Buckets of Cows
Christine, Heather, Byron, and I (Casey Burger) are doing our internship at a farm called Solitude. It’s a great place, the energy is on. We all seem to be finding our way around the place rather nicely. We start our internship weeks on Mondays and end on Wednesdays. It takes some adjusting to get back into the swing of things on Mondays, especially because Sundays are our days off. SOO the point of me telling you this? Its build up for the next thing.
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This past Monday we get to work and we're psyched, the past Wednesday was great we all had fun and felt good about ourselves and our roles at the farm. We waddle in, and our boss tells us that we will be taking buckets of cow's urine from point A to point B. We're stunned. You know when something makes you uncomfortable and you end up laughing to make yourself feel less uncomfortable? Well we're cracking up. The stuff smells let me tell you. Krishna (the man "in charge") dunks a bucket into the hole in the ground with the pee in it and motions to put it on my head. The bucket is dripping with this smelly stuff. Of course he's an absolute gentleman and says "I’m not about to force this on anyone". I wasn't about to refuse this experience. I'm here to experience everything, to put myself out there. Yes it is sort of gross and unsanitary but it was good because there was nothing I could do to avoid getting it all over me, in my mouth in my nose, toes, ears, hair. I was not in control, I had to let go. And it felt great.
I thought coming here was going to be this huge thing. I thought something dramatic would happen. I would come here and it would just hit me and it would be big. Monsoons would start falling. The sky would open up and a whole world would be shown to me. But you know what? No matter where I am there I am. You can go around the world and you'll still in essence be the same person being confronted with the same fears. I guess it’s a little more obvious in this setting with new people and new places. And its good and I am really glad I came, because I am faced with alot and am forced to look at things that I would never think would be issues. Like going to the bathroom, eating with utensils, having to cover up my body so that men won't gawk and women won't be ashamed and embarrassed. I mean it’s not so cut and dry! But it just brings things and differences to your attention more directly. Before I came here I had this "everyone comes from the same essence, la di da, let’s just hold hands and be friends" attitude. And while I still maintain alot of that I realize that it’s a lot more complicated than that - or people make it a lot more complex. Where we come from, where we live, determines a whole lot of how we behave and how we see ourselves in the world.
I'm learning so much from everyone here. This is all so magnificent. It’s amazing to feel it all unfold itself. I am learning that one really needs to take responsibility for their state of being. I am feeling a bit like I’d like to explore India and its people more than what the program allows for me to. So what I’m figuring out is that I just have to do it. I have to take charge of that. I want to meet more people - so go out there and meet them. Learn their walk and their talk. Be with them and make those connections in the world that need to be made.
Reach across our borders!
Posted by: Casey Burger on Feb 16, 05 | 9:47 am
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