Driving by, you might not recognize Cafe Yeshi as an Ethiopian
restaurant at first, as it is an actual house that has been transformed
into an eating establishment. The “Bad Doctors Party” they’re hosting
is a benefit for a three-day hippie-music free-for-all in the high
desert of Christmas Valley, Oregon, called the One Family Gathering. In
the living room, an acoustic-guitar/bongo duo is singing a song with
the chorus, “Puff, puff, give.” A girl is walking around with a
donation jar and I ask her what I would be supporting. She tells me
they’re raising money to get some “shitters in the desert for us
hippies.”
I find the benefit organizer, Weather, who is sporting blond dreads
and a white lab coat. He explains that the Tonasket Barter Fair has
been going on in Oregon for 35 years, but many of the younger
hippies think older hippies have too many rules. As a response,
they have decided to hold their own festival with 70 musical acts and
all-night raves. I buy a couple beers to help support their noble
cause.
Walking down Roosevelt, I see a man standing in the middle of the
street, pretending to have diarrhea. His friends are yelling at him
from down the block. We make eye contact, and without words he asks me,
“Can I have a little privacy here?” I keep walking. They don’t need
shitters in the desert; they’ve got plenty right here.
Hippies and Ethiopians know how to get down. Do you? E-mail the date, place, time, and party details to partycrasher@thestranger.com.