Peru 3: Yoga and Strawberries

Oct 6, 2011, 2:30pm, Eco Truly Park, Peru

Alarm didn't go off but made it to yoga – Mica and another – with Maha Prema instructing. Sun salutes a bit tricky – the roof is low (but made of bamboo!) - good thing I'm in the middle of the room where the roof is the highest (8'?). Sandals must be left outside (is the energy that bad outside but within Eco Truly borders?) - Mica has to retrieve her sandals from a wandering dogs mouth.
Spent the morning with Rosario – a local farmer who has been here a year – we dig water trenches between the strawberry rows – dig too deep and you reach sand – no surprise there with the beach next door and the surf pounding away. I use a pickaxe – good honest work with a cool breeze flowing thru. Rosario is quiet and has a peaceful aura – we get along well as he teaches me a few words of Spanish. Life is good. And lunch is awesome.
Both Mica and Eliza have camera battery chargers. Super!!!!! I will be able to get my camera going – the sun is shining – I'm stoked! Alas, engineers from Canon and Fuji made sure their batteries are not compatible with Olympus (my camera) or each other – even though the voltage is the same for all three. Stupid humans (including myself since I forgot my charger).
We can put a man on the moon, but we still think a futon is a comfortable bed. Its not. Cotton compresses into cement after a few months. I will inflate my thermarest tonight – my spiritual practice (ha!) will take in cold showers, but I draw the line on sleeping on hard beds.
There are three groups of people here – although some float between the three or belong to all three: the Krishnas, the “office” workers (cooks, gardeners, etc), and the volunteers. The office workers run the place, but don't practice yoga nor greet you with “Hare Krishna”. The volunteers run after the office workers, and practice yoga. I'm not sure what the Krishnas do – none of them were at yoga this morning (except the instructor) and I haven't seen them in the garden – a couple of them do work hard in the kitchen and the front reception area. Like any community its the differences that make life so colourful.
8:30pm. My privacy is short lived – four young volunteers invade (more than doubling our group) – two guys take over the loft section of my room. The two girls are bunking with Micah. Nice group – they are spending months in South America travelling from yoga ashram to ashram.
I spent the afternoon exploring the coastline. First north – where the endless beach is covered with trash that floats with the current from Lima just to the south. I see one young couple (immune to trash), and one old guy with a rake and bags around his waist – he of one-mans-trash-is-anothers-gold philosophy. Otherwise its just me and thousands of sea-birds – for what idiot would want to spend their free time walking thru garbage? If only I had a mirror. Instead, I poke around looking for an Olympus battery charger, but the old man has beat me to it. Finally my passage is blocked by a large stream entering from the mainland. I could take my shoes off, but I've walked by these rivers/sewers before, and I haven't had my boosters for typhoid, dengue fever and foreign-travellers-paranoia fever.
Heading south from Eco Truly, cliffs, coves, caves and goat trails reign. This section is gorgeous – if you keep your eyes off the truck/bus highway high above. The coves are fairly clean, since high tide buries the entire beach. Some caves require low tide for further exploration. At one cliff, crashing waves soar up almost a hundred feet. A few local fisherman stand atop of theses cliffs and cast long fish lines from hand (no rods) into the water far below. I return at sunset bypassing a solitary truly on the cliff beside Eco Truly.
Before dinner, Eliza and I head to the temple to listen to some Krishnas chant – we are invited to join in, but a short while later I leave – I love kirtan but the Krishna chants don't align with my soul. The temple is really beautiful – the center is open air, a huge tile mandala covers the floor, and at least 18 trulys surround the space.
Dinner is huge cookies, hot chocolate, and as an afterthought, left over cold rice 'n salad from lunch. Did I mention that lunch is the best meal?
Shower stall #3 is a bust – not a drop of water from the pipe. And I now do my laundry while taking a shower – getting into the swing of travelling far from the luxuries of North America.