March 1, 2020

Camiguin Island, Philippines

Sitting on the side of a mountain in a small bamboo cottage on a volcanic island in the Philippines eating my lunch- or brunch I guess, since it's only 10:30 a.m... Ferns, chopped cucumber, sprouted almonds and mung beans, avocado, carrots, Chinese cabbage and some kind of green that may be in the spinach family but looks more like basil to me. Tastes more like spinach though. Kind of viney, reminiscent also of sweet potato vine... very dark green leaves, purple stem and a delicious smooth buttery texture when you chew it.

From where I'm sitting slightly off to my left I look up at Hibok Hibok, one of the largest mountains on the island and over to the right is the ocean. I'm staying here with an old friend from Florida. We're a ways up the mountain looking down over a beautiful lush green valley covered with coconut palms and other trees that I'm not familiar with. There are cows down there and occasionally I see someone walking through the valley. Every morning a flock of egrets flies through the valley and up into the mountains.

Have been waiting for a while to take a walk, getting other morning things done. Woke up and did pranayama and then meditated to Shyamji's Mere Ram.

March 9, 2020

My last day of a long fast of fruit and raw vegetables that then went into a liver cleanse. Tonight is the last hurrah of the cleanse where I will drink a solution of epsom salts and water followed by olive oil and grapefruit juice. I have done it before but not in a long time and not this thoroughly. I started the fruit fast almost 3 weeks ago when I got a little bit of a sore throat. I got a mild case of bronchitis and Jim's friend Doc (who is a doctor) is being vigilant about my clearing this and being sure that it isn't the dreaded coronavirus. And in the process it is helping me to clear a lot of old stuff from the past on different levels.

I'm here by myself today- Jim's gone swimming which I know he needed to do, and I needed to rest as I am only on water today until the evening. I had visitors a little while ago, two young girls from the neighborhood, Rovijean and Cassandra. (I have no idea how to spell their names!) They 15 and 14 respectively. They are very quiet and shy but all the kids in the neighborhood are fascinated by Jim and I. It's funny to be the exotic one- definitely a new experience for me. The two girls, especially Rovijean, are very shy and it's like pulling teeth to get them to talk but they want to visit, so I got out Jim's guitar and played some songs and chants for them. They seemed to enjoy it. Cassandra is more demonstrative and she said how beautiful they were. Rovijean just smiles, and if I ask them questions they mostly giggle. I also showed them some pictures of my siblings, my kids and my grandkids and some pictures of New England. I demonstrated the Himalayan singing bowl for them- all in an attempt to entertain them as otherwise they sit there awkardly shy.

All the kids- and the people in general, adults as well- are so sweet and friendly. Everyone greets you wherever you go and is very polite and respectful.

Jim and two of our sweet little neighbors…

March 30, 2020

So much time has gone by and I see that it is exactly 3 weeks since I wrote the last bit. I have written in my actual journal a few times but nothing here and have not actually posted any of this yet. I have also been doing a small amount of expressive art therapy as I needed some avenue for creativity and self-expression, not having any of my instruments here but one small singing bowl.

So much has happened since I last wrote. Basically the whole world is now in some form of quarantine. I am 12,000 miles from home. In many ways I think it is better. One, I am in a very safe place. Two, I think it would be harder to be home and not be able to be with my family and friends. And three, I am under the care of an amazing doctor who was trained as a molecular biologist but later became a naturopath and chiropractor and I am going through some amazing healing protocols and clearing all kinds of old stuff.

I actually got sick 15 days after I arrived in the Philippines and it is very likely that I had coronavirus, but thanks to the care of Doc I had a very mild case.

Unfortunately I am not staying in the beautiful bamboo mountain hut that my friend Jim and I rented- a slightly convoluted story but the short version is that I had decided for a few days to stay somewhere else on the island just to see a different part of it. During that period of time they decided that all foreigners who had been on the island less than 6 months, in the area where we had been staying, were going to have to leave the island immediately. The coronavirus was just hitting the states and it seemed like a completely crazy time to travel. As it unfolded Jim and I were both cleared to stay by the authorities on the island but since we were both in different places at the time we had to keep it that way. I was not allowed to go back to the bamboo house. Jim was able to stay there because he had been here almost 6 months and had been in a different municipality the first few months he was here- so they gave him “special dispensation” (my words). I was fortunate in that I was instead able to stay in the same house as Doc (the amazing doctor) because, again, it was a different municipality. (Each of the different municipalities have their own rules- which they seem to mostly make up as they go along as far as I can tell!) In the end, all just some kind of good fortune, grace or divine intervention- call it what you will.

There is a guitar here. Thank god! So that is where I get some of my relief. We are on lockdown. No one is allowed to leave the premises except the “head of the household”- at very specific times- to go get groceries or whatever else might be needed. Thst does not include Doc and I. It was supposed to be until April 12 but now they are talking about extending it until April 30. I pray not- or if they do that they at least relax the restrictions so that we can walk down to the beach and go for a swim.

Re: the guitar- thinking about changing the words of 500 Miles to 12,000 Miles. We'll see how that turns out. Meanwhile, grateful for the internet and that I can connect with so many friends and family. Time to post some pictures. Unfortunately I no longer have the incredible views I had before. I will post some of the places where I have been though- and that hopefully I will be able to revisit before too long.

And in regard to sound... that has been one of the amazing constants since I have been here. Where I first stayed it was the rhythmic sound of the ocean, then up at the cabin the sounds of the jungle- birds, goats, roosters and water buffalo during the day, symphonies of crickets, tree frogs, insects and other unrecognizable sounds at night. Here the goats, the birds and the breeze, and the occasional truck going into the cement quarry during the day, at night mostly roosters and dogs. There is a little more traffic here than in the other areas so you do here the sound of motorbikes or the occasional honking of a horn. There is also a small restaurant here which is currently closed with the lockdown but she also has a small convenience store so in the morning there are voices out front as workers or one of her friends or extended family come to pick up something for lunch or buy a small necessity from her convenience store. (She is still allowed to be open from 6- 12 in the morning.)

So there's a snippet of my current life in the Philippines. Mostly my days are still filled with cleansing and healing and I couldn't ask for more.

I just listened to all my recordings I have done with my voice memo app since I've been here. I wish I knew how to post them!