InanItah Massage Program

Have you seen this?  I hope so.  Just wanted to post it for those who may have missed.
One of many amazing things continuing on the Isla de Ometepe.

http://www.inanitah.com/giving/introduction/massage-program-2/

Feeling the Flow, Riding the Wave: A Prayer to Bali, Burning Man, and Other Places On Earth.

Tonight, as the sacred temple burns, may the crazy, beautiful magic of the mulitverse shine brightly
within us, illuminating us with unimaginable blessings. 

Opening doors, windows, breaking down walls,
to reveal to us the multi-dimensional nature
of our co-creative selves.
Weaving this into the morphic fields of consciousness.

May this recognition propel us to journey wildly, ecstatically, and courageously
 into life as well as into death. 
Warriors of light, beings of love.

Listening deeply to the voice of that which arises in inspiration.
Trusting deeply that which saturates our hearts with achy, joyful, fullness.
Healing and being healed by the hearts, minds, and souls of all those we encounter. 

Gracefully we balance in the temporal blessing of embodiment
as well as to our eternal belonging to all that is and all that ever will be.

Allow us to be
 vibrantly awakened and connected.

As within, so without.

Valerie Hope Cherrin
September 4, 2011
Asheville, NC

On the Move, In the Mood

Today I'm sitting in my dear friend's apartment in Asheville, NC.  My observation about Asheville is that there are people creating conscious community here like nowhere else I've seen in the states in a town this size (83,000 aprox).   It's quite inspiring to see.  This weekend is the LAAFF festival, Lexington Avenue Arts and Fun Festival with local music and expression in the streets.  More on that after I've visited.

I've been hanging out back in the USA for just over 2 months now and will be here for close to another 2 before going back down to Latin America and towards my new home on Ometepe.  (www.Inanitah.com) to teach yoga and massage.
When I first came back to the states the thing that shook me most was the price tag shock.  Food in Nicaragua is roughly 1/3 of the cost here.   Needless to say that walking out of the grocery store in Wilmington, Delaware with a small bag of produce, honey, and grains costing around $20 was a shock when I had been spending about $20-40/week on food in Nicaragua/Guatemala (mostly buying from the grocery and cooking).
I started lurking around the dumpsters near Trader Joes and asking at the local bakery's when they got rid of their bread, existing as much as possible on "free food", almost solely on principal.  It's not that I completely couldn't afford it, it's that WE, as a nation, can't afford it! 
We are paying for shelf space, lights, and utilization of huge corporations to fly things from around the world for our convenience.  Granted, in Central America, I do not have the opportunity to buy Israeli cous-cous or imported coffee beans, or gogi berries.  The difference is that in Central America, the local markets are where people buy mostly directly from the families that grow the produce.  In fact on Inanitah, we are growing as much as possible ourselves and purchasing eggs and milk from our neighbors who have cows and chickens.
How did it get so complicated here?  Annie Lenord has some thoughts on this in the Story of Stuff:
http://www.youtube.com/storyofstuffproject#p/u/22/9GorqroigqM

We are paying for these massive external structures that are, on the large, unnecessary.   How we live is a choice.  It's always a choice.  We get to say how we live and it requires us being willing to unplug from the status quo of being a consumer and beginning to trust ourselves enough to see that we can make choices from an informed place.   Choosing from clarity around what our own personal truths are telling us.
How do we achieve this clarity?  There are many paths.  The most simple is through the art of listening.  When we listen to our own inner voices instead of the ones that come from outside, we gain clarity as to what is alive inside of us.  This is part of the Great Turning as Joanna Macy calls it:
lhttp://www.joannamacy.net/thegreatturning.html

Enough for now.  Peace to you and this song to enliven and inspire. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Qd-fAnHjPg&feature=related

Charter for Compassion

Charter for Compassion

Leaving Xela

Before boarding the bus, I got some comida typica. Sopa gallina (chicken). I think if they give you the foot, they really like you, and I got both of them, one is hidden behind the spoon.

I made it to San Pedro la Laguna. Sitting at an internet cafe, listening to cheesy 80's music. MY FAVORITE!!
(Now playing~ Bee-Gee's, "How Deep Is Your Love?")
I'm clean, warm, and at peace. My love is deep...way...dude.

Out of the city and next to the lake. Life is good. I think part of the issue for me in Xela was the loudness of the nightlife and the constant buzz of so many people. I have discovered I tend to go a little whacky without nature around for too long. I have a sense that everyone does and a lot of people are suffering from that disconnection on a daily basis without having a sense of why they are suffering.
(Now playing~Foreigner: I Want to Know What Love Is)
Tomorrow morning I have a dentist appointment here. I went in for a cleaning when we were here over a week ago, and she showed me the epic amount of cavities I have. I got half of them filled the next day, and now will get the remainder done. All for a total of 1800 Quetzales or $230. USD.
If you are without health insurance, like myself. It's almost less expensive to come down to Central America to get your basic needs taken care of, including a plane ticket and a week of vacation!

Complaining can be good, thanks for listening.

I have been taking classes in spanish all week at a place called Celas Maya here in Xela, highlands of Guatemala. Excellent school. Recommend highly.
I am COLD.
I can not wait to go to lowlands again (tomorrow...less than 24 hours). I havent quite known what to do with myself. The water in my hostel is cold as well. In fact, I dont think Ive had a hot shower in months but I havent cared because I have been living in 90+ degree heat! Who needs a hot shower when they are sweating?
So, I have been wearing all my clothes, consuming hot food/beverages, and not bathing properly.

The city of Xela is very nice, I`m sure, I just haven`t quite been able to get into it because most of what´s in my backpack is about as cold resistant as a bikini and flip flops. Oh yea, and it´s raining a lot too. Sunscreen, anyone?

Ok, better mood in a day or two. Looking forward to espcaping. Sometimes scarcity is necessary to appricate what you`re lacking. Right now that`s sunshine, heat, and comfort in my own skin.
But, on the bright side, I´m speaking a lot more spanish and a lot less spanglish.

LAKE ATITLAN, Guatemala

Introducing, Volcan San Pedro (arriba)
and, again...
beautiful artwork....
and, a shot of the fuller scope of the lake. 3 Volcans create a caldero here, what a magical place! I'll be going back again next week to spend more time.

Quetzaltenango/Xela

Above: Marketplace in Xela where I bought all of my fruits and veggies for the week for under $15. USD. Man, it's gonna be hard to return to the states.

Above: El Mercado en Xela again. You can see the name of the city written on the city bus to the right. Two woman dressed in typical Guatemalan clothing. One carrying her wares on her head, as is customary here. They do have these handy little cushions that they use to soften the pressure directly on the crown. I have to say, ergonomically, this is much more effective to have weight directly a top the spine than to have it all weighing on the back the way the "backpackers" do around here. I have taken a lesson and am carrying my massage table around on my head.

On my way home...

Where is home, exactly?
Home is an internal state of being. It's a space that I get to keep clear inside myself which allows me to channel the appropriate energy in any given moment. It allows me to love myself and my body. Its the feeling of being comfortable and relaxed no matter the external circumstance.
I may already BE home. This is something I'm exploring as I make my way between Nicaragua and Guatemala.
Over the past two months, Inanitah has been such a harbor of love and safety and peace for me.
I left this morning on the 11 a.m bus. I won't recount the past few days too much except to say that I have discovered something in myself that is new and bursting forth to be seen. It is the desire to explore conflict resolution or peace making as a profession. If anyone knows anything about this, please write to me. I have intentions of taking a training in NVC (non-violent communication) this September. www.nvc.org.
Anyway, I have been traveling, bus/car/boat/bus to Managua and now am in a mall across from the King Quality station, where I will get on the bus to leave at 2:30 a.m. I have been at the mall since about 4:30 p.m and it's now 7:30. I have had chinese food, coffee, and ice cream, all for the first time in 2 months. I have bought a book for the bus ride, Carolyn Myss' Sacred Contracts, a pen to journal on the bus ride, and spent an hour or so on the internet so far.
There is a movie ciniplex here, so I will go see the last movie of the night, which begins at 8:30 p.m. I think it's something about your mama and it's a comedy. Yes, I will probably eat popcorn too. It's a very strange thing to be here. A bit of culture shock. I feel very dirty as I have been living in a tent w/o shoes or mirrors for months now. It was very odd to see my reflection as I rode the escalator up to the top floor. Now I remember what I look like! I'm kinda cute.
I am going to leave here around 10 o'clock and go across the street to the King Quality station and wait outside on their porch until 1 a.m when they let people in to wait for the bus. It's kinda odd, I know, but I really couldn't bring myself to spend the $40 on a room and taxi when I was only going to be there for a few hours and I'm much more entertained in the mall here.
Anyway, the point I was trying to make earlier is that I'm feeling at peace still. I think I've carried some of the Inanitah magic with me! AND, my spanish is soooo much better! It's incredible to be able to create whole, fluid sentences that result in a meaningful exchange of some sort with another human being here. Wow! Satisfaction at last.
I am on my way to Guatemala to meet up w. my friend Dara in Antigua. Looking forward to feeling it there. Have heard lots of yummy goodness about Lake Atitlan!
More on the other side of the 2 day journey by bus. We stop in San Salvador for a night. Hopefully I will find a place w/ wifi and be able to post again about the trip. I'm feeling very curious.
xoxo
V

Bliss

I look up at the post sunset pale sky, clouds darkening, pink hues covering the distant horizon, and a little sliver of the moon, a magical cheshire cat smile beaming down brightly, emerging from the days of dark moon time. the volcano conception juts up incredibly full and beautiful with a cloud of smoke dancing around her head.
The evening comes quickly with each day is so full.
Simple things that make each day so beautiful like the dance between the lizard and the praying mantis on the temple floor. Or finding time this afternoon to stretch out and practice yoga for an hour after class. Blessings for each and every moment, consistently reminded to be grateful. Smiles and laughs and hugs all come so easily here.
I have traded in a VW Jetta for a pair of Tevas. I have traded in a cottage in Arden for a backpack and a tent. I have traded in a thriving business for the day to day flow of energy to feed myself. I have traded in closeness of my family for the closeness of strangers, who may stay strange, but quickly become like family.
I marvel at my life often. I have cultivated a witness, who values this space and time.
I can feel my future self softly reflecting back to these days at Inanitah and whispering:
"Soak it up, take it in. Feel the joy moving through your bones. Feel the fullness of your heart space. Be grateful for the ease and simplicity and lack of wanting and breathe deep, resting into this love of existence that you have found."
I bask in the mirror of this witness, since I live in a place with no literal mirrors, the words come through like a soothing balm, reminding me that a part of me is eternal and precious.

New Moon Taurus/Gemini : May 4, 2011

There is a slowness with the heat of the day today. I feel my mind spinning with the knowing that the deep tissue class starts tomorrow. Something I have been preparing, planning, and creating for weeks now. Nothing has exactly seemed to line up.
I think it's been a hard one to prepare for because I haven't been able to get clear about what it will be like. It has changed form about a million times in my mind, heart, and on the website. Now I feel that it will just be simple and flow easily and I cannot put any more energy into it until it happens. Let it go.
We had a beautiful Beltane party here this weekend and are going to have another ceremony tonight in the sweat lodge. I'm looking forward to this experience. I haven't sweat in a long time and the cleansing process will be good for me.
I am going to be in Guatemala in 2 weeks. It will be an interesting shift to be traveling again. I am feeling so ingrained and at home here at Inanitah. I'm going there to meet up with my friend Dara, whose coming down to study spanish. I may join her in her studies. We shall see how things line up.
New moon intentions: I intend for this upcoming course to be able to transmit the information and body of work clearly and effectively to my students and that they may receive it well. I am intending for the clarity and healing of all my relations. I am intending for peace, prosperity, and well-being for all my relations. A-ho Mitakuye Oyasin

meditation on trash

As Julia Butterfly Hill famously said, "When you throw something away, where is away?"
We are now in an age where we are so connected to everyone else on the planet that it is impossible for us to ignore the fact that what has been so-called trash for so long has been piling up in the backyards of those that cannot afford to pay to have it sent elsewhere. "Away" seems to be the landfills in Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua. The economically impoverished areas in every city in the United States. Natural areas that cannot defend for themselves against the piles of trash that accumulate every day, destroying her slowly and relentlessly.
Why? Because we are not yet conscious of how our actions are affecting the rest of the planet. Or we are addicted to disposable goods, having a hard time putting the brakes on.
Here I am living in a sustainable community where we are using as little pre-packaged goods as possible. We are conscious of our use of plastics and things that have a very short life span and do our best to eliminate these things from our daily use. We do not have a "trash pick-up". No one is going to come take it away.
So, each thing that we cannot compost or eat, we must look at as a resource. These things, if possible, will be reused or re-appropriated. Empty bottles as containers for new things. Old clothing as mulch for the garden. The wrappers of things that are brought into the community or things we cannot find a reuse for, are stuffed into plastic bottles and the bottles full of trash are then used for building houses. Cool, eh?
I was doing my best to go through our "resources" the other day, realizing that just dealing with the little bit of trash that a community of 15 or so conscious individuals has created over the past few weeks is more than we need to be creating. Then I thought of the amount of trash that is created when I live in the states!
I am meditating on waste and how to eliminate it from my life as much as possible. It's worthwhile to play this game. I am already noticing that I have declined buying a few things in the tienda that I would have otherwise gotten had I not been acutely aware of where each package ends up...in my own backyard.

One, by Mary Oliver

I have fallen in love with her work...

The mosquito is so small
it takes almost nothing to ruin it.
Each leaf, the same.
And the black ant, hurrying.
So many lives, so many fortunes!
Every morning, I walk softly and with forward glances
down to the ponds and through the pinewoods.
Mushrooms, even, have but a brief hour
before the slug creeps to the feast,
before the pine needles hustle down
under the bundles of harsh, beneficent rain.

How many, how many, how many
make up a world!
And then I think of that old idea: the singular
and the eternal.
One cup, in which everything is swirled
back to the color of the sea and sky.
Imagine it!

A shining cup, surely!
In the moment in which there is no wind
over your shoulder,
you stare down into it,
and there you are,
your own darling face, your own eyes.
And then the wind, not thinking of you, just passes by,
touching the ant, the mosquito, the leaf,
and you know what else!
How blue is the sea, how blue is the sky,
how blue and tiny and redeemable everything is, even you,
even your eyes, even your imagination.

Janey's visit to Panama

Above: Janey Does Panama! (view from cosco viejo)
Panama Canal, can you read what the cargo ship says? Wilmington, DE.
Above: Me and Einsteins head. Panama City.

A bit about Inanitah

Of course, you can go to the website, which I have posted many times already, but: www.Inanitah.com. There are also quite a few videos on you tube, such as this one, which I really enjoy because it brings back a fun day when I was here in November 2010:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFS94qqnZAQ

But I would also like to sink into sharing something more personal as well of my experience here. This community is just 26 months old. It's a baby, and looking around the "baby" analogy works very well on many levels. There are only 3 real structures in place, the temple (classroom), the kitchen (original small one still in use, new one work-in-progress), and the bodega (tool shed). Oh, Gaia and Paul's house as well, but that doesn't count as community space. The living accommodations are tents and hammocks around the property. The social structure is fluid within a daily routine as follows: 5:30 a.m: meditation (5 rhythms dance, OSHO, zazen, other...), 6:30: breakfast, 7 a.m: community meeting (discuss flow of the day), 7:30-12: working on projects collectively or individually, 12 noon: lunch, 1-3: siesta/relax, continue projects, 3:30 p.m: yoga, 6:30 p.m: dinner, evening circle/activity/movie, quiet time.
Everyone's usually in bed by 9 p.m.
It's a really sweet flow, where I've found that I am loving being held by this community. I feel that I am supported to go deep here into my own process and given the opportunity to hold space for others in a way that empowers me. I am not asked to do things that I am not interested in doing or that feel obscure. All of my time and energy can go into developing massage programs and deepening my connection with the earth, spirit, and other humans around me.
This lifestyle is something I have always known is good for me. It feels very healthy and gentle.
During my years of living outside of community, I have missed this soft space of having other loving people nearby who are available to connect with me whenever I need it. This is extremely important for me as a single woman. I think Erika, who has lived her for the past year now, said it best the other day. To paraphrase her, "I remember feeling so lonely living in the states. If I wanted to visit with someone, I needed to schedule an appointment. I haven't felt lonely since I've been here."
I remember the ridiculousness of that feeling as well. How hard it was to realize that in order to spend time with people I loved I needed to schedule them in my calender. This was a brutal feeling, especially since there were many nights I would spend alone in my house, wanting to connect with others but not feeling like putting out the effort to get in my car and drive somewhere or hang out in a bar with really loud music or TV blaring in the background. It all felt so challenging a lot of the time.
So, I am thriving being in community right now. I am eating from the earth. Finding the abundance of the garden so nurturing, 80-90% of our food is from our own earth or the neighbors and we take turns cooking. Practicing yoga everyday and teaching it as well.
I walk around barefoot a good amount of the time. I haven't seen a mirror since I arrived. I lost my hairbrush a week ago, and I don't give a damn.
Feeling blessed with this time here. Just wanted to share that joy with whomever reads this blog.

Loving Community

So, the second round of basic massage training is complete! Now, we are working on pulling together a deep tissue course at the beginning of May, 2-6. It will expand on the training that the Nicaraguan grads already have and give them a means to go a little farther with their work. Here's the course description:

Intercultural Professional Massage Training: Deep Tissue Massage Intensive

Learn together, grow together, heal together. Learn the art of professional healing massage alongside local Nicaraguans and get a chance to practice your Spanish!

To support the creation of new economic opportunities for local Nicaraguans, we are offering a ongoing professional massage training for Ometepe residents. Graduates of the course will be given skills that will allow them to offer massages at InanItah and local area hotels.

This class is the next step in therapeutic massage education and designed specifically for people with a basic massage training who are looking to expand their skills. We will focus on deepening our understanding of anatomy while integrating techniques to treat common musculoskeletal issues in the body. During the 5-day course we will address leg, hip, low back, shoulder, and neck pain, utilizing a combination of trigger point therapy, stretching, and myofacial release techniques.

A minimum of 50 hours Classical/Swedish massage training is required for all participants.

The course will taught in English and translated into Spanish.

About the Facilitator

The course facilitator is Valerie Cherrin, who has been a practicing massage therapist since 1997 and a massage instructor since 2003. Her passion for bodywork is equaled only by her passion for travel, and she has traveled far and wide, incorporating techniques from teachers in Thailand, China, India, Australia, Hawaii, and Europe. She recently completed her yoga teacher training at Nosara Institute in Costa Rica. To learn more about Valerie, visit her website: www.bodywisdommassage.org.

Contribute $195 to the workshop.
Reserve your spot now with a non-refundable deposit of $55

Massage Course: round 2

Back at Inanitah (www.Inanitah.com) teaching another basic intercultural massage course. There is a lot less work for me this time due to already having done it once, just in November of last year.
I have found myself gliding through the processes without having to do a lot of preparing outside of the class time, which runs 7:30-3 p.m, M-F for 2 weeks.
We will be done with class this Friday, April 1. No kidding! I am planning to teach a second level course for the three Nicaraguans who have gone through the first level and are ready for more. There are two out of the initial 5 who have been dedicated, practicing and coming to clinic hours every week and are now working in the local hotels where we are promoting our program. It's really exciting to see how much they have improved over time and are now gaining experience from working on paying clients in hotels.
I really enjoy being back here and being in community this time and it feels like home in many ways. Everyone comes together here to share their gifts, passions, and hearts in community. It's a special place for sure. I will blog about life at Inanitah in the near future. It's worth a good story.
5:42 a.m March 31.

Yoga Retreat Picture~ Las Mujeres

WOMENS' YOGA RETREAT SANTA FE, PANAMA
After teaching 6 classes a week during the month of February, Michelle and I decided to take the show on the road. We called our retreat, "Inquiry Into Yoga", and had 3 days of fun and yoga in the mountains, 3 hours north of Santa Catalina. Pictured above left to right: Jen, Diane, Valerie, Michelle, and Rose.

gringos

I know that the flow of this may not make any sense, but I'm going to do my best to blog more often now that I'm in a faster internet zone, Nicaragua. I'm in San Juan del Sur today. It's a strange little beach town which seems to be a gringo party spot.
I am here on a mission, not really by choice. A friend of mine from Santa Catalina, Panama is driving back up to his home town of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He was nice enough to put my massage table, tent, and sleeping bag in the back of his truck and drop them off here, as it's not too far off the Pan-American Highway.
I have been playing in Bocas del Toro with my dear friend, Janey, who came down to visit me from Boulder, CO on her vacation. I am so blessed with good friends! She and I had 9 days of fun and travel in which I didn't need any of that stuff cause she sported the hotel rooms all the way across Panama and Costa Rica.
I did the boarder crossing from CR to Nica today at Penas Blancas. Some of you may recall the first time I crossed this border last Feb. I wrote a mass email about it because I found myself wandering in and out of the Costa Rican border station asking "Excuse me, where is Nicaragua?" until some kind soul finally informed me that I had to walk about 1/4 mile down the road in order to get to the entrance of Nicaragua.
Today, I am proud to announce that I do learn from experience! This and the fact that I am much more facil with the spanish language than I was a year ago. So, I was able to not only find my way through to Nicaragua without problem. I was also able to fend off the 10 or so Nica taxi drivers who kept telling me there was no bus to where I was going while I asked a WOMAN where I could catch a bus. She told me and she was right. These MEN, I swear! They are scammers. Not all of them, but they give the ones that aren't a bad name.
I also have to state, for the record, that Nicaragua has no signage on how to enter their country at this border. None. Nunca. It's a series of buildings spread out across a rather wide area with lots of fences, police, and random scammers running around and nothing posted about where one should proceed. They expect you to know. And if you have to ask someone, you will have to pay them for a correct answer.
Now, I don't want to make Nicaragua out to be like this. This is just the border crossing. The rest of the country is awesome and friendly. I was able to catch a bus (technically, they are right, you need to catch 2 buses to get to San Juan del Sur) and will head up to Inanitah tomorrow after a little night on the town here.

Hey, photos!

Above: Yoga deck at "La Buena Vida"; Santa Catalina.
Above: Looking out from Rancho Estero onto Estero Beach, Santa Catalina.


Above: View from Visitor Center, Coiba National Parque
Above: Blue Chevy Van with shade structure and bike parked in front.

Above: Adan cutting off alligator head with machete on Lagatero Bay.

Santa Catalina

As of Jan 30th, I have moved into the town of Santa Catalina. It's a small place, about 10K from where I was living the two months prior.
My bicycle has been given a rest from the continual back and forth of living in Lagatero, out in the sticks (est pop: 100 persons, 50 chickens, 25 dogs, and 10 alligators) to the bustling metropolis of Santa Catalina; (est pop: 400-500 ). The folks at Hibiscus Garden just didn't have enough work to keep me there. We mutually decided it was best to end our initial agreement of me staying there until mid March.
For a fleeting moment, I entertained thoughts of traveling for 6 weeks until Janey arrives in the beginning of March. That was before my friend Michelle, owner of "La Buena Vida", and fellow yogini, asked me to stay in Catalina and design/teach a series of yoga classes with her, it was an easy choice.
I have committed myself to the practice and study of yoga while I'm here. I am teaching 3 or 4 classes a week, taking another 3 classes each week from her, and expanding my own practice on the luxury of her yoga deck in the treetops.
It's really a beautiful thing to have dedicated myself to this immersion. We are organizing a women's yoga retreat in Santa Fe, Panama Feb. 23,24, 25. It's a mountain town about 3 hours north of here where we are going to spend 2 sessions a day teaching basic yoga techniques as an introduction for beginners to the practice, with time for a long mountain hike one day.
Blessings from Panama.
Om, shanti.

Cha, cha, cha, changes...

And so we are getting near the end of the busy or high season here. Mostly December and January are kinda ¨balls to the wall¨busy and then it slows a little, say the ones who have spent several seasons here. Our guests are fewer and I´m anticipating our pace will be slower even still.
How will I fill this extra time, you may ask? Good question! I am going to begin teaching a second yoga class each week in Catalina at La Buena Vida. Today I went surfing today for the first time since I´ve been here. I forgot how much I like it. Remind me to use sunscreen next time, ouch. I think between yoga, surfing, and spanish lessons with a massage thrown in here and there, I can fill the next 6 weeks without any problems.
Why only 6 weeks, you may ask? You are full of good questions today! Because my dear friend, Janey, is coming to visit me! She flies into Panama City on March 6, so I am going to be done with work and such at Hotel Hibiscus a few days earlier. Then she and I will travel together and explore Panama and some of Costa Rica and she flies out of San Jose on march 14, and I will head up to Nicaragua once more to teach another 2 week intercultural massage class at Inanitah!
Check it out at; www.Inanitah.com. Will be there till April at least, then we shall see.
Ok, that´s the update on plans for the future. Photos coming soon, I hope, and then you´ll have more wonderful questions.

Hotel Hibiscus Garden

I was just looking and its been a while since I last posted. I am getting in a groove of sorts here but I think that once I have some real sort of groove, the music usually changes. The people who run Hotel Hibiscus Garden are a german couple in their 30s about to have thier second baby...like anyday now. Lucia Valerie (not named after me, but a cool coincendence) is due on Jan 11. Her older sister, Karlota, is 2 years old and just stood up on a surfboard for the first time yesterday!
They are growing some wicked cool kids here.
I am spending my days in a combination of ways. My duties around the hotel that pay for my room and board are assiting in the kitchen and waiting tables. These happen for 5 to 8 hours a day 6 days a week. I am also promoting and doing some massage for guests and we should, with any luck, be getting yoga mats today so that I can offer yoga classes a few times a week as well.
I am teaching yoga at a place in Santa Catalina once a week, La Buena Vida. The woman who owns it with her husband recently completed the same yoga teacher training as myself in Costa Rica, so we are practicing a lot of the same style.
However, its 10K to town from where I live, the shuttle only goes sparatically, and hitchhiking is fairly unreliable since there are often not many cars. So, I bought a crappy mountain bike which is now helping me transport in and out of Catalina at will. Ahhh.....this is a blessing.
I will tell you why. The other people on staff at HHG are all German or Austrian, except the chef, another American. The culture is one of drinking a lot, smoking a lot, and speaking a lot of German, which I don´t understand. They are nice enough people, but I have the feeling that even if we were speaking the same language, I couldnt relate all that well.
So I have taken this as an opportunity to create a lot of space for myself. I have moved into a broken down blue chevy camper van toward the front entrance of the hotel. It´s one they are using for spare parts and is parked under some trees off to the side of the dirt road just before crossing the river to where the hotel is located. Neither my roomie or myself were sleeping all that well I think due to the fact that our energies were colliding all night on some level. The van is becomming my sanctuary. I cleaned it out a little each day over the past week or two and finally found a spare matress to put in it yesterday. The gardeners have built a palm roof shade structure outside and I am in the process of decorating it and hopefully have electricity hooked up soon! I will post photos of the Mystery Machine when I get the chance.
Anyway, this is going to be my little haven. Oh yea, and a hammock. And I have lots of time to just be. Its actually very nice.
The horses are kept in this area, which is also fenced off sometimes and this morning it was such a beautiful way to wake up to have them hanging out outside the van. I got up, wrapped the bedsheet around me, and communed with them for a little while.
Loving the slowness here. Hot, hot days and warm, stary nights. Everything is tranquilo. I am learning spanish mostly just from practicing, but also from a peace corps volunteer who is living in Santa Catalina and happy to trade massage for spanish lessons as he is fluent in both languages.
Feeling good and have promised Mick and Heidi I will stay until March here. After that is a mystery. I am absorbed in being present and having a deep appreciation for being alive.
Sending you all warm wonderful vibes for 2011.
With love
Valerie Hope, aka; Esperanza