coasting

sunday:

i packed quite quickly, and was on my way to the train station. i was planning on drawing cash before waiting for the bus, but tahoma (the bus expert) caught me just in time to inform me that a direct bus would be leaving shortly... i'm not sure if i'd have caught it if i hadn't run.

the bus ride to tzemach was alright, although i almost missed the stop. it took me a while to find someone who knew the area, and i was upset to discover that the atm was empty... i had to walk 400m to the gas station to draw cash, by that stage having understood that i would have to hitchhike in order to get to where i needed to be.

i don't usually have "the look" that gets a ride, and having a bit of a beard didn't help none. also, it's totally forbidden for me to do so because i'm a "military asset" (yeah, right).
so there i was, standing at a bus stop feeling the day getting shorter, hand out to the road and what i hope passed for optimism and friendliness on my face as i eyed each car travelling past...

and then my luck kicked in: a bus came past! and it was going my way! all problems solved :)
i had to walk about two or three kilometres, which wasn't bad at all. i was amused to discover that the bus i'd been on earlier would've taken me right to where i needed to be, but that was a planning error and i'd needed to stop regardless.

a note on being cautious - i even stopped after a few hundred metres to put sunscreen on :)

i wasn't stopped as i walked straight into the middle of the festival, without seeing anyone officious and without paying 200 [240, but that was more monopoly]... i found myself on the alternate dancefloor, sun shining and happy people grooving to really funky dubstep*. it didn't take too long before i ran into one of the guys, but he was dancing so i couldn't really use him as an anchor.

* it turns out the party i went to at the block was just kak, and that i actually really dig dubstep.

---
after finding the entrance and purchasing admission, i took the opportunity to hit the water - there's an expression that's been driven into the ground during the last ten years: "there's no water in the kinneret". well, it finally happened - the beach is an icky walk to what i suppose passes for water, but it's all brown and viscous, goopy and polluted.

that was a heartbreaking discovery.

---
the guy i'd run into and a friend of his were on their way to the showers, and i needed to rinse off the muck as well. we walked all the way there together, barely exchanging glances, when something suddenly clicked - it was the guy who gave me a ride to the first doof festival! that was quite a laugh :)

the showers had to be shared between the guys and girls, and hilarity ensued. unfortunately, i managed to step into deep water in my shoes, and they were soaked for the rest of the journey :/

i arrived at the campsite as the organizer who'd given me a ride the weekend before was heading out, so i lent a hand carrying stuff to his car, before meeting and greeting the guys whose campsite i'd be basing myself at while consuming a kebab-in-pita breakfast.

then it was time to hit the dancefloor.

i ran into awkward girl on the way, and i'm now fairly certain that she's deliberately ignoring me.

the first set of the last day was psyote, and it was a really funky set.

---
i had leary's comments on biological communication in my head, and it ties in with my own theories. if everything we conceptualize is a representation of only a small part of the information that we receive, then there isn't much call for classifying visual, aural and tactile messages based purely on intensity and direction.

what i mean is, if someone who takes an interest in botany walks into a field, he will be able to sense a whole lot of things about the life and environment that someone who isn't would miss. if that interest and knowledge is vast, there is no reason for that communication not to become a part of him on an intuitive level.

this is a lot more complex between humans, and it was foremost in my mind that what the lot of us were doing on the dancefloor was pure communication: the dj with his music, our bodies' physical feedback, a sharing of experience and mirth, and as a complete picture a sort of asexual lovemaking; everyone touching everyone else with eyes and gestures and shared moments of intense pleasure derived from the music and the knowledge of a brotherhood.

---
i suddenly registered just how tired i'd become, and i dragged myself back to the campsite. i hadn't brought a tent - i'm really impressed by just how chilled i was about the whole ordeal - and i unrolled my blanket on the ground and used my super-awesome poncho as a pillow. i slept surprisingly comfortably, and the music in the background was brilliant.

monday:

3.33am, and i was ready to go. physically a bit tender, but that's only to be expected from a few days of exertion - i wended my way to the chai tent and was convinced to pick up a truffle with my cardimon'ed coffee; wow. i *love* truffles.

it was towards the end of rev's set, and just as my coffee began to warm me up he put on what he calls dark rabbit, an unreleased dark trance remix of jefferson airplane - white rabbit. that was a mind-blowing wake-up!

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i ran into the girl i clicked with on the dancefloor - considering the fact that she had given up on the party until i called to tell her i'd arrived, it was strange that she was difficult to party with :/

the dawn arrived slowly, with uv [please note the dude with dreads digging with crocs - outrageous!] reeling us in nicely. i had to go a second round on the truffle-coffee combo, and picked up my bubble pipe before meeting the sunrise stomping in the mud ^_^

i need to point out that at no time did i venture too close to the speakers, and my sensitive ears still ended up at half-volume for the rest of the day :(

the morning set was brilliant, the people amazing. there was one crazy girl milling around who was totally enthralled by my bubble pipe - she borrowed it a few times. the last time, i witnessed her passing it along to someone else... i wouldn't have had a problem with that, but he disappeared! and so ended the bubbly tale.

the rest of the morning / early afternoon was taken up by a short nap, lots of stomping madness, thoughts of a girl in purple with beautiful green eyes, and bargaining for a hamburger and chips (really good chips).

around 2pm the festival came to an end, and i am deeply sorry that i couldn't be there for the entire run. i was covered in mud, meeting people i haven't seen in years and making a bunch of new friends, helping with some of the closing procedures and looking for a ride home.

i shouldn't have had that last beer, though. i was feeling strange coming off the dancefloor (could it have been the hamburger?), and that didn't help.

---
i eventually did find a ride to the kibbutz - from a beautiful girl who lives in tel aviv. once again, i gave her my number and didn't get hers in return... this is ridiculous!

i arrived and practically fell into the shower, then had a long chat with my cousin over coffee. her daughter arrived with a friend, and we went off to afula for dinner. or so we thought - the girls had other plans. eventually they rocked up (my cousin was a bit bitter by then), and it was decided that we'd get food at the mall. the mall was closed, so we went to the mcdonald's; i don't eat mcdonald's. fortunately, i found a sandwich place that was pretty decent - an eggplant-mushroom-matbuja*-olive breaded-chicken breast combination.

* moroccan cooked-tomato salad

the daughter's friend's lack of table manners was astounding.

---
i managed to get onto the second bus from the station (having had to push two border police through... it amazes me that people can be such bastards when the kids can get court-martialed for being late), and lay down in the aisle to get some rest. some girl woke me up while trying to climb over me, and couldn't understand why i'd have a problem with that...

i did get a seat soon after, but i was way more comfortable on the floor - my legs weren't coping with the angles :(

i arrived home just before midnight, had a very quick chat with my mum, consumed the remainder of the large tub of yoghurt (which disagreed with me; boy, was i sorry until i got to sleep), caught up on facebook and shaved my beard before hitting the hay.

tuesday:

my phone's alarm didn't go off; it looks like i might have to take it in again. i missed the bus (i discovered this morning that he's been arriving earlier than usual) and ran into nystire on the way to base. a pity, because he had lots to say and i couldn't sleep. i was exhausted.

i did sleep a little - i was woken up by our SC slapping me on the shoulder, which was a bit embarrassing - and spent the day happily coding c# with the application running: i didn't realize that for most things, it's possible to do so. it makes things a lot easier.
also, i acquired permission to grow my beard. i have a relatively short time left, and i'm sick of shaving.

i had lunch with tahoma; i was horrified to discover that his fiancé's family refuses to have him over for the passover meal, and so he spent the first night of the festival home alone. that's not done - the "high horse" attitude towards homosexuality is in direct contradiction to the rather jewish principle of making sure that nobody "celebrates" alone :@

we were joined by a couple of guys, one of whom has been repeating the same unfunny joke for the last few weeks and who doesn't get why i'm not laughing...

while connecting someone with a wedding photographer friend (i'm really glad they're getting along), my cousin from the kibbutz called me to let me know of a weird dream she'd had concerning my travels. i hope things don't get as complicated as what she described :P

the afternoon was spent alternating between work and spider solitaire. i think i'm beginning to get the hang of the difficult game. the last trouble i had was figuring out why a List isn't like a Dictionary when it comes to comparisons. at least i figured that out when i got in this morning.

after a bit of a nap on the shuttle home, i found myself driven to distraction by the need to eat - and peruse facebook. i spent the evening uploading photos and blogging, then tahoma stopped by to pick up my collection of lewis carroll - he also wants to prep for the movie :)

he wasn't here for very long; i had to get ready to roll out.

the group was very cool, the route even more so. one of the girls i like bladed with me most of the way, and we even had ice-cream together at one stage... another one has invited me for whiskey/munchkin evenings. i think this summer's looking up.

i was amused by the support i got from a very sexy new girl in an argument with the aforementioned one: i was asked why i don't just speak in english, and i explained that israeli girls either find it arrogant, or don't understand it. either that, or they find it attractive that i don't know hebrew - right until they realize that i understand perfectly.
and of course, if i speak in hebrew i come across as an idiot, so there's no real way out of the quandary :P

i joined a small group for a snack / meal at a bakery, only i couldn't find anything i could or would eat. i went hunting for something else, but at 1am that whole area was closed... next time, somewhere civilized. i was treated to roll-rider's perfectly terrible menu translation, which was amusing.

i managed to get in two hours' sleep, and i'd continue posting but i'm pretty desperate to catch up. tomorrow's post about today will contain a weird delay - today was rough.