chocolate

It's possible and not at all ususual for me to enjoy raw cacao beans straight from the pod. It's certainly not uncommon for me to have one of Dharma's ricolate chocolate balls or a cacao shot after lunch. Raw chocolate is a superfood enjoyed by absolutely everyone in this community, often. So why then were Arya and I desperately looking for chocolate last night? Our diet is about 80% raw here, pretty healthy in all respects, which is probably why the ocassional craving for junk jumps us all.
Last night we finally found solace in a new and delicious concoction which forever after will be known as low-vibe paradise. It's hard to convey how difficult it is to get one's hands on junk food. It means actually leaving pachamama and travelling at least 10 miles to the nearest shop (fairly hard without a vehicle), working with real money and then returning post haste without devouring every additive laden morsel on the way.
Hence the excitement last night. We had a jar, or rather a half jar of Nutella (have you ever read the ingredients list? the stuff is actually toxic), half a packet of broken mantequilla biscuits and the dregs of a bag of organic cashews and almonds. We mixed the whole lot together in the jar and with a couple of forks thoroughly enjoyed it. Soooo good. Soooo good. We are now planning to add raisins and maybe even some condensed milk. Wow . . .
But we'll have to wait perhaps til the end of the month before we get the chance. Ah, the anticipation!

sundays

I love sundays. I'm lying on Arya's floor, full of coffee, sunshine and love for the universe. There's an omlette cooking on the stove, the birds are singing, the music's playing, the monkeys are howling, Hoss is snoozing. Brimming full of smiles and that lovely cafeine infused haziness at the back of one's brain. So today, what to do? Ride for sure, hmm, what else? Write a letter, do laundry, prepare kindergarten for the week, work out what we're doing for the bar on tuesday night.
The bar . . . I love working the bar. It's a raw, open air place sheltered below mango and an ancient orange tree, the monkeys are hanging out in the mangos these days picking the half-size unripe fruits. It can be a little dodgy sitting below them, but they come early in the morning, I don't think they enjoy the music. Other than tuesday nights and friday afternoons when alcohol is also served, the bar is totally raw and hi-energy. So far we've had ecstatic dance nights and world music dance parties, the place has been jumping. Right now we have no dj lined up for this week. I could ask Lino but he's been in silence for the last week and might not be ready for a party. He plays 80s stuff, might be time? Nirav will play next week, I don't know what he does, looking forward to it though. He hasn't dj'd here yet, there are so many other djs, and I think he's nervous, there's fairly stiff competition - everyone has a niche though, I wonder what his style is? Maybe I should check it out. Arya and I run the night and work the bar, we're good back there, giving plenty of chat and we always end up with a guy helping out. It's a good night. There's a woman visiting who does 5 rhythms dance, perhaps? We need to keep off the ecstatic for a couple of weeks because there'll be a big trance party for the solstice with Tyohar. Hmm, lost myself in work for a while there. I love dancing and it's been an odd journey to develop the love. I did the whole ballet/tap/modern thing when I was a kid, a little kid, but music wasn't encouraged in the house and so somehow I missed out on dancing for the sake of it. The whole disco / nightclub scene was too full of emotional drama and experimenting for me to dance very much. When I was with Jon he never danced so we didn't go anywhere one could really let go with music. I danced at home with the cats and the windows shut. After Jon I started middle eastern dance and loved it, danced with two troupes. I was taking salsa and merengue classes in Monteverde and dancing at clubs, but it seems that finally here I can really just dance. It has always felt like a meditation but before I had form to move around within, now it's free without need for external support. Finally I can just get into the music, rhythm, the way my body feels. So glorious. So simple and so true. Just the body, the stillness that comes within when the body is in motion, moved by something greater. Bloody lovely.
That's my mate Dhanyam working the bar yesterday morning, isn't he a love? He's going back to Greece at the end of the month for a while, I'll miss him.