Un an d’expérimentations visuelles, de rencontres,d’expériences sociales et culturelles. Un an à nous questionner sur l’ Amérique avec un grand A, à essayer de trouver un sens à cette route, cette route que nous avons emprunté pour répondre à nos questions ou tout simplement pour assouvir la tentation jamais éteinte de partager et d’apprendre à travers le voyage.

Avec le recul, on se rend bien compte de ce flou artistique et de ces ambitions vagues qui ressortent de nos vidéos. Mais cela nous a permis justement de savoir ce que nous voulions raconter et quelles questions nous voulions tenter de répondre au travers d’un voyage documentaire de ce genre.

Voila donc un résumé de tout nos questionnements et toutes nos émotions qui sont nés de ce voyage documentaire : Vidéo Eldorado.

Ceci est un aboutissement de notre voyage mais aussi et surtout le début de notre voyage documentaire, car il ne fait que présenter nos ambitions pour la suite : Y-America.

Y-America
envoyé par guinaudeau. - Découvrez de nouvelles destinations en vidéo.

Une autre route ?

Droite, plate, longue, croche, tordue, sinueuse, galopante, grimpante, à pic, dénivelante, descendante, tombante, divagante ;

Bossée, cabossée, criblée, trouée, en asphalte, en béton, en terre, en gravier, en sable, en bouette, en mélangée ;

Petite, moyenne, large, 1 voie au Mexique, ½ au Guatemala et jusqu’à 8 à Houston ;

Au soleil levant, au soleil couchant, au soleil tapant, en pleine noirceur, en pleine nuit, en plein orage, sous les éclairs, dans la brume, perdue dans le brouillard, touchant le ciel, parmi les nuages, frôlant les étoiles;

Au pied des montagnes, entre les volcans, en bord de mer, de lagunes, de lacs, de rivières et de fleuves, dans le désert, parmi les arbres, traversant la jungle, entre champs de bananiers, de blé, de café et de terrains vagues;

Essoufflante, épeurante, angoissante, époustouflante, émouvante, belle, sensuelle, mielleuse, merveilleuse, ensorcelante ;

La route, lieu de passage incontournable à qui se risque à tâter le périlleux bonheur de la prendre pour en explorer les largeurs, les longueurs et les profondeurs de cette Amérique mosaïque.

On sait quand on la prend et quand on en sort, mais cessera-t-elle jamais de nous hanter ?
Où débute-elle ? Où aboutit-elle vraiment ?

Helgi

A Panajachel (Guatemala), au pied d’un lac entre trois Volcans… une partie de l’équipe décide de s’aventurer dans la montagne… 

In Panajachel (Guatemala), at the feet of a lake surrounded by three volcanoes…part of the team decides to take on the mountain… 

Nouveau pays, nouvelle frontiere et nouvelles péripéties…

New country, new border, new adventures…

Tribulations d’un trop gros bus dans les trop petites rues de Veracruz au Mexique.

Tribulations of our “to big bus” in the “to small streets” of Veracruz, Mexico.

Après deux semaines de retard causé par la grippe porcine, le bus traverse enfin la frontière mexicaine et s’immisce dans cette Amérique…latine.

The bus is now crossing the mexican border and discovering a new country, a new culture and way of living… 

Bienvenue en Louisiane ! 

A St Martinville, nous rencontrons tout un tas de personnes qui va nous aider à fixer notre système de filtration mais surtout nous ouvrir leurs portes et nous inviter à partager leur culture et leur vie de tous les jours… 

Welcome to Louisiana !

In Saint-Martinville, we meet lots of people that helped us to fix our oil filtering system, but most importantly, they open they open their houses to us and shared their culture and everyday life with us !

3 Orphelins meurent dans un Feu et reviennent hanter les visiteurs de leur ophelinats 10 ans plus tard sous la forme de spectre. Atelier réalisé avec des jeunes de Panajachel, Guatemala.

3 orphans die in a fire and come back to haunt the visitors of their orphanage years after. This workshop was done with kids in Panajachel, Guatemala.

           The sound of the sea awakes me.  I feel the sweat bleeding from my body while I lie in the puddle that has accumulated overnight.  Half awake,  I catch the tail end of a conversation between Nikki and Francois in French.  Though I can not understand much of what he is saying, I gather from his calm, half-asleep, slightly chuckling voice along with a few responses of “Oh ouey” from Nikki a general sense of disbelief. 

            Francois seems to have a unique way of reacting to events.  The only time he ever appears upset is with his computer when the graphic design software is malfunctioning.  Otherwise, he seems to just laugh at the bizarre in situations most people would get angry about.  He is almost like a camera, witnessing events completely impartial to the outcome.  After hearing this conversation, I can tell that something out of the ordinary must have happened overnight and am eager to hear the English translation. 

            Sure enough as I go outside for the morning smoke with Nikki, she tells me that the Belize Police came inside our bus the night before and told Francois and Joe we had to pay them for watching the bus.

            Just like that, the day starts off strange and carries on that way.  Today, Chris will be leaving the group to travel to Panama.  For him, this destination has been a goal since he left Canada.  His decision to part ways with our group comes as a heart break for everyone.  His personality was a blessing to the atmosphere of the bus.  He has a great set of eyes for adventure.  Whether it’s to spot a cute girl or a place to party, Chris will always step up to the occasion.

            We shoot the breeze with each other in the bus while he packs.  Going through his bags deciding what to leave and what to take, he tells me how he dreams of being able to trim down his luggage to the point where he can leave behind his large backpack and travel just with his small one. 

            This, I think, is a desire for all travelers.  People travel to test their limits of simplicity.  The lingering question is always, “What can I go without?”  Through traveling, we discover that which we thought were necessities are mere luxuries and that not much is needed to survive and enjoy life.  At the same time, no matter how light we travel, it is never light enough until we are down nothing.  I myself am traveling with three bags loaded with clothes, video equipment and books.  As I look a the fullness of his backpack, I see Chris, like most of us, has a ways to go before realizing that dream. 

            That afternoon in his spontaneous spirit, Chris decides it’s time to go, says goodbye and starts walking towards the bus station.  Less than 200 meters from our bus, he is already making new friends and after a quick chat with someone in a car, he is loading his bags and jumping in as our group chuckles at this final memory the captures the character of the man traveling with us for the past month: an optimist with “itchy feet.”

             The next day it’s Lucy’s turn.  I awake to the setting of luggage neatly packed.  I ask Lucy if she’s taking off today when we cross the Mexican border, and she responds, “Well if we make it to the border.”  I question her about her doubt mentioning that we are only 9 kilometers from the border, and she says, “Well you know how things go around here.”  I then confirm Lucy’s reasons for doubt just before we leave announcing that I cannot find my passport, which I buried under my pillow half asleep the night before so that I would know where to find it when we crossed the border.  After about ten minutes Joe finds it, and Lucy looks at me saying, “See what I mean.”  

            Needless to say we are successful in crossing the border and head directly to a bus station in Chetumal. Eric boasts the most attention from Lucy as they embrace and exchange kisses, while the rest of us are left with a quick hug and a goodbye.

            Two days after Lucy has left, we are camping on the beach in Ciudad Del Carmen where after 16 days with us on the bus, Joe is going back to France.  He takes with him his sense of humor, video talents, and enthusiasm for our project.  He leaves with us, one and a half edited videos.

            Within less than a week we lost three travelers and now are down to seven who will all finish the trip in Quebec.  Six of that seven are those who will finish the trip from its beginning to its end. 

            Together we have experienced quite a bit of loss, learned to cope, and now we bat our eyes in the direction of Quebec ready for the long drive back.

Mike