Yucatan Living December 30, 2008

incredible!

what u may see out your front door at any given time

ka and a cutie lil indian girl on the street

yazmin and the crew performing their asses off

on the cajon, increible

cutie girl

So Ka and I are definitely enjoying our new life in Sunny Tulum, Yucatan Mexico.  Tulum is an interesting locale because it is kind of a microcosm of the greater world in that you can find just about all types of humans in all their varied levels of lunancy right here. It’s a major hub for tourists so you’re constantly interfacing with global travelers from Italy, Holland, all over Latin America, Canada, the States, etc…As any touristic locale, despite the sacredness to the locale to the Maya that once had great empires throughout this region, there is that strange phenomenon of trying to market your culture and ways to visitors just to make a living.  That creates a certain dynamic between locals and visitors that is strange to observe but very common.

The town is dope because their are a ton of hippies and musicians from around the globe passing through, performing at the multitude of live music venues here in Tulum Town as well as along the extensive coast line close by.  There are constantly folks in the street, eating at the many restaurants,  people watching, listening to random live music or out at one of the seemingly constant fairs going on in town.

Me and Kamania spend most of our time, walking the streets with friends, making delicious foods in the kitchens of amigos that actually have full kitchens, unlike us, and finding ways to get ourselves to the incredible beaches for some relaxation time.

Last night I finally ran into my wonderful, new mother girlfriend Yazmin from Tepotzlan that I met working in Northern Cali last year. She and her mate and their crew had traveled up by van visiting Chiapas, Michoacan and all these other incredible locales  and invited Ka and I to come down and get on that journey but at the time I was feeling like grounding so thats what we did. Her and her crew Circostancias de Musica del Todo Mundo, did an incredible cirque do soleil type of performance. It was insane, her rhyming on the mic, playing cajon, tablas, chanting, oming, her man doing amazing acrobats, jungling and other insane feats with his brother and other friends. This went down all 5 min from my front door at this spot Charlies that at any given time you can see the most ridiculous stage show of flamenco guitarists or acts like Yazmin and her family.  That’s Tulum..The fun never seems to cease. It reminds me of Bahia Brazil in that way. Sometimes it’s a bit overwhelming for a mama like me.  At 4 am in the morning I’ve been awakened many a time to loud ass sound systems pumping out Reggaeton or whatever Latin Music.  It’s slightly insane really…But overall the Yucatan has been good to us…

I am even considering taking Ka to this Montessori-esque school 12 miles away that is run by Mayan women and basically only ask that parents volunteer a few hours a week. It will be an opportunity for her to really socialize and learn in an environment that is wholesome.  So all in all this place has a lot to offer us, plus it’s close to Cuba, lol.

Sweet Mexico December 12, 2008

Mexico me encanta….

cancun oddness

eu

what the???@#%)

doin too much dtm

too mucking fuch for real a la cancun hotelera

supersize me

supersize me

the secret garden of rancho tranquillo

the caribbean at tulum

mayan portal

beach bunny

I’m in love. Though Ka and I were stoked to be Cuba bound, our damaged passports found us trapped in expensive while captivating Quitana Roo, where Cancun is, after 10 years of not coming across that border…At first I felt frustrated because my heart was definitely set on Cuba but the last week has really opened my eyes to just how amazing this country is..

We started in commerialized and pricey Cancun to our dismay but over a couple of days, found it to possess it’s own magic…Mexico reminds me much of Brazil in that the folks love to get their party on.  We spent a Tuesday night in Cancun floating from a free salsa dancing party, to a huge carnival and then on to live reggae in the plaza.  And children are welcome everywhere here, even at some club, so you know we’ve been doin it up over here in Mexico.  Overall I can say Cancun is dope if you avoid the odd Hotelera, with the extremely disturbing mega resorts and supersized oddities.  We spent a day on the beach in Cancun, which while blessed, had us a bit perturbed by the 10 feet of sand space we had to function in before the water because our backs were slammed against the wall of some huge hotel catering to 5 star, 3rd world culture vultures..

Our passport business had us wondering North to the Yucatan Peninsula, the well known region of the Ancient Maya to a lovely lil city called Merida, which I fell in love with right away.  Merida had a plaza area where on a Monday night you’d find all types of street vendors, performers, government sponsored cultural events like Mayan dancers and musicians, and 100s of flamenco and local guitarists wondering the streets playing music for visitors.  We got to go to live Reggae shows, play african drums with some musicians in the street, build with elder Mayan musicians hustlin in the plaza and relax and enjoy the friendly hustle and bustle. Oh and the food in Merida was worthy of shed tears.  I ate like some kind of crazy person.  It wasn’t really cheap but so high quality I had little control.  One day we rode with some hippy craftfolk friends to the ocean in Progresso.  All the cruise ships docked in Progresso so our folks were getting their hustle on and we were baking in the sun and taking dips in clear blue/green ecstacy.

Though thoroughly enjoying Mexico, Cuba stays on my heart in a powerful way right now but I figure Goddess knows so we are in the flow.  And this  flow delivered us to Tulum back in Quintana Roo last night.  I’d been hearing about this lovely lil town from some dear friends of mine from the area that live in Northern California as well.  So we moved in to this delightful lil hostel called Rancho Tranquilo with cute cabanas typical of this region. Tulum contains many ancient Mayan ruins overlooking the incredibly blue-green Carribean.  We just came from observing the ruins, swimming in the warm and delightful playa and feeling the energy of the Ancient ones that once inhabited this incredible coastal paradise….This place is so magical that within 5 minutes of each other, I meet a lovely man that is great friends with a dear friend of mine from this area and a woman I bonded with in African dance class on Kauia, ran into at a Midnite show in Oakland after leaving Kauai, and now am seeing here in Tulum, oh and she invited us to join her crew to go down to Belize tomorrow btw.. we’ll see.

I’ve been directed by some drummers in Merida to check out trying to do some African dance performance with here in Tulum for a bit so I’m going to see what’s up with them tonight.  2 be continued lovies.

Mexico me encanta

Everyone Has A Right to E.A.T. April 30, 2008

The Food Crisis is sparking a wave of violence throughout already destitute countries such as Haiti, several countries in Africa as well as in the Far East.  My heart aches for all those wondering how they are going to sustain themselves for the months to come with basic commodity prices soaring to insane highs.  The saddest aspect of this crisis is the fact that so many native people have given up their natural born right to grow their own food, some due to outside forces, and others through a growing disconnection to the land and what it means to caretake it and benefit from that.

Like the powerful movie “Life and Debt” by Stephanie Black demonstrated, many farmers in Jamaica and world wide have been forced out of business due to their inability to compete with the flooding of their local markets with foreign, primarily gmo’d foods.

Project E.A.T. held a public viewing of the film this past weekend to expose the greater public of Ft. Lauderdale to this information. Many felt like the film was “preaching to the choir” for them yet there was an overwhelming sense of helplessness and an inability to counteract these superpowers and the damage that is being done to poor people worldwide.

The most important and self empowering thing we can all do right now is start with the basics. We need to be saving seed, planting seed,composting our foods, reaping food planted with our own hands, and  buying from local farmers and going GREEN in every single way that we can…

As I sit here in a beautiful home in South Florida, a literal swim away from the island of Haiti, I think about the gross disparity of here and there and the fact that children are eating mud pies mixed with oil to stay alive right now.  As much as many Americans and world citizens want to block out the reality, it is going on all over the world and should not be ignored or dismissed as ‘karma’.  It seems like we have to start at home, taking small steps to create the change that reverberates throughout the globe.  It’s up to us….

The Need to Save the Seed April 29, 2008

With the current food crisis upon us, the need for further control over our own food is of utmost importance. Backyard and kitchen gardening with compost and other organic products are some practices we can all incorporate into our lives to increase sustainability. There is a growing shortage of organic seeds and heirlooms on this planet now especially with the common practice of planting gmo and using other unnatural substances such as chemical based pesticides, herbicides and a whole host of frightening substances that negatively effect our health and environment.

Seed saving is a simple way to take charge of our food and our lives.

Steps to seed saving (the simple method):

1. Remove the seeds from all fruits and veggies that you have eaten, especially those that were most delicious to you since those are the strains we want to see proliferate again.

2. Clean the seeds thoroughly with apple cider vinegar and distilled water or even a biodegradable soap, ensuring that none of the fruit flesh remains on the seed.

3. COOL AND DRY. These are the key words for storage of these seeds. Allow them to be in a cool and dry place for as long as needed to ensure thorough drying. You’ll know smaller seeds are truly dry if they break as opposed to bend when pressure is applied.

4. Store the seeds in labeled containers such as paper or plastic envelopes and if storage is for extended periods, then place in a jar and store in the freezer.

These are some simple steps to saving seeds and will allow us to preserve our organic seeds and continue in promoting the planting of natural, healthful foods!

Project Ecology Agriculture and Trade (E.A.T.) Doin the Good Work April 24, 2008

I recently trekked with my 3 year old across country to link up with an organization called Project E.A.T. (www.projecteat.org). This non profit organization is in the processing of carrying out some key missions throughout the South Florida regions as well as in Jamaica, Ethiopia and Ghana currently. E.A.T. Jamaica is a really important project right now involving the formation of a farmer co-op in the Blue Mountain region of Portland Jamaica. It is in this region that farmers are being forced to watch their own crops die because of foreign monopoly of the produce market and the unwise heavy import of foreign gmo’d produce to the people of this land. It’s sad to see the way in which these farmers watch their hard work and care go to waste while engineered foods from outside have taken over their former markets. E.A.T. Jamaica seeks to rectify some of this disparity by documentation through multi-media, co-op formation and export market creation as well as shipping services for these farmers and other poor farmers throughout the world.

Some of the focuses of the organization right now in regards to the E.A.T. Jamaica project are centered on matching the 200,000 seeds the Minister of Agriculture recently commissioned to be planted by Jamaicans in response to the looming food crisis effecting 3rd World countries and the world currently. As an answer to this call, Project E.A.T. seeks to match this seed request. In addition, we can provide the government of Jamaica with high quality Mother Earth Foods organic fertilizer as well as donated farm equipment. Through these missions, a more solid foundation of socio-economic stability can begin to be formed for the people of this region.

The reality is that folks all over the planet are being forced to be made more responsible for the food they eat and where it comes from. No more can we blindly allow others to provide us with our food sources and expect true quality.

See the movie “The Future of Food” for more details into the frightening status of food and agriculture right now….

To learn more about the plight of Jamaican Farmers in the Blue Mountain Regions, please check out www.projecteat.org.

Homa therapy October 1, 2007

Homa therapy is a vedic science dedicated to restoring the natural purity and balance of the atmosphere by way of fire. Homa therapy utilizes the yajnya of Agni Hotra and it’s attunement to the biorhythm of sunset and sunrise to replenish the atmosphere with nutrients to promote healing. The Agni hotra as I discussed in another blog utilizes the preparation of a small fire in a copper pyramid in which one places grains of rice, cow dung and ghee (clarified unsalted butter). Along with this burning ritual, two different vedic mantras are chanted to create certain energies in the environment that promote it’s revitalization and healing process.

Experimentation in places like Venezuela and Peru with Homa therapy in agricultural settings has produced pretty significant results. Apparently, when the Homa is performed in a garden or around trees, the leaves are the first to receive the smoke and then stimulates the generation of chlorophyll.

In Homa atmospheres, areas in which the precise sunset, sunrise rituals are practiced, the metabolism of the plant is activated causing the plant to receive more of the nutrients it’s in need of so that it can yield these same nutrients, healing the plant itself as well as the ecology around.

The basis of the concept of performing the ritual of homa therapy has to do with the susceptibility of plant life and all life in general to more subtle forces. Through the use of innovative, though ancient practices like homa therapy, we may actually have a chance at regenerating and restoring our denatured soils and plant life so that it can yield us the things that we need to sustain and be healthy.

Artisana’s Raw Food Delights September 30, 2007

I’ve had an amazing year in raw foods and it’s mainly due to my introduction the wonderful world of Artisanas. Artisanas products are so rare and so full of manna, it’s unbelievable they aren’t in every supermarket. My first experience with Artisanas was with the Coconut Butter. This stuff remains my favorite of all their products and for good reason. Artisana’s Coconut Butter is like coconut cream heavan. With this butter you get the full coconut experience since nothing is added or taken out. It is truly a whole food and one that the average vegan/raw food enthusiast should never be with out. And the best part about it all is that it has all of the nutrients in tact thanks to being a raw food product, so you get plenty of protein, healthy fat, and vitamins in every serving.

This is such a versatile product. You can eat it melted which is automatic after 80 degrees or in a congealed state, that kind of reminds me of white chocolate. I love to pour the liquid Artisana’s Coconut Butter on

bananas and papaya,

throw on some chopped walnuts or hemp seeds and

maybe a dab of agave nectar for a simple but stunningly delicious treat.

We also make a delicious hot cocoa with the

Coconut Butter,

putting it in Yerba Mate,

with raw cacao powder and

agave nectar to taste

You can add the Coconut Butter in the end so that it melts in the water and doesn’t lose it’s enzymes in the heating process

Artisana’s has a ton of products outside of the butter. There’s Goji Bliss, Cacao Bliss, Delicious Raw Tahini dressing, among other nut butters and treats.
Check out David Wolfe’s company to get your hands on these products. Sunfood Nutrition�

Cow Dung and It’s Many Wonderful Properties September 27, 2007

So I just saw this stunning movie on Peter Proctor, present day pioneer of Biodynamic Farming Methods and the work he tirelessly performs worldwide but presently with a focus on Mama India. The movie is called How to Save the World:One Man, One Cow, One Planet and is highly recommended. I’d heard of Biodynamic Farming prior to seeing the film but never realized what an integration of metaphysics and spirituality it involved. The most phenomenal aspect of this method of restoration of the earth’s depleted soils is that it is based upon the use of the sacred cow dung, believed to have curative and spiritual powers throughout India and other parts of the planet. With cow dung, a compost is created that when worked into soil in a particular ritualistic way, creates certain energies that serve in healing the soil undergoing the process. It’s interesting to observe New Zealand farmer, Peter Proctor teaching the people of India a process for healing their highly denatured soil that appeals to their cultural practice of revering and respecting the power of the cow. And biodynamic farming isn’t the only practice that purports powerful healing coming from the dung of the cow. Google Videos aren’t embedding but you can check the trailer out on there.For More Info on this.

I initially got turned on to the power of cow dung by some people in Atlanta Georgia that were heavily involved in the practice of Agnihotra. Agnihotra is a Vedic yajna and involves the burning of cow dung and ghee butter in an inverted copper pyramid at dusk and dawn precisely, while chanting Vedic mantras. Properly performed, this ritual according to the Vedic tradition, brings about enormous healing and purification of the environment. The Agnihotra is a powerful yajna that in my experience brings about a deep sense of peace. This 5 minute process feels like coming out of an hour of meditation. It’s a grounding practices and assists in uncovering the real Self, hidden underneath all of the mental chatter. The fact that the dung of the cow is such an important part of this process is really significant given the way this culture brutalizes and tortures these sacred creatures. Yet the manure of this animal can bring about so much good upon the planet. Interesting…

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Becoming Whole with Blue Green Algae-the E3AFA Solution September 26, 2007

I recently got turned on to E3AFA blue green algae in capsule form here on the Big Island where I live. One of the suppliers was successful enough to get the local mainstream grocery store to carry it, a pretty impressive task, and it seems to be flying off the shelves.

I started taking this algae after a former roommate of mind unknowingly left her big bottle of it behind. I was stoked to find it because I have a natural affinity blue green algae of all sorts. Spirulina has been a mainstay for me for many years and I use it to heal all types of conditions of imbalance, usually due too much acidic food in the diet in my case. Algae is just so alkaline and grounding while providing the body with an endless store of energy. All this said, E3AFA has definitely proved itself to be a powerful algae healer.

E3AFA is a raw food that is rich in just about every mineral, protein, and amino acid you can think of. It’s one of the best sources of chlorophyll as well. Due to it’s harvesting in the deep center of Klamath lake, it is untouched by industrial pollutants and great thought is put into conditions during harvesting to ensure the optimum product for consumers. I could go on and on but basically, everyone should try the stuff at least once. Take it and feel it electrify the body, easily assimilating and infusing the cells with much needed nutrition.
You can get it here:

Earthen Buildiing with that good ole Georgia Red Clay September 24, 2007

From 2004-2006 we had the chance to be a part of a group that focused on introducing urban communities to alternative building methods in the Atlanta area. The purpose of the group was to train locals, particularly youth in mud brick building using the abundant red clay in their surrounding environment. The idea was that in many indigenous cultures, communities and villages would come together to help all the members to create living structures for themselves and their families. It was a communal effort based on fun,music and dance,in celebration of their own self-sufficiency and relationships. The hope is as times change, people will find ways to tap back into that communal spirit and create villages for themselves with the materials given to them directly by Mother Nature.

We would bring live musicians out to jam while the children and adults would dance around in the clay softening it up for process of creating red clay bricks or for making parts of a structure by packing the clay and shaping it. The community would be involved in all aspects of the process of prepping for the creation of a structure. Many of the structures we created were put up in privately donated spaces. They consisted of things like community benches in parks, outdoor meeting spaces and community ampitheaters.

The most exciting thing about this method was that the communities we worked with really looked forward to their opportunities to get down and dirty in the red mud, and create something significant for the community in the process. Books on Cobbing