Back in Poznan
It was sad to leave Wiselka but I feel I really have to start organizing my trip east if I don't want to freeze along the way (winter in this part of the world is about to begin). The weather in Wiselka was wonderful, sunny and about 20 degrees Celsius. I spent mornings and afternoons walking along the beach, suntanning and picking mushrooms in the forests by the beach. I brought some mushrooms for my mother and she made a really good dish with them: boiled mushrooms with cream and herbs. There are many edible types of mushrooms in Poland and almost everybody knows them. I know four species: podgrzybki, borowiki, maslaki and kurki (chantarelles). In Wiselka I found podgrzybki and maslaki. It is such a pleasure to pick them. The floor of the forest is soft, covered by moss, and it feels like walking on clouds. There's silence broken only by rustling leaves and woodpeckers. I could walk and walk in the forest the entire day... Every evening there was a supper at Michal's parent's house, who live close to Michal, and many great conversations about everything.
I looked into my future adventure and the bureucracy is tremendous... It was so easy travelling in South and Central America in comparison. I could hop on the bus going anywhere and get an entry-exit stamp in my passport in a flash (and usually without any fee). To go to China by train I have to first buy the train ticket to Bejing. On the base of the ticket I will get the visa to China and on the base of the Chinese visa I will get the transit visa to Russia. However, in Poland I can only buy a ticket for the first and second class. If I want to buy the ticket for third class (and I do - to save money) I can only do it in Moscow. So I could just buy the ticket to Moscow and get the regular tourist visa to enter Russia and then buy the ticket Moscow-Bejing and obtain the Chinese visa in Moscow. However, Moscow is the most expensive city in the world so I would have to sleep at the train station since I can't afford the hotels... I am thinking what to do and trying to reach the Chinese consul, who is very elusive, to make him agree to give me the visa without the Moscow-Bejing train reservation. I think I should be able to leave in about 2-3 weeks if all goes well. If I could get the third class ticket, taking the transmanjurian line, the entire trip would cost me about $250.
I promised I would write about my last days in Mexico City. I think what I want to write most about is the exhibition I saw in the Museum of Anthropology entitled "Woman. Divine and Human." It was dedicated to woman as seen in the precolumbian cultures in Peru and Mexico. As givers of life women in these cultures were considered sacred. The same respect shown to the greatest giver of life Mother Earth was shown to the giver of human's life. The exhibit showed many artefacts - mostly sculptures - representing women, the beauty of their bodies, their motherhood, and also sexuality which in those times was not considered a taboo. While I was walking along the glass cases with sculptures I was thinking about "The Da Vinci Code" as this book had a lot to do with the "sacred feminine." I didn't care about the mystery content in the book or the church's politics and deceipt or whether Mary Magdalene was a saint or a whore. None of this really interests me. What I found most interesting was all the author wrote about woman and about Leonardo Da Vinci and his idea of the masculine and feminie content in every person. I also read a book entitled "Leonardo Da Vinci Decoded" and I found more on this interesting subject: Leonardo's search for the meaning of life and his take on men and women and relations between them. I like his idea that a "full" person is someone who displays the characteristics which are usually considered feminine such as intuitiveness, vulnerability and patience and those considered male such as decisiveness, consistency and endurance. He believed that left and right part of the brain are responsible for femininity and masculinity and we should exercise them both to achieve the balance. When I think about this I find much truth in it. Men who are afraid of the feminie content are unbearable machos and women who are afraid of masculinity are "dumb blondes." There are, of course, other extremes: women who are more macho then the machoest man, and man more helpless than the sweetest, most peroxided, high-healed blonde... The theory of balance seems the best... In Mexico I also saw the Independence Day. There were many events going on during the entire weekend, specifically on the huge Zacolo - the main square in front of the cathedral. One evening I saw the folk groups representing all different regions of Mexico and different indigenous groups: beautiful dances, songs and costumes. The next evening there were regge and rock groups performing on a stage and they were really good, indeed. There was lot's of people everywhere in the historic district and all streets around it were closed for cars, only pedestrians were permitted. It was also like one big mercado - everything could be found: delicious food and lot's of crafts and various articles of clothing, tools, paper products, old antiqui stuff, shamans cleaning of bad energy with incense and feathers... I really loved Mexico DF. I hope to return there one day and continue my trip to places I haven't seen during this trip and the trip 1,5 years ago.
I looked into my future adventure and the bureucracy is tremendous... It was so easy travelling in South and Central America in comparison. I could hop on the bus going anywhere and get an entry-exit stamp in my passport in a flash (and usually without any fee). To go to China by train I have to first buy the train ticket to Bejing. On the base of the ticket I will get the visa to China and on the base of the Chinese visa I will get the transit visa to Russia. However, in Poland I can only buy a ticket for the first and second class. If I want to buy the ticket for third class (and I do - to save money) I can only do it in Moscow. So I could just buy the ticket to Moscow and get the regular tourist visa to enter Russia and then buy the ticket Moscow-Bejing and obtain the Chinese visa in Moscow. However, Moscow is the most expensive city in the world so I would have to sleep at the train station since I can't afford the hotels... I am thinking what to do and trying to reach the Chinese consul, who is very elusive, to make him agree to give me the visa without the Moscow-Bejing train reservation. I think I should be able to leave in about 2-3 weeks if all goes well. If I could get the third class ticket, taking the transmanjurian line, the entire trip would cost me about $250.
I promised I would write about my last days in Mexico City. I think what I want to write most about is the exhibition I saw in the Museum of Anthropology entitled "Woman. Divine and Human." It was dedicated to woman as seen in the precolumbian cultures in Peru and Mexico. As givers of life women in these cultures were considered sacred. The same respect shown to the greatest giver of life Mother Earth was shown to the giver of human's life. The exhibit showed many artefacts - mostly sculptures - representing women, the beauty of their bodies, their motherhood, and also sexuality which in those times was not considered a taboo. While I was walking along the glass cases with sculptures I was thinking about "The Da Vinci Code" as this book had a lot to do with the "sacred feminine." I didn't care about the mystery content in the book or the church's politics and deceipt or whether Mary Magdalene was a saint or a whore. None of this really interests me. What I found most interesting was all the author wrote about woman and about Leonardo Da Vinci and his idea of the masculine and feminie content in every person. I also read a book entitled "Leonardo Da Vinci Decoded" and I found more on this interesting subject: Leonardo's search for the meaning of life and his take on men and women and relations between them. I like his idea that a "full" person is someone who displays the characteristics which are usually considered feminine such as intuitiveness, vulnerability and patience and those considered male such as decisiveness, consistency and endurance. He believed that left and right part of the brain are responsible for femininity and masculinity and we should exercise them both to achieve the balance. When I think about this I find much truth in it. Men who are afraid of the feminie content are unbearable machos and women who are afraid of masculinity are "dumb blondes." There are, of course, other extremes: women who are more macho then the machoest man, and man more helpless than the sweetest, most peroxided, high-healed blonde... The theory of balance seems the best... In Mexico I also saw the Independence Day. There were many events going on during the entire weekend, specifically on the huge Zacolo - the main square in front of the cathedral. One evening I saw the folk groups representing all different regions of Mexico and different indigenous groups: beautiful dances, songs and costumes. The next evening there were regge and rock groups performing on a stage and they were really good, indeed. There was lot's of people everywhere in the historic district and all streets around it were closed for cars, only pedestrians were permitted. It was also like one big mercado - everything could be found: delicious food and lot's of crafts and various articles of clothing, tools, paper products, old antiqui stuff, shamans cleaning of bad energy with incense and feathers... I really loved Mexico DF. I hope to return there one day and continue my trip to places I haven't seen during this trip and the trip 1,5 years ago.
posted by Asia Kabat at 4:11 AM
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