I am writing yesterday’s blog since last night I was so tired I went to bed at 8 p.m. I had an exhausting day at Kanekiki.
Rising Sun, Setting Moon
As you remember from Day 14, yesterday morning I woke up in Hilo after going to Trevor Hall’s concert in Kona. The house where we staid had three dogs inside a cage in the kitchen, next to the living room where we slept. The dogs cried and barked all night long and I wasn’t able to sleep. As soon as it was early enough I got up and walked to the bus stop.
The walk was very nice, the sun was rising, the full moon was setting and I enjoyed stretching my legs. During the walk I recorded yesterday’s blog on my phone and made it to downtown Hilo just in time to take the bus back to Kanekiki.
Sun rising, moon setting. Yes, I need to update my camera
Bus Ride Back to Kanekiki
The bus ride was loud and uncomfortable but it wasn’t nearly as bad as the first time I rode the bus from Hilo. That time I felt sick and restless, I thought it was the bus ride but I think it had to do more with the chocolate, chips and soup I had eaten that day.
On the bus there was a pretty girl sitting by herself a couple of rows behind me. I thought about talking to her a few times but in my mind it seemed she was not interested. How silly right? She actually ended up getting off one stop before me. We could have become friends, but now she is part of the past. She is the third girl in Hawaii I regret not talking to so far. There is something to change.
The bus dropped me off a mile from Kanekiki. I began to walk home and the first truck that drove by stopped to lift me up. It was my first time walking alone and never before I had gotten a ride so quickly. I jumped on the back of the truck and sang as I saw the trees pass by. It was one of my most joyful moments of this trip but there have been so many already I am starting to loose count.
Riding in the back of a pick up truck
The Fruitarian Bodybuilder Destroys the Kanekiki Gym
When I arrived to the farm I had so much energy I didn’t know what to do. I headed upstairs, worked on my computer for a while and then went to the Kanekiki gym. I lifted for about half an hour.
It seems that I have increased my lifting volume by 20% from when I started. I am doing more reps and heavier weight. I don’t know if this is due to my increased sense of comfort or if I am actually gaining some fruitarian muscle. Either way I am getting closer to become the fruitarian bodybuilder of my dreams.
Loving my time at the Kanekiki gym
My Fruitarian Meal Plan Failed Me Once Again
After my workout I headed to the kitchen and made myself a large glass of orange juice. I had not eaten or drank anything, not even water, for the previews 18 hours and I was considering to continue my dry fast but it seemed appropriate to consume some calories after my workout.
The orange juice felt good and I didn’t regret that at all. However, an hour later we had a large community meal to say goodbye to Elisa and that I did regret because I ended up overeating which I had promised myself not to do.
I felt pretty upset right after the meal, there was a huge contrast between how I felt then and how I had felt during the previews 18 hours. It was clear that neither a night of no sleep nor the two hour bus ride from Hilo where as bad as eating too much. That being said, I enjoyed sharing a delicious meal with the Kanekiki group.
Sharing gratitude for our Kanekiki community meal
NonViolent Communication with the Kanekiki Community
I laid on the couch and worked on yesterday’s blog. At 2:30 p.m. a lady came to the community room to teach our bi-weekly nonviolent communication class. I had a great time and I learned a ton. I found NVC super valuable and I will certainly be practicing more inside and outside Kanekiki.
During our class the teacher spoke about feelings and needs, how to recognize them in us and in others, how to communicate, what strategies to use to get these needs met and what to do when we can’t meet these needs for ourselves or others. I found the information priceless and I am eager to start practicing.
I took a picture of the photocopies I kept for myself. You can look at these to get more familiar with everyone’s basic feeling and needs.
These are our human needs
These are our human feelings
Another Fruitarian Meal Plan Failure
As soon as our class was over I headed downstairs for more food. I wasn’t hungry but I felt that I needed some “sensual pleasure”. Now that I look back I think that perhaps I needed something else…
I had a salad with avocado and papaya and once again I felt that I had eaten too much, this time it was even worse than before. On top of that I was agitated because my body was needing rest and I wasn’t giving it. I need to learn how to take better care of myself. I also need a better fruitarian meal plan, so far this one hasn’t worked so well.
Non-Violent Communication with Bill
As soon as I finished eating I headed upstairs for our Speak Easy meeting, this time Bill was in charge of facilitating the meeting. Everyone was excited for Bill to lead and we ended up having a huge turnout including four people who had not attended either of the meetings I had facilitated last week. In one hand I was glad they were there, on the other I wondered why they came to Bill’s meeting and not mine.
I figured that maybe they thought Bill’s meeting would be better since he is much older than me and has been running the farm for six years. I actually didn’t like his meeting that much and certainly didn’t think it was better, more productive or efficient than the ones I facilitated.
I hate to be judgmental and I also don’t like comparing myself to others but I noticed that during the meetings I ran there was more interaction between the participants, the conversation where deeper and more proactive and participants where more engaged and present with each other.
Bill did more talking and teaching than I did but I thought that my approach was better because it spread the wisdom evenly among the whole group instead of creating a teacher-student paradigm.
At one point I felt so tired and frustrated that I thought about leaving the meeting but I decided to stay to support Bill and the group, I am sure some people got a lot out of it, I even benefited from it myself, but I thought it had a lot of room for improvement and I hope I get to run the next meetings or that at least we continue to use the system I brought which I find to be more engaging and effective at creating authentic communication and connection between participants.
Unfortunately I don’t have a picture of our meeting, so I am posting this one of me and cloud. My precious,… =P
Cloud the cat, my precious =P
Closing the Night with Some Kanekiki Love
By the time the meeting was over I was exhausted. Sam approached me, gave me a big hug and asked what my plans where for the night. I told her I had none but I did want to hang out with her so I invited her to lay with me while we think what to do.
We ended up talking about her and the discomfort and fears she feels in regards to leaving Kanekiki for three weeks to visit her family back at home in the mainland. I was glad that I had a chance to be present for her and help her sort things out. I felt that we both gained much insight on the topic of meeting our needs and finding strategies to have quality time with our family and friends.
We ended up cuddling for an hour or so. While we laid there I gave her a gentle massage and did some bodywork on her. I felt and think that our time together was valuable and I am sure she will be feeling much better today.
Dreams within Dreams within Dreams
Eventually Sam got up and go to bed and I almost decided to sleep in the community room. I was so comfortable and so tired I didn’t want to get up. Eventually I gathered my strength and took my body back to my hut. As soon as I got there I went to bed but I struggled to fall asleep for at least 30 minutes. My belly felt full and my mind was restless.
Eventually I fell asleep. I had a ton of dreams, many of them related to women, my friends from Argentina, my father and my mother’s high school. I also dream that was playing a basketball game against a whole crowd of people including children and nuns from my mom’s high school. It was weird, but I have been having weird dreams since I got to Kanekiki so it ain’t a big deal.
Kanekiki’s Musical Huts
I woke up at 5 a.m. to the sound and vibration of my roommate’s footsteps. I already asked him to be gentler with his step but I think he simply can’t do it. I don’t know if I should train him on ninja walking or if I simply need to move to another hut. Moving to another hut sounds more appealing so I will be talking to Barb about that today.
Thank you for reading,
Wishing you well,
