Arbor Day!!

Arbor day is Tomorrow! April 30, 2010

Arbor Day started 135 years ago by a lad J. Sterling Morton. The days purpose is to direct our focus on an important task…PLANTING Trees.

Forests are being cut down at an alarming rate, and with the way we humans pollute the air, we need our trees more than ever to clean up our mess!

“Planting Seeds of Tomorrow Today” is such a forward thinking phrase and is exactly what we need to be doing. Trees can leave for hundreds of years. What an empowering thought. A seed you plant today can go on to flourish and contribute to the Earths balance and well being long after we have all gone on.

The website is Loaded with information and materials on how to have an event in your community, where to buy seeds or starter trees and even printable materials to get you started ASAP!

Happy Planting!

Dream Routine

So as I’ve stressed I’m not expert, but in support of a friend and in support of Wellness and bettering my health, I’m trying a stab at a WAY more nutritious way of living.

Now the inspiration is the Gerson Method, however, where I live there are limited resources and I have to work with what I have. Meaning: I got my hands on a blender and that’s as far as I got…no cheese cloth, no juicer.

While I’m not able to do the juice method, I am starting off with Smoothies to get all of my fruits and veggies in. The idea of the Gerson Method is feeding it in such away that it has exactly what it needs to fight off all the “attacks” it encounters in this environment we have created.

Since I’m in Ecuador in a program, a big part of what we do is Integrate. It’s really our whole point of being here. So while I was a Pescatarian before coming here. I now have chicken feet and cow hooves in my soup daily. Cuisine is a big part of getting to know a culture so I try not to make a fuss. The ladies I work with know that I don’t like to eat the “cuerpos de los animales” (the body of animals) and I don’t eat “carne” (meat…but in Spanish that just covers Beef..not chicken, pork etc…). They know I don’t want “oink oink” (hey I forgot how to say “cancho” pig in Spanish!)…but we meet somewhere in the middle…and by that I mean…I STILL have to beg for no chicken feet in my soup ☺ You see it’s the best part, and since the ladies I work with are nothing but love, they can’t resist but to offer it to me first!

So that’s another disclaimer. When I’m in my neighborhood, working with the ladies I eat what they eat. For the most part any meat that they would make is technically free range. I usually known the chicken whose foot or head I’m offered later. I usually can get away with eating around things taking it “to go” and then giving it to fellow volunteers to eat. The whole point is, juicing and smoothies and all of the limits aren’t being practiced while I’m at work.

My answer to this though is while I’m in control of what I’m eating I have to be pretty hardcore with it! My dream routine would be a start my day with a fruit and/or veggie smoothie, if I am on my own for lunch, some kind of bean, lentil with salad arrangement and then salad or steamed veggies for dinner.

My friend who is doing the Gerson Method all the way, is also doing no dairy, no gluten and no sugar! So I thought wheat bread was going to be my back up for when I needed to feel satiated, but I guess not. I thought I was going to get away with a satisfying bowl of milk and cereal here and there, but that’s out too. I’m hoping after a couple of weeks my crazy active sweet tooth will simmer down.

I was looking up some things online, but I don’t know if I can find everything I need in Ecuador…and did I mention I don’t cook? That’s going to be a problem. Hopefully this will be an opportunity to learn. I say that every time I live by myself..and it hasn’t happened yet. Here’s hoping!

UPDATE
*******************************************************************************************************************************
My plan was to brave the market for the first time but I got nevous because it was getting dark and it can be a little unsafe. So I ended up going to the super market with a pen and pad and wrote down everything I bought and their prices. So I can remember what I have in stock…so I could report it to you readers…and to later compare prices to see how much better the market is if at all (but I’m more about supporting the market than the big super market in the future…)

What I ended up buying (p.s. this cost a big chunk of my living allowance I feel…I wonder if this is going to be an expensive endeavor…vamos a ver…)

Avacodo
Apples
Bananas
Strawberries

Carrots
Chard (wasn’t sure if I was gonna find that here! Could this be a Bok Choy Substitute?)
Spinach
Beets (score! Wasn’t sure...)
Squash
Red Cabbage
Onion

Ginger
Basil

Quinoa
Panela (not sure if this is legal saw it appear in some recipes)
Lentils
Black Beans

Vanilla Extract
Soy Apple Jugo (not even sure what that is, but I thought it was cool they had it!)


Since I had pretty much nothing in my fridge, this is what I’ll be using to feed myself for the next week (and after what I spent) hopefully week and a half to two weeks. Only time will tell!!

Gifts.

Lick Samba.

Vision Boards.

Fan on Medium. Finally.

Kinky Curly Hair Product Review

For my first ever product review I would light to highlight some FABULOUS hair products I have come across!!

The Kinky Curly Haircare Products!

They are natural, cruelty free and totally work!

The Three Items I have tried are:
Kinky Curly Come Clean Natural Moisturizing Shampoo
Kinky Curly Knot Today Natural Leave-In Conditioner/Detangler
Kinky Curly Curling Custard Natural Styling Gel

Come Clean Shampoo delivers on what is says. It is moisturizing. This shampoo cleanses hair completely of silcones, oils and dirt effectively without stripping your hair. My hair is soooo try so I know! It’s always a challenge to find something that can both cleanse and hydrate my hair. The best part about it is it’s completely organic!

Knot Today is a great light weight but moisturizing leave in. It works perfectly with the Curling Custard as well. Before the Knot Today I was using Infusium which worked looong ago, but as of late was no longer cutting it. Knot Today has gotten me back on track for moisture.

The product that has everyone all a buzz is the Kinky Curly Curling Custard (KCCC).
It’s fabulous. It’s light weight and aaaallll natural. It has a slight vanilla sent that is quite pleasing as well. I usually don’t put “gel” in my hair, and while it is classified as a gel, KCCC is something all together different. People love it because when you apply it, it stretches out your curls avoiding the shrinkage effect after washing. I’ll go more into the process in a second.


So the website suggests (in short) that you:

First of all, use Kinky Curly products only because they were made to work together. Use other products and you may get undesired results.

Wash with Come Clean until your hair feels free of and dirt or product build up you may have had.

Apply the Knot Today and finger come your hair making sure you have no knots or tangles in your hair

Next divide your dripping wet hair hair in manageable sections and finger come KCCC throughout your hair. Starting at the root and working your way down and working the product into your hair. Just comb, comb, comb with your fingers stretching out your curls.

And your done! Results very depending on your hair type.
I tend to go back and two strand twist my hair to get a corkscrew effect.

Since the KCCC is also moisturizing my hair stays soft. Never crunchy or flaky.

I have specific journals on my hair journey that I post on SUN Days. So check there if you want to see some trial and error moments.

Check out the Kinky Curly Website and give it a try!

Happy Earth Day!!

April 22, 2010 is Earth Day's 40th Anniversary!

Here is what the website had to say:

"Forty years after the first Earth Day, the world is in greater peril than ever. While climate change is the greatest challenge of our time, it also presents the greatest opportunity – an unprecedented opportunity to build a healthy, prosperous, clean energy economy now and for the future.

Earth Day 2010 can be a turning point to advance climate policy, energy efficiency, renewable energy and green jobs. Earth Day Network is galvanizing millions who make personal commitments to sustainability. Earth Day 2010 is a pivotal opportunity for individuals, corporations and governments to join together and create a global green economy. Join the more than one billion people in 190 countries that are taking action for Earth Day."

Get Familiar with the site as there are opportunities to donate and TAKE ACTION!!!

I plan on doing an activity with the youth in my community. Post what you're going to do.

How will you contribute this year?

Happy Earth Day Everybody!!!

A Cure For Cancer....

If I told you there was an existing Cure for Cancer Would You Believe It? What Would You Do? Here is another freebie from the Underground Universe...
Watch and decide for yourself...

(my first attempt at embedding videos...yeeps...next to impossible with a weak signal...)

















Powerful stuff. Makes sense too. I know I am definitely going to be changing up some things in my diet. I will of course be taking you along for the journey. What changes will you make. Imagine. A Cure for Cancer and other diseases. If we start now, maybe we won't have to worry about any of the ailments mentioned in the videos. All we have to do is allow our bodies to do what they do naturally. Heal themselves!

Happy juicing!!

Global Youth Service Day

Global Youth Service Day will actually be observed the entire weekend of April 23-25, 2010


Check out the Official Website that is colorful, informative and fun.

"Global Youth Service Day is an annual campaign that celebrates and mobilizes the millions of children and youth who improve their communities each day of the year through service and service-learning.
Established in 1988, GYSD is the largest service event in the world and is now celebrated in over 100 countries. On GYSD, children and youth address the world’s most critical issues in partnership with families, schools, community and faith-based organizations, businesses, and governments.
Global Youth Service Day Goals

Mobilize
youth to identify and address the needs of their communities;
organizations to provide opportunities for youth engagement;
media and policy makers to promote and raise awareness of young people as assets and resources to their communities.

Support
youth on a lifelong path of service and civic engagement;
schools and organizations through training and technical assistance, grants, and resources that enable them to engage youth.

Sustain
community improvement through year-round engagement of youth as leaders and problem-solvers"

Personally I can't wait to celebrate GYSD in Ecuador. I am going to be going to San Pedro to help plan and begin a World Map Project.

Youth have so much energy, so much creativity and the real pure love to help build their communities. Take Action today, mobilize the youth in your area and help make a difference!

Suerte!

Gifts.

Nag Champas & Rain

Dave Brubeck

Friday Night In....

Inventory

Kinky Curly Come Clean

Kinky Curly Knot Today

Cantu Shea Leave In

Jojoba Oil

V05 Hot Oil Treatment (2)

Castor Oil

Curling Custard

Doo Grow

This what was in my package of what my mother sent me here in Ecuador to start my moisture experiment. I need to do some research to give you more info on each product.

Until then... Be Greasy :)

A Story That Has Inspired Me To Move Closer To Wellness

"Planting a garden could save your life.

30 year-old Mioyo Shujaa certainly thinks so. When she was diagnosed with uterine fibroid tumors in 2009, the doctor told her surgery was the only hope. Two months later, Shujaa left her job and health insurance behind, “For me, the diagnosis was a wake-up call. I felt that years of poor nutrition, stress at work and never feeling like my time was my own were wreaking havoc on me – physically, mentally and spiritually. ”

Shujaa and her partner, Burt Vera Cruz, became determined to not only shrink Shujaa’s tumors, but to transition into a life that they loved loving. For Vera Cruz, establishing a more organic lifestyle was all but critical, “Having the ability to nurture yourself and feed yourself natural, organic food s that are free of chemicals eliminates your reliance on a system that is increasingly dependent on fossil fuels and creating more pollutants.”

The couple began growing heirloom vegetables in paper cups in their Los Angeles apartment in the fall of 2009. Several harvests later Shujaa reports an increase in her overall health and a decrease in the symptoms and size of her fibroid tumors, “I don’t plan to go to another hospital again for the rest of my life. I believe that the human body is naturally capable of maintaining health and warding off diseases when free of toxins and unnecessary stress.”

Unfortunately, chronic diseases appear to be on the rise-especially in the United States.

According to a 2007 study conducted by the National Cancer Institute, 1 in 2 Americans will suffer from some form of cancer in their lifetime.

50 years ago the occurrence of cancer in the US was 1 in 300.

In 1928 the late German researcher and physician, Dr. Max Gerson, believed he’d found the cure for not only all cancers, but for most chronic and degenerative diseases – organic vegetables.

Before his death, Dr. Gerson claimed to have cured hundreds of patients through an herbal detoxifying regiment and nutrient-rich organic vegetable juices.

Dr. David Servan-Schreiber, cofounder of the Center for Integrative Medicine, concurs that 5 or more servings of organic vegetables per day is an essential part of the anti-cancer diet.

The NCI estimates that the numbers of new cases of cancer will more than double by 2050. The key to avoiding this fate, it seems, could be homegrown."

For more amazing stories and interesting (life saving) facts you're gonna have to go Underground and dig up the Truth yourself...

Be...

“Be the change you want to see in the world.”

Mahatma Gandhi


So Easily Said...Doing is a different Story...


However, to truly BE The Change is the answer to inner peace, peace among humankind and world peace overall...

May we all continue

to strive

To Be.

Natural Hair Journey

Big Chop: March 2004
Currently Style: Afro puff or two strand twist

I went natural because I have the coarsest kinkiest thick hair…the kind that the current standard beauty is against. Perming it was a way for me to alter what God had given me because I thought it was bad…every message out there told me it was an attractive, unprofessional, in need of control and wild. To embrace all of me and needed to embrace my hair .

I love it natural. People always tell me I’m their hair inpiration and that gives me strength to keep going.

6 years later I’m JUST now really getting the memo on how moisture is SO key. So I’m doing an experiment with Kinky Curly products and natural moisturizers.

Stay tuned!

Love, Peace and Hairgrease

Gifts

“Gifts” will be concise and sometimes abstract updates, visions and a potpourri of things in my current view.

Yesterday's the past, tomorrow's the future, but today is a gift. That's why it's called the present."- Bill Keane

World Health Day - April 7, 2010

Today April 7th Is World Health Day!

This year's theme is "1000 cities, 1000 lives". Events will be being held throughout the weekend.

The global goals of the campaign are:

1000 cities: to open up public spaces to health, whether it be activities in parks, town hall meetings, clean-up campaigns, or closing off portions of streets to motorized vehicles.

1000 lives: to collect 1000 stories of urban health champions who have taken action and had a significant impact on health in their cities.

as stated on the website

Hopefully a city near you is having an event. Of even better you can be a trailblazer and make something happen in your community. Bring movement, awareness and assistance to those disproportionately suffer from poor health care. A fair chance to live a full, happy, healthy life is not a privilege, but a human right.

Let's come together today and continue on persevering toward health and medical attention to ANYone and EVERYone who needs it!

Paz.

What am I up to?

I said Sundays would reflect my current projects. So currently I am living in Ecuador serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I could go into detail or I could just link you to my frequently updated blog of all of my adventures. Enjoy!