La Japoneisa: Awa Odori and the Dreams of Love and Chocolate Cake

Herbert walked into my dreams last night. A bunch of memories from the past formed new memories of the unconscious present and it was nice. When we were leaving 4 Aston Street last summer we hugged and I said I was going to miss him. He said I wouldn't. And he was right. There wasn't one moment I would feel my heart ache or long for his presence, his love; all I felt was a sort of relief, lightness of the mind and soul and somewhat of freedom. Freedom from love.?
Now, after one year had passed, I found myself thinking of him so intensly and felt such a strong need to see him again, and yes, after one year I found myself missing him so much it hurt.
On this journey I also met En. I met him in town of Banska Bystrica with some other people and we agreed on meeting a little bit later. I had a plastic bag with me and was going to go home and get changed, but then as I saw him sat at the crossroads under my grandma's house I realized there wasn't the need to get changed at all and so I wondered to him and we walked up the hill on which my old school stood. We got halfway up and sat in the middle of a green meadow, munching a chocolate cake with double cream I had in my plastic bag. And else.

With thoughts of last night my day had started. One full day of Awa Odori.
Met Bo at the Chiiori main house, we packed, made sure we had all we needed, a sarashi, sexi three size bigger white pants, tabi, our pea green yukata with kanji on it saying 'abarembo' (fool) and greenishyellow obi, we had breakfast and off we were to 'taiko no tokoro' ('the taiko place') where we were to meet the rest of the crew.
We got there and with the help of the senior awa odori dancers got all dressed up and pretty in some sort of a care place in the basement where they also had foot massage mashines(:-D)!! With Bo we were saying how much we enjoyed not really knowing what's the plan and what would be going on, and, knowing now, it is only good that we didn't.
What followed were, to cut long story short, ten hours of dancing, getting on the bus and dancing again until we collapsed in total exhaustion back in the bus and eventually in our beds at about 2am the next day.
Though what a wonderful day it was!
The dance began locally, we danced at old people's homes, at care centres and my heart was full of joy which I tried to spread around with a smile on my face; then there were various car parks or dubious road-rests with many or none observers and then finally we headed for Ikeda where the main festival was held. It was amazing! The whole place was one moving mass of bodies, clipitty-clopping feet, colours of centuries of tradition and hungrying smells of local specialities. Groups from all over Tokushima-ken gathered here to present what they have been practising for weeks (re: us) and even months, to bring the dance to utter perfection and perfect it was. The drum beats lead the way and happy colourful figures followed in line in front of the exciting eyes of celebratig people of all ages.

On the bus one the way there the guys, Manabu and Satoshi, asked me how old I was. And so I sad, inside rather reluctantly admitting the coming of the age, that tomorrow I was going to be twenty four. And that was it. On our way back, where some still had the enregy to chat and laugh, and some, like me and Bo, were slowly dozing off in our seats, I was suddenly brought to consciousness by the shouts and screams 'O tanjoubi omedetou! O tanjoubi omedetou! Happy birthday! O tanjoubi omedetou! Happy birthday!' I looked at the clock in the front on the bus and it was exactly midnight. And my heart felt do warm. Smile that crept onto my face, changed into a grin that would not leave and I was so happy for this was the best birthday present I could ever have been given.
The calmness of mind, the sense of alone but belonging somewhere, that I've been waiting for but has been eluding me for all these weeks, suddenly settled and I felt in peace. I felt on the way which has definitely become the right way. My way.