Wanderlust

Pittsfield and the Casa Tierra Comun

May 4, 2007 at 2:51 pm gvblog 3 comments

On Tuesday I left Amherst intending to get halfway to Albany but without a clue where I would sleep.  The ride was tough – the Berkshires are not to be sneezed at and the road, although beautiful, was desolate and empty. For the first time on my trip, I started feeling homesick and out of sorts. Throughout the day I was having an internal conflict with myself about where to sleep. I knew there was a State Forest close to Pittsfield that I could stay in, but the weather forecast was freezing rain, and I didn’t relish the idea of sleeping outside in that. On the other hand, I had JUST told people how neat it was that I was able to find places to stay wherever I went and that I was going to try to not pay for lodging across the country. So I was annoyed at myself and my contradictory emotions, and rode into Pittsfield as it started to rain in a torrent of frustration.  But then…

I went to what was supposed to be a bed and breakfast, figuring I would try to sweet talk them into letting me stay in the barn or something, but it was definitely NOT a bed and breakfast. It was, in fact, just a normal house. As a side note, I wonder how successful I would be knocking on random doors and asking people if I could stay with them.

I’d seen a group of people in the town square when I rode in, so I turned around and went back to see if any of them knew of places to stay. As I hovered on the edge of the circle, a man approached me and complemented me on my bike flag.  I thanked him and asked him if he knew of anywhere to stay. He said that I could stay at Casa Tierra Comun,  the collective house owned by Manos Unidas, a multicultural, grassroots community empowerment organization that seeks, working alongside Latino immigrant and underheard community members as well as with the wider Berkshire community to build community through shared resources, participatory education, and living arts. As the celebration ended and people began to disperse, community members came over and when Analisa, Diego’s wife and an amazing life force, found out that I was riding across the country, she exclaimed with joy and gave me an enormous hug, welcoming me into their community. The next twelve hours were incredible – I spent them with the Manos Unidas community, a whirling chaotic explosion of children and creation and incredible spirit.  They’re a bilingual community, slipping effortlessly between Spanish and English and I felt incredibly fortunate that I speak Spanish enough to participate in the conversations.  I spent a lot of time with Andy, a Manos Unidas member, talking about leaving home and what it means, how people experience different cultures and build community. 

On Wednesday Maria invited me to be a guest on her radio program "De Boca en Boca" on the Berkshire Community Radio Station.  We talked about what it means to irse, dejar algo, to leave home, to leave things behind.
We also wrote a poem in Spanish and English about leaving lovers that I recorded and will upload if I ever get to a place where I can edit and upload audio. 

My time in Pittsfield changed my whole outlook – I rode out of town Wednesday afternoon listening to Like a Rolling Stone on my ipod, feeling uplifted and excited about the next leg of my journey.
 

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