Hell Week in Texas

I must have needed a good dose of gratitude, because what I experienced on this trip to Texas has made me so excited to get back to my life and all of the things I take for granted, such as a sparkling clean flushable toilet, hot showers/baths, a comfortable bedroom and familiar home, my fluff-faced, loving companion dog, my clean, spacious kitchen with a tile floor and waist-high countertops, walls, time for myself to exercise, sleep, and relax, and even my computer so I can check in with my friends on Facebook and work on my blog and website! It’s rare that I come back from a trip so happy to be home, but I couldn’t wipe the smile off of my face as I saw the airport approaching and was let off at the curb, especially knowing that my trip was originally supposed to last 4 more days, and that I would be home in a matter of hours rather than endure the weekend in Texas.
I’m not the best at painting pictures with words, but I will try to describe a typical day at this workshop to maybe give you an idea of what I experienced.

7:00 am – wake up, brush teeth, don’t change into other clothes because it’s too cold, just put on a hat and sweater and get going for the morning. But first, find a place to pee. The options are either hiking it out in the woods, (which was the best option if you could find some privacy); stomach the fumes of the port-a-potty, but after day 2 the pooh pile was high enough that I was afraid it might touch me, so I scratched that option for the rest of the time; or there was the women’s ‘tent’. In the tent, you could both pooh and pee, but you had to move the portable toilet seat over the appropriate area for what you needed to do. You could pee over the sand trench and hold your nose so that the urine stench didn’t gag you, or you could use the compost bucket to take care of the other business and cover it with compost which makes a usable ‘humanure’ for trees or whatever. I can’t believe I finally got used to using it, although I was still grossed out every time and ran to the sink to scrub my arms, hands and fingernails as soon as I was done. I can handle this kind of stuff for a day or two while camping, but knowing I had a full 2 weeks of it made me very, very disappointed. We started out with a flushing toilet, but after 2 days of 30 people using it and intense rains, the septic got backed up and so that was the end of that.
By 7:30 we had breakfast out and were beginning to prep food for the chocolate break at 10:30 and clean up dishes.
8:15 – morning meeting to check in with everyone and find out what was on the agenda for the day. I sat in on this meeting because it was the only few minutes I’d have to sit for the next several hours. 8:45 – prepare chocolate and fruit to have out at break time.
10:30 – 1:00 prepare lunch, dodge bees, remember to stand up straight every now and then so as not to become a permanent hunchback from the low tables.
1:00-2:00 clean up lunch
2:00-4:30 get the hell out of there and try to get grounded again before dinner. Sometimes we didn’t even have that long of a break. The first 4 days, me and my other 2 chefs, Diana and Andrea were still getting used to everything and preparing some pretty fancy meals, so sometimes, we wouldn’t get out of the kitchen for more than an hour.
4:30-6:30 prepare dinner
6:30-8:00 eat and clean up dinner
After that, I wasn’t normally in the mood to stay up and socialize. I’d fall into bed early and write or call someone who could remind me that I had a life outside of this one and it was much, much more enjoyable. I’d fall asleep between 10 and 11 and count the days until it was over.
Every third or fourth day, I couldn’t stand it any longer and I would sneak away long enough for a shower. Nothing was really the way it was presented to be. The hot water that we were supposed to have for showers was maybe lukewarm, although we did get regular showers almost every day from Mother Nature.
The ‘kitchen’ was barely more than a tent with electricity and running water…not even a real floor, unless you consider mud a floor covering. It had a sink, fridge, a back-breaking table that was slightly higher than my knees for hunching over and preparing food, if we could make some space between the appliances and other random things that sat on it, and there were a couple of uncovered shelves to store all of the bowls, pots, pans, spices, ingredients, etc. It all felt really dirty and gross to me, even though I kept it as clean as I could. And on days when there wasn’t rain, the bees would get in and torture us. Literally, one day there were over a hundred bees in that tent. Don’t ask me how I got through that day because I’m pretty sure if I had had a ride to the airport, I would have taken it. Then, to make bad worse, both of my chefs left me about half way through. One had to go back to work unexpectedly, and the other had to get back to school work. I handled that by simplifying my menu and pulling in a few extra people to help in the kitchen. Ahhh!
So, this whole ‘work-trade’ I thought I was getting into, was actually 10-12 hours a day of volunteer labor under extremely stressful conditions. I expected to work a few hours a day in the kitchen and spend a lot more time at the workshop learning about sustainable, natural building. As it turned out, if I ever did have a couple of hours to get out of the kitchen in the afternoon, the last thing I wanted to do was to work anymore. If I couldn’t get out and go for a walk in nature, I would have lost my mind. It became more and more challenging for me to not become bitter and angry at the man who invited me there!
By day 7 of the workshop, I had decided that I was going to cut my time short. It was an 8 day workshop that ended on Thursday, but I had originally agreed to stay an extra 4 days to make food for a one-day workshop he was doing on Sunday. When I found out he only needed me to make lunch on Sunday, it seemed ridiculous to me to stay for 4 more days just for one meal when there were plenty of other people willing to help out in the kitchen. Once I made the decision to cut my trip short, I felt a huge wave of relief. I even asked him to pay for my $150 change fee because I figured it was the least he could do for the amount of work I’d done for him over the last 10 days. He agreed, and so here I am, on the plane, graciously flying home to all of the conveniences that I love. I couldn’t be happier at the moment!

Now, all things challenging have valuable lessons to be learned and many good things can come of them. That is true in this case. So, now that I’ve vented about all the things I didn’t like about this trip, I will tell you about the treasures I found.

1. One of my intentions before I came here was to connect with the other chefs and prepare such great food that everyone would rave about it. That was absolutely the most fulfilling part of the week. Everyone loved the food…even people who had never tried raw before and knew very little about it. There were several people who said they were inspired to become vegetarians and everybody wanted my Raw Recipe Box blog address because I promised to post the recipes there. I would highly recommend that you visit it if you want to get a taste of the beautiful part of this trip. www.rawrecipebox.blogspot.com I’m posting pictures and recipes of the many delicious things we prepared that week. We made pizza and pastas, nut burgers, sushi rolls, delicious soups, fajitas, spicy chips, crackers, and incredible desserts like sweet potato pie, key lime pie, banana ice cream pie, chocolates, macaroons and tons more. People were raving about the food! I think it was especially appreciated by them due to the challenging weather and circumstances. It was what they looked forward to during the day. As a chef, there’s something very rewarding about hearing someone say that they have felt so much better all week from eating raw foods that they have decided to make permanent changes for the better to their diet, and knowing I played a big part in that.
2. The contacts I made were so valuable. First, I have all of the people who attended the retreat who now want to follow my blog as potential customers. Second, I got some great resources and contacts from one guy Paul….resources that will help me in developing my business and networking with big names in the raw food world. Third, I have all of these references…people who have experienced my skills…. if I ever need them in the future. Fourth, I made some friends that will last beyond this week. I especially bonded with my other kitchen slaves, Diana, Andrea and Rochelle. Andrea was my lifesaver one afternoon. It was our first day without Diana, and it was a rainy mess. I couldn’t take the compost toilet that day, so I asked Andrea to drive me up to the gas station after lunch. She did, and then neither of us wanted to go back right away, so we ended up going to the chocolate pecan store and then to a movie. I was so happy to be away from that place for a few hours and doing something that brought me some temporary, superficial joy. I really bonded with Andrea that afternoon and I’m sure I will see her again.
3. The highlight of the week was going to Austin one night with my other chefs for a lecture by Victoria Boutenko and her kids. She is a very affluent raw foodist, and wrote the first raw food book I ever picked up, “12 Steps to Going Raw”. I had no idea she would be in town. I went to her lecture and it blew my mind! It was exactly what I needed to boost me to the next level in my raw living. I will write more about her on my Raw Recipe Box blog. Let’s just say that now I am ready to go hunting for wild edible plants to put in my green smoothies! Yum.
4. Confidence. I feel like I can now confidently call myself a raw food chef. If I can prepare food like that in those conditions, I feel like I deserve the title of Chef!
5. I feel like it was also very important for me to stand up for myself and make it known that my limits had been exceeded and I was not willing to put up with anymore. I think it was kind of a surprise to him that I would be so bold, and I know he was disappointed that I made the decision to leave, but I also think that he deserved to hear it, or he would have just assumed I was fine with everything, and I would be miserably enduring 4 more days in Texas. It felt good to say what was true for me and not allow myself to second guess it or feel bad that he felt bad. I feel like I can tolerate a lot; sometimes more than is appropriate, and it is good for me to practice taking care of myself.

So, that about sums it up. The good, the bad and the ugly about Texas.