Friday, November 24, 2006

Oui, Oui


Bare feet on a hard wood floor, sheltered from the wind and rain, sipping on a strong cup of Guatamalen coffee, inside a cozy apartment in Paris. Could I ask for more. Maybe a loved one. Got that too. My brother is in the city as well. Sometimes things just work out.
I arrived yesterday morning from Antwerp, Belgium. Antwerp was very interesting. I hadn't envisioned headed to this northern port city in any of my plans. But in Berlin, yes almost three weeks ago, I met a man, who prefers to be called a "universal assistant". Baba D...is his name and this UA has been travelling the world since 1992. Bali, India, Brazil, you name it. Baba looked and talked as if he was well traveled; the hair from his chin 6 inches long, the rest of the beard only about three or so, and the tips of his blond hair well past his shoulders. He speaks nine languages including Balinese and Hindu. We had many conversations, in English, about life. He claims to never have drank coffee and hasn't touched booze in 25 years. He says when he did drink it was enough for three lives. He always found ways to incorporate the Mayan calender in life. From what I understand this time keeper is based on the moon, not the sun, and the 9 month cycle it takes for babies to be born. Honestly, I don't really get it but Baba says there's nothing to get, it just is. Anyway you can check out one of his websites here.
Basically I went to Antwerp because I had to head west from Germany to get nearer to Paris and in Antwerp there was a cheap place for me to stay. It was diffinitely a great learning experience: I was exposed to spirituallity, theories and esoteric beings. Of all the reasons to come to Europe(the food, the sights, the beer, the history) meeting new people and listening to their stories was and is the most important thing to me. To some degree we're in a bubble back home and its great having that bublle popped and understanding this world encompasses so many diffeent lifestyles and viewpoints.
So now I'm in Paris looking forward to meeting up with Co and his girlfriend for lunch. Where I guarantee I'll have a coffee, and an onion soup (here it isn't French, it just is).

Quickly:

Reading: "Midnight's Children" by Salman Rushdie
Eating: So much cheese I'm lactating...just kidding...about the lactating part
Hoping: I'll get one sunny day in Paris
Excited about: Seeing Co and eating the stinkiest cheeses right thenand there
Looking forward to: Prague and drinking the finest beer on the planet with Mitchell B!!!

Peace on Earth,
Tyler J. Fox

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Gathering Moss


Berlin was a whirlwind. Well, more like the wind was whirling. The first thing I noticed in Berlin was the raised subway tracks. I guess it's not actually the subway if it's raised but, anyway, that's what I noticed. Next was the diveristy of the people. When I say diversity I don't particularly mean ethnically. Diversity in the sense that there is such a wide array of clothes, hairstyles, lifestyles, actually just about anything that can be different was. I imagine this sense of individuality flourised in the years following the collapse of the wall. With a new realized freedom people just went for it and didn't allow the shackles of conformity weigh them down any longer. Conversely, in Santa Barbara girls watch whats next on the tube to see what they should wear. Boys, without exception, follow the ebbs and flows of trend. Personally, when people do the same thing I don't believe this to be freedom, it's actually conformity. What do I need to fit in? is a common thought amongst youth. I am not innocent of having had this same ideology. I was raised in Southern California, possibly the most superficial place in the States. But being out here, in particular Berlin, I've noticed that people act, dress, and live the way that want to. Just an opening thought.
I'm back in Dresden. Today the weather is wonderful, easily the best of November. It's a mild 14 degrees celcius. Dotting a clear blue sky are a few coasting clouds floating few and far between. The River Elbe, serenly slicing Dresing in half, flows with a calmness that maskes the dangers it's currents posess. I'm a fan of the city BUT I'm a bit tired of the routine out here.
Truth is I find it hard to connect with Germans. There's one or two that I can hang out with but for the most part it's hard to communicate. It's not the language, they speak English great. Truthfully I feel looked down upon. Not pitied, but unimportant. I feel that it's not the cultural differnces as much as it's that I'm American. People demonize the States, at times rightfully so, and they prech how the US is unfair, and ignorant. But when someone judges me not based on who I am but where I'm from that's unfair, ignorant and hypocritical.
I'm tired of politics. Every person I meet who finds out I'm American, wants to talk about the same things. How did Bush get re-elected? who will run for president in 2008? what is the plan for Iraq? Then there's the war for oil shouters who are unwilling to listening to any other points of view, there's a common conclusion that Bush is a facsist, and all the 9/11-government-conspiracy theorists "informing" you of tales as tall as the towers themselves. I've heard every theory that "informed kids" read on a web site that their friends showed them and swore "it was the truth."

The truth is, at times, I talk politics and I know I'm well informed, especially having not spent much time on US soil lately. I even feel somewhat obligated to assure people that not all of us want war, more guns, bigger walls, and world domination. But, come on folks, I'm just travelling like the rest of you. I guess maybe I'm just a bit fatigued. I'm gonna find something, some direction and I'm gonna devote time and energy into. I can't keep going through the same routine. It gets old.

Reading: "Cafe Europa" A book about living in Eastern Europe after the fall of the USSR
Listening to: Radiohead "Hail to the Theif"
Anticipating: Seeing my brother in Paris
Surprised By: The 49ers' 4-5 record. Go Niners!
Hoping For: Another beautiful day tomorrow.
peace and love,
T.J. Elwell

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Pushing Blocs Eastern


Sitting in Lollie's Hostel in Dresden. I've now been here five days and have greatly enjoyed myself. I arrived Wednesday night at 10pm. Unfortunenly(or, maybe fortunently) I didn't arrive on two wheels with legs pedaling. The last day of riding the bike brought me to the fairy tale town of Hameln (from the Brother Grimms "the Pied Piper"). Hameln was alright but the hostel was outta commission and the cheapest place I could find to stay was 45€. Too high for my account. That night in Hameln the wind was swirling, leaves chaotically twirling, and the rain splattering against the window pane. I started to think that tomorrow my bike journey may have to take a break. My left knee was also in some serious pain from going to hard the past 4 days. Upon contemplation of my next move I decided to wake up in the morning and get a train across the former cold war boarder to the famous battle-scarred city Dresden.
Dresden is a culturite's heaven. Art studios, cafes, bars, independent clothing establishments, and Turkish kebap eateries line the graffiti decored streets. The city center is small enough to walk through in under an hour. Since 90%+ of the city was destroyed in the waning days of the European theater in 1945, most of the buildings are new for European standards. (I couldn't imagine the magnificence of Europe in the years precluding the first World War, and even before the second. Damn Germans). There are stil some old churches and government buildings that have been here for hundreds of years and which are pleasing on the eyes. A few times here I thought of San Franicsco and what it must of looked like before the earthquake and subsuquent fire that destroyed vast swaths of America's greatest city.
My next plan is to head up to Berlin...uhhh, the big B, and then make a few day trip to Postdam. Then I'll come back down here, stay for maybe another week, and then hop on a train that'll drop me off in Prague starry-eyed and rosy cheeked. Germany is awesome, I can't believe in my preliminary plans I was looking to avoid it. Word of advice: Come to Dresden.

Tidbits
Reading: "Chronicles: Vol. 1" Bob Dylan
Drinking: The original "Budweiser" from Czech. Amazing.
Thinking: Girls get better looking the furthest east you go...stopping of course at the Ural Mountains.
Hoping: To see good live music somewhere in Berlin.
Wishing: All of you could spend time out here with me.

Peace and Love,
Tyler James Elwell...beatch!