Friend in CR has a work-exchange position!

Long time no post! I've been back in the states working at MUM as the Student Activities Director! 

My friend Bill Van Horn is looking for a work-exchange around San Isidro Del General. If you are interested, or anyone else you know, send the word out! Bill's a great guy and this is a cool deal. And GREAT neighborhood!

Work Exchange/Traveler/Housekeeping/Gardening, Costa Rica (Southern Zone)

I have a farm house on a mountainside overlooking a beautiful valley and waterfall. There are three world-class waterfalls to visit within walking distance. This is a great place to visit and relax in. I have an extremely busy and demanding schedule set for the forseable future. This busy schedule will require that I am away from the home site most of each day. I will exchange a place to live for a week, to several weeks at a time, in exchange for $4/night rent and 3 hours/day housekeeping and gardening. I am looking for a mature, responsible and self reliant person to help with planting and maintaining the currently neglected gardens and housekeeping. I am in a committed relationship and this is not an offer for a relationship. This is a beautiful location in which to enjoy tropical life which I will share in exchange for $4/night lodging (5 night paid in advance min. stay) and a productive three hours of work each day with days off on a regular basis. Weekly pizza night near by and free weekly yoga class near by.  Must have a valid passport. I don't smoke use drugs or alcohol and need the same from others while on the property.

Reply to: Vanhornwm@aol.com

Here's Bill!

Finca De Vida

I'm now working at Finca De Vida! I'm here working in the kitchen, helping out for a raw food retreat with Wilco and Dr. Sam from Georgia. The retreat begins this Saturday, and lasts for a week. I am so stoked. What a perfect way to end my times in Costa Rica... living in a beautiful, luxurious resort with HOT showers, all raw food, overlooking a breath-taking valley (where I can see my old homestead tent site at La Joya Del Sol!), living and meeting and enjoying and being... wow.

My life is great. 

I head back to the states on June 14th and arrive in Fairfield on the eve of Tuesday, June 15th. I am thrilled to come back, and especially because I will be starting my new position as Director of Student Activities at MUM. 

There is so much that I have learned here, and I have changed in so many ways. My internal vibration has shifted dramatically, even if my outward appearances and habits seem to remain the same. I just finished a month-long "self-retreat" at Finca Amrta. I spent my time doing five things: sleeping, meditating, asanas, eating and dreaming. I focused all of my days on these 5 things, be it at my cabina deck overlooking trees and cow pastures, or at the river, lathered in coconut oil and swimming, the sun my only companion. 

Although it's cliche to say I learned a lot, I don't know if there is an adequate phrase in the English language for my time there. In a lot of ways, it was beyond phrases, beyond words, and beyond what experiences I had or activities I did. It was holy, powerful and uplifting, but... normal. Yes, the most adequate description is, funnily enough, that for a month at Finca Amrta, I was a consciously normal human being for a sustained period of time. However, my definition of normal is probably very different than the one you would find in our culture today. I say normal like Anastasia, Ringing-Cedars normal, or Maharishi-cosmic consciousness normal. Whatever you call it. In many ways I also don't feel like explaining this would do anyone any good. I don't have a pressing desire to be overwhelming poetic in my words... because everything I said, thought, felt, saw and knew and still know is within you. 

There is nothing that I can tell you that you could not tell me yourself. Everything I am and I know, you are and you know. The two of us sitting together in silence for hours, and I would tell you my entire story, which is simple and pure. 

It's pouring rain at Finca De Vida, and I am surrounded by thick, white clouds. The hammocks are swaying in the winds, and the gusts are pulling and pushing the papaya trees and bamboo sidings. I have a schedule of events, a menu, a room, a friend, and plenty of bananas and greens. This world is incredible. 

And it just keeps getting better. If this is life at 21, what is life at 40? My god, what is life even at 25? Bliss, sheer, pure, radiant, radical, loving, glowing, joyful bliss. There is nothing else. Don't fool yourself playing around with the idea that it's not all Love. You're missing out, darling, big time. 

Infinite,

Rianna

Sight

So, I lost my glasses about a month to three weeks ago. On the day I was supposed to hike Diamante Falls with some friends, I misplaced them. I was a little frightened of the idea of scaling a mountain without my trusty glasses to help me see far, but I quickly decided to get on with it anyway.

I found my glasses three weeks later, lying demurely in the rolled up plastic folds of my tent as I packed all my belongings to move to Finca Amrta.

After three weeks of walking barefoot and in the darkness of the night unable to scrutinize the ground for snakes, ants or branches in front of me, I put on my glasses.

The world was entirely different - fantastically and unnaturally clear to precision, unbearably sharp and concise, almost lab-like in their striking cleanliness of vision.

I put my glasses in my bag and haven´t worn them since.

In the meantime, I´ve walked Costa Rica, gone to town, read signs, watched a movie (with great difficulty but persistence), seen snakes and animals and birds, worked the land, chopped coconuts and banana leaves with a machete, checked my email, recognized people from across the road, swam in waterfalls, travelled by bus, and climbed up a mountainside to Diamante Falls.

I think I´ll do just fine without them.

And my vision is improving, even when I´m not sungazing. Looking through my glasses after a mere few weeks and feeling like I was looking through them for the first time was a stunning testament to that. I couldn´t understand how less than a month ago, using my glasses was normal, not super clear, but adjusted to the lenses. Now I can barely stand to look through them for even a few seconds because my eyes feel terrible.

Amazing. Stunning.

I´m never wearing those glasses again.

I want to improve my sight fully - reclaim 20/20 vision, or 20/40 (or 40/20, whatever the near-sighted one is), and I´m actually doing it and continuing to do so. So it means that I´ve gotten used to squinting when I need to read something far away - that I can now hold someone´s eyes while I´m talking - and I can see with my own sight. When I was eight, I was supposed to wear glasses. I stubbornly refused for about a year and a half, then succumbed to it because I just couldn´t get by in class. I was told that I could correct my vision, if I did eye exercises. It took me 14 years and the opportunity of losing my glasses to get around to doing just that.

Now I am of the definite persuasion that everyone should lose their glasses.

Maybe forever.

New Digs and Old Friends

So, I moved.

I live here now. 

Here is my kitchen.

I am so happy. 

I just moved to a little cabina at Finca Amrta, up the driveway. I have no stove. I have no fridge. 

I have a little wooden cabina with a deck. I sleep outside under the stars and meditate every morning and eve. I wake when it´s light and sleep when it´s dark. I dream. 

I stretch, I rub my belly, I drink water and eat fruit. I bathe in the river and sunlight. I dream. 

Here is a video of my new digs.

I moved here last Friday from La Joya Del Sol, which is where I have been staying for the past 2.5 months, doing a work-exchange. It´s been an incredible journey and blessing to live at Eric´s, and I am exceedingly grateful for it. I learned a lot about community building and living - living together is very different than reading about something along the same lines. I learned about carpentry, tropical building, living foods, nutrition, raw food cuisine, tropical agriculture, tropical and wild edibles, gardening, and a lot more about the complicated yet simple task of living and working together on a farm with others. This last one was the most important factor, of course, that influenced all other matters. How to get along. 

I met incredible, wonderful, fantastic people through being at Eric´s. I never would have met them if I hadn´t stayed there so long - and now I feel privileged enough to call those people my friends. They are all deeply beautiful, sincere, open-minded and open-hearted people. I have learned so much from you. Thank you. 

Most importantly, I now know so much about how I want to live. What my boundaries are - how to be a graceful, peaceful warrior, true to my spirit and my heart. I now have a much clearer idea of what I want to do with the time that has been given to me, and where I want my path to lead. I have also become much more aware of my health through being at Eric´s - this is the largest lesson I have taken from there. 

What health means is more than physical. It is more than raw foods. It is more than what you eat, it is more than what you do in your day, it is more than where you live. It is tied to all of these things, and through how it´s all done - how I do it. And most times, two people don´t do things the same way. 

From being at Eric´s, I learned how I want to eat. How I want my day to be. Who I want to surround myself with, and how I want to interact with them. Where I want to focus my energy, how I want to speak. How I want to live. However, most of these things were different than how Eric likes to do them. I found that more and more, over time, La Joya Del Sol and Eric were beginning to resonate less and less with me. I decided to look into other options and found a cabina at Suzanna´s, which I fell in love with. Jody at Finca De Vida also offered me a work-exchange position in her kitchen during my last two weeks in CR, which fell in line perfectly. I made arrangements, and when it was all finalized, I told Eric I was moving. 

This of course was less than a week before I left, approximately two days before the big wedding. A classic Rianna move. However, I made it deliberately. Eric was upset, but I was resolved, so I left the Friday after the wedding, all of my things packed away. If in that moment, if Eric had asked me directly, ¨Why are you leaving?¨ I would have answered, in a complete haze of delight, ¨because I adore myself.¨ Nothing more, nothing less. 

After my conversation with him, I breathed out a great sigh of relief, and breathed in one of thrilled excitement! YES! Finally, a month of no responsibilities, except to myself. Finally, a space all of my own, my time, my energy, my choice, my life. My waking, my breakfast, my bathing, my meditation, my time, my life. A whole month to do this, to integrate what I have learned and to find balance before going back to the big-time - MUM, Fairfield, Iowa. Big business, big difference, big social, big events, Miss Popularity, technological, meditate on a schedule and eat in Annapurna amidst cries of ¨boo-hoo¨ to the Beige Brigade on high. Don´t worry, I´m really excited about coming back. Seriously. I am literally teeming with excitement regarding that. And this month of silence gives me the space to dream it all into a full and clear reality before I step onto that plane - and thank God for that. 

I am so blessed. Now, to find a sweet balance in rest, in silence, in nature, by the river, dreaming, dreaming, dreaming. 

Here are some of the highlights of living at La Joya Del Sol, and project completed. 

Solar lights along the trails.

A deck mirroring the mountainrange. Also, we finished the siding on the rancho, made two massage tables, completed the kitchen sink and counter and more.

My friends. 

Katie and I at la feria.

David, me and Jane.

Aries and Rain at the falls.

Eric, Danielle, Elijah, Mike and I at la feria. 

Making raw squa-ghetti.

Delicious raw pudding desserts!

Leaning how to chop coconuts like a lady.

Making raw taco shells in the dehydrator.

Picking biribas!

Salvaging guavacosta - ice cream beans.

Eating jackfruit! (Photo Eric Rivkin)

Enjoying the beauty of the small things in life.

Harvesting cucumbers! (Photo Eric Rivkin)

Eating miracle fruits! (Photo Eric Rivkin)

Eating carao! (Photo Eric Rivkin)

Eating BIRIBAS (Photo Eric Rivkin)

Eating a plethora of bananas! (Photo Eric Rivkin)

Eating varieties of Passionfruit... (photo Eric Rivkin)

So, mostly eating once it gets down to it. Ha. 

To Eric - thank you. It´s been a blessing and an opportunity. I will be forever thankful for the time I have spent with you and everything I have learned. It´s been incredible and I am blessed to have been able to live on your farm and learn from you and the many people who have passed through. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. 

I truly recommend stopping by and seeing what Eric is doing - it´s pretty cool. He has a lot to teach, if you want to learn. Enjoy. 

From one heart to another, thank you, and God bless. It´s been a pleasure. 

NOW I GOT NEW DIGS, BABY! Slice it and dice it, I´m home. Ch-yeah. 

Lovin´ every bit, 

Rianna

Raw Food Wedding!

On Tuesday, May 4th, Eric and I catered Frederic Patenaude´s raw wedding at Waterfall Villas!

This was awesome. First - pictures.

Here are the newlyweds, Fred and Veronica.

They were married by Raven in front of their family members outdoors at Waterfall Villas. 

Check out the altar! 

Fred is a raw food advisor, coach, teacher, guru, chef, etc, who met Veronica, another raw food enthusiast, and wha-la, fell in love. They performed lots of pretty little ceremonies at the altar - Raven would guide them in draping and tying ribbons over each other´s hands, making a flower boat with the elements of earth, fire, air and water to give to the waterfalls, lighting candles, and more. It was beautiful and very sweet. 

Then we got to the food.

YEAAAAAAAAAAH!

Eric and I spent the entire day Monday making this incredible 100% raw wedding feast. We made coconut crepe spring rolls with sauce (seen on the left), potato salad (on the right), nori rolls (up right), China Moon Veggie Stew (up left), coleslaw with cashew mayonnaise, fruit salads (in the carved pineapples you see up on the table), cucumber canapes with ¨neat balls¨ made from nuts, chili, and a big ol´ fat salad. We rule. Sauces to accompany all. 

Fred´s mom going for the deliciousness...

SO GOOD!

Here was my plate of goodies. 

And my superbly happy face. 

And, oh ho, my friends, you may glimpse even more through this video that I took while Eric was explaining the delicacies to all of the guests. Oh yes, may I say, at last... RAWESOME?? Okay, first and last time completed, now I´m done with that campiness forever.

Also, Fateh, who owns Waterfall Villas, along with some investors, made a wedding cake... out of watermelon. Check this sucker out - holy melon, my god. 

That´s a watermelon. 

Just in case you doubted my word.

It was made with coconut sprout sponge, watermelon, and coconut oil frosting, with something like apples along the side to keep the frosting on. And it lasted far longer than our papaya mango torte, which Eric and I made the day before and carefully kept in the fridge, then I held delicately at the expense of my arm muscles all the way to the Villas. It turned into more of a smoothie-like concoction with a nut-cookie after the trip (and spilled over edges) and lack of fridgeration, for some reason or another, when we arrived. There´s an official word for this that is much more French-sounding and chef-like than ¨smoothie with cookie¨, but fortunately I don´t really give a hoot as long as it tastes good and I can eat it.

This was epically delicious. Nom nom nom.

Here are more shots of the actual place it was held at, Waterfall Villas, which is exceedingly beautiful, luxurious and calming - a true resort. I could see myself here, no problem. Especially once the wedding, ceremonies, eating, clean-up and mini-concert by Paul of Black Lab were complete, I could go out and about and explore the lands by myself. Here is a collection of what I found.

The Entrance to the dining area...

Inside the above.

Stairs to the cabinas... ah, sigh!

Where we served the wedding feast.

The WATERFALLS AH!

Myself reading peacefully in the same room we served in...

This last photo was really the cap - after exploring the waterfalls, I came back and sat down, reading a Buddhist book and listening to chill-out music, the river and forest literally right in front of me, a gentle breeze blowing through the open air villa, the overwhelming scent of flowers, the dim lights, the delectable solitude and peace of it all... in luxury. 

I could get used to this.

I loved doing this wedding - the catering, making the delicious, beautiful, healthy food, watching the ceremony, talking with Tati and Fateh (new friends), listening as Fateh told me of her fantastic voyage to Egypt, where she and her husband meditated in the pyramids and floated down the Nile on a private boat like Cleopatra and fell asleep under the stars, walking down in the light rain to the waterfalls alone and dreaming, breathing in the rush of flowers all around me, quietly free to do as I please, surrounding by beauty and nature. Ah, what blissful serenity. Universe, let´s have more of these times and moments. That would be just divine, thank you. 

peace, softness, sensuality... yes.

Ah. Thank you all for that lovely experience, what a blessing. Namaste, in gratitude, from the heart and arms of a goddess. I bow to the divine in you, with grace, with grace, always in grace. 

In sensual, divine luxury,

Rianna

Flower Porn

Yep, you read correctly. A brief showing:

Passionfruit.

Young passionfruit.

Something pretty.

Purple Daisy??

Reina del la noche - Queen of the night

Ginger?

Semana Santas

Purple!

Ginger.

 Red Hisbicus, edible!

And... Penis Flower.