Burning Man – Part III

When you drive 44 straight hours, stopping only for gas, food and potty breaks, you realize how tired and dirty you are when you arrive at your designation. So what did I do for all those hours? For the first six hours I braided my hair (pictured above with my hat and shades). I did that for many reasons, but mainly I thought it was the easiest way for my hair to be without it being shampooed for the week we were on the playa.

Part of the Burning Man experience is creativity. People are very creative with what they wear. They color their hair and sometimes their bodies. Our team learned that it’s better not to stick out like a sore thumb when on the playa. So we have fun being creative.

We all have playa names (mine is Momma Bear and Tom is Godfather). Some of the men wear kilts or skirts (pictured below).
I colored Tom's goatee for him as well as his nails. I must say that was a first for me and I got to paint the nails of three other guys. I think I might open up a salon.
One day I had a mask and someone loaned me angel wings.
Here are some of our lovely ladies.
There is much work that goes into preparing for Burning Man. The team leaders work year around to set up for the week we spend in the desert. They make sure that supplies are ordered (food, water, etc). We arrive a few days before setting out for the playa as a team. They prep the tents (individual and encounter tents), prep the food and we participate in a protocol ceremony with our Native American friends. We ask permission to enter their land and receive a blessing from them to do so. We share communion and exchange gifts.

Until the next installment here are a few photos from the protocol ceremony.

Willow and Robb prepare to present our gifts from the team.
Our friends lead us in song.
Godfather and Momma Bear being gifted by our friend Dan.
We share communion together.© Nadine Zawacki 2010