Truth Warriors are Us

I'm finally taking a sweaty moment here to start this new blog post while we are pulled over in the baking mid-day sun at a state border stop between Nayarit and Sinaloa. The guards informed us that we can't take any fruits into this state. We have been existing on a 80% fresh fruits diet for quite a few months, so to us this was very unwelcome news. So when they tried to open up our car and take it all to the trash can, we sat here instead, for at least a half hour eating mangos and bananas. We also splurged and purchased our first jumbo jackfruit this morning. I didn't even get to take a photo of it. We dug out a knife and cut it open just to try a taste before handing it over to the fruit police. They explained that there are too many pests and fungus that can be spread to all of the fruits in Sinaloa. Fair enough. I think that most people conform and hand over everything and just drive away. Not these two vegan fruit fiends! In the last week alone we have tried three new fruits: Starfruit, jackfruit, and guanabana (which I have seen all of in Asian markets in Canada but never tried). Not to mention fresh cacao fruit and seeds. Yum. The sheer acreage of plantations and the heaps of fruit on the Pacific coast has been completely mind blowing.

Thousands of forests of coconut palms. Miles of mango trees. Fields of piñas, papayas and lime trees. They are trying to feed a very hungry planet here!

So now that I wrote that all down, let me back up and recap some really beautiful and intense experiences. Some of the more intense days of this entire 5 month road trip, actually. 

Our next stop on the South Pacific coast of Mexico was Puerto Escondido. We had some cacao ceremonies booked at a healing and wellness retreat center there. We were also asked by the owner to see how his new team of volunteers was doing running the place. The long and short of it was that the team was having a tough start. This place requires a lot of time and dedication. It also requires, like everything that we do everyday, clear communication with others. 

There was a second round of intense waves slamming the whole pacific shoreline those first few days that we arrived in Puerto. It felt a bit reflective of the energy in the wellness center. People getting tossed to and fro in the waves of miscommunication.

We recognized that possibly a cacao ceremony for the team and the three guests might be a useful tool to create more openness and unity. So the eight of us convened on the beautiful rooftop palapa one afternoon and for several hours we created a sacred space of connection and communication. It was like magic. People arrived all flustered and exhausted. They left uplifted and full of gratitude. Mid-ceremony, a funny little seed blew onto the floor in front of me. It was like a disc of clear rice paper with a small heart-shaped seed in the center. It was a tiny confirmation for me from the universe that these cacao ceremonies are planting seeds of love across the planet. We are all planting seeds each moment. With every interaction. More love seeds, please. 

We really enjoyed the team at the healing center. They were from Mexico and Canada. Such awesome young people full of passion and hope. We enjoyed sunrise meditations and early morning yoga each day that week. We shared buckets of mangos from the street outside the house. We shared vegan recipes and then ate more mangos. At the Saturday market we were able to purchase our first fresh whole cacao pods! So pretty, and tasty too.

I really appreciated the conscious manner that team meetings were held at this wellness center. One person spoke at a time without interruptions. We all encouraged each other to speak the truth and to express our truest feelings. It was very tough for some of the group to share openly and to receive what others had to say. There was some major intensity but also major growth for all involved. Including us. So after a week of these morning meetings, we were dubbed the Truth Warriors by the staff. I accept that title, as one of many, and plan to continue assisting others to bring out the truth for the betterment of all of humanity. 

After a week in Puerto, we drove to Acapulco. It was a pretty neat place with lots of VW beetles and a huge mercado in the early morning as we departed after our quick one night stay. They had so many flowers at this particular mercado. Beautiful. 

We then headed to Zihuatenajo. It's a beautiful city. We googled a vegan cafe where we planned to stop and rest while we got an oil change for our Truth Mobile. It was not a cafe at all but an amazing woman in her lovely home who was a raw foods warrior. Patti invited us in and made us raw vegan pizzas made with local and organic fruits and veggies. So amazing. We got that oil change and so much more. We were invited to stay at Patti's home after we saw the sprouted cacao beans on her counter. The cacao chat began and the rest was history. She took us to see our very first cacao tree just down the block from her casa.  We held a cacao ceremony at her home and shared many special moments there. We departed early the second morning and Patti was up making us vegan raw burritos to go for our road lunch. Wow were they amazing!!! I thought mine were amazing but hers were out of this world. It continues to amaze me at how dazzling we all become when we are living our true calling! When life calls you, answer! Don't take a message or screen your calls. Don't say you'll call back when it's more convenient. Just take the call and enjoy it!

We were stopped at checkpoints several times in Michoacan.  This is the state with some of the highest level of unrest because of drug cartels. We decided to trek through despite all of the negativity that we found online. We have heard so many negative opinions of Mexico and Central America since we began announcing that we were taking this journey last fall. We have not encountered a single situation that I would call dangerous or scary for over 5 months. Michoacan was heavily militarized and there were many checkpoints where we had to get out of the car for inspection and questioning. Which usually resulted in laughter.

The best part of these stops was that the soldiers would dig through our car asking what things were and we got to give them some free healthy living lessons! It was awesome. This state was also one of the most wild, uninhabited and beautiful that we have seen. High cliffs overlooking a blue wild ocean. Thick lush jungles covering winding roads for hours shaded us from the sun. We saw dozens of giant white butterflies flapping huge floppy, white wings and giving us the feeling that they were our tiny guardian angels. Two more days to go in magical Mexico. Magical.

"The destiny of the world is in your hands."

Into the Heart of Chiapas

Our little car huffed and puffed its way out of the volcanic lake basin of Lake Atitlán, the trunk heavy with our cacao stash. 

We enjoyed a beautiful drive to Xela, also known as Quetzaltenango. It's the second largest city in Guatemala and has a lot of character. On our way, we made a stop at the gigantic market at San Francisco el Alto. It was at the top of more mountains and it is the largest open air market in Central America. We parked our car and hiked up the hill past squealing pigs and blowing chicken feathers. We pretty well got lost amongst the hundreds of vendors selling everything from food to belts and hardware to kitchen wares. It was a wild assault on our senses.We left with just a few pieces of rainbow Guatemalan fabric and some bananas. It was a fun adventure. We were certainly the only gringos, or chinos, as the Guatemalans refer to non-Guatemalans with lighter skin and hair, in the entire village. We felt like celebrities....or something. People were staring, laughing as we passed and touching our clothes and our hair. 

We couchsurfed with a really kind couple at their little homestead just outside of the city limits. They suggested that we check out Fuentes Georginas, a group of natural hot springs about an hour from their home. It turned out to be an amazing trek into the mountains on narrow winding roads that were barely wide enough for two cars. As we climbed, the view morphed into thick clouds. That's how high we were. Looking over the steep disappearance of the side of the trail, all we could see was white. We were amazed by the landscape that was a green quilt of patchwork veggie fields. Some were sewn to hillsides so steep that no machine could ever cling to the earth there. Practically straight up and down! It was hard to truly capture from a moving vehicle. There were no spots to safely pull over so we made our way to the end of the line where the hot springs were nestled in the cold and cloudy rainforest. (I didn't get any photos at the pools as I left all cameras in the car). We enjoyed a couple of hours in the hot pools and chatted with several interesting folks and then decided to trek back before dark. 

Later that evening we went into the City to Cafe Luna. We heard that they offered 8 different drinks with cacao. So we sampled a few. They were pretty good but our cacao is better. It's true. It was a very funky little place though. 

There was a very heavy rainfall the afternoon that we were up at the hot springs. When we came down, we passed by small streams that had transformed into raging rivers of garbage. Mostly plastic and styrofoam bottles and cups. There are very few official landfills and little to no garbage pickup services. This leaves the people of Guatemala the options of burning their trash or throwing it in neighborhood pits which may be located next to a river, or right in a river ravine.

After the weekend we headed for the Mexican border. We hoped that crossing with or cacao stash wouldn't be a problem. Part way there we encountered a check stop where a man wanted to search our car for fruit and veggies. I told him that all we had was one avocado for our lunch. He said ok have a nice day. We had another easy pleasant border crossing, like the previous three had been. We crossed back out from the same way we entered Guatemala, at a village called La Mesilla. A cute chocolate lab (funny, right?) hopped up in our car sniffing away for any illegal substances. The guard asked what was in the boxes and we said "oh just a little bit of Guatemalan chocolate". He said have a nice day and waved us foward.

Sampling some elotes. Roasted corn. 

Back in Chiapas! What a beautiful place. The pride of the people is very obvious. The homes, businesses and land are all kept very tidy and clean. Our drive to San Cristobal de las Casas was through winding hills and beautiful forests intertwined with fertile farmland growing mostly corn and coffee. It felt a lot like British Columbia. It also happens to be mango season and there are heaps of them in all colors and sizes along the roads at the market stands. Yum!!!

We have been enjoying our fair share at breakfast each day. 

Our friends from Chile who we met back in Yucatan are here too! We met up with them the first night and had some big hugs. Their hostel was full, so we ended up coming to a wonderful small hostel across town called Casa Vegano Sol. As the name implies, it's a vegan place run by an awesome Mexican couple with a young son. They both speak great English and we have also practiced our Español with them. They have been very helpful helping us to advertise for our upcoming cacao ceremony that will be tomorrow in the backyard. This afternoon we all cooked a vegan lunch and another couple from Argentina joined us. We had great conversations in both Spanish and English about veganism, fracking, monsanto and government. It seems that all of our countries are facing similar domestic issues. The meal was a Swiss chard salad, Chiapas style with avocado and lime dressing, Lebanese-spiced carrot purée soup and Pad Thai. Wow. It was amazing. What a team!

We have been enjoying morning yoga on the sunny rooftop patio and hours of strolling through the beautiful artistic streets with their European-Mexican feel. The people are so friendly. As we have found nearly everywhere. We have discovered many cacao and chocolate shops here and we have taste-tested at most of them. We also visited a cacao museum yesterday which was fun and informative. 

The owner of the hostel invited me to a full moon women's circle at a birthing center called Luna Maya. It was a bit outside my comfort zone because my ability to express emotions and spirituality in Español is still limited. However, I told the women that I am great at understanding Spanish, so I mostly sat and listened intently. We gathered around a lovely altar with fresh flowers, candles and fruit. We were underneath a flowering tree that rained down purple flowers throughout the ceremony. As the darkness set in, the women shared and laughed and cried and at the end I realized that it doesn't matter what country we live in or what language we speak, that humanity shares its challenges. These women discussed the same issues that women in Canada speak of. We all need the love and support of like-minded people. 

Just down the street from our hostel we visited a museum called Na-Bolom, meaning house of the jaguar in a local Mayan dialect. It is a large home that was once built to house a monestary. A European couple of anthropologists and philanthropists purchased it in the 1950's and started an organization to help preserve the indigenous way of life in the Lacandón jungle of Chiapas. It was a beautiful experience and the organization is still funding sustainable forestry and preservation of native land.  For more info visit www.na-bolom.org. It's in Spanish but may be available in English too?

Last but not even close to least will be the topic of the Zapatista revolution in Mexico. We knew very little about it when we arrived in Mexico. We attended a documentary called Zapatista: Chronicle of a Rebellion.  In a nutshell, the Zapatistas are a group comprised of mostly indigenous people of southern Mexico. On January 1, 2004, began their uprising when their army invaded all of the main cities in Chiapas to stand up against the NAFTA agreement that was to take effect that day. The indigenous people had always felt they been treated unfairly by the government and the NAFTA agreement was the straw that broke the camel's back. The people of Chiapas want to see the trade of the natural resources of Chiapas actually benefiting the people of Chiapas. They were and are seeking fair trade standards. Their intention was to bare arms but to not use them unless necessary. The Mexican army counterattacked and invaded their indigenous communities, then set up camps for nearly a decade. Many people lost their homes and were forced to flee into the mountains to refugee camps. For over a decade, the Mexican governments in power made many promises to the Zapatistas and never fulfilled them. Surprise. 

Our lovely pal, Michelle, in Chiapas with the Zapatistas in the mid-2000's. Photo courtesy of www.schoolsforchiapas.org

The Zapatistas have never surrendered and now have control over five main caracoles or villages in Chiapas where they self-govern and self-organize. They grow and sell their own products such as coffee, corn and honey, to name a few. There are numerous Zapatista shops scattered throughout San Cristobal where we purchased a few items to show our support. These people are facing the same issues that the indigenous peoples of every developed or developing country are facing. It's nothing new. However, this group has been one of the only bold enough to repeatedly resist the government structure and do their own thing. It's amazing. They now have one of the best universities in Mexico which es largely funded by global supporters of the EZLN (Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional) movement. Things are still not equal here in Mexico, or in most corners of the globe, but every voice counts and everyone deserves to live a just and equal life. Viva la Mexico. Viva las humanos de Paz y Amor!

In and Out with a BANG!

As I soak up some sunshine in our tropical back yard amongst the flowering vines and hummingbirds, some neighbors are sending celebratory explosives up into the air that shake me and shock me every time. They are a crucial component to an annual festival for San Marcos, and most, if not all pueblos, called la feria. They have been warming up their bombas for many days already, beginning at sunrise and exploding them well into the dark nights. In the small town centro, food vendors and carnival rides are being erected for the big event. Excitement is in the air. 

We are one month into the 6-week rental of this lovely casita on Lake Atitlán. It has been a great spot to be while I work through a whole lot of physical challenges that I never saw coming. An intense clearing of a head cold, an accupuncture-induced clearing of the reproductive system and most recently some sort of digestive cleansing disaster that is slowly coming to an end. I made it!!!

The six and eight-legged wildlife here don't seem to realize that there is a boundary between the indoors and outdoors. I have relocated at least half a dozen scorpions of varying sizes from walls, floors and stairs. The spiders in the house outnumber us easily 20-1. (That's even a weak estimation.) The hugest one (a bit bigger than a toonie...for you Canadians) was living in our bedroom and we allowed him to hold his territory for the first few weeks because we hoped he was trapping and eating some of the mosquitoes. But the night he was hanging out right next to the light switch when I turned it on in the dark was his last night indoors. Most recently the tribes of ants have discovered our kitchen. Sigh. I am convinced that you must love bugs to live here in rural Guatemala. Looking back, the ayahuasca journey I participated in last fall prepared me for all of the creatures that I have encountered on this voyage. On a less creepy-crawly note, the tropical birdsong is so beautiful and the colorful lizards, hummingbirds and butterflies in the gardens and forests make up for the insects. The plants and flowers are incredible. 

We visited medicinal plant cooperative last week and a woman gave us a tour of the herb gardens. She told us they are the third generation of women to continue the plant medicine traditions in the region with this cooperative.  They learned from their grandmothers and have brought the knowledge forward from many generations before them. We brought home some delicious medicinal teas including horsetail and holy sage. Combined with fresh ginger, cinnamon bark and a hint of local honey, it tastes delicious! 

We also walked through some small villages on our three-hour hike around the west end of the lake, from San Marcos to San Pedro, on the Saturday of Easter weekend. The Holy Week before and including Easter is called Semana Santa here. It's a really big deal in the Catholic tradition here. Each community lines their main streets with a coating of colorful sawdust and using various stencils, a whole team creates a beautiful carpet of perfectly manicured rainbow designs for the parades. There are also many weaving cooperatives around the lake. I want to support them all, but then I would have tons of cool colorful Guatemalan woven stuff and nowhere to put it! The empty space in our trunk is reserved for something else...

I finally admitted to myself that I needed some formal Spanish lessons a couple of times each week so that I can rise above kindergarten level with my conversations here, or in any Latin country I may find myself in. My maestro is a man from New York who lives here full time and is a key person responsible for the success of Konojel, the organization that we fasted and raised funds for a few weeks back. His humorous, light personality makes each class fun and I am learning a lot! I have also been supplementing for several months with the app Duolingo, with which you can learn many different languages. I have learned tons of Spanish vocabulary words with it. It's no substitute for a real conversation though!

The three of us seem to be receiving an ongoing message about water in our daily lives since being here in Guatemala. For approx. 20 out of 30 days in the current house (in addition to no water for a week in the first casa) we have had either no warm water or no water at all. The water heater went on a vacation for nearly 3 weeks and in between meeting nearly every plumber in this part of Guatemala, we managed to take cold trickle showers and heat our dish water on the gas stove. I admit though, that there has been something charming about hand washing our laundry in wash basins and sunshine drying it for the last couple of months. It's all been part of our adventure here!

(A few more bombas bursting with a bang in the background...)

So where are we headed next? Well as you may recall, we had both registered for a yoga teacher training course in Oaxaca, Mexico that was from March 21st for one month. It's now coming to a close and we are not there. We let them know that Guatemala got ahold of us in early March and that we wouldn't be attending this time around. They said "stop by for a visit anytime if you find yourselves around this area. We would love to meet you anyway!" Yoga trainings are happening all over the planet all the time so our perfect one will come when the timing is perfect.

Our main focus moving forward from here will be working with the spirit of cacao and sharing the cacao plant medicine. We had a meeting with the cacao tribe headquarters here and told them that we would really like to take a lot of cacao with us in the trunk of our little car when we depart in a couple of weeks. We have both been using the cacao medicine most days in one form or another for quite a few months. It's been a combo of delicious, healing and educational. We often do a shamanic drumming journey after consuming a ceremonial dose of the cacao. We have both received huge insights from this practice. We plan to weave our way back up through Mexico and eventually into the USA, sharing cacao magic all the way!

A huge finale of bombas just went off overhead. I think that means adios... for now. 

Ps. If your community in North America (USA, Canada and Mexico) is in need of some cacao ceremonies, let us know at oneworldwellness@yahoo.ca and we can work you into our travels. 

*Stay tuned for a cacao tour schedule!

Ok...I just had to include this second PS. A Mayan woman selling magic mushrooms just came to our gate. You just never know what might be offered to you in the buffet of life!

Cacao y Agua

A large part of the attraction for us to reside at this lake is to work with and learn from the cacao shaman, his partner and the team of cacao wizards. 

We have been attending two to three cacao healing ceremonies at the school each week. There can be anywhere from a dozen to upwards of forty or fifty people sitting and reclining on small cushions, scattered around the porch and gardens overlooking the lake and volcanoes. Each one sips cacao and delves into the depths of their hearts for healing and wisdom. At their own pace of course. 

We have also really been enjoying assisting in the bagging of the liquid cacao paste. It used to be a once weekly event at the school of cacao's on-sight packing facility, but the demand has grown so great in recent months that it's now twice weekly. The beans are peeled by hand by a team of local Mayan women who are paid by the pound prior to peeling and quality control thinning. Sounds pretty fair! Next, some of the beans are packed whole. Others are ground into a thick paste by another team of local Mayan people.  A team of six of us scoops several hundred pounds of cacao paste into bags. The bags are precisely weighed into one pound blocks. The bags are sealed and then laid out and pressed flat with wooden boards until they harden overnight. Then they are shipped worldwide. All of our hard work and love comes sealed inside at no extra charge.

At the same location, one morning each week, there is an acupuncture clinic. I just finished my second session. Acupuncture is so powerful and can be quite uncomfortable...but WOW IS IT EFFECTIVE. I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone who needs some assistance with physical, emotional or energetic healing. This particular location is very serene. A gentle breeze flows through a covered porch with spots of sunshine peeking through the foliage. Something about the mixture of the neighborhood chickens happily clucking and the native tropical birdsong is so soothing. The woman across the bamboo fence makes a constant patty cake sound as she makes what sounds like hundreds of tortillas. The sounds of chanting, drumming and singing bowls creates a background sound for wellness. Tears mixed with huge grins create a feeling of wellness spreading from my head to my toes. 

The word tears leads me into my next topic which is water. 

We lucky individuals who have lived our lives solely in first world, developed and sanitary environments have no idea what it's truly like to go without water for extended periods of time. Even if the power is out or a water main breaks...darn that inconvenience...Bottled water to the rescue!!! This is not the case everywhere. 

We have gotten an up close and personal taste of what it's like to try to live a week of life in rural Guatemala with a very limited water supply.  For nearly a week, the block we were living on, as well as other areas of the community were without water. On occasion, a hose bib across the yard would yield a bit of the liquid gold. We each had one shower this week, courtesy of hostels in town where we paid to get clean. We hauled many pails of lake water up the hill to our little casa. We needed some for things like flushing modern toilets (which could and should be composting) and for heating up (using natural gas in a bottle that was piped out of the earth) to use for dish washing, hand washing and cleaning.  

One afternoon we were sitting in the house in a women's circle. Two little Mayan girls came to the front door, so I went to say hello. They asked for water to wash their hands and faces after what they told me was a lunch of frijoles, or black beans. The little one, who looked about two years old, had a full beard of them. They normally come through the gate and help themselves to the hose bib. But today I brought them a small wash basin and a bar of soap since the pipes were dry. They lit up like I did as a kiddo on Christmas morning. They more or less had head-to-toe baths, including some hair "washing" right then and there. They included me in the celebration by splashing me with plenty of soapy bean water. They then asked me to climb up and pick them some limes from the big citrus tree. So I shook a branch and down two came. I offered them a snack and they were so excited. I finally told them I had to get back into the house. They said ok see you very soon. About 20 minutes later they came back to the house with three friends all toting empty water jugs. I explained that the only reason I could share water with them is that we had to haul it up from the lake in buckets. They soldiered on together in search of some agua. 

We are still spoiled even here to be able to afford to purchase a large blue bottle of drinking water for about $3. That may not always be an option though. We must take any steps possible to conserve and clean up our planet's waters. It's all one big connected system and we each play a role. Like one little drop in a vast ocean of consciousness. 

In closing, I would like to paint a picture of something that I witnessed that has stuck with me for days. We took a tiny taxi to the neighboring village to visit an organic permaculture inspired farm. We arrived midway up a mountain, where the proper road ended. We continued on foot from there to a bridge. I stopped and stared in complete awe of the Mayan women of all ages, from small girls to elegantly aged abuelas, in their colorful garments. Some were on their knees, washing clothing in the fresh mountain stream that came pouring from the jungle-covered mountain peaks. Others were hauling baskets of laundry piled high on top of their heads. I smiled and waved and they all stopped and gave a big grin and a Buenos Dias!  They were so happy. To know nothing different than washing their clothing by hand in a fresh river in the beautiful sunshine was seemingly perfect. I wanted to join them and take some photos, but out of respect, I chose to just smile and carry on up the steep, washed out mountain trail.

Open Your Heart with the Magic of Cacao

Whole Guatemalan Cacao Beans

I had no idea that the key ingredient to many people's sweet treat obsession could actually be so incredibly healing!  Cacao is the "raw" ingredient that is used to make chocolate.  In recent years, due to its high content of health-enhancing nutrients, it has been hailed as one of the "SUPER FOODS" and thus, its popularity has exploded.

However, what is not as widely known is that cacao actually has the ability to open our hearts to love and heal ourselves, and to strengthen connections with those around us. It gently guides us to see the truth of who we are and to guide us toward our higher calling. In our family, we also lovingly call it "truth serum". While under the magic spell of this beautiful brown bean, you simply cannot dishonor yourself. It seems to whisper to your heart. It's no secret why so many of us love chocolate. It induces a feeling of euphoria (especially the dark, rich, organic, fairly-traded stuff) that few other purely natural foods can create.  Imagine the feeling that savoring your favorite chocolate bar gives you and multiply that times a LOT!  This is what I feel when I drink a ceremonial dose of rich, flavorful, magical Guatemalan cacao medicine!

Cacao Truffles photo by Anaya Lea

In the past few months, I have attended a handful of these sacred healing Cacao Ceremonies, led by none other than my very special friend / unofficial-mother-in-law, Cori.  She has a beautiful gift with sharing her knowledge of plant medicines and music that when combined, creates a wonderfully warm and magical ceremonial experience. I have learned from her about the plant and it's healing properties. I have also realized how important it is for us to acknowledge the wisdom of all plants as our medicine and to thank the spirit of cacao for allowing us to work with it in such a pleasurable way.  Through the use of cacao, I have deepened my love for myself. I have deepened many friendships and exchanged laughter and tears with complete strangers over a cup of this heart-opening potion.

If the opportunity arises for you to participate in one of these ceremonies, I highly recommend it. There simply is no downside to a circle of loving human beings opening their hearts and sharing the joy of life and the love of chocolate while singing and laughing together! Muchas Gracias Cacao!

Chanting to the Spirit of Cacao photo by Anaya Lea