thefutureisred

Coca Leaf Tea Done Laid Me Low

I should have known better. I'm the tea guru, right?

Last week, we had unexpected Couchsurfers stop by the house. Javier, Noemi, Michal and Jan. From Argentina, Quebec, Poland and Belgium, respectively.  They spent the night. We cooked curry and chapatis together and stayed up really late talking. So by Friday night, when it was time to go out in celebration of Michal's 30th birthday, I was exhausted.

The Schedule Went As Follows

10pm: "I'll brew up some coca leaf tea," suggests Michal. "That'll wake us up!" And so he did. A pot full of strong, deep green and overly sweetened stuff that made my tongue cramp and stomach lurch on first sip.

But I was tired, and this is Argentina. The clubs don't even bother opening until 1am. So, when the first cup didn't do much of anything, I went for cup number two. My lips and gums were a'tingling as we approached Balcarce Street. 

Midnight: Then, what's a birthday celebration without a toast? Of course, when the waitress at Rana Burger tells you there's a two for one promotion on liter bottles of Quilmes, you don't think to say no.

4am: We're neck deep in thump, thumping reggaeton at Club XX1. It feels like my head is going to pop off, but still, we danced.

8am. Lila is awake and wanting breakfast. I get up, feeling fine and make her french toast. I'm trying to use up as much food as possible in the house before we move later this month, and we have a lot of beans, peas, lentils sitting around. I decide to make soup.

10am: "I'm not feeling so good," I tell Noah who is still sleeping. "Do you mind hanging out with Lila for a bit while I lie down." I remind him of the soup. It should be ready in time for lunch.

A Cup of Water, A Wet Towel & Hair Band

The following 48 hours mash into one long, painful blur. All I remember with extreme clarity is feeling sicker than I've ever felt in my life. My head pounded. I was sure the slightest movement would cause the top of my head to burst right off. My stomach gyrated as if trying to muscle its way back to the dance floor.

My bare necessities? A cup of water that Noah graciously refilled for me throughout the day. A wet towel to put on my forehead and a hair band to grab quickly before I ran back to the toilet to vomit again. I couldn't even keep water down, but needed something in my stomach. The worst part was the sickly, sweet aroma of coca seeping from my pores. The smell alone sent me retching back to the bathroom.

I kept thinking of all those ayahuasca journeys in which people describe the most horrific reactions, expelling liquids and solids from every possible orifice. Yet they still claim their trip as the most overwhelmingly positive spiritual experiences of their lives.

Was it spiritual? No. Not really. Spiritual redemption was just a tiny carrot, a golden hope, some little way of trying to convince myself that all of this would ultimately be worth it. 

By Monday morning, I was out of bed again and nibbling on dry toast having learned an important lesson. Never again will I treat coca leaf with such disrespect. 

It Doesn't Do Much For Me

I hear this from many people. Perhaps that's because they are drinking the kind from tea bags or they don't drink enough. But we were using relatively fresh leaves which were steeped in hot water for a few hours.

Or maybe they are smart enough to listen to their body's when they say, enough, don't drink anymore. 

I've often been able to determine that an herb -- tincture or tea -- was the right or wrong one to take based on my taste response. Do I like the flavor? Am I repulsed by it? That's often a good indication of what your body needs. 

All the signs were there. My stomach had an uncomfortable reaction to the first sip, and I hated the taste. I stupidly ignored what my mouth, tongue and stomach told me.

Too Much Of A Good Thing Takes You In the Opposite Direction

Coca leaf is meant to stimulate your stomach. It's also a mild sedative. Thus, I had too much and found myself both painfully overstimulated while dreadfully sedated. 

Herbs are all about finding balance. That's why I tend towards herbs like chamomile and red raspberry leaf that are dual modulators. They help bring you back to the center. These are also very gentle herbs and you'd be hard pressed to over do.

Coca leaf has much stronger properties. The alkaloid tropane can be poisonous in too high doses, and is the active constituent in cocaine (but only if highly treated. Coca leaf is not cocaine.)

Am I Warning You Not To Take Or Try Coca Leaf?

Lord, no. That would be like saying not to wear shoes because some idiot decided to wear her's without tying the laces and then fell when they got stuck in an escalator.

But use it with respect. If you have a bad headache or nausea. If you're suffering from altitude sickness or to perk you up if you are extremely tired but have no choice but to keep working, particularly physical work. Coca leaf can also be used to blunt symptoms of withdrawal. It's not meant as a casual pick me up before going out dancing and certainly shouldn't be mixed with alcohol or other substances, depressants or stimulants.

Learning By Trial & Error

I've always been my own guinea pig when experimenting with herbal medicines. Normally, I'm more cautious, take things more slowly. I test a little of an herbal preparation and see how I feel before downing more. 

I should have known better. It's a mistake I'll never make again (probably.)

Photo Credit: A huge thank you to photographer, videographer and 3x Emmy winner JD Andrews of EarthXplorer for allowing me to use his coca leaf photo. He took it while on a recent trip to Peru where he drank and enjoyed coca tea without incident.

Give Me Butterfly Wings: I Needed A Big Blog Break

Photo by e3000               

Sometimes death teaches more about life than what's on my computer.

After almost four months without a word from me, it's time to answer those gentle nudges of "Where are you?" What's going on with your blog?" I've been getting.

First, again, thank you for asking. I am grateful and, as they say, humbled that not only do people actually read this little red thing of mine, but even notice when it's gone. 

But it needed to be. It has become abundantly clear that I needed to focus on my non-blog life. 

The Catalyst

Or should I say catalysts, because it's rarely just one thing that causes change in our lives.

This past July while in New York, we learned from a friend of ours in Bocas del Toro that our old landlord Cher, a really lovely woman, had been murdered. By a serial killer. It almost sounds like a joke, but clearly, it's not funny. Not in the least.

Then, when I got back to Argentina after Burning Man, I learned that another friend of ours from Salta, Diego, had also been murdered. I don't really understand what happened. Apart from some vague intimations about it being a gay-related crime, that the murderer was an exotic dancer.... Quite frankly, that's when I stopped listening. Those details aren't the core of the matter. It is more that a really decent person is now dead for no reason at all.

It really fucks with a girl's head, you know?

I Wanted To Blog, I Really Did But...

I stopped writing soon after I heard about Cher's murder. Since then, the idea of writing about what was going on in my head just felt wrong, but to write about something else seemed forced and a waste of my time. I’d rather paint with Lila or hang with Noah or do something altogether different.

So that's what I did.

I Don't Want To Be Too Late For What's Most Important

With all the traveling, running around, trying to develop programs, meeting people and posting, I felt I never had time for anything. My life too often felt like a massive unfinished to-do list and I was always working to reach a constantly moving horizon.

If I continued like that, I would miss out on my real world. So I had to let go of the online world for a while.

My hits were at an all time high when I stopped writing, and I’ve watched them fall, fall fall, as well as watched how my connections with many of the people I know online have faded. That has been hard to see.

But I had intended give Diego a call and get together sometime, soon. By the time I got around to it, I was too late. I don't want to say the same about Lila or Noah or the other people who are most important to me. I want to be truly present in their lives and mine.

Making A Commitment To Real Life & Community

This week, Noah and I will sign the papers to buy a house here in Salta. It will be our home, yes, but it will also be a community center for traveling artists, writers and teachers. (And will be filmed for an upcoming episode of House Hunters International. We're even flying to NY in February to do some filming there.)

 

So far, we’ve formed connections with local universities and non-profit organizations. We plan to use the internet and social media as a tool to connect students between countries, allowing them to share their work with each other as well as with bring in international artists, writers and photographers, travelers and educators.

The goal of our program, though, goes beyond a creative exchange to an initiative to teach English, keep students in school and ultimately improve their economic prospects by connecting them with an international community.

We just finished our first semester working with 12 year olds at the experimental high school that is a part of the Universidad Nacional de Salta (la UNSa). Next year, we’ll work with the same group of students, incorporate online and gallery exhibitions of art and photography and are working to begin teaching at the two local universities of Salta.

Does This Mean We Will Be In Salta Forever?

It is unsettling to think of being settled. It is overwhelming, too, to commit to one place after being on the move for almost five years.

The underlying assumption of our program is that since it is based on the people, the needs and the soul of Salta, it will not need us permanently to continue growing. We are here until our work here is finished;then we will move on. 

Paper Mache Butterfly Wings and Walks By the River

Along the way of designing the project, I stopped to design paper mache butterfly wings with Lila. We picked dandelions by the side of the river flowing near our house. I stepped away from the to-do long enough to start weekly belly dancing classes with a really fabulous teacher. Someone who will be teaching as part of our community center.

And maybe, just maybe, I've learned a bit to accept that the most important thing I want to realize in this life of mine is how to be patient and not be too attached to any one outcome, because the bottom line is you never know what happens next.