Sorry folks! We lost our pictures of Santa Monica, Tucson and Patagonia.
Not quite sure how it happened, -- I think I must have accidentally erased them -- but we’ll just have to make do without them now, and share some highlights from those visits.
Our experience in the Santa Barbara hostel had been a little different than most others. The common space was quite cramped, and the hostel was quite full with mostly youths from Australia and New Zealand on their summer holiday. Fine people, but a very mainstream feeling that left us cold. Kushla, the Maori healer we met, saved the day, as did the vistas and our wonderful walks!
By the time we arrived at the Santa Monica hostel, I was relieved to find a large scale space in which we would have no shortage of space in the kitchen (stainless steel counters, sinks, and several fridges and stove tops), and in which we might enjoy some degree of anonymity through which to gain some solitude. As usual, though, we had a lot of really interesting meetings with people.
We walked on the beach in our bare feet. For a long way. Then up Chataqua Blvd, a steep climb where we joined Sunset Blvd., the right place to find the Yogananda Center to which we were ‘pilgrimaging’, and asked a woman to confirm our direction. We were on the right track! Only about a mile and a half left to go, but, it was closed on Mondays. (Who would have thought?) She did affirm that the center was breathtaking. So, we thought we would visit the next day, but fate had other plans in store for us:
We were late in renewing our booking and they had already assigned our beds to others. Disappointed, having just struck up a friendship with the nice couple from Denmark that we had met in our room. (There was also another couple from Australia who were to visit Winnipeg for the holidays! Laura and Pete from Melbourne had already left.) Also, we would be out of a room until after 2! We did manage to make a plus of it by organizing ourselves a little bit as we packed everything up for the move. We tended to our computer needs at Circuit City (how do people stand those televisions blaring away -- an incredibly noise & electronically polluted zone?!), lightened our load by shipping some stuff home at the post office, and headed back to the hostel. Who should show up in our room as we were busily installing ourselves but Mark, a young actor in his thirties with whom we had struck up a friendship the other night. The three of us headed off towards the food co-op (Co-opportunity) that Mark had tipped us off to the other night, and enjoyed an interesting conversation, mostly revolving around recent and recurring events in Mark’s life. It was fun! But he was in a bit of a quandry. Then, we got him onto working on a one man show about his life. He was thrilled! I won’t reveal the details of his story, but perhaps it will show up in a fringe festival near you. He told us that he would dedicate it to us, for our creative support! Apparently, he had been advised by someone 7 years ago that he would meet success with something that he wrote himself that was partially scripted and partially improvised.
I really enjoyed sharing my creative juices. It was a blast!
Raw Gourmet
Eating raw was one of the highlights of Santa Monica. Within walking distance of each other, there are two fabulous organic raw vegan gourmet restaurants. Each establishment has a recipe book in publication (‘cookbook’ doesn’t quite cut it with raw food restaurants. Juliano calls his “Raw: the uncookbook.”)
The very first night that we were in Santa Monica, we made our way down to Juliano’s Raw Restaurant, and then, the next day, we went there for lunch. The food was fabulous. Particularly the no cheese, no tofu, cheese cake! It was sooo creamy. At Juliano’s, if you follow the menu’s advice, you eat dessert first. This is because it is more easily digested that way! Check out planetraw.com for more info on the menu, etc.
The other restaurant is called Euphoria loves Rawvolution and the recipe book is entitled Rawvolution. It’s a bit more casual and affordable than Juliano’s fine dining establishment at Broadway and Fifth in Santa Monica (you have to try it if you get out this way!)
Psalm Isadora
We met this amazing person while we were at the Euphoria restaurant. I was chatting with the person who was serving me at the counter, and she told me that her friend, Psalm, had just come back from a trip to Costa Rica, and that she was just having lunch in the restaurant. She was briefing some people on an upcoming yoga retreat in India. Psalm teaches yoga and plans retreats for her students. She had been to Costa Rica planning a retreat here, and was happy to share what she had learned with us. At the same time, she invited us to come to a yoga class (her custom is to offer the first one free), and we found her style to be exceptional. She really knows how to take the part of the student, her voice is beautifully calm and soothing, and her instructions are wonderfully peaceful and intelligent. www.psalmisadora.com . I’ve been enjoying her writings from India.
We had started to miss older people, and these came our way, among others. A fellow by the name of Shenkarin who was in town visiting his daughter and grandchild -- he had moved back to India after 9/11. A wonderful, intelligent man with a great interest in history. We loved learning from him and listening to him talk. So sorry to have lost his picture! Also, David, a dear man, struggling with post war trauma. A German woman with her two young daughters who felt called to come to Santa Monica. The young French body builder. The Russian meditator who was living in Canada, but moving around to different meditation retreats. Joel, from England, who was surveying a variety of raw food options. Ihmad -- a really nice guy. Tommy Wong, a free form journaling lad from England, whom we met at the last minute, and struck up an instant rapport. Debbie, who was making her annual health food trip to L.A. from Chicago, and Brigitte, a young woman from Australian with vibrant, joyous energy, following a ‘road less travelled’.
And, the Yogananda Center: we finally did make it there. We hiked along the beach, enjoying some barefoot sand/shore walking; and up Temescal Canyon (very steep) to Sunset Blvd. In all, we walked approx. 10 miles! It was quite a day. The gardens were wonderfully done, and well worth the trip. The air -- so sweet!
