or in English...
"Probably the greatest lesson in our lives is to learn to be free; free from the circumstances of our eternity, of other personalities, and above all else, the freedom to be ourselves"
This quote was on the wall of the natural medicine clinic we visited, and I really liked it... probably partly because of what it says and partly because I didn't need a Spanish/English dictionary to understand it!
Breakfast was really strange this morning… potato/veggie casserole, macaroni salad and beans with REAL Orange Juice, unsweetened and so delicious. I stuck with just eating the casserole, as the macaroni salad was drenched in mayonnaise (and we all know how much I love that condiment)."Probably the greatest lesson in our lives is to learn to be free; free from the circumstances of our eternity, of other personalities, and above all else, the freedom to be ourselves"
This quote was on the wall of the natural medicine clinic we visited, and I really liked it... probably partly because of what it says and partly because I didn't need a Spanish/English dictionary to understand it!
We had a few extra minutes between breakfast and our first activity of the day, so we went to a new cafe to get coffee. They had some great posters, like this one:
At 8:30, we left for our conference at a natural medicine clinic. The organization is called Prosa: Promotores de Salud en Defensa de la vida del Pueblo. Their concept is that health cannot be achieved without total balance. Our lecturer explained that it is not natural medicine, but integral medicine that considers every part of life… medicine, nutrition, community, family, location, work… everything goes together. To provide the most help to communities, families and/or individuals surrounding Oaxaca, they have a 5 step process.
1. Check that clean water is available and that all stomach issues are taken care of.
2. How are the living conditions? They say they cannot improve health if living conditions are unbearable.
3. The ability to work. For this, all systems are checked including back, neck, knee, and legs. Any pains are taken care of.
4. A check of the reproduction system is given.
5. They teach about nutrition, natural eating and physical activity.
All the herbs stored at the clinic... sort of like a pharmacy!
I believe in the “total body health” concept, but some of the natural medicine techniques seemed a little strange. However, as long as they do not cause further damage, I don’t see a problem with continuing traditions. We learned a few more traditions:
-We were shown some magnets used to equilibrate body temperature and heal pains. The magnets are put near the feet and the hands, and each position helps a specific problem.
-The ear represents the whole body. They put seeds in the ear combined with a liguid, and this helps heal the body.
-Trained natural healthcare givers will look into the eyes to see from what sort of ailments a person may be suffering.
-Many people will try natural care before using medical clinics, yet some people do the opposite.
After the lecture, we had a Limpia. This is a cleansing practiced all across Latin America. It is designed for people who are mad, sad, stressed, sick… you name it. Each process is a little different, but they have the same basic principles.
Usually a Limpia is done individually, but we had a group of about 10 that chose to participate. The Limpia was held in the same room as the lecture, which was a little weird because we could hear the sounds of the street through the open windows (I imagine that if this process was done in a more private location, it would feel a lot more authentic). We began sitting in a circle. Turns were taken one by one. Each person moved their own chair to the middle of the circle when it was their turn.
The first part of the process involved getting “gently whacked” for lack of a better term, with a wad of fresh oregano leaves. She started at my head and slowly worked down, focusing on my arms, torso and then legs. She then used the wad to massage my forehead and neck. Once my turn was over, I moved my chair back to the circle and was told to sit with my bare feet on top of the oregano.
This happened for each person. Then, there was a second step. She prepared a fire in a small three-legged bowl and then added in a special sap. The sap created a strong aroma in the room, and the smoke filled the air. For each turn of this step, a person would stand in the middle of the circle. She made circles around my body with the smoke, starting at the top of my head and moving towards my feet. Then, she place the bowl in front of my face and asked me to “wash” my hands with the smoke and rub it over my face and hands.
Once everyone had their turn and we were all back in our original positions around the circle, we were asked to rub and pat our legs and arms.
This experience was really interesting! I can’t say that I felt any different after, but I can see how people would find peace with the process, especially if it were held in some natural setting instead of a room next to a busy street.
After the cleansing, we had about 2 hours to hang out before lunch. I went to a popular bakery with Marissa and we bought a bunch of little goodies to share and try. Most of them were really good, except for the brownie that was really dry. My favorite was a pastry that tasted a lot like Marti Gras King’s Cake.
At 3 that afternoon, we headed to RASA: Red Autonoma Para La Soberania Alimentaria. Basically, this organization works to create ways for people to obtain food security and autonomy… the idea that everyone can function for themselves, have the same food options, and have the capacity to decide what to eat. There is a lot of food in this world, but a lot of it gets trashed and many people who need it don’t get it.
We began our conference going around in a circle introducing ourselves and telling the group “what we know about our food” aka, aside from picking out fresh apples and oranges in the supermarket, do you really know where that food is coming from or what kind of growing process it went through.
I was proud to be able to mention my gardening experiences when I was in elementary school, even though all we were successful at growing was kale and beets, and I actually hated going to the garden. I also mentioned the cooperative that mom is a part of, in which we get local and organic produce each week.
After this introduction, we went through the 10 reasons for the organization:
1. Develop methods to produce your own products: how can one become independent and control food supplies while still dependent upon others for food?
2. Provide methods to economically produce your own fruits and veggies.
3. Increase quality and decrease price.
4. Provide food that is grown in a safe environment, is free of dangerous pesticides or other contaminations, and tastes better.
5. Decrease the amount of food imported in order to help reduce petroleum use and create a better environment for all.
6. Teach people to grow their own foods so they know what is in their food, as well as teach people the harm that chemicals put on the environment.
7. More and more trash is produced each year from packaging and traveling of food, and water sources become contaminated. Creating ways for people to provide their own food will help decrease these trends.
8. Create independence and autonomy for people.
9. Create community relationships and family bonds through “urbicultura” or agriculture. As children grow, they will learn to grow food and adapt healthy living habits.
10. Developing resistance, or in other words being able to continue doing this wherever necessary, adapting to different climates and gaining independence from major companies.
The organization also offers group classes in which people go to houses and work with community members to apply what they learn, help communities connect to people who have the “know how” to help them start, and show people exactly how to initiate this in their own homes and communities.
After our discussion we headed up to the roof to check out the garden and all the new systems they are working on. They explained that much of what they do is trial and error until they figure out what works.
One aspect I really liked is that the organization is not only trying to bring different nutritive plants to the area, but that it is preserving plants that are native. Many native fruits and vegetables are becoming rare because large companies mass produce the types that grow easier. Their goal is to maintain natural variety.
The conference room we used at RASA.
This is an example of a bike-powered machine. All of the rain water is collected in a large reserve underground. They then use a pump system to bring it up to the roof. This reduces the energy used to bring water to plants.
This is essentially an outhouse. I’m pretty sure she said they use the remains to create fertilizer, but I didn’t ask details.
In this contraption, the plant on the top needs the most water, the middle plant needs less, and the bottom plant needs the least. When it rains or when the plant is watered, the water will trickle through the system providing accurate amounts of water for each plant without wasting. Its also a great form of recycling!
As soon as it was time to leave the organization, the skies opened up. We were prepared to get totally soaked, but they started calling taxis for us. We ended up having to wait forever, and we almost felt that walking home and getting soaked would have been an easier option.
That night, I went to this restaurant (advertising a vegetarian meal) with Kati. It was great, and probably the best meal I had in Oaxaca, for only 50 pesos (compared to my 80 peso pico de gallo the second night)! I was impressed with the 4 course meal we had. I started with a veggie soup full of corn, carrots and zucchini in a tomato broth. Then, a plate of rice and carrots. For dinner, Kati and I shared a fish dish and a cheese enchilada dish, because we wanted to try both. For desert, there was a rice pudding sort of thing with raisins. I left thinking I should have eaten there every night!
We tried going out again, but the bar was small, damp and dark. There was a live band, which played a strange mix of Spanish music and American music. We had fun singing along to the American ones, although I’m sure we were those obnoxious gringos annoying everyone else in the bar.
Some people went on looking for other bars, but because of the continuing pouring rain, I decided I’d rather just head home.
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