I know I didn't finish the Iceland blogging, but then we moved across the country, and then we started prepping for Burning Man, and things got really crazy. Sorry! However, I've gotten so many questions about preparing for and going to the burn that I thought I'd write a FAQ in my copious spare time, the night before we leave for two weeks. Weeeeee! So, here goes. Any burner friends reading this, keep any comments family-friendly, please. :)
Q: What is Burning Man?
A: This is the most frequent question and the hardest to answer! There have been many essays written on the topic, and I'm not going to replicate them here. The answer I usually give goes something like this: it's partially an experiment in temporary community, partially an art festival, and mostly a place where people are free to be who they are and do what they'd like. Everyone is encouraged to contribute in whatever way is most meaningful to them, through art, teaching, volunteering, etc. It's also a gifting economy, sustainable only by virtue of the fact that most people who attend have money to spare in their "default" lives.
Q: OK, so what do you do all day?
A: There are pretty much endless options. I like to say that everyone can curate their own burn -- you can have the experience you want to have. There are classes in everything from yoga to building hexayurts to tango to coffee making to circus. There are parties and parades day and night. There are workshops/activities such as creating a franken-stuffed animal (I made Mu a monkey-bear last year!), screen-printing, making masks, and tie-dye. There is art everywhere, both registered and random. There are people giving out food and beverages of all varieties on every block. There are talks about science, spirituality, and everything in-between. You can literally spend all your waking hours at a scheduled activity. Mu and I specifically tend to spend a lot of time wandering about looking at art out on the playa, though we do go to some talks and activities. We also spend time hanging out in our camp lounge, chatting with our burner friends at camp. Also, we both volunteer. Mu does random sampling with census and I do on-call shifts with the crisis intervention team (CIT). CIT takes up a good bit of my time, but I don't mind -- it's fun and really rewarding most of the time.
Q: Does everyone stay at a camp?
A: No, though a lot of people do. We stay with an Arizona-based camp that has 210 people this year, which is pretty massive. Our camp has pretty amazing infrastructure thanks to the very talented organizer, and we like that we always have people to hang out with. Others stay with smaller camps or just with groups of friends or even alone. It's all a matter of personal preference. Our camp does have the reputation of being the best-fed camp on the playa, though!
Q: Do you really have to bring everything you need with you?
A: Yes, you really do. The only things for sale on playa are ice and coffee. Porta potties are provided (and are, no lie, the cleanest porta potties I've ever experienced in my life. They're far cleaner than a good proportion of the bathrooms in India, and you can always read further back in this blog if you need a reminder of what those were like). You have to bring basically everything else: food, water, toilet paper, everything. We tend to overpack and so we rent a U-haul van to take our stuff, though others don't bring as much as we do. One benefit of staying with a camp like ours is we don't have to worry about food as much. We still tend to bring a lot of backup food just in case, but meals are provided by the campers. We commit to serving at least one meal (Mu and I usually do 3 -- 1 during early arrival and 2 during the week), and between everyone doing so, everyone gets fed. But one of the 10 principles of Burning Man is radical self-reliance, so we have enough emergency food to last us a while. :)
Q: Where is Burning Man? What's the city actually like? How many people go?
A: The event takes place in the desert in Nevada. It's actually a dried out lake bed, which is why it's called "the playa" -- that means a dried out desert. The nearest big city is Reno, 2-3 hours away. Black Rock City (BRC), which is what the city is officially called, is a huge pentagon. The populated area is a semi-circle with the Man in the center. The streets radiating out from the Man are named after clock times, since the layout is like a clock. The circular streets are in alphabetical order and change names to fit the theme each year. The population cap this year is 70,000 people, which is a huge city! It gets pretty crowded -- even though the area itself is huge, the camping area is smaller and densely populated.
Q: How do you get around the city?
A: The city is designed for bikes and pedestrians and driving is not allowed except in licensed (through the BRC DMV) art cars. Because of the large area, it's often nicer to bike than walk. However, I prefer to walk if I'm meandering rather than trying to get somewhere specific, since it's easier to stop and interact with people or art if I'm not on a bike. Also, biking can get tough later in the week when the dust develops ruts.
Q: What's the living situation?
A: People stay in a variety of enclosures, including tents, RVs, hexa-yurts, and others. We stay in a large (10-person) tent, so even though we're not in an RV, it feels relatively luxurious. We also set up a shade structure above our tent (a costco carport) to provide some protection from the sun. It allows us to sleep in a little more without baking!
Q: What's the weather and the environment like?
A: It can be pretty harsh. The area is high desert, so there is a lot of temperature variation between day and night. It can get up into the 100s during the day, though it's more often in the 90s, and it can get into the 40s and even 30s at night, though it's more often in the 50s. You have to be prepared for anything! It tends to be pretty dry, but it'll sometime rain, and it's frequently windy and sometimes hard to see because of the dust. The dust really is everywhere! It gets into every nook and cranny and covers you from head to toe! It's also alkali, which means it can destroy things -- I try to keep my electronics either at home or hidden well away! People tend to carry around goggles and dust masks for storms, which can help.
Q: How do you deal with having asthma and wearing contacts if the dust is so bad?
A: My asthma has actually been fine there -- it's usually worse the first couple of days, but that's the case whenever I go to a new climate, and then it's OK again. I always have my emergency inhaler, as well as a backup inhaler (and sometimes yet another backup). Contacts can be hard. I bring extra pairs, eye drops, and glasses if it gets really bad.
Q: What do you like best about the event?
A: Like the first question, this last question is really hard to answer. There's just so much! I love the art, and the fact that people go to such great lengths to make stuff that lasts for just week. I love wandering about and randomly stumbling upon amazing things. I love feeling like I can just start walking and run into something fun or entertaining to be involved with. I really love that Mu and I like so many of the same things and choose to do them together! It feels like every time we go, we discover all new cool stuff and meet all new cool people!
OK, you all may have more questions, but those are the ones I can think of for now. We are off tomorrow and are unlikely to have internet for a while, but if there are more questions, I'll try to answer them on our return. I'll also be keeping a journal of highlights (I've done that each year), and maybe I'll even post some of them, though I make no promises.
