an interesting guy who worked for the government and basically helps Aboriginal communities manage their money. He had a lot of interesting perspectives on Aboriginal culture. The teenagers in the street have a lot of aggression because of how their culture has been mistreated and disrespected by white culture, so when they see tourists and backpackers walking down the street, obviously with enough money in their lives to come out and do a tour like this, to sort of exploit sacred areas with their cameras and tour buses, why wouldn't they feel angry, and want to show who's boss? Like I said, it's backwards and perpetuated on both ends.
18 Feb
"I don't know if I have the right words to describe the sky. It was unreal. It was a complete dome- although I couldn't really tell with my glasses) the milky way...
the stars just made me feel tiny and a part of something huge and...
I just had an overwhelming feeling of I can't articulate it...this trip, the stars, the world, being in a wide open space, connection, being able to be a part of it, stupid things don't matter because we are all one and I just FELT it. We are all made of the same red dirt that we slept on. and we came from a star and heat up from a star just like all those stars we saw last night.
I don't know I'm not describing the spiritual epiphany or feeling I just had very well, but it was a feeling of openness in a desert and the stars but also something about the tour and these people. I think it's the fact that we all just had a sleepover in the dirt. No one is worried about looking good or impressing people, we're all covered in dirt and flies and sweat and sunscreen. We have to be a part of the earth to be on this tour."
19 February
"The flies are the keepers of this place. The rock energy is strong. The magic, the sun, which is a star
this rock is big and filled with color
i can't write about it, it's unwritable, only feelable"
Ok, and now I have to emotionally prepare myself to leave Australia, and enter the world of Asia, starting with Japan.
