Tuesday, December 18, 2012

The wind won`t break bendy trees



Torri Superiore, ecovillaggio in Liguria
Qualche foto:

Ho lasciato la Toscana, un piccolo villaggetto nei pressi di San Miniato verso le 10 di venerdì 9 novembre. Sempre in compagnia del buon e paziente Davide. Ci stavamo recando a Torri Superiore, nei pressi di Ventimiglia in Liguria. Si andava per fare un seminario sullo scollocamento organizzato da PAEA, un'organizzazione che lavora per le energie rinnovabili e che ha fondato un "Ufficio di Scollocamento" per quelli che come me vogliono fare delle esperienze, e magari iniziare un tipo di vita che ritorni alla semplicità e alla natura… o almeno ci si prova!
1.Per trovare nuovi "vicini" di casa o persone interessate ai temi della decrescita, creazione di ecovillaggi, GAS, ecc.; registratevi a http://incontri.ilcambiamento.it/ (è gratuito)
2.Schede e guide formative realizzate da PAEA e altre associazioni. Ci potrete trovare informazioni varie: dalla casa passive, ai centri delle energie rinnovabili, alla permacultura, a come realizzare un orto biologico, autoprodurre un deodorante, come costruirsi un pannello solare ad aria, autoprodursi i detersivi e tanto altro.
Sul Cambiamento l'area formazione: http://formazione.ilcambiamento.it/
3.Per i vostri annunci di ricerca e offerta vi ricordo che c'è la bacheca http://www.ilcambiamento.it/esperienze/bacheca/
4.I prossimi eventi che organizza PAEA, Il Cambiamento e l'Ufficio di Scollocamento, ma non solo: http://www.ilcambiamento.it/eventi.php
5. Per saperne di più sull'Ufficio di Scollocamento: http://scollocamento.ilcambiamento.it/
6. Per acquisto dei riduttori di flusso, elicotteri solari, libri: http://ecom.paea.it/

Appena arrivati a Torri Superiore ci siamo trovati in un ambiente che mi ha lasciata… perplessa! Non mi rendevo ben conto di dov'ero. Un edificio di pietra, un luogo caldo, spazioso, tavoli, tante persone che non conoscevo… poi ci hanno mostrato i nostri alloggi: una stanza con due letti, una specie di salottino… troppo bello! Dov'ero? Non era l'idea che avevo io di ecovillaggio, mi sembrava più un luogo di vacanza… e io che fino a 2 giorni prima ero nella mia tenda floreale, in mezzo al fango ed usando compost toilette, che ci facevo lì?
Poi abbiamo cenato, e anche la cena… un botto di cose diverse, verdure grigliate, pasta, funghi, pane, insalate di diversi tipi… ed il mio stupore e sensazione di disagio aumentava. Poi ci siamo riuniti con gli altri partecipanti all'incontro e abbiamo fatto le presentazioni.
C'erano gli organizzatori (Paola e Paolo), poi Massimo, quale rappresentante di Torri e tutti noi. Ognuno ha raccontato il proprio percorso, chi si sta "scollocando", chi era in procinto di andare a vivere in un ecovillaggio nel nuovo anno; chi ha deciso di prendere l'aspettativa dal lavoro e cominciare a girare per diversi ecovillaggi, chi sta creando gruppi dove vendere ed acquistare prodotti del tutto biologici, dove si cerca di creare comunità, sostegno ed aiuto reciproci nella realtà in cui si vive senza necessariamente doversi spostare in un ecovillaggio… tante teste, tante esperienze, tante incertezze e anche paure di andare verso il CAMBIAMENTO.
Per una rapida descrizione del week-end vi rimando a questo link, un "articolo" che ho scritto come testimonianza personale che poi è stato pubblicato sulla bacheca dell'Ufficio di Scollocamento:
In realtà durante il corso abbiamo anche guardato qualche video, ne avevo guardati prima altri, e qualcuno mi manca, comunque… io ve li metto qui di sotto, sia mai che c'avete voglia e tempo di guardare qualcosa di diverso…

Panos
Barefoot College - Bunker Roy
Film Una fattoria per il futuro
Film Un equilibrio delicato

E qui, sempre perché sono troppo pigra, vi metto un messaggio che avevo scritto (su richiesta) per raccontare ai compagni di corso il post corso a Torri.

Buongiorno a tutti,
Nel mio scollocamento, sono brevemente collocata a Reggio Emilia, dove
c’è il sole! Yohoo! Devo dire che è da un mese e mezzo, quasi due che
giro e... o io seguo il sole, o lui segue me! Forse è solo il
fattore C… però!
Visto che sto scroccando la connessione internet vi racconto subito le
mie impressioni di Torri, è stato solo un giorno in più, ma ha dato
i risultati che speravo.
La mattina del lunedì dopo gli ultimo saluti con alcuni di voi
(Claudio, Antonia, Simona e Franco) abbiamo fatto un paio di chiacchiere
con Massimo sulla comunità di Torri.
Ora le presentazioni non sono state fatte. Siamo poi andati a fare una lunga passeggiata (super sole), abbiamo annusato i profumi della natura, ascoltato l’acqua del fiume, assaporato l’aria pulita e fresca. Abbiamo pranzato fuori nel terrazzo con gli altri, fatto le chiacchiere con Stefano; ascoltato i loro
racconti, visti interagire fra di loro... insomma, non mi pareva di
essere una spettatrice esterna di una comunità che si nascondeva, ma parte
di una comunità che andava avanti con le proprie faccende e i propri compiti.
C’era una squadra partita per la raccolta delle olive e quindi loro
non si sono visti un granché. Poi nel pomeriggio, dopo aver fatto
altre chiacchiere con Massimo, con un paio d’altri (i nomi non li so, e
descriverveli fisicamente... men che meno! Ahahah) siamo andati
verso gli orti dove c’era Stefano, con cui devo dire si è in
pochissimi minuti istaurato un bel rapporto “personale”. Stefano comunicava
con i 2 germani (anatre) che hanno messo negli orti per mangiare
lumache e altri animaletti nocivi alle verdure. Ci ha spiegato alcuni
dei suoi progetti anche personali da realizzare nell`ecovillaggio, ci ha raccontato un po’ delle dinamiche della comunità... la sera poi abbiamo cenato al tavolo con Ivan e altri personaggi, riso, scambiato qualche opinione... poi ci hanno pure mostrato dove fosse il selfservice per il vino... ahahah loro avevano la riunione di comunita’ alle 9 e quindi sono un po’
spariti tutti.
Il martedi’ mattina a colazione abbiamo sentito le chiacchiere dei
raccoglitori di olive (io almeno, visto che ascolto e mi faccio i
fatti di tutti!) e poi siamo partiti.
Insomma, io mi sento di aver respirato la vita di comunità che volevo
brevemente vivere e capire... normale che loro abbiano le loro vite,
abbiano le loro routine e che non possano ogni volta che c’è un
gruppo diverso lasciare le loro consuetudini, trasformarsi in
intrattenitori... le famiglie, i bimbi, le faccende non danno tregua,
richiedono comunque la loro presenza!
Insomma, credo che se volete vivere un luogo o una comunità sia
sempre meglio, anche se a volte un po’ noioso perché non hai le
giornate piene di cose da fare, andare a trovare le persone che ci vivono quando loro stanno vivendo la loro quotidianità, magari non vi daranno grandi
attenzioni, ma non è quello ciò che serve se vuoi capire.... basta
la tua osservazione, o no?!
Beh, un abbraccio a tutti, spero stiate tutti bene e che l’idea di
scollocarvi cresca sempre più forte fino a portarvi/ci al cambiamento
che tutti auspichiamo!
Genny


LA COMUNITÀ AL SUO INTERNO
La comunità al suo interno funziona con l'uso del METODO DEL CONSENSO. Non c'è un leader vero e proprio e tutti sono chiamati ad esprimere le proprie opinioni, le decisioni devono avere il consenso di tutti, è un processo lungo, a volte anche snervante forse, ma una volta che si giunge ad una decisione è condivisa da tutti, nessuno può dire: io ho detto sì perché ero in minoranza, o ero l'unica/o a pensarla diversamente… se non si arriva tutti ad essere d'accordo su qualcosa, la decisione non viene presa… Un lavoro bellissimo, anche perché tutti sono chiamati a mettersi in gioco, a lavorare sulla comunicazioni del proprio sentire.
Economicamente quasi tutti lavorano all'interno della comunità; chi si occupa degli orti, chi si occupa della cucina, chi si occupa della gestione corsi (di facilitazione, permacultura, teatro,…), ecc; i soldi che entrano nella comunità attraverso attività rivolte all'esterno (come corsi o vacanza in ecovillaggio) vengono utilizzati per pagare gli stipendi a chi lavora nella comunità. Così ogni nucleo ha il proprio reddito, ma il fatto di condividere, di cucinare assieme, di mangiare assieme, di produrre, di sostenersi gli uni e gli altri… fa sì che davvero la nostra dipendenza dal denaro diminuisca sempre più!

E se non vi sono bastati i link qui sopra, ve ne metto un paio d'altri!

Sempre troppo chiacchierona io hah!!! Ma c'è troppa roba da dire, raga!

Don`t work too hard, think less and relax



So, the morning of the 31st at 6.30 Elisa drove Davide and me to the train station (15 km away from where we were). We had checked the train schedule on the internet, but didn’t purchase the tickets. We took the first small train for 1 hour more or less, and then got off. We thought we should have changed 3, max 4 trains... when we got to the second train station and we could finally buy the full ticket... they told us there were no more seats available on the train we had picked... what to do... well we changed our itinerary, it took us 12 hours to get from Città di Castello (Umbria) to Sannicandro (Puglia) and we had to change 6 trains and get 2 car rides... not bad hah! I was happy and content, I was on the go again, with all my heavy luggage, but this time I wasn’t even alone, had a brilliant travel mate! Davide and I are quite different: he is quiet, calm, speaks with a very low voice, skinny, long beard (I don’t have it luckily! :p) but he was a bit tensed for the long trip; he said he wouldn’t have gone down to Puglia alone. I was super relaxed, enjoying the long trip, singing, pinching him, being my usual self! I even convinced him, wasn’t too hard I must say, to have pizza and beer at 10 in the morning, considering though that we got up at 5 I thought it was fair!
We had a good trip although the weather was horrible, it rained and rained and rained, but I have to say the two of us got on super well and I was quite surprised. We had no problems walking around train stations, hopping on and off trains, finding seats, moving around despite the big luggage and the fact that we never walked together really! Davide is probably one of the most connected people I ever met, we often thought about the same thing, had the same idea, reflection, and we really didn’t know much about each other. Well with time he got to know almost everything about me, partly because I told him things, but mainly because we spent basically 24/7 together and people kept on asking me questions, and I answered so he didn’t really need to ask me much! J
We arrived in Sannicandro and two girls I never met before picked us up. We arrived at Giardino della Gioia and I met my “old friends”  there! It has been a great welcoming, lots of hugs, people seemed to be happy to see me again. Davide and I started fixing my tent (for those of you who haven’t seen it... well, it’s green – only the background, and has plenty of pink, yellow and blue flowers... when I went to buy it I was alone and asked which colour it was.... they told me green, so I bought it.... 3 weeks later I got to know it was flowery!). Anyways, when we started to put up the tent the rain stopped! INCREDIBLE! Then we had dinner with all the rest of the community in the “circo”, a colourful structure made of wood and other materials, used for big gatherings. There were people playing music, we did a sort of ritual for Halloween and then we walked outside where someone had lit a fire!
Our first night sharing the tent wasn’t the greatest! We had to get used to the different environment and to being in a small space together I guess! But after that we had brilliant nights’ sleep. Well we made sure we were tired enough before going to bed! Davide is a good companion also for vices I must say! J
At the Giardino there was a meeting of all Italian eco-villages
but there is also an international network of eco-villages called GEN (global ecovillage network)
So there were really quite a few people, representatives from different eco-villages, people from Greece, England, Germany... I was surprised to see that the place is getting more and more international!
During these few days we had quite a few activities, seminars on synergic agriculture, on dragon dreaming, non violent communication,
tantric meditation, butterfly meditation, and more.... but I don’t remember because... well Davide and I missed some seminars to sit and chat with others or to go for walks in the woods! Brilliant weather, at the beginning of November I was wearing one of my Indian dresses! Incredibleeeee!
The time at the Giardino was wonderful as usual, this is the first place I visited last March, it’s the place that made me feel I could start this adventure, is the place were I felt my disability wasn’t a problem because people are open minded, willing to help and be there!
We didn’t take any photo so I will upload a couple of old photos from when I was there in April and I twisted my ankle and couldn’t walk, and a video of my first experience there, that lots of you have probably already seen.
Here`s where it all started: 24/28 March 2012

Here`s a short (homemade) documentary about permaculture,
Unfortunately it`s only in Italian
Now that I sit in front of a pc I find it extremely difficult to communicate the great emotions I felt while I was there; all those hugs, people who do not know each other but feel a super great energy, the desire to share, to be there together, to get emotional if you feel like, to hold hands and sing songs, look into each other`s eyes... hippie behaviours for most of the outside world, real human beings for us who were living this experience.
One of the songs I love and Davide and I kept on singing even the last day when we said good-bye to each other goes like this:
“Every little cell in my body is happy, every little cell in my body is well; I’m so glad, every little cell in my body is happy and well!” Useless to say that when I was there I was complaining cause I didn’t like to dance, to sing, but after all I love it! J
I had uplifting chats with lots of people there; it was great to hear from people like Antonio (the synergic agriculture master) how he felt, how much he cared, loved and felt that what he was doing was important; how much it’s vital to walk towards a proper change; to change our attitude, to understand that we need to change our habits, learn to respect others, open ourselves to others, create community, respect the planet we live in, plants, nature, animals, people... and he even cried while he said it! I can’t put in words what I felt, the great emotions I felt inside, how warm and honest his tears felt, how contagious his thinking is, how happy I was to be there and nowhere else! As he put it, to plant and spread joy is always the most important thing, no matter if the soil is fertile or not, every seed of joy we spread is a well spread seed!
Here is an article about this experience, written by one of the guys who took part in the meeting, unfortunately it’s in Italian though:
On Wednesday the 7th of November Davide and I decided to move back up, so we took a lift to Tuscany with Gabriele also called Peter Pane (“pane” in Italian means “bread”, Gabriele bakes bread, but he is like a happy child although he is an adult, therefore Peter Pane!). It was pissing rain, but while Davide and I dismantled the tent it stopped raining, then it started again. We were supposed to leave at 10 in the morning, we left after  1... there were five of us in a car and we drove around, got lost, took wrong turns, stopped at a supermarket and bought lots of shite, sweets and bread and every thing and ate in the car park... we finally started our trip properly at 4.30 in the afternoon. We stopped in Rome to drop another guy (Lingam is his name which means penis in India... hahahaha);
We arrived in Peter Pane’s house at around 3 in the morning. It had been raining in Tuscany too, but when we got up in the morning... guess what! It was sunny!
We had fun with P.P. and then 2 other friends we had met in Puglia (1 I knew from my trip in April) arrived so we talked, ate, drank some wine, cooked, sat in front of the fireplace...
Peter Pane lives alone in a very old house, he has quite a bit of land, olive trees, animals, he grows his vegetables, bakes bread, biscuits etc that he sells in organic markets. He only uses organic produce, lives very simply, doesn’t have a heating system in his house, only a fireplace; water comes from a well, and he has a very very simple but beautiful life! And he is super fun too!
 The day after, on Friday Davide and I moved on again and we went to another eco-village.   

A couple of links:
An interesting documentary:
A new we – YouTube
 Nikola Tesla - The Untold Story – YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoY_7mbm5ng

Marinaleda, nel sud della Spagna il paese che non sente la crisi | Lontano dai riflettori - ilCambiamento.it 




Everything is a knot in process of flow



We are all connected in ways that we don`t even know

17/30 October 2012

When I decided to start my travel I promised myself to keep up a blog where to write my experiences. The idea was to keep all my friends and acquaintances updated on where I was and what I was doing, and to keep a sort of diary for myself. Of course I am super disorganised, I don’t have internet connection, and I get lost in chats, exchanges etc... And I find myself incapable to keep up with my own promise! Well done Gen! J
I try to summarise the last experiences.
The 17th of October I left Rome. I went to the train station by myself, the assistance was there, but they didn’t see me, so I had to ask people passing by for help. Once I arrived to the assistance room I got a bit angry with the personnel there. Useless to say then that they gave me excuses, ah, I even tried to ring them, but they wouldn’t answer the phone because they were too busy! Then I asked if they could take me to the ticket desk, but no, that’s not one of their competences... so I had to buy my ticket on the train and had to pay an overcharge! Civilised world we live in!
Anyways, I arrived near Chianciano Terme where a friend picked me up. We went to visit a piece of land (8 hectares of olive trees, wine trees and a huge house with 6 apartments). Roberto and Michela are trying to put together a group of people to form their eco-village. The place was beautiful, but they feel more attached to the place they are living now:
Unfortunately the website is in Italian, I’m working on the English translation, but.... as I’ve no time to write my own stuff... I’m not following up what I started, I will get at it sometime in the near future!
I went to see them because they were starting the dragon dreaming process with few people willing to start the eco-village adventure with them.
I won’t write much about it, too long to explain, but this method is very engaging, interesting and brings out lots of emotions as well as lots of pragmatic ideas. And as I took a Dragon Dreaming training course in July I went to support Roberto, to work a bit with him on the project and to see how this tool can be put into practice.
I thought I would have left Città di Castello (where they are) by the 21st of October; so I rang the assistance for my train trip, and they couldn’t give me the assistance for that day... so I decided... to stay a couple of days longer... those couple of days became almost 10 days.... I arrived on the 17th of October and I left there on the 30th of October. I arrived alone and I left with a new friend.
During the dragon dreaming circle I met Davide, we seemed to get on very well from the beginning, there was a nice connection, a very good understanding and it really felt like we had known each other for a very very long time.
I met very interesting and nice people during those days; Chicco, a 60 year old man who is a musician, who decided to make a living with music and would like to live in a community/eco-village; Annamaria and Marco (a painter) who are already carrying out community stuff, organic agriculture, social events near Brescia; Lillia and Emanuele... Elisa who is already a very good friend; we shared the room and at night (unless I was up talking `till latish with Davide) the 2 of us would stay up `till 3, sometimes 4 in the morning talking, laughing, sharing how we felt. She walked the Camino de Santiago last year and she gave me a shell she got from there, this happened the first night we slept in the same room! I told her I might walk the Camino next year with someone I met during my meditation time and... She felt I had to have her good luck shell! Etc.

During the dragon dreaming we also played a game and I advise you to do it too! Get a piece of paper and a pen:
Think about your favourite object,( the first one that comes to your mind, don`t think too much about it), write it down,

Write 3 characteristics of this object (colour, form, texture… anything you can think about)
Write 3 of its functions (what is it good for)We ended our 4 days of dragon dreaming with a brilliant night in front of the fire, food, drinks, music...
Can it be improved? If yes how, write it down.
What`s its final purpose? Write it down.

Davide, Elisa and I stayed with Michela, Roberto and little Antea for the next 10 days. The friendship between the lot of us got stronger, we shared our projects, dreams, uncertainties... The sun was shining for most of the time; it was incredible to think the weather could be so warm! I got a brilliant tan!
It was very interesting to see how personal dynamics developed between the different participants, which are or could be the difficulties of setting up a group in order to create a community; how many ideas, dreams, expectations, fears... need to be coordinated in order to create a solid group. I had been asked by the group to support Roberto in the facilitating task of the future meetings, unfortunately though I feel I won’t be able to keep up with this “job” as my life is quite uncertain at the moment and I keep on moving around without knowing where I go or when I go! Which is what makes it all super exciting! J




Our dragon dreaming “teacher” suggested that we check out this link, that I share with you:
Check out the Ted Talks by Amy Cuddy: Your body language shapes who you are (
http://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are.html)

The 31st of October at 6.30 in the morning Davide and I left Città di Castello to go to Puglia, Giardino della Gioia. I didn’t know what to think of it... we knew each other only for less than 2 weeks, we would have shared my power flower tent, travelled together... the feeling was good, but would we really get on so well!

SOLUTIONS OF THE GAME:
Your favourite object represents you.