I woke up early today, 6 a.m. or so. Instead of staying in bed, I got up, headed to the community room and did some gentle yoga and a little bit of qigong. Another great day to be a fruitarian in Kanekiki.
Riding to the Market and Resisting Temptations
After that I put some clothes on and got ready to go to the “Maku” market. This is the market that happens every Sunday near Pahoa in Hawaii and almost everyone from Kanekiki likes to go. We had a fun ride there, Sam drove the van and we packed 8 people in it.
Before heading to the market we stopped by the Natural Store which is the equivalent of a mini-market. I usually don’t like going there because everything is super expensive and there is nothing there that I need or truly want to get. Most of what they sell is either cooked, processed or something that we can get much cheaper at the market or for free at the farm.
I was actually quite proud of myself for being able to walk all the isles and not get a single unhealthy thing. I have to admit though, I did end up getting some alfalfa sprouts. That was my “treat”.
Fruit, Drugs, Alcohol and Music at the Market
We made it to the market around 9 a.m., it was raining on and off. I went straight to Gloria’s stand which is the only one that I know to have organic, pesticide free fruits and vegetables. She doesn’t have a lot of variety but she does have some delicious tomatoes and some nice cucumbers that come in two different varieties. I also bought some longans which are fruits from a tropical tree. Delicious.
After getting some green beans, celery and bell peppers from a different stand, I met up with our Kanekiki group and sat down to snack on my longans. Our table was next to the markets music stage which always has a different musician sharing the love.
I really enjoyed those 30 minutes at the market. The longans were awesome and fun to eat. The music was great, a mixture of blues, country and island folk. Most of his songs were about sex, drugs and alcohol, none of which are promoted at Kanekiki. However, the songs where so catchy I could not help myself to singing along and even danced for a bit.
Delicious longans
Gloria’s produce stand at Maku Market
Party with Mr. Jack
Our ride back from the market was as awesome as our ride there. On the way back I played a couple of songs from my phone, including 31 Flavors from Trevor Hall (which is actually playing in Kona in three days and will be going to see him live! =D )
As soon as we arrived to the farm I put all my produce on the fridge and finished up my bag of longans. I could have eaten another pound or two if I had them.
Luckily I didn’t get to experience any hunger. Thirty minutes after finishing my longans we decided to open up Mr. Jack, also known as jack fruit. The jack fruit grows on a tree and is from the same family as figs and mulberries, but hundreds of times bigger.
Everyone here loves jack fruit and we tend to open one every few days and share it together with the community. The fruit is delicious but the best part of it is the experiencing of eating a single piece of fruit with a dozen people. The only downside to the jack fruit experience is that my fingers get very sticky from handling the fruit and it is hard to get the stickiness off.
The Kanekiki crew getting hands on the jack fruit
I got jack fruit eyes! =D
Champagne Ponds and my Time Alone
After eating my fair share of jack fruit I decided to grab a dozen bananas for myself to fill up. Jack fruit is delicious but there is never enough because so many people have their hands on it, literally. The bananas got the job done and after that I went upstairs to finish my blog post for Day 10.
About an hour later or so I got invited to make another trip to the champagne ponds. These ponds are a special place where the ocean meets natural springs to create a small bay that contains layers of hot and cold water. We take our snorkels there and have an awesome time. I shared more about these ponds during my blog about Day 8.
As soon as we got to the ponds I decided to go on a walk to have some time alone. I ended up sitting by the ocean and threw some stones at a coconut while letting my mind wonder. I also took some notes of the things I am most afraid of because I want to make a blog and/or a vlog about them in the near future.
After my time alone I joined the group inside the water. I put my snorkel on and swam around the bay, there were plenty of gorgeous fish swimming around, it was a cool experience to swim with them. Fifteen minutes later I was out of the water, just in time to dry of before the sun went down.
No Longer Over-eating on the Fruitarian Diet
We made it back to Kanekiki with enough time to get some produce out of the fridge before the 5 p.m. deadline. I made myself a salad with celery, cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes and one of the best avocados I’ve had since I got here.
I was careful not to make too much, and I think I did a pretty good job. Although, I did end up going back to the kitchen to get some raw tahini on my salad, it tasted too plane without it. To be honest, I don’t think I needed it, I guess I am afraid of eating food that doesn’t explode in my mouth. It is weird to accept how much I have been grown accustomed to sensual stimulation.
I guess that these fears and habits are also parts of my life that I am working to change. I have to give them time thought, it is hard to drop everything all at once. I am proud that despite the extra raw tahini on my salad, I didn’t feel that I had over eaten by the time I finished. As far as I am concerned, today’s fruitarian diet was a success.
Today’s salad: Cucumbers, tomatoes and MAGIC
Tonight I feel like an angel O:p
Movie Night with the Kanekiki Crew
We finished the evening with a movie, “The Edge”. Bill had promised it to be great but I thought it was so-so, the acting was good but the plot and the way the story was written was a little off for me. I am overly critical though, but I will still give it a 6 …. However, watching the movie with the Kanekiki group made it an 8. Despite that it was a suspense movie we all laughed a lot. It is interesting how quickly I am getting used to and comfortable with this group of people, it is hard to believe I have only known them for 11 days.
Everyone went to bed around 8:30 p.m., a few of us stayed up talking and looking at each other’s Facebook pics. It is wild to see how much we have all changed over the last years.
Five years ago I would have not guessed that I would end up spending six weeks at a raw vegan community farm. I also wouldn’t have guessed that I would be writing a blog. Sometimes it seems that life has its own plan for us.
