Thursday, May 20, 2010

Far in short

Former Nazi glamour man Albert Speer was condemned at the Nuremberg trial in 1946 to 20 years in prison.
He was locked up in the Spandau prison in Berlin, Germany and walked out in 1966.
Relatively sane and healthy, to the amazement of many.

One way of accomplishing his good physical and mental shape was that while in prison Albert Speer had been walking from Berlin in Germany to Beijing in China.
This incredible feat he managed to do by measuring exactly the length of the track he was allowed to walk in the garden of the Spandau prison.
Next, he calculated that if he would walk an hour a day where he would end up after 20 years.
That was somewhere near Beijing in China.

This journey by foot became one of the major things for him to do.
He got from the prison library maps of the countries he was walking through.
And books to read about local conditions.

Of course, it was an imaginary journey he strongly believed in for 20 years.
He knew it was all in his mind only and that in fact he was walking in an enclosed space in Berlin, Germany.
Nevertheless, he would write in his dairy for example how he had arrived in Ankara, Turkey and how he had admired that city.
And that he was now on his way to Tehran in Iran.

Albert Speer managed to be free while locked up.

A slightly similar situation exists at El Triple, Baja California, Mexico.
Two persons there are living in a relatively small space.
The Fuso Szulc.

The living area is only 2,5 meters wide.
And about 5 meters long.

When both travelers are inside the Fuso Szulc, the space to move around is minimal.
Often it is like dancing: the bodies twirl in the limited space in unison.
Harmoniously when the moods are good and lovingly connected.
Irritatedly when the shared happiness has temporarily slipped.

But a way has been found to deal in a better way with the limited space to live in.
Inspired by Albert Speer, the Nazi war criminal.

When inside the Fuso Szulc conversations can be heard like this:

"Darling, can you get me the guitar from the bed, please?
"You mean the bedroom all the way at the end of the corridor?"


or

"Sweetie, are you in the kitchen?"


or

"You can find the book you look for in the library"
"The library?"
"Yes, just go to the end of the corridor and enter the bedroom. Once in the bedroom look for a closet with three doors. Somewhere in there is this book you wish to find."


Of course this is a demonstration of constantly fooling the mind, the awareness and the perception.
The so called "corridor" is not longer than 1,5 meters.
When a person is cooking, he or she can be touched and seen from anywhere inside the Fuso Szulc.
And the library is just the cabinets above the bed.

But this approach, saturated with humor and lightness, makes living in an expedition vehicle more pleasant.
When needed even all the way to Beijing, China.



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