i just learned about the rainbow family and the gatherings and i decided that i need to be a part of it, i have a big problem with disease, mainly vomiting, and i was wondering if that really occurs a lot at the gatherings?
If ya only drink water that has been tested and proven free of bad stuff, or boiled, and you are careful about what and where you eat, there ain't a problem.
Bullshit. Yes, people have all sorts of problems at gatherings. There are lots of people there experienced with dealing with them, and we take care of each other. But it's tough to get 10,000's of people together out in the woods with no running water or flush toilets and keep things healthy. Certain protocals work if everyone follows them, but not everyone does. One of my friends just got wildly sick at the last nationals. Germ theory is just half of it, though. You have to keep yourself strong. A lot of people get out in the woods, end up being cold at night, not sleeping enough, not eating enough and of the wrong food, taking all sorts of weird drugs that they're not used to, and then you toss in hundreds of diseases that people are carrying around from all around the country and world, and you get some sick people. What I suggest is that you learn the protocols, and learn how to notice when people aren't following them. Observe a kitchen for a while before you get food from them. Do the cooks obsessively sanitise their hands? Is the dish station set up properly? Do the servers know what they're doing? They're suposed to not let people hold their plates over the common pot. Find a few kitchens that you really trust. Help them out. Maybe even plug in to one of them. If you get to know them and are helpfull, they'll make sure that you're taken care of. Problems still exist at Rainbow Gatherings. It's all about how you deal with them. You have to stay aware, especialy if you have special issues. But it's a wonderfull place, and everything will work out.
What the fuck was that about digger?? i was there for 9 fuckin days,,, i saw nuthin but common sence wood livin an plenty of clean water thnx to iris an katuah,, (AN A SPECIAL THANX TO HAWKER).. Granted i didnt go up top much but i didnt here montana mud complainin none neither.. If yer freind got "wicked sick" at that gatherin it was because THEY wernt practicin common sence woods hygeine for themselves... Seems to me, ya gotta take responsibility for yer own well bein no matter what,.. Wicked sick?? hell we drank from monterey muds unfiltered spring they had tapped the whole time we were there.. So name the suspect source??? i know yall have a idea where it came from..
Here's the deal, repeated over and over and every gathering I've been to and never followed byy enough people: flies land on shit, flies land on food, people get sick; a problem avoided if people covered their shit, (and paper) but there is always a handful of people who choose to ignore this common sense and some even shit somewhere random and don't even bury it. No kitchen ogre in the world can stop this, and I have no idea how to get everyone to cover their shit. It's one of the mysteries of Rainbow. I have noticed though that it's a good thing we only gather two weeks. After that long, more people start getting sick.
Well, let's see, Hillbillie. In Idaho, most of Jerusalem camp came down with an intestinal parasite. I should know. I was digging a good chunk of their shitters. And oh boy, did they fill up fast! At this gathering, I saw Krishna camp, who was very effective with everything else except clean-up, recruit a whole bunch of servers one night and have them start slinging food without telling them the raps. I should know. I was one of them. I also saw Rainbow Weaver invite guest cooks to cook out of anyone's site without telling them the raps. I should know, because it was me. So yeah. Noone should be under the illusion that everything is all good at gatherings, and that you don't have to worry about it. Especially if granola has a tendency to vomit, she should know how to examine a kitchen and decide if she can trust it. Katuah had their shit together healthwise, although there was a huge job left for clean-up. Sorry that we didn't run into each other. I stopped by a couple times looking for you, but you weren't there.
Oh, and BTW, I said wildly, not wicked. And I wouldn't blame him. I cooked with him at Oz in Ocala, and he was solid. But anyway, common sense woods hygeine is different for everyone, aye? And I would think that it includes checking out the kitchens that you eat from if you have trouble holding down food.
its not so much vmiting, its seeing or hearing other people do so does that happen alot? also with drunk people or people on drugs?
Only gathering I was ever at where there was a serious problem was North Carolina. Maybe sick folks handling food? I made the mistake of eating at main circle one night instead of the kitchen I was plugged into. Communal shitters were horrid places. I stuck close to camp and used only our private shitter so as not to have to watch a bunch of sick folks shit. Everybody blamed Rainbows for the epidemic. Well, when I got home, 2 states away, everyone there was sick too with the same thing. Seems the water table was low and not filtering properly. Never seen anyone puking at a gathering. Would seem if folks are that sick, they would stay at their camps... i stick by what I said, be careful where you eat, make sure ya got the proper water. Be clean. That's all. Contagious diseases on the other hand, have a way of getting spread around by so much hugging. So if you're sick, don't be so social.
JuJu says that planes in NC poisoned the water; he'd been there for 2 weeks & was fine, planes dropped stuff & BLAM he was sick. One friend has the sickness & was diagonsed with a rare blood disease from it. David, you point is well taken; sanitation is an extreemly important thing; that's why we tell newbies to plug into a kitchen, know what's going on with your kitchen & in your neighborhood. Granola, there isn't a big problem with folks loosing their cookies from bad habits unless you're hanging at A-camp.
Oh, yeah. Every five minutes or so, you'll run into someone puking their guts out. Usually there's a big pit in the center of the gathering that everyone's suposed to use. We frown on covering it up afterwards. No, seriously. You won't have much of a problem seeing or hearing others vomit. It's an isolated thing when it happens. There will be lots of people on drugs, though. Go on and have fun.
I'm telling you...cover your shit. It can't be said enough. here's the diagram virus--->shit--->Flies--->Food--->virus--->ad nauseum
