WorldWalk in New Orleans

WorldWalk-Peacetour, i.e. István and Ferenc Ivanics will be expecting activists, journalists and anyone interested to join them for a multimedia presentation about their experiences. The event will take place at the Fair Grinds Coffeehouse in New Orleans (3133 Ponce de Leon St, New Orleans, LA 70119) on the 9th of July, from 5:30PM to 7PM.

Two Hungarian brothers walk around the world and stop here tonight. Looking for the world's best coffee? Not exactly, though we hope they find it here. No they are promoting Peace through co-living - Brotherhood and friendship. 25,000 miles and 5 continents, they walk to deliver this message. Learn more about them at Worldwalk, and don't miss this opportunity to meet and greet these adventurers FREE

Fair Grinds Coffeehouse

Blasts in the Sky

by FERENC IVANICS
Walking by an orange plantation Valencia came tom my mind immediately, though it was an abandoned plantation on sale. The quality of the oranges is fare from their Spanish cousins’, but they are OK to make juice. I stare at the thriving clouds above the orange trees, they remind me of giant cauliflowers, enormous cauliflowers, let me tell you. We would need a giant fan to blow these clouds away. But there’s no giant fan at hand, even though I would like it very much.

The clouds look impressive in the setting sun’s light, you see all the bulges and holes there, as they submerge into regions of pastel orange, pink, violet then blue as the sun submerges into the horizon. I like these clouds, like them when they are far away. I close one of my eyes, trying to focus on a branch of an orange tree while looking at the clouds in the background. I’m trying to figure out the direction they are heading. I’m hoping they will pass round us, but it’s just hope: I guess I already figured out a few minutes ago that they are coming this way. I hear a low rumbling in the background. It’s growing darker and you can see the flashes inside the monster-cloud. The flashing potential paints the clouds evil greenish violet.

“Oh yeah, they call us The Lightning Capital”, said the assistant at a gas station a few days ago. He told us that lightnings in Florida are the second heaviest in the world, you have to go somewhere in Africa to see larger ones. And he added that every year there are fatalities, people who have their soul removed by the giant light-whip. Another thunder wakes me up from my thoughts, it’s getting closer. Crackles than a half-a-minute long rumble follows. Now the lightning bolts are visible, too. I feel that it would be better to retire to my tent. Even though I don’t really feel safer inside, it’s better then standing outside. But I’m glimpsing out of the tent to see the infernal show.

An immense lightning strikes in the distance, practically sticks to the ground pulsing for seconds and growing a dozen branches that split into twigs, and even these twigs split into smaller paths. It almost covers half the sky. As if it were roots of a giant oak above our head. The crash of the main trunk fills and shakes the air then the cracks and pops of the branches and twigs follow. The rumble goes on for two minutes. I’m getting a bit worried.

I close the window of the tent and lay down. There’s no chance to sleep. I start to count seconds between large strikes and thunders. One, two, three... seven, eight... Bang! A minute passes and the tent’s skin lights again. One, two, three... five, six... Bang! Damn, it’s coming closer. I’m curling up into embryonic pose. My thoughts revolve around those basements where women, men and children huddle up and share their fears raised by the bombings. I’m scared, pretty much, though I know that the chances of survival are pretty high. Weapons of modern warfare are much more devastating than lightnings. Is that fear any different when you know that a bomb can shred you, your family, your friends and neighbors into peaces anytime? When the storm passes a clean sky stays and nature takes a breath, almost as if nothing have happened. But when you step out of the basement you expect to see debris and hear cries. Modern warfare: they let the machines take care of it. Machines don’t hesitate when pulling the trigger, there’s no need to face the terrible consequences. I push a button here, and there lay thousands dead there. There’s a small smoke patch on the satellite image. The screams, the blood are secondary information.

Another huge lightning strikes. One, two, three... nine, ten: Bang! It’s drifting away. Thanks heavens, Armageddon’s been canceled tonight. Nature provides us many goods but in the next moment it hits fiercely. Some say that this is the order and hazard of the physical world. Others think that we can control nature. Anyways, it takes a lot of our momentum to fight down hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, earthquakes, eruptions, floods and droughts, etc. And besides these challenges we kill each other. Shouldn’t we all get along to keep ourselves safe? Why is it better to spend our knowledge and gifts on sibling wars? It’s just plain crazy, everyone knows that.

As the storm is getting farther away my heartbeat is slowing down. I’m starting to calm down. I stretch myself on the floor of the tent and go to sleep. We have to get up early tomorrow, even if everyone else is still dead asleep...

The Last Straw

Due to regulations Ferenc and István have to cover the U.S.A stage in 90 days. They need to walk 25-30 miles a day to achieve that goal. Sometimes in thunderstorms, heat, suffocating moisture. This is a lot. A lot, but it’s not impossible. Achievable but it drains their strength and energies. They have to make up for it.

Food is cheap in the U.S.A. It’s cheap in the supermarkets. But they don’t have the chance to look for supermarkets while walking 25-30 miles a day. In smaller villages or in the middle of National Parks there are no supermarkets. Mostly, they have to do with canteens and gas stations. And these are expensive, damn expensive.

by FERENC IVANICS
Unfortunately, while planning the U.S.A. stage we missed these two hard facts. We had made some research, we planned our budget accordingly, but we didn’t expect to eat up our bank account at this speed. Next week we will bite into the last 100 bucks we have with ourselves. It might last until we arrive in New Orleans, it might run out on the way. Me made a mistake, even though we tried hard to organize the U.S.A stage, and even harder to gather the means to follow our Peacetour. Right now all we can do is hope that our readers can help us out this time. Please help!

When we were preparing for the African stage we worked for it on a private construction, we didn’t want to arrive at an unknown continent exhausted, weak, without proper reserves. We saved up the money spending it on the most important stuff only. After reaching our goal, Dakar, we had to leave Africa, without the help of our friends we couldn’t have made it back to Europe.




We wanted to work before the American stages as well, but due to the economic crisis we didn’t manage to get a job this time. Overcoming our bad feelings and putting aside our principles we started to beg for money on the streets. Finally we collected the money needed to begin the U.S.A stage. With the help of others we managed to collect it.



But it ran short and it’s almost gone. Right now we don’t know what to do, we are not allowed to work here, we’re tourists. We cannot beg here, there’s no time for that either, we have to go on. We’d like to ask everyone again, please, help us, every dollar, every euro, every pound, every peso helps. A buck more means one or two miles more. That’s how it is: we need to spend like US$20 on food daily, we’d like to ask for your support. You can donate by clicking on the Donate button. Thank you all in advance!

Update: Many thanks to Carolyn Tester (Musings by the Creekside) for her instant help.

Barbecues, Burnouts, Banjos

by FERENC IVANICS
We’re still walking along dense forests, there are clear water streams and ponds near our path. Sometimes we only realize how special these places are when we post the photos on our flickr account. Sometimes I could cry for not having enough time to take a fifteen-mile roundabout to visit an enchanted place... They say these are excellent swimming sites, and scuba-divers can have a lot of fun discovering underwater caves. One of these places is High Springs.


But we’re pleased that people make it up for these misses. Many of them offer help, or just show interest to know more about us. For example there was the Becher family; they invited us to their family picnic, and supported us by sharing their food and company, and even helped us out with a few bucks as well. Thank you!


Or there was Tod. We camped near his house in High Springs and met him before along the road. (You know it’s quite hard to actually meet people even in inhabited areas in the U.S. Even the towns look totally deserted, you don’t really see people on the streets. Cars, yes, there are cars, but a few times we had trouble asking for directions since we found no one to ask. Near gas stations and stores, there’s a higher chance. :) So, Tod invited us to have a chat with them, he makes good cocktails and loves powerful cars. He even gave my brother a burnout ride on his 5.7 Chevy. Good guys, thanks for the Cohiba cigars.



We found today’s cultural reference when crossing the Suwanee river to Dixie County. “Immortalized by Stephen Foster”: even though the musical notes provided a hint, we had to wait until we reached the first internet access point to actually listen to the song titled Old Folks at Home. And I guess the most authentic way to play the song is on banjo or harmonica.

Hygiene: The Second Class

The first class of Fundamental Human Needs is subsistence: eating and sleeping. After satisfying these needs the second most important class is protection, which includes keeping yourself healthy. One of the basic prerequisites of this branch is hygiene: bathing and washing. During the Peacetour this is often the need that is hardest to satisfy. But there’s always a way...

by FERENC IVANICS
As we approached the wilder parts of inland Florida we started to look for safer, more tidied-up places to sleep on. I don’t know; maybe we’re not brave enough, or maybe it’s the stories about snakes and black-widows the locals tell us from time to time, or the moss hanging from old oak trees, the swampy forests, the alligators, ants and mosquitos that scared us. But it’s true, recently we’ve been finding civilization more appealing—and civilization means dry camping spots in inhabited areas. So far, so good, everyone have been kind with us, the property owners always gave green light, we had a few square-yards to camp on every time. A few days ago we asked at River Run Campground if we can stay. The owners were a friendly family and not only had they responded positively, they invited us to a barbecue meal and let us use the shower as well.


Due to the humid and warm climate of Florida it was just about time we had a shower, we felt really grateful for the help. Though the roads we take are less traveled there are cars that kick up dust so at the end of the day we’re covered in a thin (or thick :) gray layer of mud made out of sweat and dust. It destroys our trusty look, but there’s another problem as well, it itches, rubs, aches, on the long term it’s not healthy at all. So we headed toward the bathroom, where to our surprise we found the cleanest and nicest shower and lavatory we’ve seen so far during our walk. We made good use of them. :)


During our walk... Oh yes, we had showers and washed our clothes in stranger conditions. First you need water, then dry and warm air to dry yourself and your clothes. Needles to say, during the freezing French part none of these ingredients were to be found. And indeed, we were trying to keep the filth on: it was another layer that kept out the cold.



We turned back into human beings in Spain. A gentle climate, crystal clear spring water, warm winds... What else do you need to even try washing your hair out in the wild.



Then we arrived in the Sahara, the endless desert where water is a treasure, a key to survival, restricted to oral intake, its external use is “not recommended”. But there’s sand, oh yes, there’s sweat, sometimes you need to wash your clothes even in the desert.

Religious Shelters

Sanctuary has multiple meanings. A sanctuary is the consecrated area of a church or temple around its tabernacle or altar. An animal sanctuary is a place where animals live and are protected. In modern parlance the term is used to mean a place of safety. Sanctuary was also a right to be safe from arrest in the sanctuary of a church or temple, recognized by English law from the fourth to the seventeenth century. (Wikipedia)

But not only they gave shelter to medieval criminals, the WorldWalkers enjoyed their hospitality several times. (Not that they are criminals. :)

by FERENC IVANICS
Here in Florida it’s not always an easy task to find a camping spot, even though local people are really helpful. We often stay for a night at the back or front yards of churches. Usually they not only let us stay but they make our walking trip more pleasing with a small treat, a nice chat.

A few times we don’t have a chance to ask for persmission. We arrive late at the evening, the church is closed, we have no idea who should we contact. In these cases we just put up our tents and fall into a deep sleep due to the long day’s walk. Usually, to be woken up to the noise made by the folks coming to the morning service... But sometimes we wake up to a coffee or some cakes they share with us. We have visited many churches of many religions, but it’s safe to say that they all have helped us with small details, or with post-permissions to camp on their property. In the Trinity Church seen on the next photo they were particularly kind to us.


We had good experiences only in Europe and Africa as well. In the September of 2007 we arrived late, freezing cold and very wet in Munich, where we contacted the Hungarian Catholic Mission. They received us with a warm welcome, let us wash and dry our clothes, to warm ourselves in the building. It was really cold outside, or so we thought.


But we found out about real cold later in November, in France. We slept in freezing cold, on snowy fields; in fact, we didn’t sleep too much... Then we ariived to the Taizé Community. We spent a few nights there with the young fellows, living their everyday life, taking part in their programs. But after a few days the road called, we had to part.


And of course, we have to mention the San Juan de Dios center in Málaga, where we were able to take a shower after months without running water, had a haircut; we became human-like creatures again. But we have already told you the story.

Read “Shower in the Church”

Welcome to the Jungle

by FERENC IVANICS
Jungle, guns and blood? We’re definitely going to cite some lyrics of the LA band, Guns'n'Roses here: Welcome to the Jungle

Welcome to the jungle
It gets worse here everyday
Ya learn ta live like an animal
In the jungle where we play

Sometimes we recall our previous camping spots, for example in France, where we camped in freezing temperatures, or Germany’s green meadows, the Sahara desert...




Well, these days it is something completely different. Somewhere after Tavares we found a camping spot. By the side of a creek there were some deserted old houses. We looked around to see if there was anyone there, found a fisherman, who said that no, no one had been here for a while. The place was beautiful, if someone had kidnapped me and dropped me here, saying that this was Costa Rica, I would have believed him. A small river, crocodiles, large fish and real mossy jungle on the shores. We’ve seen some huge wading birds, larger than a crane, and some eagles. And we’ve seen ants. So small they march through the mosquito screen of the tents. Fortunately they were after the dead matter of the blisters, stuck in our socks.

Welcome to the jungle
We got fun 'n' games
We got everything you want
Honey we know the names

The local color is not about the plants and animals only. We haven’t seen so many gun stores in our life. Even the smallest place has at least one of them. And it’s curious that they often sell guns and jewelry at the same place. “I’d like to have a gun and some ammo. Thank you. And now I’d like to take that necklace, too.” :) I guess, it’s too cliché.

Welcome to the jungle
We take it day by day
If you want it you're gonna bleed
But it's the price you pay

They’re not as dangerous as guns, but they’re of larger caliber than we’re used to: damn mosquitoes. Sometimes we think that a mad fly attacked us. If you’re not quick enough smashing it blood splutters everywhere.

A Presentation in Orlando

by FERENC IVANICS
Racing against the clock. Thunderstorms or heat waves, it doesn’t matter to us, we walk like machines... We arrived in Orlando in time, so we had a chance to attend an interview and to give a multimedia presentation. Our host was Julie Norris, the owner of the Dandelion Communitea Cafe, a friendly small place. We had a chance to sleep in beds, have showers and access the net for two days, and Julie fed us as well. That was quite relaxing, thank you. Just before the presentation Kate Santich, a member of the staff of the Orlando Sentinel newspaper interviewed us to write an article. (See: Orlando Media Update)


There were fewer people than the last time on our presentation in Seville, Spain, but all those who were here were interested. And to my surprise there were kids. It was a pleasant surprise—they even made a present to us—, but I had to adjust the concept of my talk, sometimes I tend to word my message in a spicy way...



The presentation was quite spontaneous, it was a bit like a roller-coaster ride, but I think it went well. I told fewer jokes, we experienced less laughter than in Seville, but the audience seemed to be content, and not only content but they were generous as well, their donations will help us walk a bit farther without concerns. Thank you.

From Orlando to New Orleans

Ferenc and István left Orlando yesterday, they will arrive to New Orleans on the 5th July (this is an estimate). In this 650 mile stage they will cross a state border, visit many places where they would like to meet local folks. Everyone is welcome to join them for a good chat, or to walk a few miles—well, not in their shoes—but in their company, or to have an interview with them. Any tips you’d like to share, just call Ferenc (+1) 504 2615164.


Check out their detailed road map to New Orleans (LA)

Orlando Media Update

June 3rd, Kate Santich resumed her thoughts about the WorldWalk-Peacetour mission, sprinkled with interview segments. The article is available in the online edition of the Orlando Sentinel.

They wore T-shirts—plain for lack of sponsorship. They were on their third pair of Nikes, which they replace every 2,500 miles. They were tanned and thin and earnest.

Their message is not anti-war exactly, nor is it particularly political or religious. It is about taking little steps, even on a very, very long journey. (Kate Santich)

The same day Julie Norris, a “local lady” broadcasted a radio interview with the boys on Front Porch Radio. You can check out the streaming audio at the blog of FPR.

Thank you both for the support!

Read the article of Kate Santich in Orlando Sentinel
Listen to the interview of Julie Norris on Front Porch Radio