I'm driving back from the Harvest Festival in Parramatta with a very tired and quiet crew. I've never seen so many pizzas in my life! I'm really amazed at how fast we whipped them out too. At one point it was a 4 against 1 race between me and the dough rollers! So fun! It was Very much an assembly line so everyone put a little love into each scrumptious meal that we got to share with someone lucky! We were in kind of an unfortunate location- the very back corner of the festival- however we were a few stalls down from the bar. It took a few sets for me to figure out that as people poured away from the stage but not towards us!? that they were actually going straight for the grog. Makes sense. We were right in front of one of the main stages though, which was kinda cool. Music to keep us moving while we worked! I had a really fun time with everyone on the crew. Simchah and I totally rocked sauce spreading on the rolled out doughs that Behkor, Kafir and Sadaki were producing. Hepsevah an Havah were back and forth collecting the finished racks and replacing them with empty ones to fill. Malilah and Rivkah made some of the yummiest pizzas ever! While Tikvah, Big Rivkah, Ehlehah and Yachad worked with the customers. It was great fun even in the masses of business. I think most of all because of the amazing amount of respect that we all have for each other and the desire to have kindness and love in our interactions. There was much laughter and even tears of gratitude.
One of the exciting perks about joining the Common Ground clan in their festivities today was I got to see Sigur Ros! It was unreal to be emersed in the power of their music. They're absolutely outstanding live. I tried not to think too much about wanting to get closer but I knew I could feel wonderfully swallowed up in it all if I did. I did have an amazing view. They had a really fantastic show with their lights and background screens. It came to me that live music is best when it's familiar, when I'm up close and can see the expressions of the artists, and I could understand how it would have been especially intriguing with stimulants of some type. I did enjoy it thoroughly sober, but it was fun to watch the people around me who were totally loopy. Sigur Ros is such a provocative type of music that really pushes you to go into yourself. As I listened and swayed with the huge crowd around me under a summer night sky, feeling the breeze across my face and through my hair, I felt raw and exposed. It was like I was being churned and then turned inside out. It was such a revealing experience for me in the way music can be such a catalyst for recognizing and accepting emotions and moving through them. Whether it's joy, gratitude, love, fear, anger, sadness or hope. I really loved having their music in my mind for the rest of the evening as we packed up shop. It was funny how unenthusiastic the crowds were all day though, Australia just doesn't seem to have the same enthusiasm for clapping that we do in the States! (Like when Steph and I were clapping along to the performance at Jurassic Lounge, we were the only ones!)
While cleaning up I continued to allow myself to stay in that raw state, vulnerable and exposed to my surroundings and experience. Fortunately I was working with such incredible people, it was much easier to embrace and allow the awareness to envelop me. I felt more in tune with my responses to things and more conscious of my choices. One of the experiences that I really appreciated was unsurprisingly related to pizza itself. At the end of the last performance on "our" stage, everyone flowed in the exact opposite direction from our STACKS of ready to cook pizzas! We called to them, I ran a few free ones out to attract attention, and we kept preparing away. We eventually realized we could stop making more and start cleaning up. There were two racks of pizzas waiting by the oven to be baked. I wondered could we bake them and take them home. Yachad, with the final word, told me to chuck them in the bin. If you know me, you could imagine the complete resistance I felt to this task. I go to All Lengths not to throw out food and am only just beginning to realize the prospect of not finishing what's on my plate if I've had enough to eat. I mostly took on the task to meet the challenge head on. I grimaced as I dumped one gorgeous pizza after another into a cold, plastic, black rubbish bag. When I finished I stepped back and tried to let go of the idea that there are so many hungry people in the world! Or how I could have cooked a couple and shared them with my road trip buddies tomorrow.
As the cleaning continued a pile of about 6 crispy pizzas caught my eye on the bench next to the bin. I knew if I didn't bag them, they'd be tossed out so I did and put them up high. I was grateful for at least the opportunity to possibly share one on the road. Not too long after, a man came up asking Rivkah if we had any food left, that he was really hungry and that everything was shut down. When Rivkah asked I pointed out the pile and she said, "should I just give him the whole bag?" I looked at her and swallowed a big gulpful of selfishness and said, "Yeah, sure!" More satisfied by the opportunity to share. When she gave them to him he was surprised and so grateful, "This will make some workers very happy." I smiled. That was definitely the right choice. Defeating greediness one situation at a time. And amazingly, just as we were about to leave, Havah went back to the cool room asking for the combo to the lock, and then came out producing a box full of pizzas to take home! How encouraging!
I feel like I had more fun doing that work today, spending time with such wonderful people, than I have doing anything else in during my trip in Australia. We had an amazing time in between things as well, playing Frisbee and hacky-sack and running, jumping and tumbling in the grass. There's something incomparable about sharing experiences in such tight knit groups, accomplishing amazing tasks in very small spaces that makes my very existence feel nurtured and satisfied. Playing a significant role in an organized group, each like teeth on a gear, is incredibly satisfying to me and always has been. I'm a "warrior to the end," Simchah called me, as I worked until everyone else was ready to call it a night. Even if all we did today was feed hungry people with delicious food, it was all done with love, care and purpose.
Haha. My latest challenge has been the decision of spending Christmas with my wonderful Australia-adopted family on the farm or the family who's so lovingly taken me in from Katoomba at the Woodford Folk Festival. We just passed a couple signs that said "WOODFORD." Truly, I think I can make both happen and enjoy a bit of both worlds. I'm still figuring out how to sort it all out travel wise. It's wonderful to know that either way I'll be spending the holiday with beautiful people sharing love and friendship.
My next adventure starts tomorrow! In trying to find a ride from Port Macquarie to Sydey, I connected with a girl traveling from the Blue Mountains to visit her family in Adelaide! I jumped on the opportunity! Adelaide was on my list but I didn't think I was going to be able to make it happen, and it put me right there nearly next to Tasmania! It was a bit scary making the definitive travel plans as I bought my plane tickets using ancient and unpredictable Internet, but I think I'm more thrilled than anxious for a final opportunity to do some big traveling in this beautiful country. I will have been to seven out of Australia's eight states/territories! So cool. I plan to do more WWOOFing (Willing Worker on Organic Farm) exchanges and visit my friends who gave me the ride from Uluru to Kings Canyon and Alice Springs. There are some amazing things ahead! It's going to be a grand adventure! I'm a bit nervous, but I'm sure I will find myself in wonderful places with beautiful people...because that just seems to be how it goes!
Go Hannah! GB
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