cultivate culture

Last weekend in New York was an amazing cultural experience. America is known as a cultural melting pot, with all of our diversity and immigration, but New York is perhaps the most concentrated example of this. My first day in Manhattan ended with a delicious lamb schwarma gyro from a Moroccan meals-on-wheels "roach coach". I went over there to buy a water bottle, and the man working inside immediately noticed my Hamsa earrings and Allah necklace. He said "where did you get those? Did you go to Morocco?" I was pleasantly surprised by this eclectic conversation-starter after my long and crazy day! I proceeded to tell him of my travels in the Middle East and throughout the Holy Land (in Arabic of course), particularly the Old City of Jerusalem where the jewelry was purchased. I had not had truly authentic Arab food since that time and was completely satisfied with the experience.

During my second day in New York I decided to venture to Brooklyn, hoping to see some of my Jewish people (I am 1/4 German Jew, and of course, lived in Israel). Now I can fully identify with the Beastie Boys song "No Sleep til Brooklyn" and fortunately I had a map to the hostel where I'd hoped to stay, courtesy of the man at the Tibet house. Upon my arrival, I was greeted by a man listening to a French radio station. I asked him if he was from France. He said yes, but that he had just moved from San Diego, driving cross country in his Jeep Cherokee and spending $800 in gas! We reminisced about San Diego for a few moments, agreeing that it is important to LEAVE there every once in a while - too easy to get caught up in whatever presents itself. So other than the debt created by the gas prices, he was enjoying New York, and helped me feel welcome in my temporary new Brooklyn home.

After dropping my stuff off (finally after 2 days of hauling it around everywhere) I hopped back on the Subway in search of the Turntables on the Hudson event at Gowanus Park in Brooklyn. Unfortunately on the way to the show the subway was diverted and everyone had to get off and board a "detour bus" - somewhere in the middle of Brooklyn! I had no idea where I was or what was going on, but in keeping with my ZEN paradigm, I just sat in the bus and took it all in. I was thankful I was safely seated inside a bus because the neighborhood seemed somewhat questionable, cars with the windows shot out and bad graffiti on many of the buildings and cars. At one point we passed what I called the "black pool", a public pool completely FILLED with dark dark black people. Shortly thereafter the bus stopped, and everyone was instructed to get off. I had no idea where I was, or how far I was from my destination, which was previously mapped from the hostel via the L and G trains - a sound path if it had availed itself to my needs. I began walking the streets, asking if anyone knew how to get to my destination. When the bus drivers didn't even know, I began to be a bit concerned.

I continued walking in the general direction of the event and decided to stop in a corner market to get some water. The men working in the store were all speaking in Arabic - I couldn't believe my ears! I asked one of them in English "where are you from"? He replied "Palestine!" I was startled - I could not remember the last time I heard someone refer to the Holy Land as "Palestine" per se, even in the Palestinian Territories! I asked him "aren't there a lot of Jews here? How is that?" I didn't want to give myself away. He replied, "this is America, we are all here." He didn't seem to understand my politically-charged statement but I was happy to hear that he favored our country for what it was - a cultural melting pot. Walking further and encountering another Arab place where I asked for directions, and still not seeing any Jews - I concluded that Brooklyn was more Arab and African-American than Jewish despite what I had always heard. Realizing that there was no way I would make the Turntables on the Hudson event, I headed to my next destination, the Brooklyn Bandshell in Prospect Park.

Navigating via buses and subways which WERE actually running, I found the venue thanks to my friend Derek's excellent directions. This was a show I did NOT want to miss - Karsh Kale and the Midival Punditz from India re-scored all of the music to the Bruce Lee film "Enter the Dragon." Opening for the film/music extravaganza was an amazing Japanese drumming group, complete with costumes, choreography, and drama. I had never seen anything like this, and was immensely satisfied with my $3 admission into the park. The sound of live drumming is so meditative and healing, and these Japanese rhythms were new to me and quite intense. At the intermission the show's sponsor the internationally-renowned corporation Starbucks was giving away free packs of their Pike's Peak roast. When the movie started, I grabbed a seat near the front - it was perhaps more important for me to see Indian electronic fusion legends Karsh Kale and the Midival Punditz in action, up close and personal. Their musical contributions to the already overwhelming excitement of the Bruce Lee movie made for a combination of sights and sounds from out of this world. After the show I chatted with Karsh, who I had met a few years prior at an event in San Diego and happily he remembered me! I posed for a photo with him, his daughter, and his niece and nephew, beautiful Indian children.

I later went on to an afterparty called Carmina Soul, for the Turntables on the Hudson show (which I did not attend due to the earlier Subway incident). The event featured Latin fusion and world groove with live percussion, on a rooftop in Brooklyn. There I was happy to see my friend Nickodemus who was preparing for a trip to Spain in the upcoming week. It was getting quite late and he advised me to NOT take the subway back to the hostel, for safety reasons and because of the wacky subway detour issues, so he ordered me a "car service". I had never heard of a car service, but understood it to be something like a cab without the meter. When the driver arrived he had no idea where my hostel was, and I had no idea where it was either, however I enjoyed the ride with him and the adventure in finding it. He was from Ecuador, and his Spanish was much different than any of the accents or dialects I had heard before. Of course when he realized I knew Spanish, we spoke it throughout most of the rest of our late-night drive through Brooklyn. In the morning I awoke to 2 girls speaking German in the bunkbed next to me, bringing back memories of my travels through Germany, which I proceeded to divulge to them. Of course the conversation started off with "Ich sprecha kein Deutsch", I don't speak German - one of the only things I learned to say in German while I was visiting their land!

I finally made it to the Center For Jewish History Museum on the third day, and spent about 2 hours there reminiscing about the Holy Land and learning more about the history of Jews immigrating to America. I spent most of rest of the day walking lower Manhattan (with my bags), from 16th and 6th through Soho, down Broadway, through Little Italy and Chinatown to the area just south of there, above Wall Street/Financial District. The walk seemed like nothing after drinking a Rockstar energy drink - and I was not interested in going back underground to the dark hot sticky subways, many of which were being re-routed all weekend. The sights and sounds throughout the city were priceless, and rounded out my overall amazing experience in the Big Apple. With Chinatown as my ultimate destination, I was looking forward to embracing their culture as it is one of my favorites. I finally arrived to Little Italy and then Chinatown after my long pleasant walk, greeted by the friendly dragon sculpture above the Chinatown information kiosk. After a bit of shopping I asked one of the locals which restaurant had the best duck soup. I was directed to number 72 and was completely satisfied with not only the food but the ambiance. I was seated at a table next to 2 local Chinese men, who were also eating roast duck, with side orders of squid and fried lamb.

My day's end drew near with a bus ride to the Staten Island Ferry dock where I stood in awe of the giant American flag hanging in the building's lobby - so thankful to be a citizen of this fine cultural mecca. I then boarded a subway back uptown in search of a quiet place to work for a few hours before another all-nighter until my plane's departure. I finally reached a Starbucks which to my dismay was closing at 9:30, and it was already 9:15! I asked the people there, "isn't there a place around here open LATE?" They said "not around here" but directed me to the 24 hour Starbucks in Times Square. So I hopped back on the subway, and when I emerged at 42nd street, Times Square was certainly a sight to behold! After experiencing the intensity of the terrain, I planted myself in Starbucks to get some work done before departing for the JFK airport. The evening was not complete until a young man studying nearby observed my computer activity and asked "are you a Professor?" I noticed he was logged into Facebook and I gathered he was a student, he told me he attended Columbia University. We engaged in a great conversation, in which I found out he was Japanese-Brazilian, so we spoke in Portuguese and reminisced about Brazil. Though I've traveled around the world, America is definitely the best place to cultivate culture.

city dharma

My recent trips to New York over the years have only been brief, whirlwind trips, but I had a plane ticket that I needed to use up and the time to do it. So I decided to hop on a red-eye from San Diego via Phoenix and actually spend some time in the city, check out a few DJ events, and try to track down an old friend. I thought that the hustle and bustle of the Big Apple would bring a much-needed change to my already crazy Southern California life. However I did not expect the city to have such a tranquilizing calming effect on me - quite the opposite of what many people typically experience here. Since I've been back in America (from living and traveling overseas where the pace of life is quite a bit different) I'm not used to sitting around and waiting, and I AM used to having everything I need or want at my request - on demand. When I need to go somewhere I hop in my car, and in Southern California people are always in such a hurry and maintain a particular way of doing things which they are comfortable with. Anytime I go out of town my frame of mind totally shifts, and because of this I typically recommend people go out of town more often.

A few years ago while in Canada, I bought a book called City Dharma, the main premise of which involves finding peace in your surroundings - regardless of the hustle and bustle of a big city, for example. I was reminded of the book as I began to experience a variety of interesting scenarios, leading to an gradual paradigm shift by the end of the day. A few years back I read a lot of Buddhist and Taoist literature, which at that time was really instrumental in working my way back to peace after some unfortunate life circumstances. Since that time I have gotten back into my study of the Bible, so this combination of religious and spiritual literature is an incredibly powerful recipe for enlightenment - as is immersion in an alternate culture or "world".

Just prior to boarding the plane to leave San Diego, I was "randomly selected" for the routine "strip search" at the security checkpoint. This is a nonsensical procedure in which you and all of your belongings are probed and rearranged by a complete stranger. Because I pack so meticulously - a place for everything and everything in its place, and because I was already incredibly late for my flight departing in 15 minutes, my patience was tested beyond imagination as I sat and watched this large butch woman wearing plastic gloves completely disembowel my luggage. At one point I told her I needed my phone, which she reluctantly gave me after confusing it with my old phone, only to discover that my Bluetooth headset (in a special small zipper pouch) was trying to communicate with it, thus I needed that out of my bottomless purse also. She appeared noticeably perturbed by me as well. I was certainly relieved when she told me my laptop was "clear" and I could put it back in its case, which was deeply embedded inside a special compartment of my smaller carry-on. I made it to the gate after I had been officially "removed" from the cleared standby list, and the plane was approximately two minutes from departure. However it was meant to be that I get on that plane.

I don't know if you have ever tried to sleep while seated in the center seat of a completely full flight. Sitting in between two teenage boys is not exactly the most comfortable scenario in general, and since all of the lights were turned off, reading John McCain's Biography was NOT an option. I sat with my laptop, resized my photos from Opening Day at the Del Mar Racetrack and organized some files, until I ultimately decided to get some sleep. I think I got about an hour total. The plane landed at 6am New York time, and contrary to my previous views of the city, I was greeted by incredibly nice people throughout the airport. I have been in JFK once before as a stopover on my way to Brazil in 2001, but did not recall the unique decor and cozy feel of the facility - though it actually reminded me of an airport in Europe. I took the AirTrain (which looked exactly like the one in Newark, the airport I usually fly into when going to New York) to the Subway. I was surprised the Subway ride took over an hour to reach Manhattan. I felt like I had been sitting forever, and I had not slept nearly enough. I was torn between sleeping and just going for the city full-steam ahead.

Once I arrived in Manhattan, nothing went according to plan. I could not get a hold of my friend who I'd hoped to stay with, and I could not find a hostel which met my standards (they are quite different overseas). I decided to head towards Central Park and possibly even sleep there for a bit, but could not find the right part of the park which was not all walking/running trails and fenced off areas, so I decided to ride the subway a bit more and get my bearings. Everything I "thought" I wanted to go and see I either couldn't find, it was closed, or it was different than what I thought it would be, for example a Jewish Historical Society which ended up being closed! I did manage to plant myself in a Starbucks, delirious and sleep-deprived, drank a Grande coffee, and was blessed with the gift of free internet access! Not only was I able to get some work done, I was able to check email to find out my friend had gone out of town for the weekend. So I researched a few other spots I wanted to check out, and proceeded to do just that. It was really fortunate during my unexpected series of events was that everyone was super nice to me, which helped take the edge off my challenged physical and mental condition.

I ended up at the Tibet House, after directions from a really nice apartment doorman and getting lost in an area called Chelsea where there was another less-than-satisfactory hostel. I did not know what to expect from the Tibet House, but upon entering and looking at the Tibetan art, I was immediately lost in their myriad of books. I spent about an hour and a half there, reading and talking to the guy who was working there. He actually recommended a hostel in Brooklyn, which I will stay at tonight as I will be attending an event in that part of town. During this time in the Tibet House, I was hit with the reality that I was undergoing an amazing transformation in my life, an out with the old and in with the new energy and revitalization beyond anything I had ever experienced. I was incredibly moved by this and the remaining events of the day that followed, as the Universe knew exactly what I needed, and God had been directing my path the entire time to get me to SLOW DOWN and JUST BE.

After the Tibet House, I took the 6 Subway to 83rd and 3rd, where a friend of mine was teaching a Yoga class. I SO needed Yoga after all of what I have been experiencing lately in my life, and after the unexpected series of events which had really been testing my patience. The class was absolutely amazing, and as it turns out, they had just "let me in" to a club with very exclusive membership which usually does not let non-members just walk in like I did! The guy teaching the yoga class also happens to be one of my favorite DJs, and he invited me to share a cab with him across town to his event that I had already planned to check out. I was also so grateful for this because Im sure it would have been challenging to find my way there on the subway at the rate I had been going! We had a great chat in the cab, and arrived at the venue, a pier/stage area on the Hudson River with an amazing view and awesome atmosphere. I felt so comfortable there, there was a cool breeze to counter the hot muggy weather of the day, and the music was phenomenal. I danced for about 4 hours to some of my favorite world groove, tribal house, and international sounds with DJs and live drumming- I can't remember the last time I had danced like that but was exactly the release I needed - so amazing!

After one long day in New York, I believe I have re-discovered my center, and I am definitely rejuvenated - ready to take on the world again! Is it time for YOU to take a trip out of town? Get outside of yourself to truly seek peace within.