The soundtrack of the journey

Tomorrow our plane will return to Germany. We are nostalgic, grateful, and filled with colorful and deep impressions from these beautiful four months.

Here are some musical highlights of our journey:

https://open.spotify.com/user/pauldost/playlist/0C0Efjin1UcpTd3i7BbBLu?si=d0pcdYGURsW9VA_4JejgxA

SWEET/ WHEN I GROW UP/ QUIMEY NEUQUEN

The mild morning breeze runs through our hair. The scent of freshly brewed coffee from the nearby mountain ranges floats through Giada's hostel. With our mats under our arms, we walk hand in hand past pastel-colored houses to the Caribbean beach. These three songs still resonate in our ears, the ones we woke up to...

CALMA

It already emanates from the open living rooms onto the sun-warmed streets early in the morning, it plays on the radio during our taxi rides, it plays in the small shops, and fittingly during our airplane landing in the Caribbean. Even in the yoga studio, we improvise dance warm-ups to this song. It seems as if an entire country is moving to this rhythm. We bring it with us to Germany along with the Colombian sun: Summer 2019, here we come!

NATURALEZA

Surrounded by coffee and cocoa plantations. We are in the northernmost foothills of the Andes. From the terrace of our hostel, we can see the sea, it is only a few kilometers away. When we look in the other direction, the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta rises majestically and mysteriously. This mountain range is a gigantic 5775 meters high, making it the highest coastal mountain range in the world. This area is inhabited by many indigenous people, we encounter them as soon as we arrive by bus. Traditionally, they wear white, long garments, they seem to float above the ground. We are touched by their aura. Human and nature, two beings, two worlds?

MENSAJE JANASPACHAMAMA

The time in Janajpacha taught us so much, especially about living with nature. Getting up with the dawn, greeting the sun with meditation in a round clay hut, and understanding life as a celebration, as togetherness, an interweaving with nature and the community. In this short song, Chamalú, the shaman who founded the ashram, speaks simple and touching words:

'So the old wise woman told me: In life, one must sing, for life is a beautiful gift. And one must dance, for life is a celebration. And she told me: In life, one must love, for that is the best way to live. She said: In life, one must grow, grow like the trees reaching for light.'

YO VOY A GANAO

As if we weren't hungry enough after our hikes, this song plays in a hostel upon our return and melts us with anticipation of one of the best vegetarian cuisines of our trip. 'Yo voy a ganao' colloquially means 'I'm starving!'

FUEGO/ WHAT YOU DESERVE IS WHAT YOU GET/ DICKES B/ CON CALMA

We had plenty of kitchen parties: especially those in our last stop, the yoga studio, were legendary. While splitting coconuts, filleting mangoes, mashing bananas, and dicing zucchini, irresistible beats always reverberated through the kitchen, making every hip bounce.

TAKI TAKI

This is the track that revives our dance projects in Sinja and me, that never lets our feet, arms, and shoulders rest. We see the kids dancing their group choreographies and the Bolivian moms shaking. Bailamos!!

SHINE ON YOU CRAZY DIAMOND

One of the most impressive natural spectacles for me was when we watched the sunrise from complete darkness to a burning sky in the salt desert. In the meantime, the full moon was setting behind us. In front of us, the infinite salt flats, around us, huge mountains and volcanoes, we wrapped in blankets. All of this was accompanied by this song playing from the stereo in our off-road vehicle.

SOMEBODY TO LOVE/ BIG JET PLANE/ WISH YOU WERE HERE

Neither Sinja nor I expected where this free evening would lead us. Loud music was playing in our yoga studio, and somehow I was dancing with Mr. Bones (our anatomy model) through the studio. A few moments later, oScar Bones found himself on an improvised kitchen altar, with prayer beads around his neck, a toothbrush in his bone hand, and a hat on his skull. We started singing in honor of Mr. Bones, accompanied by a guitar, harmonica, cake platform drum, and whatever else we could find in the kitchen. The band quickly moved from the kitchen to the large yoga room, danced, and sang with full and soulful voices. When Sinja suggested that we should go out, out onto the streets, 'The Bones' couldn't be stopped anymore. With our equipment in tow, we walked towards Setenta, the party street of Medellin, on this Friday night. We performed impromptu concerts at street corners, in crowded cafes, received song requests (apparently, we seemed to have more than our 3 songs up our sleeves!! What a compliment!), and even received money, even though we didn't pass around a hat...! I particularly liked the private concert for a security guard who was sitting on his plastic chair in a small side street. When we saw him, stopped, and played for him, he started clapping rhythmically. He was so happy. The song 'Wish You Were Here' now takes on a whole new meaning after our farewell today from Margo...

CUATRO VIENTOS

'The wind that blows from the mountains brings us clarity

The wind that blows from the sea brings us freedom

The wind that blows from the desert brings us silence

The wind that blows from the jungle brings us memory

Fly, fly, fly with us...'

This song touched us even before the trip, and now we were able to experience the depth of the words ourselves. Desert, mountains, sea, jungle - all of them living experiences with nature. We want to sing them out into the world and jam this song with Margo on a warm Medellin night in front of the Flying Tree Yoga Studio.

DEVI PRAYER

This song should be the finale. Sinja and I came to love it during weeks full of yoga. At the end of each yoga session, there is 'savasana', a relaxation where you lie down after the physically demanding yoga, with pillows and cushions, letting go and floating in a state between dream and reality. And this song plays...