Edition 14 - Wild Wild Italy
Italy - the final destination. I have known that Italy would be the last country on this backpacking adventure for some time now. I had a specific date I needed to be back in California by and I had secured a 2-week volunteer opportunity at a meditation center in Tuscany right before my flight back to the US. I thought that this volunteer opportunity would be a wonderful way to finish out my experience abroad and allow for some self-reflection but this time has given me so much more. You’ll understand soon. A majority of this newsletter will be focused on my volunteering but I’ll give some quick shoutouts to some other lovely places in Italy that I was able to spend time in as well.
Before reading on, I am recommending some *light research* on a specific topic/community that some of you might have already heard about. In March, my brother recommended I watch a docuseries (found on Netflix) called, “Wild Wild Country” simply because I enjoy documentaries about enclosed or cult-like communities. I was 30 minutes into the series when I realized that it was going to be very important for me to finish before I reached my volunteering in Italy. In summary, the 2018 series follows the story of an influential (and controversial) meditative master from India, called “Osho” or “The Bhagwan”, whose community built a commune in Oregon during the 1980s. What I knew 30 minutes in was that the meditation center I was going to be volunteering at was based on the practices and ideology of Osho. What I didn’t know yet was that the two people who run the center lived in the commune in Oregon. Of course, I’ll do my best to explain these intricacies when I write about my volunteering for those who haven’t seen the series or don’t know much about the topic.
Now that the groundwork has been laid here… welcome to Italy!
Italy
May 1 - May 21
Ancona, Perugia, & Florence
I arrived in Ancona, Italy on Wednesday, May 1st after a pretty terrible night’s sleep on my overnight ferry from Greece. Who am I to complain though, waking up in the middle of the sea is stunning… I might splurge for a bed next time though. I was only in Ancona for the night to slurp delicious pasta (my first since Passover ended), eat refreshing gelato, and get a good night’s sleep before my Flixbus to Perugia in the morning.
My next, and main, stop before my volunteering was Perugia. Perugia is the capital of the Umbria region of Italy and is a stunning, medieval city surrounded by lots of nature. I spent my 4-days in Perugia walking around, exploring the city surroundings, relaxing in the deep parks, and eating fresh pizza. I thought this would be a wonderful way to learn about Italian history and breathe before jumping into my next round of volunteering. I was set to take 2 trains to Bibbona, Tuscany on Sunday, May 5th when Italy announced a train strike.
After letting my volunteer hosts know that the train strike meant I wouldn’t be able to come to the center until May 6th, I found myself taking a FlixBus to Florence to get me closer to Bibbona. Candidly, I got into Florence late and didn’t end up leaving my hostel at all. But, I did meet two lovely guys in my hostel kitchen after asking them if the tap water was safe to drink. Making friends abroad can sometimes be so simple!
Pisa & Cinque Terre
A bit out of order, but I wanted to keep all of my volunteering together in one section. While volunteering, I received 2 days off per week. Luckily, I was able to combine my days into one lump of time off and I took a little trip to Pisa and Cinque Terre! As much as I loved the nature of my meditation center, it was nice to be back in society for a long weekend. I quickly found friends to explore Pisa with on my first day and took the next day to hike through Cinque Terre alone (while picking up some new friends from Norway and England along the trail).
Bibbona, Tuscany - Volunteering
Bibbona is a small town in Tuscany about 80 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of Florence. There are no trains that go directly to Bibbona. Instead, you take a train to Cecina and have to take a bus to the Bibbona city center. From there, I was asked to sit in front of a pharmacy and call my hosts to pick me up and bring me to the meditation center. Soon enough, one of my hosts arrived, we introduced ourselves, and I jumped into the car.
Almost immediately, my host mentioned the “ranch” they had in Oregon called “Rajneeshpuram”. At this point, I wasn’t sure if I wanted him to know that I had seen this documentary about the community. Initially, when I signed up to volunteer, I hadn’t even heard of it. I didn’t want them to think that I came with preconceived notions about who they were or what they believed, because I truly didn’t. So, instead of saying that I knew about the ranch in Oregon, I asked questions. These past two weeks have been filled with questions. But more so, they have been filled with fascinating answers.
After about 8 minutes of driving on asphalt and 4 minutes of driving on a tiny, dirt back road, we arrive at the meditation center. It’s stunning. There is a huge garden in front of the house, a greenhouse and a toolshed, trees and plants as far as the eye can see, birds making nests above our heads, homemade compost in the far corner, an olive grove with baby olives that’ll be ready to pick in October, peach trees, fig-trees, artichoke plants growing along the gates… honestly, it’s a dream. I met my other host and she informed me that I’d be the only volunteer during my time here, but I was not so worried. I was eager to learn about this place and how it came to be from my two 75+ -year-old hosts.
During my time at the mediation center, a majority of my tasks focused on outside work around the garden or the olive grove. As someone who has always dreamed of having a garden of my own, having the ability to learn from someone who has so many years of experience (in life and a garden) was amazing. Overall, some of my general tasks included:
Gardening including making new garden beds using fresh compost from the house, planting seeds like red/green peppers, spinach, leek, kohlrabi, and parsley, weeding, and watering (and finding a snake in the garden!!)
Prepping the olive grove for picking season in October by supplying them with fertilizer, ash from the winter wood heaters, and homemade compost
Helping around the house by hang drying laundry, cooking lunch or dinner, and preparing rooms for future volunteers or meditation participants
Aside from the physical work, I naturally learned a lot about the lives of my hosts. Both are in their 70s, one from Germany, one from Switzerland, and both Sannyasins (followers of the master, Osho) who lived in Rajneeshpuram at some point during its 5-year existence.
I asked about how they discovered Osho and I heard about how one was looking for something more in life. She tried everything - but when she discovered the Sannyasins in Switzerland, she was so drawn to them. They taught her how to meditate, and how to love herself for who she was. When she met Osho for the first time in Oregon, he saw right through her and his eyes silently spoke mountains of love.
I asked about their experiences in Rajneeshpuram and I heard about how it was the happiest years of their lives. They spoke about the beauty of living in a commune surrounded by people of peace and people of love. They spoke about how the land that they purchased was dry and destroyed and full of nothing, but the Sannyasins cared for the land, planted, built homes, and made a space that was a livable paradise.
I asked about their lives before Osho and I heard about how their parents didn’t like the idea of it. I heard about their divorces long before they discovered Osho and the Sannyasin communities. But, I also heard about how one’s 3 children all asked to become Sannyasins when they were 12-15 years old, without their mother pushing anything onto them. Years later, one of her children asked “Would you still love me if I decided not to be a Sannyasin in the future” and she responded, “Of course, I will always be your mother”. That was one of her proudest moments.
One week in, I wanted to know if they had seen the documentary I had seen. I wanted to know what they thought about the way it portrayed the story of Rajneeshpuram. We were talking so much about the ranch and their experiences that it felt natural, so I did.
I asked if they had heard of or seen the docuseries and I heard about how there was a small group of people in the commune who had too much power and it went to their head. I heard about how they made incredible mistakes without the larger community knowing and how the world, and the US in particular, painted all Sannyasins in the same color because of it.
I asked why and when they stopped wearing orange (during the years on the commune in Oregon, Sannyasins wore orange robes) and I heard about the attacks that many faced, even outside of the US, just for wearing orange after the ranch had closed in 1985. One host made a comparison to Jews (without even knowing that I am Jewish) - he pointed to his head and said “Like with Jews. People say that there is religious freedom and you can practice what you like, but the second you are wearing a hat or clothing that shows what you practice then suddenly people treat you differently”.
I asked about how the community has changed since the end of the ranch and since Osho’s death (Osho passed away in 1990) and I heard about how they re-met in Italy and decided to create this meditation center together. I heard about how after Osho’s passing, traveling to the ashram in India wasn’t a priority for them anymore. I heard about how they enjoy being able to bring the vision of Osho to light here, in the meditation center, when people ask about Osho or are interested.
Then, they asked me something. “You still wanted to come here even after seeing that documentary that paints us in such a bad light?”. I said, “In today’s day, we are so quick to ‘other’ people. We see that someone does something different than us. They must be wrong and I am right. We hear a friend having a different opinion than us. We aren’t friends anymore and I won’t listen to your perspective. I love spending time with people who are different than me, learning about what they are passionate about, and hearing their stories. People aren’t truly open to listening and I think it’s harming our society. We need to be more openly curious, not just curious within our circles”.
If you know me well, then you know that I truly believe what I said. I believe I have invested time into getting to know people who are different from me, even if we have a few similar qualities. I’ve done this because I love it, I love the people, and I love hearing new perspectives and about different ways of living life. It has broadened my world more than I ever could have imagined. It has allowed me to think in different ways and see situations from other perspectives, and I am so thankful for these experiences that I have to look back on (and the ones that I have to look forward to).
This is the end, for now at least. I finish writing this newsletter from my hostel in Milan where I am tonight before heading to the airport early in the morning tomorrow. I cannot believe this 9-month journey is over, but I am beyond excited to see what is next for me. See you shortly, US!
My Reflections
I intend to send out one final newsletter to complete my journey. This one will be focused on my personal reflections throughout this experience. While these past 9-months have been nothing like what I thought they would when I initially quit my job at an NYC Advertising Agency last August, I have learned so much about myself and the world. Stay tuned for one final newsletter to read some of my thoughts as I reflect on, by far, the most wild year of my life.