WWH/CJE Hippie Digest: Kuta overcrowded tourist strip – Re-Usable Toilet Paper – Christian hippies Nomad’s Land
Kuta: From a hippy gem to an overcrowded tourist strip
By The Jakarta Post – At the turn of the 1960s–‘70s, 17-year-old I Made Wendra would see American hippies camping on Kuta’s white sandy beaches.
At the time there were no hotels in Kuta, apart from the big government-owned Grand Inna hotel, according to Wendra.
The hotel was only accessible to those who had the money to afford to stay there, so the rest (and the more adventurous traveler) had to be content with tents.
However, there was one facility the campers lacked, which was a bathroom, and they did not want to defecate on the beach.
“They had to go to the villagers’ houses, so that’s how we first began contact with tourists,” Wendra said. “But we didn’t have toilets either! The visitors told us that we should make toilets and that we should rent out places for them and that was the start of it,” Wendra said. His family would rent out their house to tourists and Wendra experienced nights sleeping on the kitchen floor.
While it was nature’s call that made tourists connect with the villagers, the flocking of tourists to Kuta, which transformed the area into a bustling tourist enclave by 1990s, was mostly down to word of mouth, he said.
Wendra witnessed Kuta’s transformation from a sleepy village into the mass tourist center that it is today. When terrorists hit Bali on Oct. 12, 2002 with the bombing at the Sari club on Jl. Legian, he was the customary village leader in Kuta. More…
Re-Usable Toilet Paper
By: Networx | WHEC.com
You think I’m totally gross, right? I know, I get it. “Wait, reusable WHAT?” is probably how your thought process went.
When I first heard the term “family cloth”, it conjured up such a lovely image, like a warm snuggly blanket that’s big enough for the whole family. But no. It’s actually where you use cloth toilet paper, and then put it through the wash, and then use it again. Which is, you know, . . . different.
My initial reaction was the same as most people’s – something along the lines of, “Ew gross!” But then my second thought was – “Well wait. Maybe that kinda makes sense?” See, I was raised by hippies – all burning sage and dancing drum circles in dry river beds and the like – so I guess my psyche is primed for that outside-the-norm, super green lifestyle sort of stuff. For those with a more conventional bent, please just bear with me a moment.
Okay, much like forgoing traditional roofing for a living roof, the concept is alarming at first (our cultural conditioning does run deep), but really, it’s actually just a matter of common sense. We don’t wear disposable underwear, right? And we do accept cloth diapers for babies, and many of those cloth-diapering parents choose to use cloth wipes as well. Some people even use cloth menstrual pads. Each of these are sociopolitical decisions, which factor in issues like finances, environmental impact, and individual values.
For me, this one was an eco-conscious no-brainer . . . once I’d wrapped my brain around the concept, that is. I mean, of course! Cloth can be washed and used again and again. It’s less resource intensive, it keeps tons and tons of waste out of landfills and waterways, and bottom line, the “reusable” model is always a more sustainable choice than the “disposable” alternative.
Just think about toilet paper: Made from trees. Chemically-treated for “sanitation”, and bleached for “beauty”. Stark white antiseptic. Wrapped in plastic. Mass-produced in factories. Shipped across continents. Endlessly. More…
Christian hippies walk 45 miles to support The Nomad’s Land farm in Attalla
By Greg Garrison – TRUSSVILLE — A group of 22 Christian hippies left Eastminster Presbyterian Church in Trussville this morning to start a 45-mile walk along U.S. 11 to The Nomad’s Land farm in Attalla by Sunday night.
“It’s all about Jesus,” said Bill Farris, who wore a tie-dyed T-shirt as he walked along the highway near Paine Primary School in Trussville.
Shallyn Hanson, who lives at The Nomad’s Land with her husband, Josh, six months a year, said they travel across country in a bus the rest of the year. “We live in a bus,” she said. “We give out free food. It’s like a soup kitchen in the woods.”
As Shallyn carried her walking stick, Josh was driving The Nomad’s Land bus, a former schoolbus with a Volkswagen bus riveted to the top. The welded-on VW bus created a loft inside the bigger bus, and children rode in the top with their feet dangling down. A woman sat on a bench inside breast-feeding her baby.
The Nomad’s Land is a 40-acre farm at 441 Kimbril Circle in Attalla that welcomes travelers, who often attend concerts around the country, following rock bands including The Grateful Dead, Widespread Panic and Phish.
“We’re nomadic,” Shallyn said. “My brother was a hitchhiker. We love people who don’t fit in normal society.”
Some people might call them Jesus Freaks, part of the Jesus movement that sprung out of Christian hippie culture in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
“A lot of our spiritual moms and pops come out of that movement,” Shallyn said.
Farris, who lives in a normal house in Birmingham now, said he came out of that hippie culture. “I picked apples for seven years, hitchhiking,” he said. “I had a dog named Buddha.”
Farris said he runs a cleaning business and works as Funny Face, a children’s clown who doesn’t wear makeup. “I wear brightly colored clothes but no makeup,” he said. “That scares children.” More…
