Adventurer Fever

My Fate According to Voodoo Bones

adventurerfever — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 10:23:00 GMT

Before going to New Orleans I thought that Voodoo was only witchcraft - focused on sticking malicious needles in dolls. I had never read or investigated the subject, but somehow these were the ideas that were dominating my thoughts in the ceremony room of the Voodoo Temple. However, this is where Priestess Miriam offered to perform a ritual to read my destiny. The python she wears on her head doesn´t calm me down - especiallybecause we are about to have a meeting with the spirits to talk about what future holds for me. Never before has anyone read my chart or threw the cards, but I don´t refuse the offer of a Voodoo queen to throw the bones.

First, I shake the seashells and bones then let them fall from my hand onto the table of ceremonies, One of them bounces and goes directly to the floor. Quite a bad way to start predicting my future. "Did it fall facing up or facing down?", Priestess Miriam asks. I look down to the floor but I see nothing. It´s pretty dark and the room is packed with dolls, figures, pictures and amulets. I´m not sure if I believe what´s going on or not, but my heart is beating fast and the idea of one of these bones disappearing is an omen I definitely don´t like it at all. So after a few seconds and more detailed and search - I find it. It landed under the table, facing up.

I´m not really sure about how or why, but this means, according to Priestess Miriam, that by the end of the year I will have a baby. The news, perplexes and shocks me. I´m not ready to bring a baby to this world and even less to do it alone. Therefore, I decide to take my reading as funny (if not accurate), while Miriam goes on telling me about the luck of my projects.

At some point, I get kind of lost. The ambience is loaded with energy and I can´t stop from distracting myself - imagining the thousands of stories that live in the room, inmortalized in each one of the offering that fill the temple. Miriam tells me about the origins of Voodoo (a part of the practices of some African cultures), how it arrived to the continent of America (when New Orleans became a slave trading centre) and that Voodoo is more than dolls and needles. Voodoo is about a practice that, above all things, it is employed to establish communication with the spirits and and improve quality of life.

From my visit to the temple I take away the notion that Voodoo is much more interesting and complex than what I used to think, and start to wonder if a stork might be on her way to Argentina with a little naughty curly haired kid...

Waking up with the Skul & Bones Gang

adventurerfever — Sun, 20 Apr 2014 23:25:00 GMT

“What we do is make sure that people live a good and honourable life - if not they've got to come and see us and then it is too late for them. It´s an opportunity for them to get the spirit right before they allow themselves to get consumed by the darknesses. We let people know that if they don´t get themselves right, they are coming next. We knock on doors, we tell them to wake up and let them know that it´s Mardi Gras morning - we shake hands and those who have something to fear run away...”

How early should you wake up for Mardi Gras Day? Well, let´s put it this way, parties, parades and music will reign across the city all day long until late at night. So you might need to think about conserving your energy if you want to survive Mardi Gras in one piece. If you want to dare the Skull & Bones Gang - you get up with the dawn!

These walking spirits go around the city knocking on the doors of their neighbours. It is early in the morning, around 5am, when we find the gang singing and yelling with bones of their ancestors in their hands. Their mission? To wake up everyone and make sure they start enjoying Mardi Gras, the party they have been waiting for the whole year.

The longer the gang moves through the city, the more and more people join us, and we all end up dancing together in Congo Square - like the slaves did every Sunday some hundred of years ago. The atmosphere is full of mysticism and the big chief of the gang keeps encouraging the ritual by picking different couples to join him dancing in the middle of the park. I´m pretty sure none of these guys have any issues regarding their spirits. It´s 7am on a freezing and rainy Tuesday and we are a bunch of strangers all dancing together under a big tree. What an amazing way to start our Mardi Gras Day.

Freedom For Fun

adventurerfever — Sat, 19 Apr 2014 09:59:00 GMT

"Mardi Gras is just a celebration of being alive and all the magical things that happen in our city and in our world... Is like the time that you can be the person that you always wanted to be, not actually who you are. I feel that this is the difference here, that people always talk about being who you are, but this is like being who you really want to be, and there is a huge difference in that”.

Waking up at 7am in the morning and hearing that you are heading to the Red Beans & Rice parade could sound like somebody playing with your few hours of sleep in the last week of filming. But not in New Orleans. Actually, it actually means that you will be in the middle of a bunch of crazy people walking around the city like they were red-beaned flamingos, a riced baby-hand-DJ or a rice&beaned Cleopatra.

And being right there, in the middle of all these amazing costumes and not having one yourself can make you feel like an idiot. This is exactly what happened to me. I was told that the Red Beans & Rice parade was just about a group of happy people being even happier while sharing an experience together.

How does it work? “I can be a flamingo if I really want to be, it is not who I am, obviously. And you are totally embraced for this short period of time, and it´s fantastic. It is sort of a combination of what inspires you for that year and something that inspires you. Then you figure out how to make it into what you feel right now”. So once you have followed your whim for this year´s parade you start collecting red beans and rice. It´s important to be aware that most of the people spend at least 2 or 3 months working in their costumes before Lundi Gras - you can't just leave it for the last day! It will take some hard work, but when your piece of art is done you will be ready for this incredible experience.

When flamingos, magicians, aliens, tigers, Pacmans and other indecipherable oddfellows all meet at one corner of the Bywater - the party is ready to go. The marching band starts playing some itinerant jazz...and the rest is just dancing your ass off the way you imagine your weird creation - let´s say a centipede - would love to dance. Of course it´s all about having fun, but you don't want to get dehydrated. Many stops in different little bars are already planned to be sure everybody in the parade has a few beers and a spot of crazy dancing while the band is playing inside. And when the tank is full again, back to the streets.

What is it so special about Mardi Gras? “That you can dress like this and everybody thinks that is normal. It´s freedom for fun. It will be boring when you go home”.

Little Giants: the Red Flame Hunters

adventurerfever — Fri, 18 Apr 2014 09:38:00 GMT

"The Chief makes the decision if the tribe will meet you or not. Because if they ain´t pretty like me I don´t want to meet them. I´m pretty every year, so if you are not as pretty as me I don´t want to meet you. If they didn´t work as I did, then I don´t meet them, they don´t deserve it, they don´t deserve me, The Big Chief.”

On our sixth day in New Orleans we had the great pleasure of meeting the Red Flame Hunters, one of the most unique Indian tribes of New Orleans. “Every tribe has the same line up of people, they have all the same positions. But we are the only kids tribe that I know right now, we are the only tribe of kids, and thats amazing”,says Justin, the Big Chief of the gang. His pride for his tribe oozes out of every single one of his pores.

When we arrive at the house, it is early in the morning and the only way to find the kids is to look for them, camouflaged by the feathers, sequins, needles, glue and scissors. Only two days remain before Mardi Gras and they know what this means. “Every year, it takes us about ten to eleven months to sew our suits. We stick our fingers with the needle, and it´s just time and dedication. We have 15 indians coming out on Mardi Gras this year.” They need to work hard, that´s the only way to go out and show everyone what they are capable of. “We come out every year on Mardi Gras, and we are the prettiest gang. It takes time to be the best, you have to work hard. That´s what I work for, to be the best, to win the championship. We got the prettiest gang and I´m the Chief of the gang.”

As part of the Red Flame Hunters, Justin has been taught not only the respect for his roots and traditions as an Indian, but also for his mates and the community. It is a long journey to become a Big Chief, and he knows thatbesides it being a big honour, it is also a huge responsibility. “To be the Chief means that you have to take care of your own tribe, to make sure everybody is sewing, you got to protect your whole gang. The first year that we actually started we were four kids: I was a spy boy and all the rest were spy boys too. The year after that, I was the only one sewing, and the other kids never came back so Mr. Ed made me the Big Chief.”

Mr. Ed Buckner is the mentor of the kids. He does an exceptional job of not only organising their work but also acting like the father they don´t have in every way. Most of these kids come from families with few resources in which their mothers are in charge of everything, and work long hours that don´t allow them to be with their kids as much as they would like to. Instead of leaving the kids to their own devices, the Red Flame Hunters provides a safe environment and an amazing life school. “It´s a blessing to be out on Mardi Gras day, to show everybody all the work that you have done over the year. I´ve been feeling proud of it, but this is my fifth year so I´m getting kind of use to it”, says Justin.

Getting to know Ed and his kids was a touching experience. The way they share their passion for their tradition, that what makes them who they are, it´s just amazing. They are a beautiful group of kids between (7 and 16 years old), all of them full of energy, solidarity and knowledge of how important what they are doing really is. This amazing energy is truly infectious.

We rode on one of the floats of the Krewe of Tucks!

adventurerfever — Thu, 17 Apr 2014 23:20:00 GMT

Our fourth day in New Orleans was just insane. Everything started around 11am, when after an hour of waiting for a cab that never arrived, and with only one hour left to reach our float, we decided to pick our gear and jump in to the street. “Our float”? Yeah! The trip included an amazing surprise: spending an entire day riding one of the Mardi Gras parade floats with the Krewe of Tucks!

Because of the parades and celebrations at this time of the year, the city transport is completely collapses. Streets are cut, taxis are always full, buses run often not at all and there are not many street cars´ routes. Everything becomes slower during Mardi Gras, except time. In fact, time goes faster than ever - especially when you are stuck somewhere in a city that you don´t know, far away from your float which is departing, with or without you, at noon. When something like this happens, there is only one thing to do: put on your costume, turn on the camera and start filming a new hitchhiking adventure to get to the Krewe of Tucks.

However, there is also one thing not to do: flag down the wrong car.

“Did you flag me down?”
“Emmm... Well, you know, I´m from Argentina, we are getting late to ride the Krewe of Tucks and I didn´t realise it was a police car. I´m sorry, sir”.
“But there is a ´POLICE´sign on the side...”
“I know mate, now I can see that there is a policeman under this ridiculous hat, but I swear that in Buenos Aires police cars aren't white. I´m in a hurry, so if you don´t mind I will go back to my hitchhiking position”, I thought.
I just apologized one last time and went back to my mission, which in fact was getting increasingly tough. Nobody wanted to take us. Either they were not used to picking up strangers or they were able to see my face under the mask. But the truth was that my plan wasn´t working as expected. So, I started asking every driver who stopped at the red light, one by one, if they would help us. Now, I would definitely pick up a weird guy who was wearing resplendent colours and feathers, so it was just a matter of finding the right driver.

We were lucky that this cool guy “Andre” appeared. He changed his route to drop us right in the place where the float was about to start parading. The rest of the day was just amazing. Going all around New Orleans, throwing beads, toys, balls, sunglasses, rings and other presents to the people in the streets was an unforgettable experience. We had been down there asking for presents the night before, when the Krewe of Muses paraded, so we know how important it is for people to grab a piece of plastic (made in China) in the form of a collar. There are thousands of people looking for this presents (called "throws"), and they all have been waiting for the floats for the last year - so they get pretty excited. And being up there on the float, with the power of making them all happy, is just an incredible and unforgettable experience.

We spent all afternoon dancing upon the float. By 6pm, the parade was finished and we went on to a great after party at the Marriott Hotel. But I´m not sure if we even went there, I don´t remember much about it...

Katrina Beyond the Media

adventurerfever — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 09:30:00 GMT

“Our cemeteries are above ground, we bury above ground because New Orleans itself is 8 ft below the sea level. And this particular cemetery had a bunch of coffins that actually got loose and were floating up and down the streets”.

On my way from the airport to the city, the taxi driver tells me a story that I didn´t know - about a story that everybody knows. On August 2005, New Orleans entered from one day to the following in everybody´s house. Katrina, the most destructive hurricane in the history of the USA, had hit the city and the news shook the whole world. But beyond the images of the catastrophe and media coverage, how can a foreigner really understand the suffering of people who have suddenly found their city under water?

Arriving in the place where everything happened makes me truly understand how huge the devastation was, but also allows me hear personal stories of people who was here during the hurricane.

Such is the case of Bernard, who decided to stay in the city after making sure that his family, already evacuated, was safe. He needed to fight for his house, the home he built that was his life. When Katrina hit the mouth of the Mississippi, the levees (especially built for keeping the city dry) didn´t work as they should. The rest is an already known story. Bernard was at his house when the city lost power, water supply, telephone signal. Many people evacuated but those who stayed - they were now in land of nobody.

With the absence of authorities, crime started to own the city. After a few days, even the survivors had to hide inside their own houses - because any sign of the living would mean that there was food to be had. For the next days Bernard lived without making any noises, without speaking, without going out of his house, living in the dark and using only a laser to find his next step.

In the meanwhile, his family, evacuated, knew nothing about what had become of him. Media coverage only showed images of the most affected areas, which were completely flooded and destroyed. They never mentioned that there were also some parts of the city that weren't so affected by the floods.
One day the phone rang. At first, Bernard thought he might have gone crazy. It had been many long days without any kind of service (including cell phones). But this sound was different. Half surprised, half excited, he ran upstairs towards his room. On the other side of the this forgotten phone line he found a stunned voice asking for Bernard. “It´s me, who is this?”. An old classmate of his secondary school had found his number in an old note book. Bernard asked her to please call his family and let them know he and his house were still standing.

Like this story, thousands of other stories were written during Katrina - their endings sometimes not as happy. Today, nine years after the tragedy, people from the more affected (and poorer) neighbourhoods, are still trying to rebuild their houses. They are fighting to close the wound of a scar that will stay forever.

“Right up here you´ll see the Superdome. And inside of the Superdome a lot of people were pretty much trapped inside there during Katrina. A part of the ceiling was turned off so it was raining in there... They also had different gangs fighting each other and you heard stories of women getting raped there... I mean... It was a huge mess, really really bad. You know, a lot of people lost their lifes inside there...”

Everyone Is Mr. Mardi Gras (First impressions)

adventurerfever — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 23:15:00 GMT

“24, 25, 26... Here I am. I´m sorry, would you mind?”

Finally. One last flight and I´ll be in New Orleans - I can hardly believe it. I have just found my seat and I´m already feeling what I know will, in a few hours, will blow my mind about NOLA.

This big guy sitting on the 27 C, knows nothing about me, doesn´t know my name, where I am from or if I secretly sing Luis Miguel´s hits when nobody see me; he is already smiling at me. And he keeps doing it every time he wakes up. I don´t usually find smiles for free in this western and modern world in which most people seem to be more interested in having virtual contact rather than face to face conversations.

His name is Yovane and today, as with every year after Katrina, he flies back to his beloved city to attend Mardi Gras. “This is my 36th year in a row at Mardi Gras. From the first year I was born to now, I have never missed one. And never will!”

I feel lucky to get a seat next to a nice and talkative guy. A few clouds gone by are enough for him to put me in a New Orleans mood. “I have been riding the Zulu Krewe for 13 years in a row now, I was a Mardi Gras Indian when I was young and my uncle was a big chief back in the early 80s”. He was a Mardi Gras Indian! This is one of the things I´m most interested in. Not many travellers have the opportunity of seeing them while in New Orleans, as they come out only during the Mardi Gras day and nobody knows which route they will take. “The itinerary of the Indian Gangs is a secret, so you either get lucky, or they dont exist at all for you. Actually, I was a spy boy once when I was a kid. It was a random position but it´s on my list to do again. I love it, I love the culture and my family is into it. They call me Mr. Mardi Gras, Mr. Mardi Gras! HAHAHA”.

Yovane tells me a lot more about his story but when I ask him about New Orleans and what it is so special about it, he doesn´t really know where to start. I can feel it through his eyes though. It´s hard to explain that it´s not about music, food, culture, party, history, architecture - all of which are great and unique, but about the New Orleans atmosphere itself.

This is exactly what I feel during my first walk around the city after dropping off all my stuff at the house: it takes me 28 smiles and 12 “Hellos” to arrive to the French Quarter. I can´t believe how friendly people are here. It´s not Mardi Gras yet, the city is not packed at all (actually, it looks quite deserted) and I´m just one more stranger walking down the street. But everybody says “Hello!”, gives me a smile and shares their happiness with this stranger. I wasn´t expecting something like this, this is not normal for a city.

But not being normal is what makes New Orleans, New Orleans. A place where everything unexpected, where “normal” is boring, almost prohibited. And where every single person is proud to be who they are. From wearing a weird flamingo suit made out of red beans (and covered in pink feathers) while buying a cup of coffee to yelling (and acting) like crazy just to get some Chinese beads, people just do whatever comes out of their balls. And just being the way they want to be, and not like anyone else, makes New Orleanians feel that they are Mr. Mardi Gras. In the same way this big guy who is seated next to me does - the guy who, before leaving the plane, reminds me: “Enjoy yourself!”.

On My Way to New Orleans...

adventurerfever — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 08:57:00 GMT

FLIGHT ATTENDANT:“You said pasta, right?”

ANDI: Yeah... What do you think about the lightning out there?

FA: Whaaaaaaat?

A: The lightning!

FA: Oh... The lightnings! I know... They are... (moving her hands).

A: It´s a big storm, isn´t it?

FA: No!

A: Nothing happens?

FA: No!

A: Everything quite...

FA: Are you filming? (laughing)

A: A little bit...

--

“Ladies and Gentlemen, I´ll ask for your cooperation... We will be flying through a storm area for several minutes” was heard through the speakers. Really? Do we actually need to keep going? Why don´t we turn around and head back to Buenos Aires? We are only 30 minutes away and the sky looked pretty good down there. It´s not that far...

After quitting my job 3 and a half years ago I have been living the life of the adventurer who enjoys getting lost in unknown lands. Somehow I have managed to find the way to live my dream of traveling around the world without caring too much about my fear to flying. But an adventurer should be always ready for a new and more challenging challenge. Especially when “several minutes” become an hour and a half of shaking at 38.000 ft.

The WorldNomads Travel Film Scholarship has started off in the most exciting way possible - and it hasn´t actually even started yet. If I get any lucky, my plane will be landing at the Louis Armstrong International Airport in about 10 hours. New Orleans, Mardi Gras and a whole new world of adventures are waiting for me. And my camera and intrepid spirit are as always, ready for them.

ANDI: Are you scared of flying?

FEDERICO: Actually, I don´t mind. In any case, I don´t want to look outside, just in case...

A: Well, I´ve been looking for a while what´s going on out there and...

F: It´s tough... very tough...

Photos: 24/7 TRAVEL

adventurerfever — Sun, 10 Nov 2013 16:42:00 GMT

And when can not travel, work hard to fund next travels.

Roadtrip - Adventurer Fever

adventurerfever — Wed, 6 Nov 2013 06:08:05 GMT

Traveling with almost no money is not easy. However, staring at my feet stuck on top of a desk for 12h per day while immersed in the darkness of an advertising agency, has never been my dream. It has now been 3 years since I quit my job to start working on my dreams and I´ve never felt more alive.

Reaching the final stage in ‘The Best Job in the World 2013’ competition made me realize that one day, as long as I focus on what I love, it is possible to make a living out of this.

This scholarship offers an unmissable opportunity to go after this dream. Through my video, which chronicles the Torajan people of Indonesia, I wanted to shed light on a group of phenomenal people, tell an interesting story, inspire others to travel and make people smile. It also reflects who I am and is true of my style.

Winning, rather than a priority, would be a consequence of my passion and love for my work. Furthermore, it represents an opportunity allowing me to spend more time focussing all my energy on what I love without continually having to interrupt this focus to fund my work. It would also develop my skills as a travel filmmaker to bring my dream of dedicating my life to this one step closer.