Vaella Laella

Tätä kirjoitamme varhaisena aamuna hylätyn hotellin etupihalla Transilvanian vuoristoalueella Romaniassa. OssiBussin matka tänne kulki Latvian jälkeen reittiä Liettua-Puola-Ukraina-Romania. Eteneminen on ollut näinkin reipasta, koska Bulgariassa meneillään olevan Rainbow-kokoontumisen täydenkuunjuhla (15.9.) alkoi vetää puoleensa…

OssiBussi-yhteisö on jälleen muuttanut muotoaan, kuten sen henkeen kuuluu. Andris, yksi Latvian maatalon asukkaista, tunsi Ossin imun ja yhden yön yli harkittuaan hyppäsi kyytiin vahvistamaan muusikkomiehitystämme. Elli seikkaili pari päivää kanssamme ja Eeva saattoi meidät Etelä-Liettuaan.

Liettualaisen ystävämme Godan kautta päädyimme Tuchkus-nimisen hepun vanhempien puutarhamökille. Mökin lähestyminen metsäteitä keskiyöllä oli Ossille haasteellista. Vielä haasteellisempaa oli kuitenkin seuraavana aamuna bussin peruuttelu ulos mökin pihasta ilman, että omenapuu oksistoineen ei olisi tullut kattotelineen mukana. Kaunasin kaupungissa Ossin kyydissä oli tiivis tunnelma: parhaimmillaan 14 henkilöä ja iso koira. Kaupunkiajelulla päädyimme muun muassa tanssioppilaiksi lähiötakapihan hiekkalaatikolle.

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28.8. Estonian countryside

This day started early as we were taken from Helsinki to Estonia by a ferry.

But our tiredness was wiped away on the ferry as we found ourselves in front of a stage where

Anita Hirvonen, a popular finnish singer was performing. We knew some of the hit songs, and after the gig we got photographed with the star (see the photo!) and she gave us her CD. A good start!

In Estonia we followed some nice-sounding street signs. The interior of the bus is colourful, decorated with things that our friends wanted us to have on the trip. There were some 70 people on our farewell party in Kormu, southern Finland, great! (not only the quantity but oh the quality of the people…i’m wordless) The place was also super, an old mansion with its roomy garden, old oaks, sauna, open fire, tepee, a cosy hammock valley… And there was an annual Autumn celebration of the local village just on the other side of the road, which we also visioted as some sort of a parade. I think it’s worth going for this trip already just because for this we could have this wonderful goodbye-festival weekend.

2.9.8. Countryside near Parnu, Estonia.

Our camp was on a backyard of a huge hay barn and a cow pasture. Very windy it was there, and after the sun set, a hard rain started. But we were warm and rather dry inside the bus. Slept 14 hours - long time no waking up without alarm clock, and now it was deffinitely time to sleep enough after those rather hyperactive weeks of fixing the bus and otherwise preparing the trip in Finland. Before moving the caravan towards more south two thing happened. 1) The cows came running when Jari-Matti started to play a drum. They stood in front of him and listened silently. But then, suddenly a change in the rhythm made them run away. Who knows about cows… 2) We had the honour to have four local teenagers for a visit. After some chat, soccer session and their studying of the structure of the OssiBussi machine, the boys took us to the big hay barn where we ran, played tag and jumped around together. Two of them came a couple of kilometers in the bus while other two rode their mopeds. But after all they decided to stay in the village, and we continued our trip. Muddy, bumpy roads, an asphalted highway, a couple of sand paths and we are here: by the sea.

3.9. Leaving Launkalne/Smiltene in central Latvia

So Andris felt the charm of OssiBussi in his heart and is now one of us. Three days we picked and ate mushrooms; enjoyed the diverse forest around our local friends’ house in the countryside. Was good to stop; settle down for a while. It says”karlek” on a piece of paper on our kitchen window, that’s “love” in Swedish, and we are ready to move on towards Kaunas, Lithuania.

9.9. Somewhere in Ukraina

One laundry- and hair cutting day by a lake in southern Poland: one cow per family, it seemed. The most beautiful smile of the old lady in the neighborhood. Witnessing and doing authentic movement, chapati by campfire, some children from the village and a rather serious and multilayered discussion about the ethics of video camera use; other documentation, about the differences of human eye and a camera lens, the effects of their presence to one’s being. About how/whether this project and our personal lives are inseparable, and how/why is that so. We have had several smaller and bigger conversations about what it is like for each of us to be here on this trip, with these people and him/herself. I see that even though we do have different ways of saying (and otherwise doing) things and of leaving somethings unsaid, and sometimes it’s hard to let your own ego stay behind (which causes unnecessary difficulties), we all have an honest will and interest to live together in this traveling community in peaceful and loving atmosphere. We can be strong together if we so want. Also talks about the community as one big brain have sometimes been rather interesting, even inspiring.

Sometimes it’s challenging to have so many mirrors around you (almost!) all the time. Fortunately it also seems that each of us can take his and her own space and time, too, and knows to give it to others.

Last night we easily pushed the bus over the border to Ukraina. Then we woke up at ruins of an abandoned gasoline station in the middle of north-ukrainan forest. After an experimental morning porridge we told some stupid jokes and headed towards south accompanied by a CD compiled by Kettumehu-Hanna in Finland. Gained some city driving experience in L’viv, a city of some 750 000 people. Watermelon and coffee made us to go to a plaza and play some music and jugglery. Small kids came openly to play with us. Grownups kept more distance but smiled and some even moved a little bit to the rhythm. Greetings to the whistle player from Boston and the young hippie lovers in their school uniforms!

One interesting thing on this trip are the facial expressions of people who see the bus on the road. Many smile and wink and wave at us on the streets. With most busdriver-colleagues the driver wave their hands.

//suvi

OssiBussin matka kohti etelaa (ja itaa sitten myohemmin) on julistettu alkaneeksi!!! Jihuu! Me (sanna, suvi, jari-matti, gabriel, freia ja eeva, joka lahti meita baltiaan saattamaan) asetuimme kodiksi bussiin ja voi mika mahtifiilis parin tunnin unien jalkeen korryytella halki unisen Helsingin satamaan. Tallinnan laivalla Anita Hirvonen vetasi aamukeikan ja siunasi matkamme levyllisella hittejaan ynna yhteispotretilla.

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