Tomorrow I will do some more reading on reduced tillage. This month I have to decide what my master's project will be and plan it out, so we can start planting by the beginning of September. It might be looking at reduced tillage with various cover crops in an organic setting. They do work with pesticides on the research farm and I don't want to be the cause of spreading any more, it's just not right. But I do see how easily you can do non-sustainable practices in an organic setting--organic is not permaculture, it is just spraying certain allowed fertilizers and pesticides instead of far worse ones. But it alone isn't enough.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
NY critters
I saw my first woodchuck today! It didn't move when I went near it and I was delighted to watch it. Nature is great.
Monday, July 28, 2008
library and sight
I started reading the Bhagavad Gita, an important Hindu text, and was extremely disappointed. It reads like some very wise people wrote it, and then a politician got in there and added some ridiculous pro-war parts. Interestingly, the introduction written by the translator notes that those parts are kind of bizarre.
The plot is basically that there is a war about to start, and a guy on the "good" side falls into despair about the whole thing and doesn't want to. Krishna then proceeds to give a long talk in response to this. He says it doesn't matter if you kill someone since the body is eternal anyway. I thought,"So why does it matter if you don't kill someone?" and he basically says it would be horrible and dishonorable not to fight--no *real* reason given. It reminds me when I used to read Howard Zinn, writing about the false concept of a just war. He didn't argue against it for spiritual reasons (which you could certainly argue, in the karmic sense), it was just the basic historical fact that war is never for the people, but a few powerful people that stand to profit. Then they make up a reason that sounds noble but usually is completely fabricated ("Remember the Maine", etc).
The views on women in the Gita are certainly based on cultural and not eternal wisdom, so it makes sense that some other untruths got in there. There are a lot of great truths though. Krishna talks most of the time about how to live, and there is enough there to make the text worth reading.
Yoga Masters looks good, quotes from lots of different yogis, ideas for more things to read. I also got a book on Qi Gong since it was recommended to me, as an alternative to sitting meditation. My mom does Qi Gong but I have a lot to learn.
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The guy I met yesterday gave me a number of tips for improving my vision--certain exercises and herbs. He spoke about focusing with a soft gaze. I did some exercises and then read in the car for the first time in years without getting motion sickness, a very big deal. I don't know if that would be true next time (once when I was ten I figured out how to focus my eyes just right, but I never was able to replicate that one time), but it's worth trying. It's like I focus just before the point where I would be straining, perhaps. It's a way of seeing the world, literally, that I had never tried before. It never made sense before doing these exercises.
The main one is to draw a sideways figure 8 with your finger (infinity) and follow it only with our eyes, focusing. Since I'm near-sighted, it seems helpful to me to not have it too close--I do it in the area where my vision starts to fade. Another good practice to try and keep up...
Sunday, July 27, 2008
serendipity
Two funny things today:
--a guy I met the other day emails me asking to do date-like things (even though I mentioned "my boyfriend" several times) like take a motorcycle ride with him. Later I run into him three times downtown!
--much better story: I met someone who was born thirteen hours after me in the exact same hospital as me. He asked me about a book I had, later he brought up Vedic Astrology, and I ended up asking for a reading. I told him my birthday, he asked where, he looked really funny when I answered and asked about the hospital. He showed me his driver's license with his old address--he was born the day after, and lived a town over from me (in a different school district). He's the first I've met here from MN, and it turns out I might have met him before.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
vegan meetup and local foods
Yesterday I went to a Critical Mass bike ride and a "sustainable happy hour" and made friends, today I went to a vegan potluck and made a different group of friends. I've never met so many people in such a short a amount of time. I'm so used to thinking of myself as antisocial that I limited myself a lot in the past. Now I realize, I can still be the type of person that generally draws more energy from being alone than with others, but that's just a generalization, and I can do
One woman has two children and is a passionate "lactivist". I love talking about breastfeeding with people who don't find it too radical at all, and unlike myself and all my friends, has personal experience. She actually tandem nursed, her son was a toddler when her daughter was born, so she nursed them both for awhile. She also trained at a raw culinary institute and eats high raw, but isn't one of those dogmatic types. Most interestingly to me, is that she is trying to eat mostly "locavore" (except for olive oil, certain spices, special occasions). She was inspired after seeing the banana plantations and banana ships in Costa Rica--horrible pollution though bananas has the advantage of being done on a high scale (and are thus more efficiently shipped).
Most of the local foods people tend to use it as an excuse for a very high meat, high dairy diet--I guess they feel they can use it as an ethical cover for their addiction (in my opinion). Unlike them, she is all vegan and feels she has an abundance of foods eating this way. When something like raspberries is in season, she eats as many as she can. By the time the season is over, she's had her fill and is ready for the newest, freshest thing. Right now that feels restrictive to me, but it was inspiring and I found myself thinking about it more than usual when I went shopping. I'd rather by local fresh produce and keep non-local to dried foods like beans, grains, and dried fruit (less shipping without water weight). I bought a New Zealand apple and afterwards realized it was over $3--more than even a mango. Another good reason to stay local and in season.
Winter local eating will be interesting--but frozen and canned foods also help fill the gap. A good reason for stews... There is also more here than in MN apparently, the bit of extra warmth makes a difference.
I also hear there are blackberries here, and there is a mushroom club I will be going out with, to gather (normally expensive) mushrooms with. I am very excited to go exploring and learn more about what is out there.
the end of the first week here...
This was a funny week.
I arrived around the start of certain harvest times, and went for free blueberry picking, got free organic yukon golds and conventional beets and broccoli (I'm going to have to start resist the free conventional produce though, it's no good. People who financially support conventional anyway should get the free stuff so they aren't supporting it as much).
I made two boys nearly fall in love with me by knowing what Linux is (seriously, that's not my wording). It's so funny when people are so caught up in their little mini-culture. I also went to Critical Mass and followed some people to a Sustainable Happy Hour. I just accepted a free beer, drank about a mL or two, and gave the rest to other people. They get free beer and feel satisfied that I participated in the alcohol ritual, and I get to try it without having to actually drink it.
Also conquered the big hill that Cornell is on everyday, and spent hours trying to squat while weeding on my very sore leg muscles (that had atrophied while in Peru). Summer is great.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
eyes
I have this spot on one of my eyes where my vision is blurry. It's never come up in a vision test (because it's just a spot, not my whole eye) but lately, since the medicine, I am more and more aware that this is there, and it doesn't go away when I try to stare through it. It's scary, I feel like an eye doctor won't even understand.
“So while a morbid guilt has invaded the western world, a secret rancour rots the indigenous soul. The invasive extroversion of the western world is answered by the sick introversion of the indigenous people. The occidental complex of superiority stands across the inferiority complex of the traditional peoples, with the subconscious reverse compensations that it generates. All of us are thus living a dramatic schizophrenia that generates multiple deliriums. We need to cure ourselves of our mutual projections, and of the alienating fascination product of our reciprocal ignorance. The indigenous youth let themselves be seduced by the sirens of materialism, of easy money, of technological magic, of the mirage of licentiousness mistaken for freedom. Meanwhile the westerners ingenuously idealize the exotic spiritualities, the return of the “noble savage,” and the myth of primitive man that was innocent, pure, and good, by nature. We are all dreaming awake between unreal exaltation and imaginary fear towards the other, at the same time avoiding confrontation with our own selves, with our past, with our history, both at the individual and collective levels.
We have no option but to mutually heal one another.”
-Jacques Mabit – The times of reconciliation
I had been thinking a lot about American privilege and how bizarre it is that rich Americans go to Peru (poor because of America, and Europe--basically America's mother). And no one in Peru, no white person I met was really okay talking about it while I was there. It really drove me nuts, it seems to bizarre to be unveiling the truth and avoid that. And I was with good people (the road to hell is paved with good intentions). But finally I am starting to find some things on the subject online, at last:
“So while a morbid guilt has invaded the western world, a secret rancour rots the indigenous soul. The invasive extroversion of the western world is answered by the sick introversion of the indigenous people. The occidental complex of superiority stands across the inferiority complex of the traditional peoples, with the subconscious reverse compensations that it generates. All of us are thus living a dramatic schizophrenia that generates multiple deliriums. We need to cure ourselves of our mutual projections, and of the alienating fascination product of our reciprocal ignorance. The indigenous youth let themselves be seduced by the sirens of materialism, of easy money, of technological magic, of the mirage of licentiousness mistaken for freedom. Meanwhile the westerners ingenuously idealize the exotic spiritualities, the return of the “noble savage,” and the myth of primitive man that was innocent, pure, and good, by nature. We are all dreaming awake between unreal exaltation and imaginary fear towards the other, at the same time avoiding confrontation with our own selves, with our past, with our history, both at the individual and collective levels.
We have no option but to mutually heal one another.”
-Jacques Mabit – The times of reconciliation
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
getting into the routine of things
When we do fieldwork, we go out to the farm and weed or plant or harvest (later) or count certain things. It's nice to be outside (even when it's rainy and gross) and be doing manual work, though, I enjoy it.
I got free beets and basil today--but "conventional", what should be called "chemical". A part of me feels like it doesn't even matter if you avoid chemical produce (when free). I don't want to support it in any way, but if it's already grown, it has already polluted the earth and you can't get away from that. Right now it hurts someone besides you, but in the end it'll still affect you, it'll affect everyone. It'll get to you and everyone else. Anyway, it does pay off in the short long-term to avoid pesticides, but I generally do organic so I'm not worried about these free crops. It's just sad that healthfully grown is not the standard.
Am learning lots about different techniques, just in conversations with people. I have learned about these issues and this really is bringing it all back to the forefront to me.
The most important issue I am thinking about now--- GMOs are 100% about profit, 0% about hunger. The hunger talk is all rhetoric, PR. Hunger is currently caused by unequal distribution of wealth (whether it be land, food, or money). GMOs only exist because of the profit involved, because you can patent GMOs a lot more easily (especially with the help of terminator genes--forcing the farmer to buy new seed every year. What happens to our seed supply if the current infrastructure collapses? I guess we're out of luck). So they actually can make hunger a much bigger problem. Vandana Shiva is a brilliant, accessible writer on this topic. Best to read her before debating anyone on this. I saw her speak at Macalester College.
Monday, July 21, 2008
first day of work
Good news! Nutrition is not the right field if you like food. Horticulture is. People were telling me about all the free food you get when it's harvest time. Today there were free flowers in the mailroom and Friday we can go blueberry picking for free at the campus orchard. I'm very excited, and it will help me save on food costs. I have lots of plans for budgeting so I can travel home and to other great places.
The town is tiny and easy to navigate but there is still tons of stuff going on, if you look at all the different listings. I haven't checked things out much, but at Cornell there is an interesting talk Weds and a dance show Tues, I might go to one of each. Sat I have a vegan potluck. The library is great and has free DVD rentals; it's very big for such a small town.
I found a Spanish speaker, he felt alone, but he's teaching in the English department, so there aren't many international students there... he speaks with his daughter, she looked to be about five. I will find more people! And probably I will bump into him again at some point.
My advisor, isn't there yet so I am mostly just being introduced to people and filling out forms. But I like a slow start. I have a desk in a room with a window. Outside is a garden.
I am so glad I am doing this big move after all I have done, going to the Tree and doing medicine and everything. I was so antisocial before and it would have be awful, I wouldn't have been able to adjust. I had needed a fast pace because my mind was insane and afraid to rest, the bigger the better. I wouldn't talk to new people and had less tolerance for things not going exactly my way. I wasn't as good at connecting to the people I did know well and lived by. Now I feel that distance is less of an obstacle, after having so many coincidences with Roman and now even others. Small ones but too solid to ignore without feeling in denial.
The town is tiny and easy to navigate but there is still tons of stuff going on, if you look at all the different listings. I haven't checked things out much, but at Cornell there is an interesting talk Weds and a dance show Tues, I might go to one of each. Sat I have a vegan potluck. The library is great and has free DVD rentals; it's very big for such a small town.
I found a Spanish speaker, he felt alone, but he's teaching in the English department, so there aren't many international students there... he speaks with his daughter, she looked to be about five. I will find more people! And probably I will bump into him again at some point.
My advisor, isn't there yet so I am mostly just being introduced to people and filling out forms. But I like a slow start. I have a desk in a room with a window. Outside is a garden.
I am so glad I am doing this big move after all I have done, going to the Tree and doing medicine and everything. I was so antisocial before and it would have be awful, I wouldn't have been able to adjust. I had needed a fast pace because my mind was insane and afraid to rest, the bigger the better. I wouldn't talk to new people and had less tolerance for things not going exactly my way. I wasn't as good at connecting to the people I did know well and lived by. Now I feel that distance is less of an obstacle, after having so many coincidences with Roman and now even others. Small ones but too solid to ignore without feeling in denial.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
in Ithaca
I'm trying to figure out Skype and it's not working, the internal microphone isn't hearing me :( I'm all alone and can't pretend. I'll be at this temp place with a couple my age until the end of the month, then finally Roman and I will have our own two bedroom. I'm excited, I've been traveling since end of April and miss having my own space.
After my dear companions left, I went with the person I'm staying with to a farm about 15 mins away (by car) and picked two pounds of blueberries. Of course by now I've eaten them all :) It's so nice to be able to cook my own food in a kitchen, finally. The coop is fantastic, I'm really impressed. Great, great selection. I have a membership already, a lifetime membership is $90 and you can pay $9 or less a year, depending on your income situation (until you've paid $90).
I'm still having changes from the Amazonian medicine, slowly but surely; it's a distinctive feeling for me. I'm so relieved, my neck and eyes are getting a little bit better, which helps me with my biggest problem, a lack of awareness. I can move my head and eyes around better and find it easier to look up and around. I have an idea of the kind of movements and stretches that will help, I feel like something finally opened up.
The city is so small. But so pretty and much less stressful. I walked alone for maybe 45 minutes and no one hollered or whistled. My city instincts are still on, but I feel like I can relax a lot more than in Minneapolis. It's quiet since it's summer. The trees are beautiful, glorious creatures. They don't cut out the branches at the power lines here, like in Minneapolis, so they are much fuller and more vibrant than some of the poor ones at home.
Work tomorrow, I get to go to the research farm and measure soil compaction.
The guy that lives here just told me I fit in just fine. And the woman told me that, too. Yea. I sort of have friends. Moving is sad but I feel more connected to the people I left than I did before, I treasure them more deeply.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
researching plant medicine...
The long flight was overnight and I didn't sleep much, I am waiting for tonight to sleep more.
The Cosmic Serpent is an excellent book, summed up this way: "Research indicates that Amazonian shamans access an intelligence, which they say is nature’s, and which gives them information that has stunning correspondences with molecular biology." I hated the advanced genetics class I took, it got me my lowest grade in college, but it actually seemed relevant when reading this. He also explains clearly everything you would need to know to get the basic idea.
This also takes me back to my experiences, through sound.
And this through visions--I personally didn't pay much attention to my visions, but if you go to "Obras anteriores" ("previous works") and find the picture under "serie amanecer y purga", "celula y yage"--stare at it with eyes out of focus, like you're looking at one of those visual puzzles or optical illusions. This is very similar to some images I personally had on medicine. We saw this man's art at a church in Cusco, really amazing.
Monday, July 14, 2008
waiting for the airport, books.
We´re in Lima, our flight leaves tonight. We don´t really like walking around Lima since the air is so thick with pollution, and the traffic is bad and it´s crowded overall. This city is really for visitors to fly through, not to be in for any extended period of time.
We went to another Govinda´s, apparently there are three in Lima. Neither of the two in Lima are as good as the one in Cusco, but they´re cheaper. Lots of fake meat with starch and oil and salt, not my cup of tea, but Roman likes them.
I´ve been reading a really good book by Paulo Coelho, a Brazilian author--Veronica decides to die. Also author of The Alchemist. Suicide is very interesting; I´ve never had the desire so it´s more interesting than morbid to me. I´m not into fiction, but there´s a lot of truth in this guy´s books. It´s also a simple, quick read--so I´m reading it in Spanish; I´ve never read a full book in Spanish before, but since the English version is simple, the Spanish is doable (also closer to the original Portuguese but much easier for me to read than Portuguese).
We met some Dutch people at the hostal... makes me want to study a few Dutch phrases. They were saying their language is so hard that no one learns it, so they have to leanr other languages (they were being frank, not conceited). So of course that piqued my curiosity. Wish I had time for foreign languages in grad school. My great hope is that at some point, they´ll let me take a Spanish class. If I take the next in sequence, of what I took in college, it´ll be very easy--just an intermediate comp and conversation class. I can go, practice, learn, and not really have to study outside of writing papers. It would be fantastic.
We went to another Govinda´s, apparently there are three in Lima. Neither of the two in Lima are as good as the one in Cusco, but they´re cheaper. Lots of fake meat with starch and oil and salt, not my cup of tea, but Roman likes them.
I´ve been reading a really good book by Paulo Coelho, a Brazilian author--Veronica decides to die. Also author of The Alchemist. Suicide is very interesting; I´ve never had the desire so it´s more interesting than morbid to me. I´m not into fiction, but there´s a lot of truth in this guy´s books. It´s also a simple, quick read--so I´m reading it in Spanish; I´ve never read a full book in Spanish before, but since the English version is simple, the Spanish is doable (also closer to the original Portuguese but much easier for me to read than Portuguese).
We met some Dutch people at the hostal... makes me want to study a few Dutch phrases. They were saying their language is so hard that no one learns it, so they have to leanr other languages (they were being frank, not conceited). So of course that piqued my curiosity. Wish I had time for foreign languages in grad school. My great hope is that at some point, they´ll let me take a Spanish class. If I take the next in sequence, of what I took in college, it´ll be very easy--just an intermediate comp and conversation class. I can go, practice, learn, and not really have to study outside of writing papers. It would be fantastic.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Lima
We got a mini-tour of a small area from a friend of Roman}s family. It was nice to get a Peruvian perspective. She works with a Swiss NGO on enviornmental and poverty issues, so she{s a progressive thinking person.
Lima is not that great. Dirty, humid, polluted, grey in the winter (which is now). Reminded me of LA or Miami (not that I}ve been in either city much). But our hostel is near an upscale grocery store, Viavanda!, with a produce selection enough to make you go raw (if you weren}t enjoying lovely vegetable and quinoa soups at the Hare Krishna chain Govinda--we also went to the one in Cusco). I had six chirimoyas today at less than 5 bucks a kilo. When I can find them at home they are 11 or 12 dollars a pound. (2.2 lbs=1 k). They are super sweet (I think I can only be 30-50% fruitarian before the sugar starts going to my head), but they also have sprouts, heriloom tomatoes, purple cauliflower (pretty sure it{s an heriloom variety), and many other beutiful things. This grocery store is honestly a rip-off compared to the outdoor markets, but it{s still much cheaper than at home--no comparison. And it}s clean and neat and organized (I won}t pretend I don}t like that--I}m from Minnesota and am used to things being neat and clean--but at least I don}t take it for granted).
Anyway, the grocery store made me pretty excited about Lima. It}s modern-day hunting and gethering, being at the grocery store. And there are some beautiful historic buildings. I just would never stay more than a day or two here. We do have tomorrow ahead of us, we leave at 11 pm, have an overnight flight, get to Jersey in the morning, and are home around 2 the next day.
Oh, about Govinda--they are apparently some chain that is at least in South America, maybe international. Each one is different, the menu here is not as big and good as in Cusco. There is also one in Aguas Calientes, the town outside Macchu Picchu (which we never made it to--that town is not so great anyway, from what I hear). But this one has a little boutique with Hare Krishna books in Spanish and Indian jewlery and clothes, and energy bars (with ingredients like maca and amaranth and sesame) and meat substitues (dried soy meats you add water and flavor to). Sadly, I am at capacity for things. I bought a bunch of sweaters, knowing they would be practical (since all my sweaters last winter were very old and kind of died), and a wall hanging, no knick-knacks, but they took up a ton of space. And I have to go on the plane wearing two pairs of pants and several shirts, otherwise I will have to pay for an additional bag coming home. So, no fun things from Govinda. At least it keeps me from buying things I don't need...
Lima is not that great. Dirty, humid, polluted, grey in the winter (which is now). Reminded me of LA or Miami (not that I}ve been in either city much). But our hostel is near an upscale grocery store, Viavanda!, with a produce selection enough to make you go raw (if you weren}t enjoying lovely vegetable and quinoa soups at the Hare Krishna chain Govinda--we also went to the one in Cusco). I had six chirimoyas today at less than 5 bucks a kilo. When I can find them at home they are 11 or 12 dollars a pound. (2.2 lbs=1 k). They are super sweet (I think I can only be 30-50% fruitarian before the sugar starts going to my head), but they also have sprouts, heriloom tomatoes, purple cauliflower (pretty sure it{s an heriloom variety), and many other beutiful things. This grocery store is honestly a rip-off compared to the outdoor markets, but it{s still much cheaper than at home--no comparison. And it}s clean and neat and organized (I won}t pretend I don}t like that--I}m from Minnesota and am used to things being neat and clean--but at least I don}t take it for granted).
Anyway, the grocery store made me pretty excited about Lima. It}s modern-day hunting and gethering, being at the grocery store. And there are some beautiful historic buildings. I just would never stay more than a day or two here. We do have tomorrow ahead of us, we leave at 11 pm, have an overnight flight, get to Jersey in the morning, and are home around 2 the next day.
Oh, about Govinda--they are apparently some chain that is at least in South America, maybe international. Each one is different, the menu here is not as big and good as in Cusco. There is also one in Aguas Calientes, the town outside Macchu Picchu (which we never made it to--that town is not so great anyway, from what I hear). But this one has a little boutique with Hare Krishna books in Spanish and Indian jewlery and clothes, and energy bars (with ingredients like maca and amaranth and sesame) and meat substitues (dried soy meats you add water and flavor to). Sadly, I am at capacity for things. I bought a bunch of sweaters, knowing they would be practical (since all my sweaters last winter were very old and kind of died), and a wall hanging, no knick-knacks, but they took up a ton of space. And I have to go on the plane wearing two pairs of pants and several shirts, otherwise I will have to pay for an additional bag coming home. So, no fun things from Govinda. At least it keeps me from buying things I don't need...
Friday, July 11, 2008
Last few days!!!
So, we never made it to Macchu Picchu, oh well. We enjoyed wandering around Cusco greatly. Getting a tour in a rickety trolley, seeing an art exhibit, going to a traditional dance show, trying out all the vegan options (better all vegetarian restaurants than Minneapolis!), and getting out of breath from the altitude every time we walk to our hostel :) Relaxing, how it should be.
I went to the dentist today and had a cleaning, it was about $25. When I said I had been a nutritionist, he asked if I was vegetarian. He said he wasn´t vegetarian, but he preferred vegetables to meat, and he knows many vegetarians. To him, vegetarians seem more peaceful (tranquilo). Is it the personality of someone who chooses to be vegetarian, or does avoiding meat make one more peaceful? He asked my opinion. I said, I don´t know, some say that eating meat makes you more aggressive, but there´s no proof.
It was funny, I had always assumed people who choose to be vegetarian were more peaceful, and the effect didn´t go the other way. But last summer, my dad (very agnostic/maybe atheist, not vegetarian at all) surprised me by saying he thought there must be some connection--you eat pork, you get to be more like a pig, etc. And that that could be concerning. And then I learned about the chemicals released by animals before they die, and how you literally consume their terror. And then learning about yogis and all that. So of course it´s not a one-to-one connection, but more and more it seems like there is a big effect. You can still be a vegan jerk, but at least you don´t have meat going in your system making you even more aggressive.
I went to the dentist today and had a cleaning, it was about $25. When I said I had been a nutritionist, he asked if I was vegetarian. He said he wasn´t vegetarian, but he preferred vegetables to meat, and he knows many vegetarians. To him, vegetarians seem more peaceful (tranquilo). Is it the personality of someone who chooses to be vegetarian, or does avoiding meat make one more peaceful? He asked my opinion. I said, I don´t know, some say that eating meat makes you more aggressive, but there´s no proof.
It was funny, I had always assumed people who choose to be vegetarian were more peaceful, and the effect didn´t go the other way. But last summer, my dad (very agnostic/maybe atheist, not vegetarian at all) surprised me by saying he thought there must be some connection--you eat pork, you get to be more like a pig, etc. And that that could be concerning. And then I learned about the chemicals released by animals before they die, and how you literally consume their terror. And then learning about yogis and all that. So of course it´s not a one-to-one connection, but more and more it seems like there is a big effect. You can still be a vegan jerk, but at least you don´t have meat going in your system making you even more aggressive.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
cloudy day, forgot what to say
Yesterday was a local strike (only agrarians) and today is a general, national strike. So I don´t think we will make it to Macchu Picchu (however it´s spelled). Maybe I just need to keep practing lucid dreaming and I´ll get to see it that way. We could do it tomorrow but it would be expensive and rushed. It takes at least eight hrs in transportation,. all of which are miserable (so everyone says). If you have to rush, it´s usually not worth it.
--dairy rant---I´m also a little crabby because I ordered a Thai veggie stir fry with tofu and rice. It came with alfredo sauce, who would guess. You have to ask about everything. I tried to wipe it off and eat it, but I don´t really see the point unless I am literally starving. I am not a baby cow, I feel like I´ll damage my system eating it. It stays in the body forever. My body even prefers french fries and it really dislikes french fries.
We should be okay drinking breastmilk until we are 6 before having cow´s milk. Then, consider it. I wonderif all the dairy desire, besides from the physiological addiction (from morphine-like compounds), is from repressed issues from not being nursed for long enough. I was the dairy queen one day, but I just don´t get it anymore. Anyway, for the next meal we asked and got something else right, so I am very happy for that. The cold is making me a little irritable today.
On the up and up, there was a place with vegan banana bread and coca bread. We ate the former, the latter smelled like grass ;)
--dairy rant---I´m also a little crabby because I ordered a Thai veggie stir fry with tofu and rice. It came with alfredo sauce, who would guess. You have to ask about everything. I tried to wipe it off and eat it, but I don´t really see the point unless I am literally starving. I am not a baby cow, I feel like I´ll damage my system eating it. It stays in the body forever. My body even prefers french fries and it really dislikes french fries.
We should be okay drinking breastmilk until we are 6 before having cow´s milk. Then, consider it. I wonderif all the dairy desire, besides from the physiological addiction (from morphine-like compounds), is from repressed issues from not being nursed for long enough. I was the dairy queen one day, but I just don´t get it anymore. Anyway, for the next meal we asked and got something else right, so I am very happy for that. The cold is making me a little irritable today.
On the up and up, there was a place with vegan banana bread and coca bread. We ate the former, the latter smelled like grass ;)
Monday, July 7, 2008
La hoja de coca no es droga
From Reuters PicturesEveryone drinks coca leaf tea here, it's like green tea in many countries. And similarly, there are health benefits from consuming the plant. Newcomers are encouraged to drink the tea, as it helps with altitude sickness, supposedly. You can buy candies and chocolates with it, powders and other extracts at health food stores. You don't even get a buzz unless you chew it for quite a while with some mineral lime (and then you get a buzz more steady than what you get with coffee--not such a let-down after, they say, so better). It tastes like grass, though. (Since I don't add sugar to my teas, I prefer anis or cinnamon).
I knew the CIA's policies were ridiculous and destructive, and that they are directing huge amounts of the whole cocaine and crack trade (this is well-known, not conspiracy theory, if you do a bit of homework). But I had no idea how ingrained coca was in the culture, even for people NOT farming it, in the city. It's a grassy-tasting leaf at worst! It's so funny how people are convinced in the US that coca leaf must be nearly coke (and it is true that Coca Cola had coca leaf in it before. Cocaine, no). Cold medicine might as well be equated with meth, cold medicine isn't even good for you (despite possibly making you feel better). It's so interesting how people can be manipulated to think the opposite of what is true.
Which reminds me, I have heard that flourididation of water calcifies the pineal gland, making people more gullible and sheep-like (yes, that would follow if flouride calcifies the pineal gland). I don't know if that is true. I do know that it is leftover toxic waste (rat poison, I think) from a manufacturing product, and it was a pretty good deal for the producers to get paid to put it in th water instead of disposing it. I also know we pushed flouridated water at WIC big time, and was never given a reason for it besides reduced caries. That plain doesn't make sense. Everything we did at WIC had other, more important motivation backing the usage of public funds for it. My boss practically said it herself. The government does not do things to be nice, there are always reasons. It gives food because it is subsidizing certain industries. It promotes breastfeeding because formula makes babies sick, and this is very costly for certain industries (HMOs mainly). It gives formula because the formula industry is also very powerful.
So, anyway, I always wondered what the real push for flouridated water was about. Caries can be reduced with dental cleaning and proper diet. And honestly, there are no special interests that care that much about caries. At the very least, I suspect it's a way of getting rid of an industry waste product. And the more I think about it, the more glad I am of moving to Ithaca, a town that fought mandatory flouridation and won. I love tap water, but maybe there are some cons...
spanish treatice on grammar
spanish things:
--cancelado here means PAID. cancelar in Mexican Spanish means what you{d think it would. This leads to hilarious confusion for newbies figuring it out--"What do you mean it{s canceled? I just tried to pay! Is something wrong with my money? Why do you keep saying it{s canceled!?"
--a lot of people have picked up spanish just from vacation in Mexico. I was in awe, they know all this slang and just picked it up without any books. Then I realized, grammar helps a LOT. I highly recommend it, to avoid misunderstanding and to more consciously create levels of politeness.
Ie I heard someone say "llegó para recoger la ropa" when he meant to say "llego para recoger la ropa". The other dude was confused and I said, look, one means someone else came to get the clothes, you want to say you are coming to get the clothes. And guy who said it couldn{t hear the difference. That{s hard! Then also when you don{t know grammar, you just spit out words with the basic meaning, which can sound rude. Luckily at my work I picked up lots of phrases. like to ask for the phone they{d say: "desculpe, señorita, no hay teléfono aquí?" or "no sabe donde hay un teléfono que podría usar por un momentito?" Much nicer than [quiero telefono{ (I want phone). So grammar is really great, even if it{s not natural to study.
Sorry this keyboard is bizarre :)
I also had a weird stomach thing. The pharmacists are awesome here, you tell them what you have, and they give it to you. And you don{t have to buy a whole box, you buy by the pill. Cheap and quick.
--cancelado here means PAID. cancelar in Mexican Spanish means what you{d think it would. This leads to hilarious confusion for newbies figuring it out--"What do you mean it{s canceled? I just tried to pay! Is something wrong with my money? Why do you keep saying it{s canceled!?"
--a lot of people have picked up spanish just from vacation in Mexico. I was in awe, they know all this slang and just picked it up without any books. Then I realized, grammar helps a LOT. I highly recommend it, to avoid misunderstanding and to more consciously create levels of politeness.
Ie I heard someone say "llegó para recoger la ropa" when he meant to say "llego para recoger la ropa". The other dude was confused and I said, look, one means someone else came to get the clothes, you want to say you are coming to get the clothes. And guy who said it couldn{t hear the difference. That{s hard! Then also when you don{t know grammar, you just spit out words with the basic meaning, which can sound rude. Luckily at my work I picked up lots of phrases. like to ask for the phone they{d say: "desculpe, señorita, no hay teléfono aquí?" or "no sabe donde hay un teléfono que podría usar por un momentito?" Much nicer than [quiero telefono{ (I want phone). So grammar is really great, even if it{s not natural to study.
Sorry this keyboard is bizarre :)
I also had a weird stomach thing. The pharmacists are awesome here, you tell them what you have, and they give it to you. And you don{t have to buy a whole box, you buy by the pill. Cheap and quick.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
move to cusco
The last eight nights we were in a small town 20 or 30 k from Cusco, in Pisac. Today we moved to Cusco, to see the city more. We had been thinking about doing it soon, then someone, a friend, wanted to kill a dog because it keeps on barking really loudly every night and it won´t shut up blah blah. The reasons are ridiculous. We stated our opinions clearly and then got out of there.
We might not make it to Machu Picchu. Very expensive. We shall see.
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Many interesting conversations lately. Aliens, maybe it´s true but it´s too much info for me. It seems doubtful humans are the only lifeform, silly infact. What else? Techniques for accelerated learning, to help you memorize or speed read faster. I´m interested since I will be started school. I suspect I already have many of the techniques down.
Will do more interesting post later.
Friday, July 4, 2008
post-san pedro
I´m not sure how to talk about my San Pedro experience. At this point I need to integrate everything I´ve learned with real life. I´ve done a lot in the past few weeks, I learned so much the other day... I had an extremely difficult time because my mind really likes to be in control. I had to take extra and be hit real strong. My mind was frantic, I have such a hard time letting go. It was good for me, but so so hard, I felt very desperate. Honestly, my mind is very smart and I need to learn to use it only when appropriate. Otherwise it tortures me. It´s a real curse in many ways. Roman was very very smart at letting go and being in the experience. For me, it was easier said than done. It´s much easier to say you will let go than do it. I couldn´t figure it out until now. Now my mind is just a bit quieter than it was before. And I have learned a lot.
One thing I was told after, that was nice to hear, is that sitting meditation is probably not right for me, not as a regular practice. My mind will just continue and not be forced to quiet at all. A moving meditation, like trance dance, is a much better spiritual practice for me personally.
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I had some stomach trouble for the first time last night. I think it´s because I had some tap water I wasn´t supposed to. I had fifteen drops of grapefruit seed extract in good water and it went away easily (though it´s very bitter). People who fear getting sick in another country are really just attrecting it to themselves. No one else seems to get very sick here.
http://www.ayahuasca-wasi.com is the website of a curandero I had my fourth, and most difficult ayahuasca experience with. They have some beautiful songs on their website (his wife also helps with ceremony).
One thing I was told after, that was nice to hear, is that sitting meditation is probably not right for me, not as a regular practice. My mind will just continue and not be forced to quiet at all. A moving meditation, like trance dance, is a much better spiritual practice for me personally.
----------------------------------------
I had some stomach trouble for the first time last night. I think it´s because I had some tap water I wasn´t supposed to. I had fifteen drops of grapefruit seed extract in good water and it went away easily (though it´s very bitter). People who fear getting sick in another country are really just attrecting it to themselves. No one else seems to get very sick here.
http://www.ayahuasca-wasi.com is the website of a curandero I had my fourth, and most difficult ayahuasca experience with. They have some beautiful songs on their website (his wife also helps with ceremony).
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
continuing on in cusco and pisac
My experience the other night was harrowing but very important. A lot of work, but I´m glad I went through it, especially now that I´m getting less sore from all the movement and everything. My friend had a ceremony the other night and he was told I needed another ceremony to finish what I started. I agree, that makes sense. So tomorrow I will take a different medicine, San Pedro. I think it will be great. It makes you experience what you really are. But the spirit of ayuahuasca is still in mysystem, even if physically it´s all gone. So I´ll have the help of two plants.
There are some New Age Americans around here. They have very good hearts but the philosophy is so selfish and near-sighted. They were talking about gold and aliens (?!) and I said the mining process is inherently very destructive. If you find some gold, fine, but often minerals want to stay in the ground. Mining gold requires arsenic and mercury. Even ´greener´versions of mining just pollute rivers less. Of course it is easy for us to say that that´s fine, because we don´t go in there and do the mining, or live by the polluted river. They didn´t want to hear that though. This one guy said that my statement was very loaded, with a lot of assumptions. Yes, true, but my assumptions were intentional. Of course gold doesn´t ´want´to stay in the ground like a human does, but that´s just a way of describing things, making it relatable. A better example is uranium. The writer Derrick Jensen describecd how some indigenous people say uranium wants to stay in the ground. Deep in the earth, it doesn´t cause problems for anyone. It´s supposed to be there. Take it out, it gets upset and makes people very sick. It wants to be underground, in a matter of speaking. Anyway... their discussion was getting very abstract and losing all meaning, so I should have cut out earlier.
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The people here don´t have much money, but have everything they need. It´s not that they are poor, but that their lives are simple. Everyone is very fit, including old people. No one is useless, they all can help in the fields of with the animals. They have enough food and the children are free--since they can do what they want, and are treated with repsect (since they help out with everyone), they aren´t so defiant at home. They are also well dressed, in hand-knit sweaters.
One gross thing is that meat for sale is just left out--not very sanitary. All the organs and everything are just sitting there for hours.
Last night I wanted to buy brocolli. I looked at the scale and said, Ís that blood?¨. The lady said, oh, no problem, it´s dried. Well, I used to work with blood, taking hemoglobins for WIC. I don´t think it´s gross or scary, but it´s a great vector for disease, even dried. Everyone enjoyed the look of horror on my face. She could eventually see I wasn´t going to buy the brocolli if I had to put it on the scale, and didn´t make me weight it.
There are some New Age Americans around here. They have very good hearts but the philosophy is so selfish and near-sighted. They were talking about gold and aliens (?!) and I said the mining process is inherently very destructive. If you find some gold, fine, but often minerals want to stay in the ground. Mining gold requires arsenic and mercury. Even ´greener´versions of mining just pollute rivers less. Of course it is easy for us to say that that´s fine, because we don´t go in there and do the mining, or live by the polluted river. They didn´t want to hear that though. This one guy said that my statement was very loaded, with a lot of assumptions. Yes, true, but my assumptions were intentional. Of course gold doesn´t ´want´to stay in the ground like a human does, but that´s just a way of describing things, making it relatable. A better example is uranium. The writer Derrick Jensen describecd how some indigenous people say uranium wants to stay in the ground. Deep in the earth, it doesn´t cause problems for anyone. It´s supposed to be there. Take it out, it gets upset and makes people very sick. It wants to be underground, in a matter of speaking. Anyway... their discussion was getting very abstract and losing all meaning, so I should have cut out earlier.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The people here don´t have much money, but have everything they need. It´s not that they are poor, but that their lives are simple. Everyone is very fit, including old people. No one is useless, they all can help in the fields of with the animals. They have enough food and the children are free--since they can do what they want, and are treated with repsect (since they help out with everyone), they aren´t so defiant at home. They are also well dressed, in hand-knit sweaters.
One gross thing is that meat for sale is just left out--not very sanitary. All the organs and everything are just sitting there for hours.
Last night I wanted to buy brocolli. I looked at the scale and said, Ís that blood?¨. The lady said, oh, no problem, it´s dried. Well, I used to work with blood, taking hemoglobins for WIC. I don´t think it´s gross or scary, but it´s a great vector for disease, even dried. Everyone enjoyed the look of horror on my face. She could eventually see I wasn´t going to buy the brocolli if I had to put it on the scale, and didn´t make me weight it.
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