Bangkok

When Socialism is pushed beyond a certain point it becomes totalinarianism. Capitalism, on the other hand, if carried to its extreme, becomes anarchy. Anyone who doubts the accuracy of this last observation has never walked the streets of Bangkok.
-Tom Robbins, Villa Incognito

Om Om Om, Im in Rome!

Rome! Where to begin. In Rome I was quite lucky to have the chance to stay at the Sivananda yoga center. I arrived late at night, showered and slept. We had daily meditation at 7am and it was nice to get grounded. I was able to take yoga lessons and through them pic up some Italian! As the class is always following the same form I was able to participate, and know what the teacher was saying. With the exception of a few moments when I was in a different posture than the rest of the calss! Each day I went for a walk and explored a super old and interesting place.

Here is the best photo I have ever taken: (Unfortunately the angles are a coincidnece but I love this shot!)

So this is at the vatican. That is in St. Peters' Cathedral and it is in the dome up top. It was incredbible to see the construction!
Here is one of the paintings in the Vatican Museum about war. I didn't take pictures of the other thousands of pics about war. (I also didnt take a picture in the sistine chapel (unlike one of my sisters) as it is illegal!) Back to war, a wonderful theme for the head region of christianity. The only thing I think less apropriate would be many half and fully naked muscular men climbing all over each other.... Oh wait, that was the theme of almost all the other paintings. I did have some trouble understanding this. The paintings are incredible works of art but not what I expected from such an anti-sexuality institution. I was also a little freaked out by the amount of power the church had/has in order to build and maintain such a place. Here is a view of the area people congregate to view his holiness the pope.

It is also the place people applaud a man who thinks people dying of Aids is better than using condoms. I can't accept this (and neither should the millions of people who follow him) Due to this and other facts of close minded unacceptance I had trouble fully enjoying the vatican. This pic is also from up on the Dome of st Peters, which offers a great view of Rome, and I was wishing I had a giant rainbow flag saying "Gay is Okay" to hang from up there... Of course this would have been a good way to meet the swiss guard!

Here is one quote by the new pope from the New York Times:

"Pope Benedict said Monday that saving humanity from homosexual or transsexual behaviour was just as important as saving the rainforest from destruction.
The Church should also protect man from the destruction "

Atleast he is recognizing something environmental...

So the next day I figured I would see something with more of a Pagan history!

This is the Roman amphitheatre... It is incredible to think that this stadium could hold more people than the largest hockey arena and it is over 2000 years old...granted it is not in perfect working order anymore but wow... It was complete with bathrooms, sections for different classes of poeple.... and an area for carnage and mayhem... Unfortunately the Pagans enjoyed seeing men kill wild animals and each other. If only it was colder and they could have been playing hockey....

Here is some monument or other I came across.... as large as it looks it is even larger. People just like to build things... The skill and effort must have been huge...

A beautiful fountain... There were many but this one was especially great for me...

That is the end of the Europe portion of the trip. Next stop is Bangkok, with 5 hours in Cairo airport....

For me the best part of Europe was my first stop, Paris. I loved the churches there more than anywhere for 2 reasons. They had the most stained glass, much of it quite psychdelic and so very colorful. I also loved how you could see all the bricks and arches. In Germany and elsewhere it was covered with plaster, in Rome all covered with furnishings of incredible design and grandure but just not as impressive for me. Also there was much more beauty in some of the simplicity which when looked at carefully was not simple at all.

Poland is the country I would most like to return to as I didnt have much time to explore it and the bit of nature I experienced just felt right to me. Maybe it was the similarity with eastern Canada, maybe its a little in my genes and maybe its just a swell spot.

In the Cairo airport they had a Prayer room, I asked one guy on his way out if it would be ok to go in and meditate, he said no and I was a little offended but not sure why. I almost accidently offended alot of people back though. I went to a washroom at the airport and right in front of me was this:

I was reaching for my fly and at the same time wondering what the bars were for. Then it hit me, this is to wash your feet!

All I could think of next is why is this not in the bathroom at Concordia university near the people's potatoE, (maybe it is now.) That bathroom is next to the Muslim prayer room and there are always many people doing accrobatics to wash their feet in the bathroom sinks. This would make life easier for lots of folks.

It was fun being in an Arabic speaking country, I have alway loved the sound of the language and hope to spend more than a few hours in one soon... It was also interesting seeing people dressed religiously from head to toe along side people dressed rather scantily from head to toe. What a culture! I dont want to get into the Burka debate, but I must say it is incredibly intriguing to be able to see someone through only their eyes. Is it the mystery of what is underneath, or the purity of not judging someone by their body, or something mystical about people who chose to believe strongly in a faith? I think the magic is not being able to avoid looking someone in the eye and having a personal contact. Maybe this is not the desired effect of the burka and maybe it is, either way the whole world would be a little closer if we looked right into each others eyes from time to time.

Om Shanti