At first sight, Tamera is a sort of enormous camp…… up on green hills, a sort of oasis in the middle of a golden area affected by desertification, caravans, tents, unpretentious buildings, spread along some paths or bohemian dusty roads.
One must give away the idea of a resort or a conventional village, because here is where we see how to start from zero and build only what really is essential. Including the oasis, in the same desert spreading over thousands of acres. Alentejo is perhaps the most arid and less populated area of Europe.
Portugal is mild in terms of climate – here in the south part, from May until October it is the dry season, in the rest of the year it rains (or it should rain) – so the living in the caravans is possible. I am astonished by the number of caravans or tents, I widely open my eyes, I thought there would be wooden chalets, clay. On every hill, clusters of caravans or tents or containers are hosting the Tamera community for more than 30 years.
Only later I do understand that it is not at all easy to build, you need authorizations, here we have more than 200 permanent residents and another hundreds visitors, so many homes would be needed. But not even this seems to be the reason, actually a lot of people here enjoy living in the heart of the nature, not feeling the need to be surrounded by walls…… and after living for a period of time in a tent or in a wooden chalet, the concrete suffocates you. Try it for a while and you will see how hard you will let yourself built.
Tamera, pronounced by everybody with obvious love and pride, is a sort of enormous tribe, a community where everything is being done with the contribution of all, where people live together without the rankings and the administrative structures that we all know. There’s nothing like home! I am surprised, even though I knew it……………
There are 5 kitchens for the entire community: indoors containers surrounded by terraces with large tables made of wood, where everyone is dinning; there are no individual kitchens, just to let you know……
Should you know, the founders and most residents are coming from Germany, so everything is pragmatic, functional, no airs and frills, and punctuality is a basic principle, no joke.
More than that, Tamera is a research centre, where things are going upon a certain process; recipes with immediate effect do not apply in a hurry. For example, there is a group involving students in Architecture from Lisbon and other Universities in the world and they are all trying to understand the human needs regarding the living spaces and to conceive new formulas based on the main idea of living inside a community.
Forget about the living room, nursery and kitchen, storeroom, guest room, none of all these make sense here. I will get to explain you this.
People seem to be ageless, all sun burned, and having a free and non conventional attitude; there are more young people, an average below 35 years old, perhaps. You will even find three generations, grandfathers, children and even nephews! There are lots of women and lots of children, fair haired, freely and undisturbed walking among the others.
You can feel the strengthen and the force, the eyes are bright and friendly, noninvasive, we are soon feeling integrated, me and Cristopher, the Australian I came with from the train station.
Crisa is welcoming us, a Greek woman living in the community for 11 years; she is taking us directly to dinner where the food is really delicious, far away from the taste I usually associate with the vegetarian food!
She is bravely initiating us; we are talking together while having dinner, tomorrow will start the introductive week and we will be part of, than she shows us where we will sleep and she invites us to the Club, at 8 o’clock (or to the movie), showing us the direction across the hills surrounding us. Club and movie….I didn’t expect this!
Thank God I have chosen the wooden chalet instead of the tent, because it is a little bit cold outside…… inside the chalet it feels warm, there are 4 beds, but I am alone, which is great!
I decide to go to the club, not to waist a moment... to see everything. I am not tired yet, even though I had a long trip today…… the club is somehow easy enough to be reached, even though the footpaths have no name, indicating signs or light! So I receive another hint from a woman I meet and I keep a star in the sky for guidance. The new moon is right behind me and I keep on looking how beautiful she is…….. Thank God I kept in mind where the moon was, because when coming back and after drinking a glass of tonic water (there was also alcohol in the club), I had to guide myself after the stars, after the bleating of the sheeps, the moon, but finally I have reached the hill where I am living, proud of myself for not being afraid, alone, through the dark, without knowing the way back, and reaching the chalet after only two attempts!
Tamera gives me the impression of a place full of profoundness, rich in meaning and knowledge, despite the modesty of its buildings, there is something in the air……I think I will love it!
Good Night, after the first day!
0 Comments:
Post a Comment