Today I had one of the best days ever! Once again I am on track to become a fruitarian bodybuilder and everything with the Kanekiki community is going super well.
The Fruitarian Bodybuilder is also called: Dr. Machete
This morning I woke up pretty late, I think it was 7:15 a.m. when I got out of bed, just in time for our morning meeting. I volunteered continue to cut the overgrown cane grass on the back of the property. So far, working with the machete continues to be my favorite job.
This time I got to work on a fresh area all by myself. It was by far the most productive work day I had in the farm since I got here. Don’t get me wrong, I love working in groups, but I can certainly get more done when I work on my own. It was awesome to see how much space I got to clear up in just two hours.
The most exciting part of my work day was clearing up the maze to find a banana tree that had fruit in it. It was actually ready to pick! I had an awesome time, seriously, it was great.
Smoothie and Work
I was having such a good time working that I didn’t realize I had gone 15 minutes over my time. I guess it is true what they say “time flies when you are having fun”.
After putting my tools back in their place I went to the kitchen to make myself a smoothie. On my way there I saw Ray, one of my friends here, cutting some coconuts. I asked her to cut one for me and used the fresh coconut water for my smoothie. I also added bananas and papayas, of course. =D
I drank my smoothie upstairs in the community room while working on the computer editing an e-book for my friend Sam. Her book is about the raw vegan diet and how to eat well. I am having fun reading it and sharing my opinion with her.
The Fruitarian Bodybuilder hits the Gym HARD
After washing my smoothie jar I headed to the Kanekiki gym for a workout. I was feeling inspired and knew that I was going to have a good time. This time I brought my phone to listen to some motivational music which certainly helped get me in the mood.
I went over the same routine I set up when I started. The circuit contains a single exercise for squats, bench press, pullups, triceps, biceps and shoulders, I do these in a row, one after the other, with little to no rest in between.
Halfway through my workout a couple of lovely ladies joined me at the gym. It was great to have their company because it motivated me to continue to workout hard. It was also pretty funny because I was working out in my boxers, which are colorful and pretty cute.
I was feeling so energized that instead of doing 3 sets of the circuit I did 4. The experience was much different from the first few times that I exercises at the Kanekiki gym. This time I felt very productive and more comfortable with the flow.
Showers, Exhibitionism and Washing my Hair once in a While
After my workout I headed straight to the showers. It was fun to walk across the kitchen wearing nothing but my boxers and boots. This is a pretty open community and I can get away with things here that I wouldn’t do elsewhere. I actually got some complements on my boxers which was really nice.
When I got to the showers, which are right next to the kitchen, I took all my clothes off and headed in. the water was super cold! That was certainly a bummer and quite unexpected. Looks like I will have to take a leading role on making sure the stove is on during cloudy rains so that we can have some warm water in the tank.
Despite the temperature of the shower I was still able to clean my hair which now feels great. It was my first time washing my hair after a handful of days, two of which included a getting into the ocean. I thought my hair was going to feel worse but it actually feels really nice. Who would have guessed….
Radical Self-Expression at the Kanekiki Farm
After my shower I rinsed off and put on some clean clothes, my choice for the day: yoga pants, also known as meggins (leggings for men). This is obviously something that I don’t wear often, unless I am going to a festival or a similar event.
The reason why I can get away with all of this “radical self-expression” is because this community is very accepting and supportive of my personal expression. You learn to be more accepting of others when you live in the jungle with a group of hippie farmers. I love it, it makes me feel better than at home.
Learning No-Violent Communication
I prepared myself another smoothie and headed upstairs for a phone call. The call was with the lovely Catherine Cooley, a friend from Santa Barbara who offers coaching sessions to improve our relationships with each other.
Interestingly enough, the techniques she taught me during our call is based on the book Non-Violent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg. This technique helps people connect compassionately with one another and facilitates interactions in an honest and open way. I found it interesting that Catherine chose this approach since Non-Violent Communication is heavily practiced at the Kanekiki farm.
The conversation with Catherine lasted an hour and left me feeling very empowered. More than anything we talked about my relationship with my sister and we figured out ways to improve it. I am sure it will help.
Eye Gazing and Chanting
After my conversation with Catherine I found myself at the community room interacting with some of my Kanekiki friends. There was a visitor with us as well, a girl, also by the name of Catherine, who used to live in the farm.
I noticed her playing a game with Andy, it was a staring game, also known as White Tantra. During their session they stared at each other for 33 minutes, counted by the clock. It was pretty impressive to witness. I love eye gazing but I have never done it for such lengthy amount of time. I asked Sam if she would be open to do it with me and she said “yes, but later”. I am excited to give it a try. I know eye gazing is profound.
Before leaving, I asked Catherine to give me her partner’s phone number. She said he practiced Kirtan, which is one of my passions, and I look forward to connect with him and hopefully sing along.
Another Round of Giant Fruitarian Salads
At some point Ray walked into the community room and announced that she was going to start making her daily fruitarian salad. I couldn’t resist the temptation and decided to join along.
* In case you are wondering, I am referring to this as a temptation because my goal as a fruitarian bodybuilder is to stick to fruit and little else. Ray’s fruitarian salads are gigantic and even though they contain mostly fruit, they also contain other things which I don’t think are ideal for the fruitarian diet I want to follow. *
Sam decided to join in, but she was busy working so we started the salad for her. A couple more people joined in our salad party, including Destiny, Jake and Elise. An hour and a half later, we were all sitting together at a table in the community room.
We all ate our own salads and shared with others to taste the varieties we had. My favorite salad was Jakes, it had tons of tahini on it. My least favorite was Destiny’s, fermented coconut is not my thing.
After finishing my fruitarian salad I asked Jake to share some more of his. It was delicious, I could have ate the whole thing, and then exploded, so I decided not to. It is interesting that raw foods can still make me crave for more. I noticed that it is usually the fats that have this effect on me. When it comes to cooked foods, I think that almost any dish has the same effect. The benefit of eating raw is that I can eat as much as I want and an hour later, or two at most, I will feel as new.
Diet and the Origins of Humans
After finishing dinner we all stayed in the community room and hanged together for a while. Our first group activity included a philosophical conversation on the origins of humans. We all agreed that, according to what we know, humans are an islander species and thus the raw vegan, fruitarian diet, makes the most sense (yes, we are bias, just like everyone else). From there we got into some fun and interesting tangents that I will not expand further on. They were silly to say the least. =D
Closing the Night with Cherries on Top
Towards the end of night I decided to grab the guitar and sing some of my original songs. Destiny joined me with her drums and Sam came to sing along.
We ended up passing the guitar around and sang together. We performed some original songs and also sang some classics like “Sounds of Silence” and “Imagine”. We only needed a bonfire and it would have been gold.
After we ran out of songs we started to make songs up. We chose a couple of easy chords and then played a game where we would all sit in a circle and make up a verse when it was our turn. WE-HAD-A-BLAST. It was the most fun I had since I moved here and the most fun I have had in a very long time. I cried of laughter, it was a very sweet experience.
We finished off the night by writing a song that we plan on sharing with the whole Kanekiki community at some point in the near future.
Now it is 11:30 p.m. and I am falling asleep. I have been tired since we stopped singing but I wanted to make sure I write this blog before I go to bed. I know my audience is waiting for the next episode of the life of the fruitarian bodybuilder. =P
Thank you for reading, it is always a pleasure to share my life with you, and a special thanks to the people who have been following this blog for the past week. Thanks and much LOVE.
READ ABOUT DAY 10
