I have remiss in my blog writing responsibilities. Ever so sorry, it’s been a stressful few weeks what with midterms and events and illnesses.
It was about three weeks or so when Venmar, a Mexican drifter that my friend and I met in Fez, came up to Ifrane to visit us. When he arrived we went to coffe with him and Brandon, an older student at the university. Venmar mentioned something about hearing from a dutch pair on the bus about a “rainbow party”, which was when I instantly perked up. I knew exactly what he was talking about: The Rainbow Family of Living Light. I’ve heard about this anarchical, egalitarian group from an old friend in BC, who would tell stories about going to live in the forest for weeks at end, with no money in a trade-based micro-economy. I’ve always thought it sounded intriguing, so I grabbed a few things to throw into my rucksack and hopped the next bus with the guys.
We rolled into Kenifra with no idea where to go from there, and after Venmar checked his email in a little cyber cafe, we got pointed in the right direction again. Unfortunately, it was now 7:00pm, and the grand taxis were rather reluctant to take us out into the middle of nowhere. They wanted about 60$ CND for the whole trip, a cost that the three of us did not want to pay. Eventually, after much haggling and begging, a local guy agreed to take us for about 38$CND. We piled into this little hatchback and bounced out of town. The fellow brought a friend of his along, and we drove through pitchblack mountain roads, listening to euro techno music and smoking complimentary marlboros that were offered by the friend.
We arrived at night next to a lake in the mountains, near a “town” called Oum Erribia. I say “town” because the population couldn’t have been more than a few hundred. Just as much as some of the gulf islands, but I don’t consider them towns either ; P.
We followed the amorphous directions of “follow the river on the right side until you see the signs that say “Welcome Home.”, and after alot of scrambling and some cursing, we crested a ridge and could see several fires glittering in the distance. The sounds of drums met our ears as we got closer, a primal sound that was accompanied by singing and wailing. As we walked down the path towards a circle of strangers, we were greeted by several people getting up, coming over, giving us hugs and saying “Welcome Home”, “We Love You”, and “There are more brothers and sisters!”. It really was something else.
After talking to a few grungy, dreadlock bedecked characters, I gathered that the Gathering had been in full swing for a month already. The people there were from all over Europe, Britain, and a few Americans and Mexicans. I even heard rumor of a fellow Canuck, but never had the chance to meet him/her.
We settled in with the fires and the drumming, did our best to contribute to the singing, and became part of the Family for one night. The following day I had to leave, as reality and midterms were looming on the horizon, but I promise to find a Gathering in the Pacific Northwest when I return home. It’s definitely something to do again.
Haha, totally seems like your kind of heaven.