Somos Mariposas

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia. Thanks wiki! They were too elusive for me to get on "film". 

I had a brief but very clear dream about a month ago. In the dream I was instructed by a voice to collect three yellow swallow tail butterflies. I remember feeling confused and frustrated in the dream. I said to the voice "What? Why? Does that kind of butterfly even live in Guatemala?" I hadn't seen any there. In fact, I hadn't seen that type of butterfly in over a decade, since I lived in Pennsylvania.  Fast forward to San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico, a month later. We were staying at a lovely little hostel in the city run by a very friendly couple. It was called Casa Vegano Sol, and as the name implies, it is a vegan hostel. Pretty sweet. So we were sitting in the back garden eating our breakfast of fresh fruit salad and a yellow swallow tail butterfly floated into the garden. No way! I just laughed to myself and I knew I was exactly where I was supposed to be at that moment. In the following few days, two more came to visit. Only three. No more. I knew I wouldn't "collect" them per-say, only with my eyes and my heart.  I don't really know what to make of it all, other than the fact that butterflies are amazing. They make incredible journeys and transform from an egg, to a caterpillar, into soupy imaginal cells and then finally a perfect butterfly. Incredible. 

So we mentioned to the hostel owners that we would like to host a cacao ceremony. They made us a poster in Español and copied a hundred copies and then posted them all over San Cristobal. It was so kind and amazing! We had a great ceremony. We had the assistance of a few translators since our Español is limited. Half way through I forgot we were using two languages. The energy of everyone was on the same level. It didn't seem to matter much which words were being used. There were guests from Chile, Mexico, Argentina and then us. Two Canadians with Guatemalan cacao to share. What a special experience. The hostel owner said to us at the end of the ceremony "You two are healers. You took the information from the stars and shared it with everyone here." 

Maybe it was just the Spanish language sounding all pretty but it brought tears to my eyes. What a beautiful confirmation for two people doing what we love to do. 

Speaking of cacao, again, we have a new blog up that is all about CACAO. It's pretty awesome. Check it out at www.cacaoconnection.blogspot.com 

Our list of potential ceremony locations is growing by the day. We are so excited to see what unfolds. A man from Chiapas was so disappointed that he and his family missed the ceremony in San Cristobal that he is trying to figure out how to meet up with us somewhere else in Mexico later on. I told him he's the first to know if we are coming back to Chiapas! 

We had a tough time leaving San Cristobal. It was so beautiful in every way. The people, the architecture, the nature, the art. The people. We feel so grateful for all of the exceptional spirits that we continue to connect with every single day. It's almost surreal. I just told a friend in an email that I wish I had a giant bus so that I could invite them all to stay with me forever. I never thought I would say this but email and "face" as they refer to it in Chiapas, are a gift when used with care and limitation. I have recently gotten messages and emails alike from people who I have had little to no communication with in the last decade telling me they they are so inspired by our journey and writing. I am so happy that I am reaching people at a heart level who are thousands of miles away from me. I will say though, that I am just like everyone else, except somehow, my spiritual information highway channel is wide open and I am very aware of this. I have been gifted this special assignment to write and to expand minds and open hearts. It's not always easy but I wouldn't ever trade it. 

We enjoyed our day-long trip from the cool, crisp mountains of Chiapas to the steamy Pacific coast of Oaxaca. Through the mountains we saw many butterflies. Mostly yellow, but several massive ones that were black with turquoise patches. Stunning! 

We went through several miles of mountain valleys that were covered in passion fruit vineyards. We stopped in the sweaty jungle for a sandia from a friendly goat farmer. I don't know who was happier. Us getting a watermelon or him watching.

Same thing happened when we crossed the border from Chiapas to Oaxaca. We came over a mountain and we could see orchards below in the distance. It turned out to be many thousands of mango trees. We stopped at a roadside mango oasis in the heat of the afternoon. I had a nice chat with Miguel, the landowner and mango expert. I told him that good mangos in Canada are expensive. A luxury for many. He said yes, the yellow Atulfo variety get exported to Canada and sell for the most money. He sliced us up a few samples and we were in mango heaven. We were so excited and Miguel got quite a laugh out of the mango juice dripping from beard and hands. I have never seen so many mangos in my life. Every shade of the rainbow except blue. Baskets and crates of mangos lined the streets of each pueblo for hours on end after that. Everyone was just overrun with mangos. So amazing. 

 

We arrived at the coast around sunset. Papaya plantations dotted the hillsides. We noticed that these papaya trees were different. They were only about 5 feet tall and loaded with fruits. Super handy for ease of harvest.  We had amazing papayas in Guatemala and they were loaded with seeds. The ones we have experienced in Mexico were more often than not, less tasty and had almost no seeds. We cut one the other day that literally had one seed in the entire papaya. One. Creepy. Sterile fruit? Monsanto? Is that you? We will continue to inform ourselves...

We stayed one night in a sweaty cabana on a cliff with a stunning view of the wild waves crashing below. There has been a freakish swell of giant waves along the pacific coast of Mexico and the USA, referred to as Mar de Fondo, in the last week and a second round is here now. Streets were flooded and sand is everywhere. It was amazing to walk the beaches and see the power of the ocean. There were amazing patterns of black sand all along the beach. Not sure what that was from but it sure was pretty. 

We made our way to the yoga school that we thought we were going to attend back in March in Mazunte. We met the instructor and had a great chat with him. He returned our full deposit which was so wonderful. He thanked us for sending two wonderful students in our places and said it was the best group he's had yet. 

We have we been really enjoying sunrise yoga on Mexican rooftops the last 10 days. Yowee! Ohmmmmmmm....

To be continued...

How Much Food is Enough?

Food. It's a tie that binds humans. It's what brings us together daily and what many of us have undiagnosed addictions to. That's right. I said addiction. To food. Allow me to elaborate.

For us, since crossing into Mexico, it has been quite a challenge to continue with an organic vegan (or even mostly vegan) diet.  Organic food is not a commonly seen thing here. So we buy the best-looking produce that we can find at local mercados and wash it well. We peel when necessary and cook what needs cooking. We have a cleansing spray for fresh herbs and things that are eaten raw and unpeeled.

For the first couple of weeks here, I tried to just relax about what I ate and to accept what was so kindly offered to us by all of the loving hosts that we encountered. Our first night over the border, our couchsurfing host offered us quesadillas made with wheat and cheese, neither of which I have eaten much of in recent years. We graciously accepted and enjoyed them very much. Yummy!

Well now...this began a descent down a slippery slope of eating foods that my body wasn't very fond of. I noticed right away that my digestive system was a bit confused. It took me a couple of weeks to finally pull the emergency brake and get off that freight train to wheat, dairy and sugar land. What was I thinking? Somehow the romantic idea of being in a foreign country made it all ok in my mind. "I'll be fine", I told myself, "Stop worrying so much." Well for many subtle reasons (and some not so subtle) I decided to speak up and say "no, thank you/ no, gracias" when someone offered me bread, cake, or tacos, quesadillas, snacks or pretty much anything that is a traditional Mexican dish. Wheat, dairy and meat are the three main ingredients on most Mexican plates. Corn is a close fourth. I don't mind corn and it's darn tasty. Although, it's not so easily digestible and then there's the whole GMO topic to boot...UGH. I can't erase what I know, however, I can listen to the whispers and shouts that are coming from my body and spirit, and respect them. Think that wheat and sugar don't have a hold on your mind and body? Try quitting cold turkey for a few days and see what happens.

We just so happened one night last week to stumble upon the research of a man named Arnold Ehret on Google.  He lived in the late 1800's/early 1900's and basically believed that humans do not need much, if any, food to thrive. I know. It's pretty far out! However, we are a few chapters into one of his most well-known books, the Mucusless Diet Healing System, and it's extremely thought-provoking. He begins by stating that anything other than fruits and non-starchy vegetables cause a state of chaos and illness in the human body over time. He also studied the science of fasting and how well the human body heals itself of nearly all disease when left to its own accord. No food. No medicine.  No medical intervention. Only its own innate brilliance. 

Parallel to us beginning this book, I was scheduled to have two amalgam fillings removed at the dentist. I brought a canister of chlorella powder with me from Canada, knowing that it is a key food in the detoxification of heavy metals in the body and not knowing if I would find it here. In further reading, I discovered that pairing it with cilantro makes a powerful combo that is more effective in binding and flushing the metals from the body. I have put myself on a daily Rx of a green drink to help my body eject those unwanted metals. About 40 days of detox is recommended. 

A key part of toxin elimination is properly flowing digestion. Of which mine seemed to go on a separate holiday than the rest of me is on. So we embarked on a fresh juicing and whole fruits cleanse and in a few days we were both feeling a bit more like ourselves.  Detoxing can feel pretty icky at first. Tiredness, headaches, brain fog and other symptoms can show themselves first as your body begins to purge out what it doesn't need in there. It's been 5 days so far and I'm feeling much better than a week ago. I feel like I have a ways to go yet...I have moments of dreaming of nachos, or pizza or other fun snacks, but then I remember how long it can take to cleanse my body of these things and to feel like me again. It's not worth it! I personally believe that these food addictions are about 99.99% mental. We must simply realize that we value our long term well being more than the fleeting pleasures of food.  

Luckily for us, a liter of fresh juice of our choice is just 15-30 pesos ($1-3) at the mercado. So we have made a routine of a morning 5km beach walk to downtown and back for a daily juice.

We retreated from the busy city of Merida to a nearby beach community where there is Zocalo Beach Hostel (aka Hostel Progreso) full of wonderful people to stay with. We have been here just a few days, and it feels like a home away from home. The new managers are from Chile and they are lots of fun. They came here as travelers for a few days and were offered a long term position as management. So here we all are! There are lots of Canadians here too, as well as Dutch, Spanish, Americans, and more. We are all practicing our Español together over meals and card games. 

Last night, a group of 9 of us enjoyed another temezcal, or sweat lodge, in the hostel's sandy backyard. It was a great addition to our cleansing process. We sang and shared stories and sweat out the old stuff. At the end of the very intense ceremony, we all walked across the street in our bathing suits and had a night swim in the ocean. Together we marveled at the starry sky above and the magic of the dark waves surrounding us. How wonderful life is.