One of the goals of the program, and of some of the people who chose to go to Brasil, was to get away from the normal, everyday influences, to strip away the veils of "society," and to be alone, naked, with our thoughts, our desires, our intentions. To be naked. I chose to embrace this idea both metaphorically and physically. =:)

The last weekend of our program, we left the Ecocentre for our final visit to a waterfall. This waterfall was secluded, and only accessable to the residents of the intentional community there. Andre and Lucy are two of those residents and were therefore able to invite their new friends, i.e. us, to go there. We took our bus as far up the mountain as possible on the dirt road and then walked up the rest of the way. The road was steep and dusty, lined thickly with tall trees and an occasional cabin or abandoned outpost of sorts. After our hike, we arrived at a path, made of large, flat stones, that led down a small slope and arrived at a clearing just large enough to house the wooden cabin and a smaller, round brick, storage building. The cabin was surrounded by trees on all sides. There was a small path the led away from the cabin to somewhere . . .and then there was the path that led to the waterfall. . .

The cabin was an "old hippie" place, as Andre put it. He was still doing some changes here and there, but they had had it for a while. Inside, on the bottom floor, was a kitchen and a living room area raised up just a step. It was there that we gave our final project presentations as we lounged out on the floor in spread out pillows and futon mattresses as well as hanging out and over the hammocks that were hung in the corner. Upstairs was a bedroom with a window that comprised the entire wall and overlooked the forest, as well as another room that contained lots of cool books and a place to sit and read them.

We ate lunch and then presented our final projects, and as I said before, they were all interesting and creative. Props to everyone for working hard and well together. And, as always, props to everyone in my group for having the patience to tolerate me.  =:)

After the presentations, we headed out, down the trail to the waterfall. The hike was gorgeous; a small, narrow, winding path overlooking the gorge. You couldn´t see the valley from where we were, just the mountains reaching up towards the clear sky. It was a perfect day. On either side of the path were small flowers and strange flora and fauna. The tree branches stretched their limbs across to the other side of the path creating a maze in mid-air. I can´t lie, I almost took my head off a couple times not paying attention. It´s hard to keep looking forward when there is so much around you that you don´t want to miss. The walk ended abrubtly. Another path broke off from the main walkway and headed down, down to one of the lower breaks of the main waterfall. Where the path ended, straight ahead, you had to climb up and over a few rocks and a small cement wall that was holding the earth up along the side of the path to prevent further erosion. Following that pathway led to the mouth of the waterfall. Only a few people could go up there at a time due to the fragility of the environment as a result of the nesting, endangered bird. A few people in the group went up towards the mouth of the waterfall. The rest of us began climbing down the side-path to the lower break. It was steep and rocky on the way down, but not too far. Suddenly, the trees and the path ended and there we were, standing on giant slabs of rock, water running down through the middle towards a rocky creek below. We were surrounded by thickets of forest; trees that emerged tall and strong on all sides. There was a small pool, about half way down, where the water collected before running back down towards the creek. The cold water rushed over the edge of the rock loudly and with intensity. It appeared as white hair, flying in the wind. I loved watching Luciana and Rebecca dive in. Such freedom. Tanner found a nice spot in the sun and sat meditating for a while. Joe took off down towards the creek, as did Allison. Joe, as always, disappeared alone for a while. The rest of the ladies, and I, slipped and slid down the wet, vegetated boulders, with care, to the large rocks below. I took off for some rock jumping and exploring, while the others remained behind and took in the sun.

After climbing up some indistinct paths into the forest, I returned to the bottom of the creek where I passed Allison laying on a rock, contemplating. I headed off in the same direction I assumed Joe had gone, following the creek as it creeped over and around rocks of all sizes, skipping the whole way. I love a challege, and I love rocks. As I went further and further, the water and the creek grew. I ran into Joe a ways down; he was heading back towards the main break. He gave me a couple insights and we parted ways. I kept jumping, barefoot, in the middle of the creek, anywhere I could find emerging rocks that were close enough to connect my journey. When the rocks are as wet as they were and there is as much growth on them as there was, going barefoot is a lot easier if you want to have a good grip on such sliminess. After a while, the water got deeper and I was forced to get out onto the side banks. That got old pretty fast though, and since I knew Joe was gone and there was most likely no one else coming that way, I decided to get back to basics and wear my birthday suit, huh. I threw my clothes on the bank and started wading further down the river. It was a little cold, but you get used to it. There is something really calming about doing things in the woods, like swimming and walking around naked, peeing and pooping. Its all quite liberating. I turned back after the river turned back into a creek. I climbed out of the water onto a tiny ledge that protruded from a steep, very high, bare rock face on one side of the stream and sat there for a while taking it all in. Then, I dove back in the pool over which I sat and went back up the way I came in search of my dry clothes.

When I returned to the others, I found everyone relaxing on the rocks. I went up to some of the ladies and chit-chatted for a minute. Megan had made a new friend, a butterfly. It had been sitting on her big toe for over 15 minutes. She had taken a couple Kodak moments with it and had then shaken her foot to relieve it, but I guess she is super sweet because the butterfly just wanted to stay there. Maybe she had found the best spot in the sun out of everyone there, who knows, but it stayed on her big toe the whole time we talked and long enough for me to shoot a couple Kodak moments of my own. Hooray! Since I hadn´t taken my chances before in the small pool where the waterfall broke, and I was already wet, I took another skinny dip. This time it was a lot colder, and deeper. When I had gone to the other waterfalls during Bio, I had jumped off really tall cliff faces into the freezing water and had felt like my heart was stopping and it was hard to breath. It felt like that again here, in the pool. So, I started breathing deeper and longer and it helped. I swam over to where the water was cascading over the rock edge and grabbed hold of the rocks underneath. I sat there for a little while as the water crashed over my head and down my neck. If only the water pressure was this great in the showers back home, it wouldn´t take so long to wash my hair. =;)  I lifted my head when I heard Hanna calling my name. I looked over and saw her pointing in the other direction, where I looked to find Joe returning from some other far off destination. I laughed, swam over to the rock where I had left my clothes and climbed out. As I was putting on my clothes again, I saw Tanner above me, laying out on the rocks with Allison, reading. I laughed. So much for being discrete.

After dressing, I asked the crew if anyone had come back down from the main waterfall so some of us could go up. They weren´t sure, but Rebecca, Anne, Hilary and "yoga" Allison (Ally) had. Everyone was content where they were, so I trekked up alone. It was better that way I´m sure. The climb was interesting; over trees, jumping across small water runs, climbing rocks, hugging ledges, and then, finally, the waterfall. As I came up upon it, I had to gaze up, far up. Just to the side of the pool, where the water was filling up, I saw Ally, with her golden hair, stretching her leg up over her head as she kneeled on a rock that jutted out into the corner of the pool. Seriously, beautiful, and seriously, tough. After weeks of yoga, I still can´t do that. Sigh. Totally happy she can though. The other ladies had found there own spots along the edges and were relaxing, gazing upon the wonder we had the opportunity to experience. I looked over at Rebecca (Becky) and she smiled. I asked if it was cold, and she reminded me to be quiet, and then nodded. Oh, yeah, the birds! So, I decided, well, I came for the waterfall, and I have already gotten naked, and this area was more secluded . . . my heart was racing really fast from the cold, and probably the joy of just being and being free. The ladies laughed at me as I swam over to the bottom of the waterfall and under to where water met water. Its incredible how loud the sound of crashing water is. There was a small ledge under the fall. Becky had jumped in too and was climbing up onto the ledge. I followed her lead and she gave me a hand on the way up. I was shivering, wrapping my arms around my legs. I motioned for Anne and Hilary to come in. Anne, after a little coaxing, jumped in and swam over. The three of us sat there for a while. On the dark, wet wall of the tiny cave in which we sat were some very large leeches. Luckily, where we sat, there was enough force in the water that was leaking down from the waterfall for the leeches to be unable to stick there. Thank goodness for my naked "bum," as Becky would say in her adorable English accent. Of course, Joe had managed to find his way up to the falls. He looked over and laughed. I waved. He was there to do his own thing, music and meditation. He sat over near the far edge of the pool. After a while, one of the girls came up from below and let us know that we had to head out soon, so we three dived into the freezing, dark, clear water and swam back to land. Before I headed down, Ally and I stayed behind and took some amazing shots of her doing some insane yoga positions. She is truly a beautiful person, and she looked great. Once she was standing on her head on an uneven rock. Geez. As if the waterfall wasn´t enough inspiration.

On the way to the waterfall, I took on the job of host for the talent show we were having later that night, so on the way back to the cabin, I began asking people how much time their act needed, and if they needed music and/or costumes. Once back at the cabin, I began writing up a line up. I finished writing it up, as well as my script for the presentation of each act, during dinner that night. I have to say, for people keeping their acts hush--hush, including from me, I wrote a script that fit everyone´s acts pretty well. Accidental pimpness in the Ecocentre! Heard.

Leaving the waterfall was a quiet moment for me. It was our last waterfall together. It was a really liberating experience. Ally has an amazing shot of Anne, Becky, and I under the waterfall; I think it is very empowering for women. Holly loved it too. That makes me happy, for women and for me. In honor of a request by Ally, we used the picture in Karl´s talent show act, which was a fantastic slide-show of our time at IPEC. The women in this trip, those that lived and worked at IPEC, as well as those that traveled long distances to get there, were all strong and inspiring. So . . . in honor of them. Not to say that the men weren´t also amazing and inspirational. Their eyes were open and their minds were balanced, open, and clear. Gotta love it. Gotta love them.

Leaving behind the welcoming arms of everyone at IPEC was symbolized by our departure from Lucy and Andre´s cabin-home. The final presentation was the culmination and closure of all we had learned; the end of one road, and the beginning of another.

It wasn´t over yet though. We still had a gangster talent show and hardcore throw down of a party ahead of us. Two parties, actually. . . .