#16 - flashbacks and bears in the rockie Mountains : part 1

HI Alpine Center Hostel, Banff
Thursday, the 21st May, 09

Day 28

Banff was my last stop. tomorrow morning I'm takingthe bus to Vancouver (...). I'm glad Banff was last because it was so good!

But, first, my dealings in Nelson, which I forgot to realte ( Jane Austen's Mansfield Park is affecting me).

THE RAVE

oh, that... It was called "Base Fest" and it was part of the May celebrations of Kaslo, another town along the Kootenay lake, 1h drive North of Nelson. Maia very much wanted to go with her friend Vida and offered to wanted to bring me along (... ) And so we wetn after some body painting (...). The drive to the place was gorgeous during sunset, along Kootenya lake. on the other side of the water there were mountaisn with snow on top - apretty sight on a relatively warm evening. i was excited. i had even put some make-up on. i loved to talk with them and get to know what it feels like to be an highschool kid over here, to know everyone and to live in such an artsy place as Nelson.

When we arrived it was way too early and so we went for a walk all the way to Kaslo ( the party was to be in the forest, a bit away). We talked some more and they introduced me to friends they kept on meeting (small town). Some had camped in the woods, near the party, in what they called a "shanty town" (is that how you spell it?). Later on the party got started. To get to the place in thwe woods you had to climb downa tricky and muddy slope. The coloured ligths around the improvised stage was all there was in the middle of complete darkness. (...)My two friedns who kept introducing me to other locals (all very welcoming and many very interested in the UWC's) were hoping many more pople would come. Their wish came true. Around 11:00 p.m. the place was packed (...) I danced for a hwile but then i got tired. The fact is: i do not know how to dance to that music. It was DJ's stuff, hip-hop, rap. I people kept noding and noding, shaking their arm in a very aggressive way, but that was it. There was no subtle shoulder, no hip movement or even space to move your feet. It was not techno, it was nto latin, nor... anything that wouldn't get me bored. But I didn't get bored. i stepped back and looked. Anthropologically fascinating. The kids kept on dancing to that monotonous rythm with an enthusiasm that seemed even childish. It looked funny. All the boys looked very much the same. They all had "New York ganagsta style", the baggy hip hop thing, popular in Portugal years ago. The girls more tank tops, and some looked like lolitas - slutty clothes and childish bodies. They danced in pairs in very weird wasy, off-beat, for there was harldy any in the music. They looked like monkeys, legs flexed and boys bended as if they were encaging their girls. They looked tiny enclosed by those XLLL-wearing males, while making out. (...) Drinking was widespread and drugs were even more. Dj's were smoking it, people were smoking it, everyone was smoking it. (...)Anyhow, I met a couple of random people. or guys, actually. The crowd not dancing was basically male. I was a girl alone. People gte friendly. This random swiss (known later) guy said hi 1(...) asked me to dance - sounded like "something about my pants" with the noise . Reply: I've got check on a friend [convinient in those hazardous teen parties]. They I met a guy who asked me where I was from. "Hey! You came from Portugal all the way to come to our Base Fest?!" ( had evidently smoked or drank something). "Yep", why not! Kinf of fun. Some poeple had heard I was coming. " You are the girl from Poland right?". I got asked how was South America. It's all good. one guy touched my back, porbably very high, and said he loved the tie-and-dye on my dress. Dude, it's a pattern and you are seeing it blend. You, no the dress. (...) Well, I was at least really glad i got to experience the party-life on and 18y old in Nelson, Kootenays. (...)

the next say was slow. I don't even remeber it very well (...). It was Victoria Day, a holiday to celebarte the Queen's (the Queen Victoria of England) birthday... reallly?9 We had barbecued meat that night and went for ice-cream at "Dairy Queen". I had ocmething called a "a Blizzard". It was huge! So mcuh ice-cream. and so good!

(...) The next morning I went for a walk in the middle of the forest on a trail that used to be a railroad. (...)Finally I went to Gyro park, see the look out over the town that Jesse had indicated. it was settled: nelson was different. It didn't look like other small towns. The residential parts reminded me of Portland and downtown was like Commercial Dr. in Vancouver. the shops were so incredible: so varied! Specialised in items hard to find in larger cities! i ended up pulled to a shop of used books and Cd's. And there it was: an used copy of Jim Morrison's "Lost Writings". I took it and decided to buy it. I always wanted a copy form 1988, looked just right. (...) Liloth took me to the bus and I said goobyes to the welcoming Nelson.