Getting ready for my first year

nohimn · Post by **nohimn** » Wed Jan 27, 2010 10:22 am

Hello, my name is Cris. I hail from NYC. My boss went to Burning Man a few years back, and is encouraging me to go. I bought my ticket, and I'm trying to work everything else out. My big problem, however, is that I'm the only one among my friends who can afford going (being a college kid in NYC in a recession is not easy when you have to pay your own way), so odds are, I'll be heading out alone (spare my friend Tom, but he'll be traveling quite a bit and will likely go separately of me). So making some friends before heading out might help me better adapt to living on the playa once I'm out there.

Fun things about myself: I'm tall, I'm a juggler (focusing mostly on contact juggling), and a musician (guitar, piano, picking up charango, want to learn sitar).

So hello all! Let's have a good year on the playa :)

dragonpilot · Post by **dragonpilot** » Wed Jan 27, 2010 11:37 am

Welcome aboard the ride, Chris. Check out the NYC Regional links for contacts and activities in your area...

PavementBlues · Post by **PavementBlues** » Wed Jan 27, 2010 12:25 pm

Hey Cris! Don't worry too much about going alone - the playa is pretty friendly and people are usually stoked to help out a first-timer. In 2008 we had added a person to our three person camp before we even got through the gate!

Have you read the First Timers Guide and Survival Guide yet? If not, go here: http://www.burningman.com/first_timers/ and here: http://www.burningman.com/preparation/event_survival/ . These documents are absolutely crucial...once you understand those, you have a decent idea of how to prepare.

And good to see a fellow musician! If you learn sitar before you hit the playa then we should kick some groovy ragas - I switched from drum set to tabla a few years ago and LOVE it.

brigitami · Post by **brigitami** » Wed Jan 27, 2010 1:16 pm

Hi Cris!
You shouldn't worry about going alone AT ALL. Just don't make the same mistake my sister did going solo her first year: She arrived, parked her car temporarily to walk around a bit and then got caught in a sand storm without any goggles and proceeded to wander aimlessly trying to find out where her car was (of course in 2008 she got turned around one night and ended up walking all the way to the greeters station thinking it was the esplanade).She keeps coming back though!

Just wait, I bet you meet some strangers that end up feeling like family by the end of the week!

If you find yourself on 8:30 making a potty stop come by and jump on our trampolines!

nohimn · Post by **nohimn** » Wed Jan 27, 2010 1:41 pm

My concern isn't so much about when I'm actually there, I guess it's more about preparing for the event. I read the guide, etc, but I still have questions.

One problem I have thus far is that I can't rent a car while I'm out there. Apparently the legal age for renting a car is 21, and I turn 21 about a month after the event. So balls, I have to figure out a way to carpool from the airport :P.

Post by **Elderberry** » Wed Jan 27, 2010 1:52 pm

Hey there, welcome to eplaya!

JK

gerlachedNloaded · Post by **gerlachedNloaded** » Wed Jan 27, 2010 1:56 pm

use the rideshare on the bm main page, or if you're joining a camp see if anyone can swing you a ride.
If not, there's always the biobus!!!

http://www.burncleanproject.org/categor ... e-shuttle/

teardropper · Post by **teardropper** » Thu Jan 28, 2010 12:41 pm

I love juggling. Can you do it with fire?

nohimn · Post by **nohimn** » Sat Jan 30, 2010 3:51 pm

Biobus sounds awesome!

And no, I can't juggle fire. I hope to learn by the time I leave for burning man :o

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Sat Jan 30, 2010 8:57 pm

As eplaya's wettest blanket, I'd like to suggest that you work with experienced fire people, especially a safety, while practicing that skill.

Elorrum · Post by **Elorrum** » Sat Jan 30, 2010 9:23 pm

theCryptofishist wrote:As eplaya's wettest blanket, I'd like to suggest that you work with experienced fire people, especially a safety, while practicing that skill.

I think a wet blanket is an excellent safety accessory for fire juggling.

Arcanum · Post by **Arcanum** » Sat Jan 30, 2010 10:23 pm

contact juggling is so freaking cool. if you had some lighted balls that would be freaking awesome

TomServo · Post by **TomServo** » Sun Jan 31, 2010 2:14 am

Elorrum wrote:
theCryptofishist wrote:As eplaya's wettest blanket, I'd like to suggest that you work with experienced fire people, especially a safety, while practicing that skill.
I think a wet blanket is an excellent safety accessory for fire juggling.

Wet with what? Water or gasoline? ..sorry I don't know what came over me.

Welcome home almost!

Elliot · Post by **Elliot** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:07 pm

You play the piano! Come by Terminal Village and play our pianos! We expect a Steinway Concert Grand in the Booby Bar, and I'll have at least one crappy one in the Kantina Apokiliptika. And I may have a motorized Baby Grand -- flag me down and play it!