Pictures from Camopi / Vila Brasil

This is were I lived and worked during the scholar year 2006-2007, on the border between french Guiana and Brazil. Camopi is the native ameridians' village and Vila Brasil the brazilian village, on the other side of the border river.

On this map you can see the only roads, near the ocean. The border with Brazil is the Oyapock river. The river going to the west and then towards south from Camopi is the Camopi river.



Looking towards the south-east. On the right, Camopi. On the other side of the river, Vila Brasil. Coming on the bottom left, the Camopi river on which I lived at the beginning.



Another view, looking towards the south. Here we only see the Oyapock river. On the left side, Camopi, with one of its extensions at the foreground. On the top right, Vila Brasil.



Looking towards the west. Camopi only. On the left, the Oyapock river. On the right, the Camopi river. You can see the difference of color between the two rivers. There are a lot of gold seekers far inside the forrest polluting the river by their activity.



My house when I was living in Vila Brasil. No water (never very far anyway), no electricity.



My house while I was living in Camopi.



Down my house, near Camopi.



The only mean of transportation in the area.



The school under the rain.



On the way to school, early morning during the dry season.



My pupils.



My pupils.



Pupils' mothers.



With a pupil's father.



Camopi from my classroom.

Arnaud Desjardins' ashram

I'm just back from there. It was a very peaceful experience. I met people that went to India the way I'm planning to. I improved the quality of my consciousness. I made lucid dreams. I made exercises and heard words that made life begin to awaken in me. Each leaf and each fruit of each tree on my way was an entire surprising world.

Their very light website is here



Wisdom I brought back from there, to be read slowly :

What am I?
What makes me feel alive right now?
What is the source of my consciousness?
Cellular connections?
To be and to function, my body doesn't need my will.
So why do I think I own it?
It doesn't belong to me.
It exists by itself.
I stop trying to control it.
I return it to itself.
I only observe.
And then...

Meeting Indios and friends

I've been away for a few days, to meet my brazilian friend Indios. He was with his girlfriend, Gwen, and two friends of her : Sarah and Aurélien. We went together in a small village, in the Gorges du Tarn.

Left to right : Indios, Sarah, Gwen, Aurélien

Indios' father makes an amazonian "tea" called ayahuasca. It's a mixture of two plants that have psychotropic effects. But ayahuasca is not a drug. It's a shamanic medicine. I may write more about this later. We took the tea at the top of a "causse", which is a kind of mountain surrounded by cliffs. Some people that are living there took the tea with us.

On the "causse".


The house where we stayed for two nights. The owner is away and allows everyone to come there and stay as long as he wants.


The people we met there


Gwen's father's car :)


View from the top of the causse. Choosing a good place is fundamental for taking ayahuasca


The rock on the right looks like a head looking at the sky


Indios meditating


He almost looks like a shaman


Ready for the ritual





I would have liked taking pictures of what I saw afterwards... But unfortunately, such a technology doesn't exists yet.



Sunrise

Left to right : Aurélien, Indios, Sarah, Gwen (in the light). Aurélien made a thesis in sociology. He knows a lot of places were people have a special art of living. He drived us to some of them in the area.

The people that live here spend almost no money. They built their own cants in the woods. No water, no electricity. They sometimes recover things in super markets' garbage.

Left to right : Gwen, Nico, Indios, Sarah, Aurélien, Steph








Sunset

Then we moved in this other community, but I had to separate from them to get back in Avignon, my mom's place. I don't know when I'll meet Indios again. He's my best friend. I'll miss him.

Back to Montpellier

I used to live there for one year. I met Alex at Yves' place. Now, he's addicted to couchsurfing as well. We travelled together in Brazil. You can check out the pics on his blog here

A few musical videos

I'm back from the forrest, and just discovering what youtube or dailymotion are.

Let's begin here with the most incredible jazz live performance I've ever seen

This is the most impressing music video ending I know. Directed by Alex Grey. The whole song is here .

This one is Dhafer Youssef. An amazing Tunisian guy that mixes the art of the oud and soufi chanting, electronic vibes and jazzy ambiences.

Rokia Traoré is a moving singer from Mali.

Didier Malherbes playing a weird African instrument.

Why this blog

I am creating this blog because it will be a mean to give news and to keep in touch with friends. I'll write everything in English, to allow the widest number of people to read it. But I was born French, and my English won't be as good as I would like it to be. So don't be scared.

Anyway, this blog will allow me to speak about what is important or intersting to me, and to share my experiences with all of you.