4.30.2009

Also... meditation & yoga!

Posted by Lindsey

Before I forget, as for non-garden stuff...


Shaun, Pamela and I went to Raphael's (Kutira's husband's) class on Tuesday night.  This place is kind of a healing retreat too so they do a lot of teaching with meditation and stuff like that.  He told us it's really healthy for our bodies to meditate 20 minutes every morning and night, and since I have tons of time on my hands I thought I'd start to try it.

Shaun invited me to go with him this morning, so I had some support and we just... sat for 20 minutes.  Interesting experience, I definitely have to practice because my mind does not go blank easily.  Then I did yoga with him.  I need to practice, he is so good!

Anyways, that's just the other stuff I meant to mention and point out my life isn't all gardening!  (Even though I'm starting to feel the satisfaction of living off the land for sure!)  And Shaun and Pamela are totally awesome - we have great conversations while we're chilling in the Tiki House (our staff house), eating lunch or whatever.  Good people.  Good times.

comments (0)

TOP

Mmm farm fresh eggs & other deliciousness

Posted by Lindsey

So I totally overslept the yoga class I was going to go to this morning due to a food-induced coma from last night.  Shaun, another WWOOFer here at the farm, and I were out working in the lettuce garden, doing some serious trimming because the plants were a mess.  The gardens are maintained by the constant in and outflux of WWOOFers so this one was planted and abandoned.  We have tons of greens growning - arugala, red lettuce, kale, romaine, chard, plus some mysterious ones with no id tags that we put in our salads anyways.  Anyways, Kutira, the woman in charge, was heading over to a neighbors house who had chickens to check them out and we were invited to get out of the garden for an adventure.

We ended up at the home/ginormous garden of the Rust's, an older couple that has a totally badass house on a cliff overlooking a huge bay with waterfalls flowing into it.  Of course, I forgot my camera.  They had chickens and ducks, which eat better than I do (she feeds them rice mixed with bran and wheat germ, plus coconuts and other garden delights).  Plus this amazing yard (all they use to keep out the weeds is plain old salt - it's non-chemical and the grass looks like astroturf, no joke).  And then their garden put where me and Shaun were working to shame - they have everything!  They are like Hawaii's banana experts (currently writing a book) and the woman makes her own vanilla extract (omg soo tasty).  We got an abundance of fresh duck & chicken eggs, cuttings to start our own plants, plus tons of fresh fruits and veggies.  Hence: food coma.

Other fruit I've found around our farm include: monstera deliciosa, pomelo, surninam cherries, and noni; noni by the way is supposed to be amazing for your health, but it is disgusting.  It tastes and smells like cheese.  Not even joking.  Cheese.  And rotten cheese at that.  I know this because I drank some noni water (water with noni soaking in it for days) at the urging of a fellow WWOOFer.  Did I mention that this was not delicious?  Of course I immediately picked some to make my own - hey if it's healthy I'll take noni shots every morning.  On a more positive fruit note, I also ate a star apple from the Rust's garden which has a center that tastes and has the consistency of pudding.

I spent today working on cleaning my little cabin/bamboo shack.  The geckos, cute they may be, shit everywhere.  And since my house is made of 3" diameter poles, there is lots of nooks & crannies for them to leave their shit.  As the crap was here when I got here, I'm counting this day for my hours working on the farm - it was pretty gross.  But now here I am with a clean clean cabin, and I even found this mosquito netting for my bed, which since I washed it can serve as a gecko-shit shield.

I just took a few photos before I head to the shower and then town.  There's a reggae show this guy on the plane told me about, so to escape the country, Shaun, Pamela and I are hitchhiking into town.

So I'm awful at taking photos once I'm living rather than traveling - but I just took these since I spent all day in my house cleaning.  We've got... (1) my house (the other half is the office for the farm, my part is the door and the first 3 windows you see); (2) my little outdoor sink area; (3) inside the cabin... you can see the mosquito netting in the mirror; and then... (4) the noni bush outside my house.  Yuck-o.  




Hope these photos can sustain you until I actually get out to take pictures of beautiful Maui.  It's time to get ready for the concert and wash gecko poo off my knees.  I can hear rain starting in the jungle.  Sweet!  Rain hitchhicking!  This will be an adventure...

comments (0)

TOP

4.28.2009

The Aloha! spirit in action. I love it.

Posted by Lindsey

Let me preface everything by saying - Hawaii could be filled with the largest concentration of amazing people I've ever experienced.


So I went into Paia today.  I know when locals ask me where I live they are like "ah, Haiku-side, ya?" so I'm not sure if Paia-side is right, but maybe? ....Ya?  Anyways, I had several awesome encounters that made me feel so much like I'm in the right place.

1. Paia Pharmacy.  The young woman pharmacist who answered the phone not only remembered me when I walked in, but totally welcomed me.  She gave me her card and was like, I was new a few years ago, if you have any questions at all about anything, totally call me.  How sweet of her, right?

2. Street corner.  The random old dudes who holler at hot young ladies such as myself are even nice here.  Other places you get a lot of "woo-wee!"s and other semi-degrading forms of attempted flattery.  Today, I roll out in my cute little sundress, and I got "You are beautiful!" from a creepy old man.  Okay, maybe I'm stretching for this one, but still, I feel the love.

3. Hana Surf Shop.  At this point I'm laden with way too many groceries for one person to be carrying and am on a quest for a comb.  I end up here (go figure).  Anyways, I shop around for a bit and talk to the woman in the store.  When I'm checking out (new slippers! Those are flip flops for all you mainlanders out there.) we get to talking more and I tell her about what I'm doing.  She was suprised I was new - she told me I acted like I'd been living Maui-side for years (people are chill and nice here - that's a compliment).  

4. Side of the road.  It takes me literally 1 minute to hitch a ride back.  She isn't going as far as I need but she'll drop me where I can get another ride.  We get to talking, and next thing I know she is dropping me off right where I asked - even though she was running late!  Plus, as a lifer on Maui, she had tons of tips for me which she willingly shared.

5. Home, phone is lost.  I realized I totally lost my phone getting out of the car, it must have dropped on the woman's floor.  I call my phone a few hours later, a girl picks up.  Her friend found my phone on the side of the road, they grabbed it and called my mom!  I have lost more phones in my life I can even count, and in the past 6 months I've lost a Palm Pilot phone, digital camera, iPod, plus ran over my iPhone with a car.  Bad luck with electronics - I'm used to it.  I've never had a person find my phone, and return it.  It's like a sign or something!  

All I know is that today, I met some nice people.  Hell yes.

comments (1)

TOP

4.27.2009

I'm in Maui!

Posted by Lindsey

So I made it safely to Maui yesterday, and when I arrived we headed straight to the beach where everyone else working at the farm was enjoying the sunshine.  (Apparently it's been raining a lot, but it's beautiful out!)  Then everyone went into Paia, one of the closer towns for margaritas and grocery shopping.  Ahh organic grocery store - I was in heaven.  


As for the place: I have my own bamboo cottage in the woods with a big bed, tons of shelves, and I can hear the waterfall from here!  It's so beautiful and amazing, and I've hardly had a chance to explore.  We had our first meeting this morning, so I've met everyone and got a garden assignment.  Apart from maintaining the guest accomodations, I'll also be taking care of the garden near my cottage that already has lettuce, cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes, plus some herbs.  And, my favorite, is there are pineapples!  I'm going to grow freakin pineapples - how sweet is that?!

Other exciting news - Kutira (the lady in charge) is getting 12 chickens for the farm!  It's her first time raising animals, so we are all going to learn together.  But we'll have fresh eggs and new friends - I'm pumped :)

Anyways, from what I hear this is going to be such an amazing experience living here.  Raphael, Kutira's husband has a weekly class on Tuesday night that I'll be going to tomorrow.  I'm not exactly sure what this entails, something about spirituality or something?  I'll learn soon.  And there are yoga classes a few times a week that I'm excited to check out.  Today I'm starting work, and figuring out where the heck everything is.  I'll post photos & stories soon, but just know this place is amazing and I feel so incredibly blessed to have this opportunity.  I think this is going to be an awesome chance to grow and learn.  What a cool chapter of my life I have just entered.

comments (1)

TOP

4.26.2009

Sunset love.

Posted by Lindsey

I added a few more pictures to my Oahu album, from a beach walk to Waikiki and a day at Kailua Beach.  I'm toasty burnt.  Also, check out pictures of the place I stayed - pretty dope, eh?


Took the time to watch the sunset last night.  It was one of those things you just do in South Haven, on a summer night I would pretty regularly grab my dog, walk down to the beach and just sit to enjoy the majestic closing of another day.  Somehow, with how hectic life gets (and living in freakin no-beach Ann Arbor last summer), I just haven't just sat and enjoyed a sunset in over a year.  It felt kind of symbolic to watch it fall behind the mountains in Honolulu, since I have a feeling I'll be watching a Maui sunset on a pretty regular basis for the next few months.  I'm feeling like I am entering a chapter in my life where taking time to watch the sunset is important.  I hope it's always important.  You should do it tonight, and I'll do the same.  From Maui.  Because I'm MOVING THERE TODAY!

comments (1)

TOP

4.24.2009

Aloha! My first real post from Hawaii.

Posted by Lindsey

I finally posted some photos from this winter.  I had a bad winter for electronics (RIP iPod, iPhone & digital camera) but I was able to snag some pictures from the beginning of the season and the very last day, plus a few from Brighton in Utah.  Also, I've got an album from Dirtbag Day, a day devoted to ski bums dressing up like dirtbags and being ridiculous.  Enjoy... I've tried to caption them.


I also uploaded some photos from my journey from Salt Lake City to San Francisco and then to Oahu.  I'll keep updating this album until I leave Oahu Sunday, then its off to Maui, yo.

Oahu


Highlights thus far from Oahu include:

  • Hiking/climbing a "secret local trail" which was actually a dried waterfall with sketchy ropes and branches
  • Eating Hawaiian Shave Ice & Giant Shrimp in Haleiwa as a reward
  • Seeing Pearl Harbor & the USS Arizona
  • Eating dinner at Duke's, right on Waikiki Beach
  • Laying out on a beach completely alone, miles from anyone
  • Enjoying the amazing hospitality of my hosts in Honolulu
Enjoy the photos!

comments (0)

TOP

4.22.2009

I'm far from home so I'm blogging again.

Posted by Lindsey

Per the request of the fam, I present to you this gloriously thrilling blog that you can use to discover the things I am doing with my life, at the very moment.  That's right, I can even update this thing via my cell phone.  Thank you technology.  Anyways, welcome and enjoy my future posts from Hawaii!


I like comments & followers, so those are some ways you may participate.  Check out the sidebars for info on Maui, etc.  I'll work more on this later...

comments (1)

TOP

Subscribe to: Comments (Atom)