Today I had a disappointing day with the Kanekiki raw vegan community. However, the day didn’t start bad at all. I woke up at 5 a.m. feeling very rested and headed to the Kanekiki community room right away. I had a nice, long yoga session by myself and got some work done on the computer.
Sharing My Doubts About Raw Veganism with my Parents
I also got to talk to my parents for half an hour. During our conversation I told them that lately I have been wondering how long I will continue to be on the raw vegan / fruitarian diet. I shared that yesterday some doubts began to creep in after seeing Andy eat some toasts with peanut butter. I also shared that after hanging out with Andy I talked to Jake who reminded me that raw veganism and fruitarianism are better options long term.
My parents were better supportive as often. They explained that different things work for different people at different times for different reasons and that all I can do is embrace were I am and the perspectives I have right now. They reminded me that other people’s actions, reasons and perspective are their own and I can’t compare myself to them. Their words were very caring and they resonated in me as the sound of well-aged wisdom.
Field Trip to Green Sand Beach with the Kanekiki Community
As soon as I finished talking to my parents I put my boots, pants and work shirt on and headed downstairs for our morning meeting. To my surprise, meeting had been canceled. Instead, there was a planned field trip which I had forgotten about, the destination was Green Sand Beach which is one of two beaches in the world containing green sand.
I quickly changed back into my hangout clothes, packed my bag for the day and ate six papayas fairly quickly. I also packed another six papayas to take with me so I could continue my seven day papaya fast. Today was day two.
We left 20 minutes after the agreed time, late enough to bother me. Then we took an unplanned stop at the grocery store for some people to buy cooked food. I was upset about this because we spent a whole hour there waiting for people to eat. It was especially annoying because we are supposed to be a raw vegan community.
Once we got back on the road I began to feel a little bit better. We stopped at some unknown beach on our way to our finally destination, I don’t remember the name of the place but it was quite nice. I took some lovely pictures and spent some time alone, we only stayed there for 30 minutes and then got back on the road.
After parking our car at the Green Sand’s parking lot we took a hike to the actual beach. It took us a whole hour to make it all the way there. The hike was through an arid dessert next to the ocean, it was sad to see tons of trash piled up on the shore on our way to the beach. It was very shocking, I wasn’t expecting that at all.
The walk there wasn’t too bad, although I did feel a little annoyed having to wait for some people on our group who were walking slowly.
My Experience at Green Sand Beach
Arriving to the beach was quite impressive, we came in through the side of a massive opening with tall cliffs on both sides and the beach all the way at the bottom in between them.
Destiny and I headed over first. As soon as we got all the way down to the beach I climbed to one of the sides of the cliffs and found a cool cave. I meditated there for a bit and recorded some audio to write future blogs.
After that I walked back down to the beach and by then I was ready to head back home. I packed my things and headed back to the car, hoping everyone would soon join me there. The walk back was a little painful, it was hot and dusty and very dry. The only company I had were the truck shuttles who were driving tourists back and forth from the parking lot to the beach. On the other hand, I enjoyed my time alone, it gave me an opportunity to reflect.
As soon as I got back to the car I opened the trunk and ate the papayas I had brought. They felt very gratifying. After that I sat in the car and listened to some YouTube videos, it was my first time watching YouTube videos in a while. It was somewhat useful and entertaining but I didn’t get much out of them. I am excited to get my own videos out and share information I know is nowhere else on the web.
Heart Breaking Realization: Kanekiki is not a Raw Vegan Community
An hour later everyone got back to the car. During their walk back the group had decided to head back without stopping at South Point, which was part of our original plan, this bothered me and I had no option but to agree. On top of that, the group decided to stop at a restaurant in Pahoa to eat cooked food. That was the drop that over-spilled my cup.
My anger was so big that I began to doubt if I wanted to stay at the Kanekiki raw vegan community, now that I look at it from this perspective, the community doesn’t seem as raw vegan as I hoped. I looked into the website and found that the information there was somewhat misleading since it doesn’t seem that Kanekiki is a fully raw vegan community, at best I would say it is a community of people who practice raw veganism. I would like to say that it is a community of people who aspire to be raw vegans but the behavior of many people in the community shows otherwise.
The sad truth is that less than half of the people in the Kanekiki farm could be called raw vegans, everyone else seems to eat cooked food at least once a week, some do it almost every day. I didn’t realize how much this has been bothering me until today. That being said, this was one of the main reasons why I almost left on Day 3.
While I was on the car, Destiny asked why I was angry and I told her that I was upset that we call Kanekiki a raw vegan community when most of the people in the community consume cooked foods. We spent the next ten minutes having an argument in the car. Luckily I didn’t get very involved in it, instead, I put on my headphones and listened to some mantra on my phone. It was my way to cope with the frustration.
I ended up asking Jo to drop me off near the Kanekiki farm so I wouldn’t have to wait for the “cooked food group”. Barb picked me up. She asked how I was doing and I told her what was going on. She was happy to hear me talk and sympathized with what I was going through.
Thinking about Leaving the Kanekiki Farm
I am truly angry and I don’t know how I will cope with this but I will certainly let the community know about my frustration. I am not afraid to speak up my mind. A big part of me feels that we should change the description on the website because saying that Kanekiki is a raw vegan community misrepresents what the community is currently doing as a whole.
Like I said before, saying that we are a group of people that practice the raw vegan diet would be more accurate. Some people, however, don’t seem to care at all about practicing raw veganism and are happy eating cooked food whenever they want.
This situation has me thinking if I should leave and go somewhere else, perhaps a place that is more supportive of the lifestyle I wish to explore. Who knows, I might do that, it is not the first time I have thought about leaving the Kanekiki farm because it doesn’t meet my needs.
This time, however, is different to what happened on Day 3. This time cooked foods are not as tempting. I know I want to stay raw, I know I want to be a fruitarian. I don’t have much of an issue with people eating cooked foods if they choose, but I don’t want them calling themselves raw vegans or part of a raw vegan community if that is not what they practice. It is a matter of integrity and a matter of having our actions meet our words. Tomorrow is our weekly community meeting and I will surely speak up.
Papaya Fast and Time Outside the Kanekiki Farm
In regards to the papaya fast I have been on, I am happy to say that it has been quite easy. Even more so considering that I spent the last two days outside the Kanekiki farm. I am sure it will be even easier to stay on the papaya fast if I remain at the farm.
One more thing I noticed which I want to add: I have spent most of the last three days outside the Kanekiki farm. First I went to Hilo, then to Kalani and the Kahena beach, and today we were on the road most of the day, walking in the dessert and spending some time at Green Sand Beach. It is clear to me that I feel much better on the days I stay at the Kanekiki farm. That is a good thing to notice.
However, the discomfort and anger I feel towards the Kanekiki “raw vegan community” right now may lead to me spending more time alone in my hut. The benefit of that will be that I will have more time to write, make videos, meditate and practice yoga.
We will see where all this goes.
