Detox Fast

Last year on Sept 2nd I started a detox fast for 5 days. I intend to start a similar 7 day detox fast on Monday Aug 30. This time I am also going to incorporate a 'master cleans' drink first thing in the morning - that is water with lemon juice, cayenne pepper and maple syrup. I also plann to add chia seeds to my vegetable juices for protein and they also are good for cleansing the stomach and intestines, as well as helping prevent dehydration. This time I want to make it to 7 days. Last time I managed 5.

As with before my main aim is to improve my health. I have done quite a bit of reading about fasting. Eastern cultures will often fast to allow the body to care itself when people are sick. The first part of the fast (1-3 days) is said to flush out toxins and thereafter the body is able to rest and repair important organs like the liver and kidneys. People have shrunk cancerous tumours by fasting, and its said that toxins flushed out by a good fast, left to build up might lead to cancer's in later life. There is also research to suggest that fasting produces positive effects on those with depression or mental health issues. Well I'm happy to say that my lifestyle here in Cozumel has blown away the depression problems I used to have, but recently I have been feeling a certain amount of mental angst about one thing or another and I remember that by day 4 of my last fast I was feeling truely on top of the world, mentally. This is the part of the fast that I am looking forward to.

As with before though I'm going to need a good deal of resolve. I've been reading the autobiography of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Mahatma Gandi) which is titled "The Storey of my Experiments with Truth". The book deals with his experiments with morality in his search for absolute truth -Sat Nam. I have really enjoyed this book on many levels. Of course Gandi is an inspiration and actually a very entertaining writer. I mention his book though because of his experiments with food and their effects on his spirit. He fasted regulalry and I liked his discussion on the difference between 'trying to do something' and 'vowing' to do something:

"'I believe in effort, I do not want to bind myself with vows,' is the mentality of weakness and betrays a subtle desire for the thing to be avoided. Or where can be the difficulty in making a final decision? I vow to flee from the serpent which I know will bite me, I do not simply make an effort to flee from him. I know that mere effort may mean certain death. Mere effort means ignorance of the certain fact that the serpent is bound to kill me". I think Gandi had the same idea as the Jedi Master Yoda who said "Try!???!! Do or do not, there is no try".

Well I am intent on completing my week long fast.

One small amendment has been brought about by the fact that I cannot find cayenne pepper on Cozumel and also all of the Maple syrup is not REALLY maple syrup, but sugar syrup with maple flavoring. So I'm back to juicing and drinking leamon water with chhia seeds.

Diving today for FUN!!!!

As you may know I've been living on the Island of Cozumel for almost 2 years. I work as a Scuba instructor and, at least in the high season, dive almost every day. I do love my job, but like every other job, it does become work. It can be stressful looking after people and, although I always snatch a few minutes of relaxation during each dive, its just not the same as diving for sheer fun.

One of the other instructors who I work with, Fernando, has also become a very good friend. He is also cave certified and although he has much more extensive experience of cave diving than I do, its been around the same period of time for both of us since the last cave dive.

The slow season is now upon us. We went from the hectic roller coaster of July/ early August, with 10-15 divers a day as well as tons of certifications to barely a couple every day at the pool. We're meeting to work out a pared down schedule which will mean we each only work 3 days a week, although I intend to work a few shifts in the dive shop.

Fernando and I got to talking on one of these slow mornings about cave diving. We've had these talks before and always decide to go but we never quite get round to it. This time I think we just might. He is in the process of getting his gear all set up and going to the mainland to pick up some equipment he has there, but I have everything all together. I also have a set of doubles that I bought off Hans when he left Playa which had yet used. Fernando and his friends did a lot of cave diving and I am concious that I will not be up to their experience level so today I decided to hop into my doubles and take myself for a test dive in the Ocean.

At first it was a little rocky (literally). Not as bad as the first time I put on a set of doubles, but I was very concious that my fin stroke was making my body seasaw through the water. I remembered that I hate my fins (I wear a full foot fin normally, but have paddle fins & booties for cave). They were pretty cheap (DEEP SEA) and they are an aweful fit. They really hurt the top of my foot. If I were really to get into cave diving I would have to buy a new pair of fins. I loved my old TUSA fins - they broke, but I would really like to replace them.

Of course, with double tanks, you have lots of air. I planned to dive on Villa Blanca Reef where I work, as I know it very well and its only around 20-30 feet deep. My plan was to spend the first hour playing around with my bouyancy/ trim and taking pictures with my camera. I then planned to do valve drills and run a line, like I would into a cave, with a primary, secondary and other tie off. I figured on being in the water for around 2 hours. My major limiting factor was most likely to be my bladder, as air supply and no decompression limits were unlikely to become problems.

That morning I'd been watching the latest Shrek movie. In particular the part where, Shrek is granted his wish of being a scarey Ogre again for one day. He tears around scaring people, knocking things over and playing in the mud, and the music playing in the background is 'On Top of the World' by the Carpenters. This is just about how I felt during my dive. I was able to stop and look at all of the creatures I see on my daily tous of the reef, pick up shells and look inside, and just enjoy not thinking about anybody else but me. Almost an hour had gone by before I stopped to look at the time - I also realized that for that whole hour I had done nothing but think about what I was doing right then and there. By this time my trim had become much more even. I made my way back to the area where I had planned to do my line drills. Reached down for my very expensive and extremely sexy Halceon reel and found that it was not there. 'HUmn' I thought, I was sure I'd attached it to my harness before I got in. Oh well, its probably on the bench. I went ahead and did my line drills using my spool. I did a couple of drills shutting down the right and left posts on my manifold (for people who dont dive - when you dive in double tanks its important, in an emergency, involving a tank malfunction that you can isolate and shut down the offending tank quickly and save your air supply in the ramaining tank). Easy peasy - its so easy to do valve drills in a wet suit after the torture of struggling through them in a dry suit with 7mm gloves on!!! Its difficult to do a share air drill on your own, but I practiced pulling my reg out of my mouth, slipping the long hose over my head and presenting it to an imaginary diver in frount of me, while switching to my back up.

When I got back to the dock, my husband informed me that my beloved reel was nowhere to be seen. Although I'd had to end the dive due to a rather pressing need to go to the bathroom I decided to go back. My desire to get out of the water to go to the bathroom necessitated a quick search. I followed my own dive plan out and turned back with no sign og the reel. I was just making peace with the situation (you never use that reel, you could always use your big, ugly, NJ wreck reel, of all of the valuable things I have this is one of the least useful etc..), when something made me turn my head to the left. There she was!! with her little pink bobble, which stops the line slipping through the bit on top. When I collected it I saw the hole where I'd stoped to photograph a lion fish - she must have slipped of her clip then. I was very happy and made it back to the dock having spent just 20 mins in the search and managing not to pee in my wet suit.

When I got out of the water my husband noticed that one of my back up lights had exploded - a small loss in comparison to my reel:)

So it was a nice dive and I feel much more prepared to go for an easy cave dive next week. We're planning to dive Aerlito and stay on the mainline - nice and simple. I think Fernando has it in his head that we might do a decompression dive as well, once we get out equipment all together - in the open water. I will be pleased to flex my decompression diving muscles again as well. My plan is to leave my dry suit in NJ sometime soon and dive the next time I am in NY for work. Maybe I'll invest in a small storage space. Oh I did have a wonderful day of diving today. Made me miss my old cave buddy Michele Carvale and Jose, Fernando and Hans.

Guanabana fruit

I tried Guanabana fruit last night for the first time. The one I ate looked a bit more like this:

They are pretty good. Not so good as to knock the Pitaya off my #1 new fruit spot, but sweet and juicy. I did a little google search on guanabana's and found this:

"The Guanabana Fruit has cancer curing abilities. The Sour Sop or the fruit from the Guanabana tree is a miraculous natural cancer cell killer 10,000 times stronger than Chemo. The taste is not bad after all. It’s completely natural and definitely has no side effects.."

Although this statement seemed a little too good to be true I did some more digging and it does seem like there is ainterest in the cancer fighting properties of the trees leaves. I also read that is is good for both bacterial and fungal infections, and is effective against internal parasites and worms, lowers high blood pressure and is used for depression, stress and nervous disorders. I'm in!

I like to try new fruits and I figure if they have health benefits as well, all the better. I think I'm going to buy another of these tomorrow and maybe try to make a shake with it. Now that the slow season is approaching I'm considering another juice fast followed by a much healthier diet.

Almost ready to put the roof on the first floor!!!

The house is really starting to take shape now. I'm starting with a picture taken from the street of the front of the house. The clear area on the left will be the car port. The window on the right will be my study.

Here's another picture of the front door and my study window - a little closer:

This is my study again and the cruved supports at the top is where we will have a little 3' balcony on the upstairs bedroom (which will also probably be the guest room):

Looking into the kitchen from the terrace:

View of the upstairs stairwell from the kitchen:

From the kitchen, looking through the double archway which leads to the living room. The bathroom door is off to the left and the double cupboards/ closets are to the right. The background is the living room and front door:

This picture is taken from the terrace - my husbands work room is off to the left and one of the kitchen windows is right of that.

Here's a picture of the terrace with one of the workers moving bricks for some perspective:

And finally the kitchen taken from the double arch hall way leading to the living room.

Its all very exciting. We've also been shopping for tiles for the floors and bathroom. I'm hoping the roof will be put on in the next month or so. The builders are slowly leveling all of the walls at the top, so that the roof will have a strong even base. They will also need to finish the supports for the terrace roof so thae roof can be puored all in one go.

38th Birthday

Wow - I am 38! I remember when I was younger thinking how old will I be in 1999 (like the Prince song). Anything older than 27 seemed incomprehensible. So how does it feel being 38. Very nice indeed. My life is going very well these days with my Mexico move being a huge positive turning point.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me!!!

By popular demand (or at least the insesant demand of my mother!!!)

Well the house is going through another growth spurt. My impression so far, is that the fastest thing about building a house is the actual building of the house itself. The foundations have taken a long time and I am told that all of the finishing of the house (electric, water, plastering, tiling, fittings, windows, door etc..) will take a very long time.

So I think the last pictures I posted were of the foundations looking like a 3' high wall, outlining where our rooms are going to be. Well things have advanced a litte from then. We now have a good number of walls and the land around the foundation has been filled to almost floor height. It is very difficult to show the progress clearly in pictures because its difficult to get enough of the house into the camera shot to make sense. So here it goes.

First is the view into the kitchen from the terrace. The kitchen will be aproximately 15' x 15'. Along the left of the picture leading towards the back are the bathroom, living room and study:

Then my husband in the kitchen poiting to where the stairs to the second floor will start (taken from the terrace). His being in the shot gives everything a little more perspective:

My husband's work room - or as I like to call it his 'man cave' (6' x 9'):

Me standing in the living room at the door of my study before the foundation was filled (the living room will be around 12' x 18' and my study will be 9' x 9'). I say 'my' study but I will let my husband put a small desk in there:)

My husband standing in the study doorway after the land was filled. The front door will be to his left.

Me in the kitchen this will be where the sink will be and the washing machine will be to my left, with a nice bench inbetween.

View from the kitchen to the covered terrace. You can see that our garden, behind the terrace, will be small (9'x24'):

The bathroom:

My husband and mother-in-law looking into my study window from the driveway, this is where my desk will be so that I can monitor all of the comings and goings!

So there you have it. I am hoping that Tropical Storm Alex will take its wet weather away today so that work on the walls can continue. It is possible that we will be able to get the roof on the first floor by the end of this week or next. Then I have to wait until all of boring stuff is completed before we can start the exciting things like choosing the decor for the bathroom!!!

New York

I have just returned to Cozumel after two weeks in New York. I think I have written about this before, but it is the wierdest experience being back in New York, especially because I spent two weeks working in my old company. More than just visiting a place, its like visiting a different time in my life and an all together different me.

Work was actually great - I felt like I fitted right back in. I love the people who I used to work with and two weeks of quick chats and lunches made it possible to catch up with almost everybody.

I had been worried that my 1 1/2 years in Cozumel might have irradicated all knowledge of shipping from my brain (thanks to my VERY bad memory). I was pleased to find that this was not the case. Everything came flooding back and by day 2 it was like I had never been away. It was nice to sit and work at a desk for a change and give my back a rest from lugging tanks around.

So what are the differences between working as a scuba instructor and working in an office (probably more sensible to ask what are the similarities but bear with me). It was a friend who put her finger on the main difference. She'd taken a year off from her stressful, marketing position and had recently returned to work. She told me that returning to her desk job had had a dramatic effect on her health, this she put down to feeling very disconnected to the universe. That is exactly what I think I felt. Here in Cozumel I feel very at one with nature and the forces at work in the universe. I feel the sun, wind and sometimes rain on my skin. I'm in the Ocean alomost every day; sometimes its soft and billowing waves wrap around me like a blanket, sometimes they knock me on my ass. The current rocks me to and fro or flings me 1/2 mile in 5 mins. In the city we tend to live and work in environmentally sealed buildings, see the world virtually through computers, communicate by e-mail and telephone. Our appartments are luxurious but airconditioning and tinted windows keep us at arms length from what little nature exhists in the city. Two weeks was a nice break but I was very ready to get back to my Island.

I did have a great time catching up with friends. A couple of dinners with Carey, catching up on her eventful life is always fun. I managed to spend some quality time with Allie and little Griffin, and also a nice dinner with her husband Hans. Cat was in town from Germany for a flying visit and I got to hang out with her and Beth. Allie came over for dinner and although we had to cut things a little short due to Cat's jetlag, my general uselessness at staying up late, Beth's early presnetation and Allie's mommyhood, it felt good to have a girly night with close friends. A wonderful weekend in Lake George with Christine. It did rain which stopped us from getting out on the boat - but did allow us to hit the outlet mall, where I was able to load up on flis flops for me and my husband.

I also managed to spend some time with a good friend who has also decided to take a year off from corporate America - boy did he look more relaxed.

I stayed with friends in NJ and Long Island during my trip. For the seocnd week I had the use of a friend's wonderful apartment in Jersey City.

A great 10 min train journey to lower Manhattan (perfect for early morning shopping trips to my favorite discount designer store - Century 21). The most wonderful thing about this apartment were the views. Check out the views of Manhattan from New Jersey. I'd have to say that I love crazy New York...

Looking at these pictures I am reminded of what Hans said about loving the energy of the city and being inspired by it everytime he needs to be in midtown for work. He is right about that. Maybe its something about so many people being packed into such a small space, all busy like worker ants. There is a creative energy about the city- it almost buzzes with the energy of its people. Maybe not the peaceful connection to the universe that I feel in Cozumel but there is definitely a powerful and compelling energy to the place.

On the morning of my return I woak up early to get to the airport for a 8am flight and caught the sun rising over the city...

Later when I returned to the Island, I watched the sun set over the ocean with my wonderful husband...

...and I thought to myself that both were beautiful in their own ways. I am lucky to be part of two such wonderful places.