Burqueña Birgin

[MarlaBlack]

Hi Everyone!

I am a life-long resident of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and a first-time burner. I have been fortunate enough to have a spot secured in the French Quarter with a friend, and I couldn't be happier to be near the center of the action. I am going to BRC this year in order to start anew and regain a sense of self after grief, and as a graduation gift to myself! I am enthralled to be participating in this incredible and mysterious event, and I feel that this year's theme, Rites of Passage, perfectly describes an experience in which I can find growth in a most positive way. I love learning, active and validating conversation, being outside, singing and strumming the guitar, wisdom, balance, and occasionally letting my freak-flag fly.
Aside from simply making connections, I was hoping to use the E-Playa to better understand this event. Might some of you be willing to share advice on making gifts and gathering costumes in preparation for The Burn?

Thanks!

*Marla*

[Elderberry]

Hey there, welcome to eplaya!

Have questions? Read this first: http://www.burningman.com/first_timers/
Everybody on eplaya is always excited to help first timers; but in sympathy for some of us old timers, please get your required reading out of the way before posting. As hard as it is to rein in the the excitement and enthusiasm, and as unbelievable as it might seem, most of your questions have already been asked and answered, if you just take a moment to read.

Now, let the adventure begin!

[theCryptofishist]

We can do polls with more than one option now?
Sweet!

[Savannah]

You can & should wear whatever you want. Hit up thrift stores, relatives' old unwanted vintage, theatrical costume shop sales, army surplus, love boutiques, dollar stores, etc. Fill in the holes with stuff you find at actual costume shops. Look at the 2011 Theme Camps on the main site and see what kinds of theme nights and events they're having, as you might enjoy having Just The Thing for some party . . .

Here are the arguable essentials:

Comfortable, broken-in shoes or boots
More socks and underwear than you technically need
Goggles (best: one pair dark for day, one pair clear for night. goggles designed for soldiers tend to be good).
Warm coat for night
Lightweight stuff for day (jeans are uncomfortable for some; Black Rock City is the most skirted city in the world)
A wide-brimmed Boonie hat or cowboy hat
Bandannas, pashminas, shemaghs or wide scarves to wrap the hair and the lower part of the face
Lights to wear on your body, front and back, so no one runs you over with an artcar (it's happened)

Make sure that trim is soundly attached, as you mustn't drop buttons, beads, jewels, or sequins (or similar), & don't bring feathers (except maribou, according to the main site). The rest is up to you. There are some obvious Burner clichés--though they are popular for a reason. Tutu Tuesday is a fun one.

There are a million threads about gifts. I still don't use the Search function on the site, so I typed only gifts eplaya into google & got a bunch of hits. Give it a shot. One of the principles of the event is radical self-reliance, so I'm going against my natural tendency to tell you everything I know.

[CreepingJenny]

Welcome to eplaya! Soon enough we'll be having hot, dusty fun!

[illy dilly]

Yep,
Thrift stores!

Welcome to eplaya!

I really like that you started your thread with a pole, way to stand out and make your presence known!
A lot of folks find they bring way more clothes than they actually wear. You'll find that 1 pair of shorts you end up wearing all week! That surrong that finds its way into your wardrobe every day.

[MarlaBlack]

Thanks much for your responses, esp. Savannah and illy dilly. I'll take all that into consideration. I'm not much of a costume-wearer, so nice to know that many participants simply wear normal-ish clothing for a good portion of the time.

*Marla*

[illy dilly]

Yeah, I typically go for 'normallish' but kinda funky or colorful during the day. Often very light and 'breezy'
Then We try to get decked out at night.

[gravit8]

If anyone on this thread is still active, we've set up a group over on FB )'( New Mexico Burners )'( to help co-ordinate our efforts to build an effigy for 2012. We're looking to collect and focus the scattered burners here in the state and this was one of few threads I could find with NM residents. Get a hold of me or head on over to FB. we'd love to get everyone involved!