pics #1924 - #1975

Sunday November 20th to Sunday December 11th
Blue Rhythmic Monkey to Yellow Magnetic Human
I arrive at a new host, Mitko, short for Dimitar. He is an anarchist vegan straight edge, which means that he does not recognize authority, does not consume or use any product originating from animals, and abstain from alcohol and smoking. His attitude results from a political decision, in order to be healthy of body and mind and not to contribute to the domination of some beings over others.

           Detail of the National Theater
Right from my first evening at his place, I get a strong slap while watching "If a tree falls" or by getting to know the synthesis of Derrick Jensen's thinking and its "End game" books. We will watch other documentaries, or docu-fictions, such as "Zeitgeist 3" which smartly leaves away the conspiracy theory, "Forks over Knives" which deals with nutrition and presents the dramatic correlations between food intake being essentially animal and caloric, with the rise of cancers and heart attacks, "The Battle of Seattle" on a non-violent protest and its answer by state...

           Inside the Mosque
So here I am out of a sweet hostess, who believes that the world will change for the best, everything will go fine,. to enter at someone involved, active and informed. During my first days here, I have the feeling that I would contribute more to mankind's happiness by emptying Kalachnikov chargers -a classy version of it is produced in Bulgaria- among parliament members, governing people, business councils, shareholders meetings and others empire builders, which means misery builders. It troubles me especially in regard with the first of the yogic moral code: "ahimsa" : "non harming".

           The Black Panther
Mitko lives with two room-mates, one of them is also student, less involved in politic struggle but knowledgeable in music. Especially in metal styles which are so many that I can't get the differences -well it is rather different with Mozart-, Thus we get to a concert to listen to a stoner rock band, a 100% instrumental band, and the specialists will know how hard it is to resist to harmonies of tow Les Paul guitars. Mitko on his part, is listening something according with his ideas: which is punk grind post-apocalyptic neo-industrial crust core, which i do not know what it means, but we can make a difference between sub-genres according to the proportion in which the bands are spitting on society, vomiting on society, pissing on society or shitting on society. I go along with him to one of these concert, which reminds me of the time that I would go to support my friend, bass player of "Gu Guai Xing Qiu" in the squats of Nancy.

           The Wild Tiger
The third room-mate reminds me of my last one. We see him coming home late, or going to work, always in a hurry. We mostly notice his passing by the state of the kitchen and the increased size of the dirty dishes stack. Of course this brings resentment to the others. There are also two cats, a young tigered, full of energy, an older calm black female and a rabbit who usually stays in his cage. But when we set him out it brings more animation: the young cat runs after the other animals, and the black cat is even afraid of the rabbit.

           The Vorpal Bunny

For my part, I teach yoga as usual, private classes for Mitko, as well as on Sundays, at Magdalena's studio. She became a good friend, putting me in touch with an organic farm where I plan to volunteer. Besides, Kristos Pavlou, a greek Iyengar yoga teacher, gives a week-end workshop at her studio. It is exactly the moment that Ana, the teacher from Belgrade, offered me to give another Vinyasa yoga presentation. My priority being on learning, I am pleased to meet a calm and demure man. Someone who speaks little but only to say wise things: it reminds me of Claudia, adding a long white beard! He received Iyengar's blessing for transmitting yoga in the world, and here he is determined to leave his Athens studio, to start all over in Bulgaria where people's knowledge of Iyengar is reduced to his books. Such a devotion to transmit his art is testimony of a real yogi, while so often in our Europe, yoga has taken a marketing turn -might be by going through the USA?- where we buy books, DVD, intensive workshops, clothes... It is to get back to its source that I am going to India, because what I am looking for is not granted by a bunch of dollars or rupees. No, what I am seeking is the contact with sages, therefore, it is all good to attend to this workshop with Kristos. In the sequence we follow, I notice the similarity with the Ashtanga Vinyasa series like never before: after all Patthabhi Jois and Iyengar had the same Guru. How lucky to find again Iyengar's precise postural work during these days! Integrated into my practice, this revives it!

           Inside of the University
And then along the days, I am expecting a rainy day will bring the pollution down, so I can picture the Vitosha mountain, rather than its silhouette through the smoggy cloud. I like to walk in the city, letting the bicycle at rest, to go to the market. There are still criers, selling parsley and fennel bunches among the "cigari, cigari" of the doubtful cigarette sellers: people smoke a lot in Bulgaria. Sofia becomes a familiar city, of a correct size. People are friendly, ingenious as the country is rather poor: therefore they recycle and reuse a lot. A good example is Dragomir, a cyclist who, out of a U-lock, forged a sword that he hides in his handle-bar, in the case dogs are too aggressive!

           Trees hugging each other