Rainbow Gathering

 I wish I started blogging before now.  It’s a good way to make myself reflect and record everything that I am experiencing.  Since I am only beginning now, from time to time I am going to reach back into the archives to talk about significant adventures that I have had in the last two years.

This one goes back five months.  Blessing and I attended a Rainbow Gathering called “Peace in the Middle East” in June and July 2012.  It was held in Georgia but the previous five gatherings had been held in Turkey.  I don’t feel like explaining the ins and outs of Rainbow Gatherings so if you are interested in learning more about them, google it.  They happen all over the world.  My experience will give you an idea of what these gatherings are, however.

Rainbow was the perfect way to spend the last of our days in Georgia.  For three weeks, Blessing and I lived communally in the wilderness of the Racha Mountains in Georgia with about 100 other people from all over the world.  We lived out of our tent, as did most people.  Other people only had a rope and a tarp and a few people had no shelter at all.  When it rained everything they owned got wet but they were somehow unaffected by wet things.  Our toilet was a pit in the ground and after using it we had to cover our droppings with ash so as to keep flies away.  We didn’t use toilet paper; a plastic water bottle filled with water is a great substitute!  All of our meals were prepared communally over a fire in really big pots.  Our really big pots were borrowed from Georgians living in the nearest village.  We ate our meals together around the fire after singing songs of thanks.  We ate mindful of all the people that made every meal possible.  We hugged a lot.  We made a family.  We listened to music all day everyday.  I listened to so many different instruments that I had never heard before.  The didgeridoo is amazing with drums and crazy Turkish and Iranian sting instruments.  Also, Bulgarian folk music is beautiful!

People at the gathering came from all over the world.  From what I can remember, the people I met were from Turkey, Iran, Armenia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Japan, Georgia, USA, Spain, Ecuador, South Africa (Blessing), Uganda, Lithuania, Azerbaijan, Estonia, France, Moldova, Germany and probably more.  I had never met people from some of these countries and I loved learning a little bit about each of them.  I hope to be able to visit all of them, especially Iran, pending ownership of non-American citizenship. 

Rainbow was a great way to get in touch with the earth.  Living in the wild like that is enlightening.  I didn’t touch a computer or phone for three weeks.  I only ate what was cooked on a fire.  I washed in the river without soap.  I lived with the earth.  I feel a bit cheesy writing this but it’s the truth.  It compounded everything that I had already learned from living in Georgia.  I loved it!

Not only did I further my love for rustic living but I also furthered my love of travel.  The typical person that goes to rainbow gatherings travels the way Blessing and I do.  That means wild camping, hitch hiking, couchsurfing, sleeping in bus terminals, meeting locals and being free and open to whatever comes.  As I exchanged travel stories with my fellow travelers from all over, I gained confidence and excitement for my travel mission.  Their stories and experiences encouraged me to carry on; they inspired me.  I know that what I want right now is to see and experience the world; hearing the stories of so many people doing exactly what I want reminds me of its possibility.  I can do it and I am doing it.  After this lull in Korea, I will be off to travel this world freely (hopefully on a bicycle).

Many friends from the Georgia gathering will meet again during the 2013 summer, this time in Armenia.  As I see facebook posts of rainbow friends traveling the world, I feel sad that I will not be able to reconnect with them at the next gathering.  However, the rainbow spirit allows me to believe that I will see them again.  It might be at another “Peace in the Middle East” gathering or another Rainbow Gathering somewhere else in the world or it might be in passing as we all traverse this planet.   Regardless of where I meet them again or if I do at all, all of them made a positive impact on my journey.   

Thank you for your inspiration, Rainbow family.

Gathering for food circle

A rainbow at Rainbow Gathering

P.S. Blessing and I have already run into one traveler twice by accident.  In August 2011 we met a guy in Turkey who was from Ecuador.  We bought string bracelets from him.  All of us happened to be attendees of Rainbow one year later.  Such a cool coincidence!  I know more of those will come our way.