Is It Thursday Yet?

I feel like a little kid counting down the days until Christmas morning. Every time I think about it, I get butterflies. Only, I'm not waiting anxiously for Christmas, obviously. What's getting me all excited is that in two days I will have a visitor, my dear friend Debrah Howell! YAY! In honor of her and all of the amazing friends in my life, I'm giving my little dog a big, huge hug with extra love and joy. He's so excited he's crawling up my neck to try to hug me back. Ouch! Stop with the nails already!

Deb came with me last year to cleanse, so she's well acquainted with my home here. In fact, she's made her mark by running naked through the center like a savage covered in mud from the mud baths. Should I post that picture? Mmmmm....no. How about this one of her swimming with the turtles instead... The only thing that would make my life even better here in paradise, is to see my loved ones from back home. It's true, I don't feel lonely here, but it's also true that I have some of the best people in my life many miles away. So, my new mission is to first convince as many friends as I can to come visit me, and second (this is down the road a bit after you've all visited and been primed) is to get them to move here as well. Just think, we could have our own community of beach bums, raw foodists, colon cleansing, sun worshippers! Ha!

I know you want to.

Happy

My return ticket is coming due. I'm scheduled to leave paradise on the 27th. I am definitely extending my stay... just not sure for how long. I really love it here. I am peaceful and happy, working in a job I love, eating healthy, connecting with the jungle and the beach, going to bed early, waking up to the sun on my face...I couldn't ask for a better environment. Why would I ever leave?

Some people think I'm crazy, I'm learning, to leave my house, my business (which is dead right now anyway, btw), my family and friends, church (there isn't one anywhere close to here, so no, I haven't been attending), and all of the 'normal' ways of living.

I don't expect everyone to understand why I would rather be here, at least for the time being, but everything just feels good. I haven't felt a moment of loneliness since I've been here...which is odd. Mostly, I just feel really calm, peaceful energy. I guess, if I can't trust my feelings, then what can I trust? :) All I know is I'm happy. I am happy when I walk up the dirt stairs to my house every night under a canopy of trees. I'm happy sitting on the beach observing a sea of stars which are bigger and brighter and more picturesque than any night sky I've ever seen. I am happy when I watch the sun set from my tree house or feel the breeze on my face when I lay down at night, or wake up to the sounds of monkeys howling in the jungle. Maybe it's because they are so new to me, or maybe there really is something magical about the experiences I'm having here, but I can't even stomach the thought of being back in the city or the cold right now. Perhaps things will change in the future. I'm open to that. As for now, I want to make the most of this opportunity of living in such a different world, and really soak up all of the beauty and peacefulness that are here. I wish everyone I love could experience this, too.

Hitchin' a Ride

Diana and I got good practice using our thumbs on Saturday while hitchiking to Nosara to attend the organic farmer's market. Diana really thought ahead and prepared this informative sign just in case anyone misunderstand our accents and got confused about where we were headed.
The first ride of the day was in the back of a truck piled with garbage.

It only took us 3 different rides to get there and 2 to get back. In the process we were given 4 green mangos by a mango farmer and a thorough education on nuero-toxins by a man tripped up on acid. I'd say we made pretty good use of our thumbs for the day.

End of Chapter

What I enjoy about living here is how transient it is. Every few weeks is like a new chapter in a book. With each new group, more faces show up, new personalities, new energies and new experiences. It takes a few days, maybe a few weeks to make connections with people and get into my groove, but soon I've let go of the past and settled into the present...and just when I feel I'm getting too comfortable with my routine, it all changes.

The past month we've had a yoga teacher training group here. Every morning breakfast has been at 9am; lunch at 11:30, snack at 3pm and dinner at 6:30. My world has revolved around food and eating times. I can't complain about the food...it's been exceptional, thanks to Diana, but I am really looking forward to NOT having so many delicious options at regularly scheduled meal times. I've never done well with buffet style eating. Any time I've had to live in a dorm-like setting with a lunch room that's all you can eat, I've become gluttonous and obsessed with meal time. Now, the group is gone and I am assisting with some cleansers for the next few weeks. Hallelujiah! I'll be surrounded by juicers! Even though I'll still be eating, no one will be cooking, and I'll be spending most of my time making beet/carrot juice and chlorophyll shots. My intestines will be very happy for the break.

Other things that are changing...well, all my friends are leaving...Diana, Shelley, Menlha. It'll be pretty quiet around here for a while. It's strange to imagine being here without them. Who will I go to for girl talk? Who will make me dizzy with laughter? Who will share the tree house with me? Yikes! It's just me and D'Ogee for a while in that big, open pile of sticks. I hope I don't have too much time to myself. I'll make the most of it by organizing some of the eye sores that have been bugging me, meditating more and getting my taxes done...and waiting to see what the wind brings in as a new chapter at Hacienda del Sol begins.

High Winds

The winds were crazy here earlier in the week...not to bore you with a weather report, but look at the mess the wind blew in while I was asleep.

I was awakened in the middle of the night by a dry palm leaf attacking my face, and then woke up to find a bed full of debris. At one point while the wind was howling across my head and the walls of the tree house were swaying back and forth, I felt a bit of real fear inside of me...Don't worry, Mom...it was just me over reacting to the 70 mph winds. Nothing to be concerned about, I promise.
This is the only room in the house that is enclosed with 4 walls and a door. Imagine the mess the rest of the house was! I've really had to ease up on my standards of cleanliness.

This One's For You

This will teach Shelley to steal my camera...

A Walk to the Beach

My mom wanted to see pictures of some of the scenery around here...so, I documented my walk to the beach today. Mostly, it's a mile and a half of the above...dirt roads, jungle trees and pedestrians...with a few quirks along the way....


Is that D'Ogee playing in a pond? No...it's just a river flowing through the middle of the road. Mental note for anyone who decides to come visit me....rent an SUV. These rivers become almost impassable later in the year.

The sacred Brahman Cows from Indian

Now, we come to the town of San Juanillo. Town square is an overgrown soccer field. On two of the four sides stands the most important building in towns. Above is bar number one...the cheap one where all the locals go.... ...and this is bar number 2, the Buddha Bar...spiced up for the foreigners and twice as expensive.

Buddha is very happy to take the rich American's money

"Don't be a pig, put only recyclables here."
I'm serious...that's what it says.

Fisherman's beach:

No swimming in the water today with these creatures all over the shores! The jellyfish were everywhere. Some people say it's the moon and the winds that brought them in; I dunno, but I'm steering clear of the agua for a while.

Writer's Block

I haven't written for a few weeks...not because nothing worth writing about hasn't occurred lately...quite the contrary, but I'm sitting here staring at my screen wondering how to put into words all of the new experiences I've been having and questioning if I even want to...knowing it will become available to any and all as soon as I push "publish post".
I like to write...it helps me think. Some things are just a little to personal to share on-line, though, ya know? So, what do I write about if that's all that is on my mind?

We had some amazing fish cakes for dinner tonight. Wow...I'm serious. They were so good.

Hmmm....surely I can do better than that.

Okay, the last couple of weeks our friend Paul has been in town. He left today to go back to LA.

It's kinda interesting how things change so much around here. People come and they go and then other people come...and they go. It's helpful to not get too attached to any one person, group or set of circumstances, because everything will be different in a matter of weeks or days. It's a good lesson to learn....I guess it's been coming up a lot for me lately, it seems.

The last couple of weeks we have had a big yoga group here, and we needed to hire a full time chef, so I put an ad on Craig's List and within a couple of days found a girl from New York who hopped on a plane and came out for a month to cook for us. Her name is Diana, and she is the perfect addition to our group.She's about my age, sleeps in the tree house with us...under a mosquito net, and has made me laugh until I cry with her NY attitude and wit.

It's her birthday on Saturday, and since she's working that day, we got together on Monday, her day off... Shelley, Diana, Joe, Nathan, Paul and I and made chocolate birthday pancakes. It was supposed to be a cake, but Paul's oven wasn't working, so we improvised.
I haven't had pancakes forever...they are on my forbidden food list, but these were really good pancakes and Diana being a high class New York chef, made some of the most delicious sauces to go on top. I ate two, and two days later I'm still feeling the effects of all the sugar, flour, etc. I don't think I'll have pancakes again for a really, really long time.

This post is really weak. It's the best I can do considering there are other things that are on my mind. Maybe I'll just go get a notebook so I can write everything down and then burn it later. :)