Future. I see you. I create you.

The crickets are chirping,

 The geckos are slithering. 

The moths keep banging up against the glass window trying to get inside a safe haven.

    AND, the cockroaches know just how to freak out a girl getting ready to make dinner.

          I am proud of myself for not screaming. 

I need to get some pictures of these guys... they are HUGE 3 times the size of normal coakroaches. 

                              Yes. AND they fly. OH my!

 I bravely conquered both of the unsuspecting cockroaches as they were lounging in the kitchen!!! Go me!!! Yet honestly I had the quivers and goosebumps for a few minutes after.  

So funny how my perspective shifts a few days before I get my period, and interesting how it shifts during my period. Once I stop bleeding I can feel myself regaining my full "Nori" power back. Such an interesting cycle to note- because a few days ago I was in a much different head-space around this trip. I was afraid I wouldn't have anything to do, and I would have these crazy hot, long days... and blah blah blah. Yet now I am finding- there is always plenty to do- and I am absolutely enjoying this time to integrate, rest, and rejuvenate. Such a blessing to have this moon-time to detox emotions and thoughts that have been brewing for the last month. 

Phoenix and I have been talking a lot about the real possibility of moving out to Peru. We are both serious, big-time dreamers, so for us dreaming and creating is half the fun! Yet there are seriously so many pros to moving to this area of Peru. We are planning on taking a trip hopefully this weekend to check out Sauce, a little town in the beautiful spot of Laguna Azul. It is a 90 minute taxi ride from Tarapoto. I happened across a white man selling his 3 acre parcel (advertising on You-Tube of all places) out there a few years back, so I wrote him an email to see if it was still available by chance. He wrote me back saying it wasn't but we were still welcome to check out the property. He also mentioned that the whole town was for sale, so we shouldn't have a hard time finding other parcels of land for sale. It should be really cheap out there- say less than or about 10-15 grand for 2-5 acres. 

My ultimate plan has always been to be able to live off the land in a beautiful tropical paradise, while having that land serve as a "healing-arts-retreat-learning-center". I know I am not the only one with this vision. Many of my friends share the same longing as well. Yet over the years I am marveling at how all the necessary pieces just come together naturally. With each piece I am able to refine and recreate my dream to be more and more functional, exact, and real. 

With this new moon on Sunday, I felt this alignment happening inside of me. Everything seems soooooo possible, and almost like it is on the verge of manifesting physically. When I dream about my future, and where I want to be in a few years I have three major components that are becoming to be more solidified. *Most importantly I desire to be eating all the food I am growing, and to be living in harmony with nature- off the "grid" with a fresh water source. This place is my heaven. 

*On this land I envision having a movement studio to offer various forms of movement and healing art workshops/classes. Blending Alchemy, Yoga, Somatics, and Dance into a grounded, and direct path to deep transformation. I see myself offering powerful workshops in the movement arts and really carving my own unique niche within the field. With this offering I intend to travel far and wide holding sacred space for people all over the world. 

*I would also love to create an online TV show that highlights various movement professionals, healers, and people in the somatic field. Phoenix can help me set up the platform very easily and I can get started on that right away. Being able to create a passive/ residual income source with this platform as well, will be a major plus. 

Whenever I dream about my future I have always had the components of sustainability, harmony, financial freedom, travel, teaching, continuous learning, and making a positive impact in many ways. 

When I think about grounding all of that in, to land in Peru- with the plan that Phoenix and I have been plotting, it just feels fucking amazing! Yet I know my journey will take me to places I never imagined, and will take a whole lot of dedication, time, love, and endurance. I am looking forward, yet I am enjoying this time to deeply remind myself of the here and now. That everything I am seeking for is truly already inside of me. I am almost 24 and yet age shouldn't matter, I am recognizing that everything has it's time and place. I can't rush the river. I can float down it on an inter-tube and enjoy the scenery on the way. Because, I think there is something about my life and where it is headed that is inevitable. Everything happens in perfect timing indeed. I trust in my destiny and I am also totally willing to do what it takes to make it happen. 

Empowered, Bleeding, Thoughtful,

Noryana 

Fish. They slap you. With water.

I am writing this after just having drunk a passion fruit, apple-banana, maca, noni, flax, chia seed, raw honey smoothie! Oh the joy!

It is really interesting with the local culture here. Aubrey was telling us today that the peruvian family that lives and works for her and Dionisio have a terrible, bland diet. Which comes as a total surprise for me, because there is a plethora of fresh super fruits and enough veggies to easily eat raw here, if one wanted to. As humans it is so easy to take things for granted. I wonder if living here you become so accustomed to amazing fruits, that perhaps you just don't think to eat them??? Still trying to mentally wrap my head around this idea that someone can live where there is so many great foods growing abundantly, yet they choose to eat refined sugar, starches, breads, and grains instead??? Such an interesting paradigm this is, in Tarapoto, Peru. The standard of living is pretty damn low, especially when accustomed to the American way.

Peruvians here love their pig, and meats of all shapes and size. The other day at the market with Estela (the woman who works for Aubrey), we went over by the meat and fish to pick up some fish for Aubrey. I am walking casually along, when BAM all of a sudden I am splashed by grey water. I look to my right, and low and behold, there are live fish flapping about on a tray. ??!!!! They were splashing their own fishy water onto everything. I probably looked crazy, because I just stood there and gawked. Hey, at least we know the fish is a fresh as can be! I am laughing right now as I am typing this, because it is such an absurd sight for us Americans to get used to. Also probably more crazy is the fact that there is live meat stacked up pretty high, and touching dirty surfaces. Flies and all sorts of other things that I don't want to think about, are buzzing around. The Peruvian's working the booth, sit there in the heat, waving a newspaper or a fly swatter to help keep the meat bug free.

So at any restaurant, it seems that the only vegetarian option is a small side salad, or some fruit juice. They love their meat cooked a million ways. If you aren't eating a meat dish, you can find fish. I did have some cerviche the other day, and it wasn't too bad. ( Not my first time though either). Aubrey and Dio say there are only really two legit restaurants in the town, and they happen to be right next door to one another by a main plaza.  When I go to other countries one of my favorite things to do is to try their native cuisine. I am looking forward to exploring as much as I can on the vegetarian end of the spectrum while I am here.

Phoenix and I have yet to really get our own diet and meal preparations down though. I have made some simple salads, some rice, some fried broccoli and carrots, some smoothies, and yogurt and granola. That is pretty much it. Since we don't have all of the spices that we are used to, or a good way to carry a whole lot of groceries- it has been an interesting experience. Everything we buy, we have to carry by hand. Then take a motocarro back to the property. There is also only one grocery store in all of Tarapoto. I think the coolest thing about the store is that they have powdered Maca, Lucuma, Noni, and all sorts of other local super-foods. Wednesday and Saturday are the big market days, so I look forward to getting up early tomorrow and heading out to the market place and stocking up on more necessities.

As far as my time being spent- the days feel very long here. Mostly because I have nothing ever pressing to do. I have taken some mini walks, spent time learning from Phoenix in the lab, read, read some more, meditated, eaten, taken showers, talked, talked some more, made love, made love again, looked at nature, went to town, and various other things along those lines. I am looking forward to finding more dance teachers so I can at least keep occupied some. If i spend 40 days like this I will either go crazy, or have some major life breakthroughs. I am hoping it is the later.

With much sunshine,
Norianna Banana

mosquitos

Ok so four days later i probably have 30 misquito bites spread out over my body. But you know what? I don`t give a shit!

 I have been doing a lot of thinking, reflection, and sleeping. I have been trying to read this book called body-mind-centering, and I am actualy very interested in learning more about this subject, yet every time I sit down to read I end up taking a nice nap instead. I am typing on a pretty silly keyboard on my tablet, so I have a feeling this entry won`t be too inclusive.

I just was able to organize 2 private afro-peruanu private dance classes per week starting this Tuesday and Thursday at the round keva on our property!!! For 8 private dance classes this college dance professor is only charging 120 soles. 1 dollar equal4s 2.80 soles.... so it costs roughly around 40 dollars for 8 private classes..... WHAT??? A little more then 5 dollars per class. Wow. I am blown away. 

I have been doing a lot of reflecting about the culture here and its pros and cons. I will definitely be speaking more about that later when I can actually type :)

At this rate, it is looking like I will be spending more time in the laboratory then I initially thought, which is actually probably the biggest blessing. I really want to be able to apply real alchemical principles to movement and the world of Somatics. I am also looking forward to calcining physically and spiritually, breaking down the illusions of my constructed self. I can already tell by the time Phoenix and I touch foot in Salt Lake City, we will be forever transformed by this Peruvian experience.

Hasta luego
N

Welcome to TARAPOTO, Peru

So here is a little introduction to what in the world I am doing at this current moment.
For the last two days I have been living and resting peacefully in Tarapoto, Peru at an eco-village of sorts, called "Yaccumama". The beautiful couple who own and run this place are known as Aubrey and Dionisio. Aubrey owns her own herbal product company called "Qori Inti" where she creates amazing potent products from Amazonian herbs while infusing the products with the flair of Ayurveda. Dionisio is originally from Spain, but grew up in France, and is the father of this beautiful four acre reforestation project. My partner Phoenix and I were fortunate enough to hear an almost three hour story of how he even came to be an Ayawaschero, and how he came to be living here in Tarapoto for the last 25 years. WOW. Mind-blowing, humbling, and fascinating story! Basically we both already know that Dionisio is a very, very, very pure-hearted man and is able to lead deep transformational aya journeys purely through the space that he can hold. Together Aubrey and Dio hold retreats around the world combining their expertise in Ayurveda, Yoga, and Plant Spirit Medicine!

How did we end up here? Well Phoenix was invited last September via a random email from Aubrey, because she had heard about what an amazing and self-taught teacher he is, to come down to the Amazon and teach her the art of Spyagrics. Since that email they have been corresponding, and we haven't wanted to get our hopes up too high because nothing was ever finalized until a few months ago! And lo and behold, now we are actually in the heart of Peru living out some sort of strangely organized, divinely guided fate. Phoenix has dreamed of going to Peru for a very, very long time. I have also always seen myself in the Amazon rainforest in one way or another, since I was about 13 years old. So for both of us, the honor is extremely great that we get to experience this side of the world, let alone together!

So at the moment, we haven't done all too much. We arrived in Tarapoto Sunday night, after almost 24 hours of traveling, and waiting in airports. Dio picked us up at the airport, but he arrived on his motorcycle and we took a "motocarro" (a tri- pod motorcycle that has a bench where 2-3 people can sit and be shuttle around Tarapoto for minimal cost). What a culture shock, being driven on a motorcycle thing through the streets of Tarapoto at night time where we can see the locals just hanging out in front of their houses on plastic lawn chairs. the city is nothing like I imagine India to be, as far as dirtiness goes, but still compared to the streets of USA and major cities, Tarapoto is pretty run down. Still, the people seem very content, peaceful, and enjoy loved ones' company.

Our living situation is pretty large and spacious. We are staying in the guest house meant to sleep 12-15 people and we have it all to ourselves! Everything on the property Dionisio built himself and had help with. Pretty impressive to hear as well, that when Dio bought this property there was absolutely nothing on it, it was BARE, maybe one or two trees that is it. After 25 years of hard work, love, and dedication this land is thriving with many various species of plants and about 4 living structures plus a few extra structures.

Also, as the city has been growing, Yaccumama has been encroached on. It is an interesting mix to hear construction, motorcycles, and other people all day long admist the songs of crickets and jungle lore.

Tomorrow Phoenix begins teaching Aubrey! I am curious where my time will be spent. I have various connections to study tradition in the town. I am also very interested in various natural healing methods used in this part of Peru. My heart is open, and my mind is receptive. So far so good.

Blessings be
Norianna