This week, Eunjae and I attended the ADA Divine Awakening Festival in Ada Bojana, Montenegro and wanted to share our opinions and observations. The Festival was billed as “Six days of unity, celebration and self discovery. It combines workshops, Cacao ceremonies, performances, art, movement, healing, etc., with spiritual, emotional and artistic dimensions.”. It’s described as a “movement, gathering and a step into connection on a body, mind, spirit and expression level”. The program sounded interesting, and best of all, the event was held at a Montenegrin Beach resort. So what could go wrong?
First, the FKK Ada Bojana Resort, was built in 1973 during the Yugoslav period. It turns out this is a Government Owned facility and it looks every bit like one. Imagine stepping back in time to dark wood paneling, chrome light fixtures and furniture that is just as old. We paid for a beach-front room and the first hiccup happened during check-in. They tried to give us a beach view room (100 meters or more from the beach). We ended up arguing with the staff, and eventually they provided appropriate accommodations. Our room was basically a dorm, with threadbare sheets, stained sofas and a bathroom so spartan, it makes public restrooms appear plush by comparison. That being said, we were right on the beach, and when we opened the beach-front and the opposite doors, it created an amazing cross-breeze. Yes, I know my Serbian friends, Promaja is to be avoided like the plague, but for us it was wonderful.
Skin Aplenty
But Joel, what about the nudity? Going in, we knew there was a nude beach, but like most people we assumed it was a secluded portion and the rest of the beach was not. We were wrong! The entire beach is nude-only, swimwear disallowed and the resort grounds are clothing optional. Yes, you read that right and believe me, people liked these rules! Fortunately, Serbians and most Europeans are fit and attractive, so while Eunjae feasted on the Male Eye Candy, I also experienced the full spectrum of the female form. Purely with an academic and scientific curiosity, we compared body shapes, sizes and adornments. An expansive variety of tattoos, piercings and placements that frankly must have hurt to receive. No pictures allowed, so you will have to use your imagination, but I will say “Be creative, very creative.”. The beach was nice but not beautiful. Water was a muddy brown / green and the sand, very fine but grey. Water was warm and days were sunny and 27c, so all good.
I availed myself of this unique opportunity and spent everyday on the beach buck-assed naked. Day 1, I was a little self conscious, but after a couple of hours it was fine. Having to apply sunscreen everywhere, and I mean everywhere, was interesting. Finding sand in the crack of your ass, not so much; chafing. Weirder still was when people came up and talked with you. Where do you look? Just try to focus on a woman’s eyes when all the goodies are on display. Like going to a barbecue and eating tofu. Worse for me was when it was a guy. OK, call me homophobic but I don’t want to look at another man’s junk. These minor issues aside, the beach time was relaxing.
The Festival
Over six days we attended multiple workshops and events. By far the most fun were the morning dance sessions with excellent DJs. Lots of trance and EDM music and enjoying an hour to dance and loosen up was nice. In the evenings, we attended Gong Healing Sound Baths, generally starting at 23:00 and ending around 02:00; a nice was to ease into bed. The remaining workshops were just strange (use the link to see all of the workshops). Imagine being transported to a hippie commune inhabited by overly touchy-feely types with lots of horny 20 ~ 50 year-olds looking to “hook up”. I will definitely say some people were there for the spirituality and self improvement, but way too many were there for sexual titillation and voyeurism.
Workshops like Erotic Sovereignty, Remember Who You Are, Wild Women, Orgasmic (Re)Birth, and Practical Tantra dominated the week. Nothing wrong with it, and if this is your groove, go for it. That being said, Eunjae attended one workshop where the instructors demonstrated and asked the participants (some of them nude) to practice “closing the energy circuit” in a missionary position with a random stranger. Eunjae bailed practically as the words left the instructor’s mouth. By far, the strangest workshop was the “Primal Voice Release”. This is where mostly women would scream at the top of their lungs to reclaim their “inner (feminine/divine) power”. I have no idea how screaming like a banshee is supposed to accomplish this, but it was a popular workshop and throughout the day you would hear screams reverberating everywhere. Unexpectedly, there were workshops designated “Women Only”, and they clarified that only biological women could attend. I didn’t see this coming given the crowd and nature, but no one made an issue of it. Now that I think about it, I didn’t see any trans identifying people at all. Certainly gay and lesbians though, so not sure what to make of this.
Other workshops were fun; we participated in the Wim Hof Method but I didn’t feel like sitting in an ice bath when there was a perfectly good beach close by. As I mentioned, the Gong Sound baths were very soothing, and Cacao Ceremony was delicious although too protracted. I swear, if one word would due, they used 25 instead. Temple nights were held most evenings where people came together to party, many of them naked. Lots of hot sweaty youngsters writhing to the DJ’s beats. We talked to a few people who attended,and decided it wasn’t for us.
Other peculiarities: At check-in, you must sign 3 pages of restrictions, many of which made us question if we were still in Montenegro. Things like no alcohol, no smoking, no coffee / tea, and no meat were the worst. We liked the no smoking but what self respecting Serbian goes without Coffee and Alcohol? I can rationalize the “no alcohol based on the nudity, crowd maturity and topics covered”, but no coffee was just baffling. That being said, we came prepared and I had two liters of Negronis and Margaritas hidden in our suitcase, along with some delicious kulen. Beach sunsets always go better with a cocktail. Take that you uptight hippie freaks!
Final Thoughts
Would we attend again? NO! One of the people we met summed it up best. “This event triggered me and now I know what I like and don’t like, and this is not for me.”. We also felt the same way and noticed an underlying narcissism vibe permeating the event. It was like “Look at me! I am special!” with a healthy dose of spiritual cosplay thrown in. I am being overly critical, as most participants clearly enjoyed the event and suspect our age differences were just too wide to bridge the gap.
Anyway, that is it for now. Next month we are off to Tromsø, Northern Norway, to hopefully catch the Northern Lights. Wish us luck, as weather is unpredictable.