Off to Delhi

In a few hours I am finally off to Delhi. I am realizing that saying I am going to India is much easier than actually doing it - aweeeeeee. My heart is racing for the unknown and the certainty that this not the average kind of beach hotel vacation. This is a new thing for me not knowing, not controlling and letting things be unplanned. I am also realizing that I waited too long to depart. It's like standing on top of a cliff, contemplating too long before the jump. Chances are you will back out instead of going for it. But in this case there is no turning back now. The plane is leaving and most likely with me on it. After all I paid for it with my very last and hard earned money. Off I go my friends. Till soon. Much love, Judith

Travel dream plans

India
Zuerich-Delhi - 02/26/09 - Arrival (I don't have any plans yet for the first week in Delhi. If you have any suggestions for me what to do, please pass it on to me.)
Delhi Kibi, Buddhist school Karma Kagyu lineage - 03/04/-03/12/09 Buddhist course with H.H. 17th Karmapa Trinlay Thaye Dorje
Kerala - 03/12 - ? Amritapuri - Ahram of Amma
Goa - ? - 04/28/09 Beach and Yoga
Delhi 04/28/09 - Flight back to Zuerich
Austria 05/01 - 05/03/09 Family weekend gathering in Bregenzer Wald, Austrian mountains
Frankfurt 05/04/09 - Back home to SF
San Francisco - Mexico 05/06-05/10/09 Brad/Courtney's wedding
Bali June/July

At the post break up recovery store and treatment spa.

Clerk (Behind the counter): "Can I help you young lady? You look lost." Customer (Female, mid 30s, freshly single): " Yes, please. I would like to order an enormous portion of self confidence, please, and one to go also to take with me home to California. Also, if you could add a pair of reality glasses and new hearing aid, the ones that filter the emotions. Oh, and I also need a protective aid for my heart, the extra strong one please. This is going to be a tuff one. I could use one of those alcohol overdose prevention protectors. Just in case. I heard good things about it. I better get on the wait list for one of those great rebounds you carry. The one with the no attachment feature. I head there was a six months delivery time frame. Do you still have that book on the shelf were someone wrote about the meaning of it all? What's missing,,,,,ahhh, the most important, the memory eraser treatment. Can we please proceed with that treatment right away? I could really use a dose now. At last I have a question. How do I get rid of the love symptoms and the pain in my chest." Clerk: "I am sorry dear. We are still working on a patent for that one. Try coming back next year."

Berlin pictures - on the way to class

www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=r97tojn.9yk67joj&x=0&y=-5b4oq3&localeid=en_US

Berlin - Random Thoughts

I am never tired of looking at Graphiti. 

Men with strollers are sexy. 

My appreciation for San Francisco dog owners has grown. Pick up your shit Berlin people!

Can I please take the cute cafe I fell in love with and transfer it to San Francisco? 

For some reason the German none smoking law memo has not reached Berlin. They even invent their own rules opening up smoking at a particular time of the day.

Or - Berlin rules anyways.

I, too, want the apartment with the old squeeky hard wood floor, gigantic decorative ceiling, six cornered massive rooms and the french door balcony overlooking the buzzing neighborhood. And all this for a bargain of 200Euro a month. I am not choking!

Money seems a none existing goal in this city. How refreshing and inspiring. 

The official Berlin campaign slogan - We are poor, but sexy. 

Want to open a business? Come to Berlin. 

Anyone speaking German around here? 

Not all second hand cloths are vintage. 

Enough with the cold already. I am ready for some sunshine. 

Berlin's housing projects

Last night I went to view and visit one of my class mates commune housing projects. I should back up and perhaps tell a little about these very special to Berlin history around housing projects which marked and era just after the wall came down. At that time Berlin was in the news all the time showing horrifying pictures of police fully armed dragging people out of houses they had taken over, squatters. It was a revolutionary movement all over town for people to take over houses. Some simply were fighting for their believe in freedom and against the system of materialism, others were associated with particular political groups, demonstrating for whatever the group stood for, others were groups of artists creating a experimental situation or installation with the house or some were simply fighting to save an old building with lots of history to be torn down by big bad development companies and investors. The project I am going to talk about is a combination of that with an interesting twist of events following, involving an art project and perhaps some luck. This house I am going to talk about is well known in Berlin as it was later funded as an art project by the city called Project K77. It is also famous because this group of squatters succeeded were many others like I mentioned before were removed from the houses using violent acts by the police. This success is explained with an interesting chain of events happening at the time. It all started like I said with a group of people not agreeing that this house, the oldest house in the area of Prenzlauer Berg was to be torn down by a new owner and rebuilt with an ugly apartment building. Seeing the building anyone would have to agree with the protectors. The house is stunning. Houses in Berlin are famous to uniquly consist of a front and a back house, two seperate buildings, connected through a large court yard. Lots of live happens in these court yards and creates a unique feeling of community in itself. The group of young activitsts and artist squatted in this building with no electricity, no heat. This was 17 years ago. The owner tried to evict and remove the squatters but due to elections going on at the time the police held back, trying to keep out of the news and the town quiet. At this time the house has already caused some public news and attention through the conflict in the neighborhood. With the police not acting the owner hired a private squat removal team, a special force, in my imagination trained for real war. With the intention to remove the people from the house again this group started an attack so violently and aggressively, using methods bordering on real war scenes to the point were the people in the house themselves in thread of their lives called the police. The police came and now an interesting event occurred again in favor of the house. The police acted in favor of the young activists, protecting them and against the squad team hired by the owner. Now this story was covered widely all over the country as a revolutionary act. After the owner then sold the house giving up on dealing with the situation in public. The new owner decided to support the none paying tenants, creating a none profit organization out of the house, selling the house peace by peace to the organization, which now in turn is trying to self sustain. In addition the project got funded as an art project and so K77 was born. And so last night we got a tour of the house. It was amazing! In the house live 23 adults and 7 kids. The front of the house if facing a pretty and busy trendy street with a tiny movie theater and cafe, which also belongs to the house. Above a pretty well known comic artist is renting space for his studio. The middle level of the house through the court yard hosts a ceramic studio and above that the floor was turned into a dance studio. The rest of the house is filled with the individual rooms. Each floor hosts one community hang out space and the bottom back of the two houses is the home of the large community kitchen and eating space. In the court yard my friend Nina showed me the last existing public toilet, freely accessible from the front of the street. She is sharing with me that many homeless people come here to use it. We were invited for dinner. Each night for the last 17 years all people in the house eat together. Cooking groups are organized, but you will be amazed to know that other than that there are very little rules, like no cleaning rules. The community has a commitee which meets once a week. Here larger issues are discussed. The house is continously being remodeled and of course at this size, including commercial spaces the organization requires some business like discussions. The house also holds true to a rule of switching rooms every two years in order for people to practice none attachment and to flow the energy in the house. I found this a great idea I had never considered before. I could go and on talking about this project. We need more of these projects in the world!!!! I got to run to class..... 

Berlin in action - Action Theater Berlin

My intention to come to Berlin in the first place was driven by partaking in a two week intensive improvisation work shop. Joya Cory, who is my improv acting teacher in San Francsico for several years now, had recommended for me to check out a new form of improvisation called Action Theater, in particular to experience the teaching with Sten Rudstrom. She sent me the course schedule and just in my mind not so coincidental there was a two week course offered in Berlin by Sten. When starting the class I had never heard of Action Theater before, but knew it would be a stretch. And what a stretch it was. I am now speaking in past tense since the class ended with two amazing evenings of live performances in a studio in Kreuzberg last weekend. Me - on stage - in Berlin Kreuzberg. I am most proud of challenging myself, overextending myself and exhausting myself to succeed in experiencing this level of live performance. It was simply amazing. I met the most incredible and most professional actors and performers during my time in Berlin. Classes lasted 6 hours a day, leading up to the two evening events in which we created an improvisation act as an ensemble. I can say I have a new appreciation for all actors out there. It's hard work. I sweat, cried, screamed on the inside and out, ran away, ripped my hair out, laughed in extacy, faught, surrendered, transformed and grew in my ability to express. This type of improvisation is different from anything I have ever done or seen before. In this form it is not words that tell the story, but a combination of body, sound, movement and language. I will not be able to express the full extend of my experience, but can share that I am hooked to continue to extend my acting skills upon my return. Here a quote which I think fits my time well from Ruth Zaporah, who invented the form of Action Theater: "I have planned nothing and that has kept me very busy. " If you want to read/learn more about Action Theater, here the web site: www.actiontheater.com

Berlin

When I left for my travels I thought I would only really start the trip once I am in India and only then I would have things to share. Well, I am still in Berlin and I have a lot to share now. Berlin - what a town. It's not the prettiest of all. I'de say Hamburg would have to offer more beauty than Berlin, but it's something else that makes this town. First of, did you guys know it will be the 20th anniversary this year of the Berlin wall falling? I didn't, but the town is getting ready for the celebration already and I could not miss the banners with the advertisements. There will be a great exhibition for example, which I will miss, since it only is starting in April. Amazing that the wall now is down already for 20 years, about half the time for how long it was up I think. And it will take way more than another half time to get over what happened behind this wall and is to me still now so unbelievable. I was asking myself before coming here, will I still see or feel where the wall was? Will I notice the difference between the former two sides? The answer is yes, there are still differences. Not in the people. The town has meshed and blended together so well, so beautiful with people all alike, all international. Of course districts are developing like our China town or Castro, but in terms of people East/West, it doesn't exist as far as I can tell as a visitor. I am staying in the former East part, called Prenzlauer Berg. It's beautiful, old, upcoming, buzzing, filled with Cafes, Retro stores, Theaters and full of strollers. Yes, this is the Noe Valley of Berlin. The only difference I am noticing, it's all the dad's here strolling around with their babies/toddlers/kids. And not only strolling, also biking or carrying in front - all dads, all by themselves partaking in their chosen duty to participate so actively in their kids lives. Beautiful to watch. 

So how then do you see East/West? Mostly in the architecture, in what conditions buildings are, the type of buildings. Also the traffic signals. East and West were using different traffic light signals. After the wall fell they decided not to unify the signs and to leave them as is as a kind of attraction. It worked. Then there is something else I would like to mention is noticeable. It's an energetic. Again, not amongst the people or within the districts themselves. There is an indescribable tension and energy along the points where the wall once stood, where people were divided so forcefully, where people died trying to escape into what they dreamed of as freedom and we had along and did or do not appreciate all the time. It's quiet strong, this pull of history and past. Gives me the chills. There is no other town like this, with this kind of history. 

The stores. Its no surprise to you that I want to talk about shops, but I am not shopping this time. I actually want to talk about the shops themselves, the type of shops. This entire neighborhood is one big cluster of the finest entropeneurship I have ever seen. You will find the funnest, the coolest shops here with home made crafts, your own unique fashion, the retro furniture, the whatever de hell your art is. I have two explanations for this unique situation I so wished I could transfer to SF where my most talented friends are struggling to make a living from their art or have no chance to try. First, Berlin is still so cheap in cost of living and rent that many, many young people just simply give it a go - successfully. You will meet the artist and business owner directly in the shop, mostly it's also the studio filled with the sewing machine or whatever your tool is. Secondly, there is this still this coolness about Germany in terms of their government financial support system for their people. To support more business to be built, the German government started a new program, where they will give any person wanting to try their own business a full I think 60% of their last salary for the first 6 months of the business starting for free as a start up help. You can even extend to 9 months after that. No hook. If it doesn't work out, they don't ask you for the money back. Isn't that such a good idea? Lots of the new operations really do work out so. I can think of about at least 10 people in my friends circle in SF who I wish I could give a kick start support option like this. Really, really fun to see the live model right here, right now. 

Wow, this writing stuff is exhausting. I got to go to bed now. I have to get up early for my second round of acting class. I will write about that and more about Berlin soon. Good night my friends. Much love to all of you. Sunday, Feb. 9th, 2009, 11.30 pm

Welcome to my first ever blog entry.

My dear friends, it is you who is responsible for this blogg to exist as of today. Many of you have asked if I would write while away and as such you inspired me to give it a try. We'll see how it goes. I don't want to hear any complaints later about long and boring entries - well, I guess you won't share that kind of information with me anyways, since you are my friends, right? The main reason why I decided to create the blog is that I am thinking it will keep me closer to all of you and bring my adventures closer to you. Since I miss you already dearly this is my way to overcome the geographical distance. So, enough sentimental Sunday thoughts and into writing. My first entry about Berlin is coming soon - real soon - like in a few minutes. 

Sunday, Feb. 8th, 2009, 6pm, Berlin, Germany.