Visiting The Dominican Republic For Surf, Smiles, And Self-Reflection

Before The Summer Season Begins We Head To The Dominican Republic

A few weeks ago, my family and I set off for the Dominican Republic. We were greeted by amazing people and found ourselves very much at home with surf, sand, smiles, and Moringa everywhere. everywhere! The trip was one that allowed me to truly reconnect with my creative intuition and to break away from the fear I’d been lugging around with me for a while. I also found that, like so many who have gone to the Dominican Republic before, I’ve fallen in love with the place and the feeling I have when I’m there. If you’re ready to fall in love too, read on to learn more about my trip.

A Home For Many Expats And A Culture That Reflects That Beautifully

One thing you’ll probably notice about the Dominican Republic when you first arrive is the vast number of expats who this place their home. People from Scandinavia Haiti, Spain, the US and everywhere in between have come to add their influence to this gorgeous oceanside paradise. The climate is fantastic, the ocean is a kaleidoscope of different blue shades washing over one another with the tide, and with every wave crash you become all the more certain that you belong there. Sampling local produce like papaya or turmeric was (which you’ll soon find is used in everything and is an awesome addition for sure!) gave us that tropical feeling from the start. The food in the DR is very influenced by Spanish, French, and multicultural Caribbean style so there are plenty of empanadas, braised meats, and veggies,  

The Dominican Republic Loves Moringa As Much As Wave Of Balance Does!

We loved the papaya and empanadas, and we were also struck by how the Dominican Republic is culturally aware of the benefits of moringa. Moringa and the Dominican Republic, much like our Wave of Balance Moringa and Our hometown of Asbury Park, are a delicious and dynamic duo.  From smoothies to food toppings, Moringa is everywhere in the DR and so is hospitality! Lina, who works at the gorgeous El Encuentro Surf Lodge was amazing. While we weren’t staying at the Lodge itself, we were nearby and Lina made us feel so comfortable. She was truly welcoming and helped us to find anything (from yoga to great surf breaks to excellent meals at local joints) and we just couldn’t be more grateful. In fact, we even left some of our Wave of Balance Moringa for the amazing folks at El Encuentro Surf Lodge. So, they’ll be using our Moringa to ride their own waves in the Dominican Republic. If you want to learn more about the Surf Lodge check them out here and if you’re ready to try our Wave Of Balance Moringa line, you can find those products here. Ready to plan your own trip to El Encuentro? Check them out here.

The Work and Impact of Mariposa On The  Women Of The Dominican Republic And DR Surf Culture

While we certainly loved visiting Lina and the team at El Encuentro (and eating our way through the amazing local eateries in the area), I’d be crazy not to mention Mariposa and my own experience of clarity from this adventure.

If you’ve read my travel blogs before, you definitely know that I don’t leave my humanitarian hat behind when I travel and Mariposa is one of the organizations I’ve fallen head over heels for in the Dominican Republic. The organization (You can learn more about them here.)

) works with women and children on everything from education, to health, to sustainability, to recycling. In fact, Mariposa makes the most of the Dominican Republic’s tourism draw for kitesurfing, especially in the Kite Surfing Capital Of the World in Cabarete. They repurpose the sail fabric to make travel bags and all sort of purses and backpacks. Mariposa cares for the environment by working on reef replenishment as well.

As I reflect on my own personal experience on this trip I found that surf culture is growing in the Dominican Republic. I visited the Encuentro Surf Break about 28 years ago, and I was the only one of my friends in the water. On this trip I found that about 50% of the surfers were women, and many were young women. I could see Mariposa’s influence, as they work to get kids on the coast involved in water sports, they focus on women and girls. They work to get young girls exposed to the resources around them.

A Guided Meditation That Unblocked Creativity And Found Me Profoundly Grateful.

I also had the chance to push the pause button on my trip and took full advantage of that opportunity. I was lucky enough to be led through a meditation with a woman named Lola (onajourneyinwards  on Instagram). She had instructed a yoga class for us and we hired her to do guided meditation and yin class.

Before the meditation I was finding my intuition and creativity fairly blocked, or at least very challenged for the past year. Lola’s meditation opened me up and allowed me to see an eye in my visualizations that I can still see to this day whenever I need it. It was a simple drawing but helped me to see and unblock what was feeling so stuck for so long. Lola’s work helped me to take the anxiety and fear out of my mental state and over the course of that hour I found my mental block released. I felt more connected to myself and so grateful for that place and even, for a place I was beginning to miss.

This trip made me appreciate our restaurant pavilion by the sea even more. Lola’s mediation, Lina’s welcome, and finding myself in a place that understands the true meaning of hospitality all reminded me of our places in Asbury Park. The people of the Dominican Republic allowed us to feel like we were the only people they were taking care of, and that is the heart of hospitality that others should truly strive for and live out each day. Lina, El Encurentro, Lola, and the other amazing people we met on the island (including Myran Lindblom who took photos of us enjoying the surf and sand) understood and lived this idea fully.

Home Is Where The Beach Is: Come Visit Us At Ours!

The welcome and true hospitality we experienced in the Dominican Republic allowed me to come back to this table by the window at Langosta and to feel as though there is no need to leave it right now. I find myself all the more committed to our work, to this beautiful ocean view, to my amazing team, and my phenomenal family. I’m glad to have new friends in the Dominican Republic and am so glad we got to visit. I’m sure we’ll be back sooner than we think.

But for now, it’s summer at the New Jersey Shore. And that means it’s time to make some amazing food, surf our hometown waves, enjoy the weather at our pavilion by the sea, and welcome our own visitors with the heart of hospitality that is rare by remarkable.

I hope you’ll come visit us at Langosta, Pop’s Garage, or the Asbury Park Yacht Club this summer and I can’t wait to meet you!

Feed This Community Spotlight: Kula Cafe And Kula Urban Farm

Kula, Ideas, And Community Transformation

Have you ever had a thought, idea or dream, that just would not cease to pull at your heart, drawing you in? It’s filling you with passion, determination, creativity, and fulfillment, even if it doesn’t even exist yet? That’s how I felt about the Kula Café and I can’t wait to describe the Café and its work to you today.

Several years ago, I went to my friends at Interfaith Neighbors and I told them that I had the idea to do training café for front of house work. I’d seen that young adults in our community didn’t have opportunities to work in restaurants. At that time a lot of restaurants were opening and this meant great job opportunity, if young people had the confidence and training in hospitality.

The Empowering Experience Of Training And Working In Hospitality

I am a firm believer in the power of training people in the work of hospitality because it can build confidence, communication skills, and leadership skills. It’s been my experience that if you can communicate in a way to makes people feel good you’re going to find success in what you do. Training in hospitality offers access to a great skill set where people learn to manage themselves in a business, acting a sort of independent contractor in the moment. You have your section, your tasks, and you’re running that part of the business in that moment. I feel that if young people learn these skills they will learn to feel good about themselves and they will then take that into whatever career they pursue. Whether they work in retail, in an office, in a warehouse, in a school, they can take those skills, those abilities, and that confident communication, into that job and create success.

Coffee, Hot Chocolate, And The Common Good

When I had the idea for Kula Café, I found that there was not much of that front-of-house training, at least not in my neighborhood. I also knew that, while I loved cooking, not everyone wants be a cook and that is a different skillset all together.

When we began, Interfaith Neighbors and I went out into the community to give coffee and hot chocolate to people and businesses in town. The next step was to want to have people in community give to community.  There was a good deal of gang activity in Asbury but when the hot chocolate and coffee came by, people of every walk of life would come together to share a cup.

 This became a time where we realized we all wanted the same things, we just went about them in different ways. Someone might not want to interact with different gangs but both parties want a cup of coffee. So, for a time they’re willing and able to share that space with people whose experience is different than their own. This kind of community effort brings different people together. After the coffee and hot chocolate experience, Interfaith loved the as-yet-unnamed-idea and took it on. 

Asking “What’s Next?” And Answering In A Big Way

I had just left politics, and my husband Scott and I discussed the next chapter of our personal lives (Do we want kids? Do we want to move? What’s next?)

For me, travel has always been something I love and I’d always wanted to go on a women’s surf meditation trip. It just so happened that one was available and affordable at that time and so I went to Maui on a retreat that was sponsored by the surf brand Carve.

I was there. I was soaking in the Maui sun and so I headed to our first meditation. The topic of that first meditation was on the idea of Kula. Kula is the Hawaiian concept of a community of the heart (We wrap around our community with a passion for that community.) I loved my surf retreat experience (To read more about it, click here ) and returned to Asbury Park with a revitalized spirit, and a name for this place for Interfaith Neighbors: We decided to call it Kula Café.

Kula And Community Impact

 I know it’s not a Jersey word, but it is a beautiful word and a beautiful representation of what Kula offers the community and its people. Kula Café empowers the community grow, to strengthen itself, and to believe in itself.

The Kula Café has since been joined by Kula Urban Farm (right beside The Kula Cafe) where greens, microgreens, and edible flowers are grown. They’re then sold and delivered to local restaurants. Kula Urban Farm offers access to locally grown organic produce. The Farm’s work means that more people in the community are involved in knowing where their produce comes from, how it feels, and perhaps even what it means to want to pursue a career in some form related to that sort of work.  

This work may mean that people, who may not otherwise be exposed to such things, might explore careers in urban farming, horticulture, landscaping, and other related areas. The Café and The Farm are giving the people of Asbury Park the opportunity to discover passion they may not have been Intune with otherwise.

Igniting Passion Through Experience

Thinking about Kula Café And Kula Urban Farm brings me back to the first time I ever cooked at Oshin. It’s an understatement to say that something was just ignited in me. I know that it was a transformative moment and yet, I am also aware that we don’t always know where that passion will come from. Exposing community youth to new things will be of benefit to them because they will have the opportunity to explore things, all sorts of things:  From the beach, to business, to the chance to find desire in ways that were not always full available to the prior generation. When we find ways to provide these opportunities we give everyone in our community a way to look forward to what lies ahead.

A Leap Of Faith And The Kula Movement

Kula Café brings in a youthful demographic to explore something that excites and inspires them. The Café is a new, stable, and grounding place for the west side of Asbury.

This area is also experiencing the development of new gardens, parks, and affordable housing. It’s a transformation that has just begun with Interfaith Neighbors taking on this project and taking on this corner of the community.  Interfaith’s work, and my own, has convinced me that it only takes one person or group to take that leap of faith and hope that others follow.

That leap of faith, when made with amazing partners like Interfaith Neighbors, creates a movement.

Kula is The Café.
Kula is The Movement.

What’s Next? 

• To learn more about Kula Café and Kula Urban Farm, click here

• To learn more about Interfaith Neighbors, click here

• To pick up your copy of my new cookbook and support amazing organizations like Interfaith Neighbor’s Kula Café And Kula Urban Farm, click here

Nicaragua

Nicaragua: Beautiful Memories, Wildlife Conservation Adventures, And A Clear Clean Water Community Mission

Nicaragua is a place that continues to hold a revered place in my heart and in the hearts of my family.

I fell in love with Nicaragua after connecting with a friend who had family there. My family and I have grown closer to these friends and our memories with them are some of my favorites. As our families became closer, their niece who has traveled with us each time we are in Nicaragua, would watch the girls for us when needed. Needless to say, our twin daughters have been going to Nicaragua with us, of course, since they were very young and we know they’ve grown to love our trips there as much as we have.

As with any place that holds your heart, I’ve become truly committed to the people of Nicaragua. We bought land there and my non-profits have worked to enhance the lives of the people there as well. Food For Thought By The Sea worked with Waves For Water to supply water filters to the people of Nicaragua. There is a Section of Waves For Water called Restaurants For Water on their site and this organization serves to deliver these filters. There are projects going on all along the Pacific coast there. From Chancletas in the north to Tola in the south and along the Caribbean coast, in the jungle outside of Blue Fields.

I’ve traveled there to connect with the indigenous people of Nicaragua that speak forgotten languages, live in places with no automobiles, and have forged self-sustaining cultures complete with shopping and all manners of daily living.

I’ve traveled to a research center where they are studying the tapir, an animal that looks to me like wild boar with a horse head. They’re almost extinct, and I was lucky enough to see the project to get them to reproduce and grow their population. These intriguing animals are almost prehistoric looking and without this project, they’d be completely gone.

Chris Jordan was one of the people who work on the project and he traveled with me. I was soon grateful for his company because it was an adventure just to get there: We took a boat through the pearl river, and the boat engine died. We found ourselves nowhere near anything, truly terrified, with no cell service. We overcame our fear and got the engine going. Moving again we went to Pearl Lagoon for lunch (a delicious and well-earned fish meal) and then took another boat to the jungle. From there we took a horseback ride for 45 minutes and hiked from there another 45 minutes to the research center. After the research center we too another 45-minute horseback ride and 45-minute hike to where they were bringing the water-filters to a school.

The excursions were quite exciting but there were other joys on the trips I took to Nicaragua, including the exposure to a completely new culture. I loved going to surf and enjoy the beautiful beaches, watching volcanoes at night erupting in the distance. Climbing those volcanoes on the lake during the day was also nearly indescribable.

Lake Nicaragua is the only fresh water lake with oceanic animal life, sharks, swordfish and the like and it is one of the most breathtaking places to which I’ve ever been.

 Whether we spent the day sailing, hiking, or slack-lining between palm trees outside a local bar, we often found ourselves enjoying huge fresh-caught fish at lunch and dinner. While I enjoyed my fair share of fish and other fare, no trip of mine is ever truly complete without exploring and learning to make a local specialty or two. Nicaragua has so much to offer in this department and so much of it will be new to an American palate.  On my trips I love to learn to make a local dish and in Nicaragua that meant Nacatamales and Pili’s cheese cake. I learned to make them from Antonia, the woman who cares for the house that I rent there.  Pili taught me to make her passionfruit cheesecake/panna cotta hybrid in the kitchen of her own restaurant I brought that recipe and memory back and you can find it served at Langosta Lounge in the summer.

Nicaragua is an infinitely beautiful and memorable place for my family and I. It is a place where we go to explore and enjoy and to be of service and we would encourage you to make your own journey there. Should you take my advice, I promise you’ll never look at palm trees, volcanoes, clean drinking water or cheesecake the same way again.

Hari and Rubi Arrive

Hi All!

Well…Sandy kicked my butt and in light of recent events, my vacations have been less about adventure and more about the comfort of my tribe! And boy has my tribe grown! Since I last wrote, my husband Scott and I gave birth to 2 beautiful baby girls - Hari Mar & Rubi Dee!

Together, we have travelled to Vermont, Montauk, Mexico and Nicaragua in their brief 1/2 years. We’ve traveled not for the adventure this time around, but only to relax and enjoy their company.

The truth is that sometimes the vacation happens in your back yard or your favorite restaurant and sometimes it happens far away. No matter the location your vaction should always happen with those you love!

As for my new additions: They have created within me a new found love of comfort and ebullience!

Kula and My Maui Surf Retreat

My Maui Adventure (After 30 Years Of Working On My Birthday… I'm Off To Surf & To Celebrate Me!)

After 30 years of hardworking summertime birthdays - I am taking a solo journey to clear my mind and feed my belly... 

There was a point not too long ago when I didn’t know what I wanted to do next. Was I going to run for office? Open another restaurant? Have kids? As my birthday neared these questions seemed more urgent than ever and so off I went on my Maui adventure.
Lightly Salted carried a women’s surf brand called Carve who were offering me the chance to attend a women’s surf retreat in Maui and it was affordable. My husband agreed it would be a great experience and I was definitely ready for some good surf and an adventure as large as my dreams.

My retreat group was made of women of all ages, from 21 to late sixties and I found myself smack-dab in the middle. Some were adept surfers and some were just learning but we were quite a strong, brave, and connected crew. 

It was nice to be pushed and guided to surf. It was divine to be with supportive group of women, in beautiful place with amazing energy. It led me to ask many questions, not the least of which was “Why don’t I live in Hawaii? “

Never one to leave my chef’s hat at home, even on retreat, I found myself savoring the flavors of the food prepared by our retreat chef Peter. He made a chocolate mousse one day and I was enraptured by it. I just couldn’t pinpoint what made it so special. So, Peter taught me to cook it. It was a simple dessert but left me with a lasting memory of the experience of connecting with the person who made it and taught me to do the same. In case you feel like you’re missing out: Aloha mousse is on the menu. (It’s a delectable vegan chocolate mousse made with avocado!)

At the time of the Maui retreat NJ was going through Irene. I honestly began to feel disconnected from it and helpless. My husband, the restaurant and staff, the pets, and everyone else, evacuated. My husband took care of these things, got everyone and everything out, board windows, and Irene didn’t hit New Jersey so badly, thank goodness.

Irene hit me though. I felt strange: I’m sitting there in warm sunshine, surrounded with feminine energy and support, and my husband is going through that. There was a challenge in that feeling, a feeling of wanting to fly home, an inability to do so and a letting go. “I’m here and I can’t go home, so sitting and worrying and not having this experience is not a positive outcome of any of this.” I told myself. 

One of my most amazing memories of the trip was a volcano drive we went on. We drove up to a volcano in middle of night, to see stars. We had gone up in dark, so we had no idea where we really were. All we saw were the dark shadows of the people we were with.  As light dawns, it feels insane but you really don’t know what it’s going to look like from where you are.

We watched the sunrise there, had a cup of coffee and then mountain biked down from there. I felt like I was on another planet, all I saw were craters and rocks. The clouds were below me. I felt like I was on mars.

On another excursion we drove the Hana highway, drove around the other side of Maui through lush green, and walked the waterfalls. It was so diverse, so beautiful and I wondered where else could I be at a volcano at 5 am, the beach midday, at a plantation in the afternoon, a luau for dinner, and do all of that all in one day. 

While those adventures are forever in my heart, I find myself warmed by one simple meditation most of all. On the first day of the retreat, during our meditation circle the focus was on the idea of Kula, or community of the heart. This community of the heart struck me and is ultimately how the idea for Kula café came to be. I found myself ready to create an extended community family, to offer Ohana, and to extend Kula to the place I call home.

So, what does Kula look like in practice? Kula looks like Interfaith Neighbors going into the community to give out hot chocolate and coffee and donuts and pastries in the community 1 night a week. It looks like neighbors extending love to neighbors. 

When I came back from Hawaii, I really began to think about what this would mean for me in practice. I knew we needed this front of house component in Asbury that isn’t addressed by culinary schools or other non-profits. I knew there are people who could be working but don’t have confidence skills and training to do it. Why not expand on the Interfaith Neighbors grant and create a café that trains community members and feeds the community itself.

I set out to hire a chef that staff could resonate with, someone who connects with participants in program to help them succeed. I found a chef who was passionate about mission, someone patient. Kula would focus on front of house training (since there were more of those jobs in the community) Kula would have these people learn to do that skill set (building confidence to speak and connect with others).

I found that hospitality was a thread through anything you do: It’s evident in the bedside manner of a doctor, in the patience of a person who sells you your car, the pleasant manner of the realtor, and the empowering insight of someone selling you shoes.

If you develop that communication skill of engaging with another human being, it’s a skillset that can take you anywhere. It’s a big part of growing the community too. Self-confidence is something that a lot of people in the community may not have as a result of many factors and it is something we can teach. It bridges the gap of community of people who are building up or falling behind. It answers a critical question: How do we bring together rather than push away? Connection and bring together rather than pushing people aside are Kula and I knew we could make it a reality every day.

  As the vision became clearer the name fit more and more: The word Kula (community of the heart) would be a great name for this café, it had depth and great meaning. In practice I knew Kula would be a community working together and the inspiration of my Maui trip became reality in its development. I truly love when you go somewhere and are inspired by something that triggers something else for someone else. This chain reaction is not always big, but it’s always impactful.

The Next Mongolian Idol

Mongolia is a dream. Its vast beauty is beyond words and the experiences I’ve had here are some of my most treasured. I must say though, that the most surreal moment of my Mongolian adventure: Making spaghetti and camel meatballs for the staff and enjoying our meal while watching Mongolian Idol!

What an adventure!

I once met a builder who worked in South Jersey named Jalsa. He’s a Mongolian Kalmyck Buddhist. He’d come to Market In The Middle whenever he was in town and encourage me to come to Mongolia. One day, I expressed interest in taking him up on that adventure. Jalsa asked if I’d consider training his staff at a five star off the grid lodge in the Gobi Desert. The lodge had hosted National Geographic employees, researchers, photographers, writers, and scientists. Some would come to research, film, or photograph the desert and use the lodge as a home base. Others would come for the experience of being so far from everyone and everything, to be truly disconnected, to truly and fully reconnect. Whether you’re digging for dinosaur fossils, or a celebrity looking to escape the noise of life, 3 Camel Lodge is the epitome of high-end and off the grid (You can check this breathtaking place out for yourself. It’s called 3 Camel Lodge: https://www.threecamellodge.com/).

I found myself living in one of the gers (the term used for the lodgings that look like tents but are far more like luxury resorts inside) and preparing to teach the staff some new culinary approaches and the art of elevated hospitality. I was excited for my first day and knew that several notable challenges would greet me.  

First was the matter of being “Off-The-Grid”. We would be cooking without electricity as 3 Camel Lodge ran solely on solar power. I’d find myself baking bread when the solar would run out and the ovens would shut off.   I’d need to learn about and make use of local ingredient and what was most accessible because in the desert many ingredients were hard to come by. Finally, I found that those I was tasked with teaching about elevated hospitality did not speak English. I developed a system using a gourmet cookbook, giving each person a name that corresponded to a word in the book (Basil, Chervil, Rosemary, and so on.) and we communicated through food, using the cookbook as a tool.  

The surroundings were surreal and the challenges I experienced truly helped me to grow as a person and as a chef. Hospitality is a feeling and connection you make with clients and staff and so I found the best way to teach this was to have those I worked with experience it. I connected with the staff to allow them to feel a heightened sense of this connection. I knew that upon feeling connected, welcomed, and appreciated, they would bring that feeling to their guests. The truth that I learned from this exercise was that the Mongolian people are full of open arms hospitality and I was only serving to bring that to the forefront of the Lodge’s experience. Perhaps that meant helping the staff to craft an exceptional cocktail for the bar. This cocktail would make the guest aware of the priceless nature of the experience: Each time they smell or taste passion fruit juice, they’ll recall with joy the very moment they first sipped at sunset in the middle of the gorgeous Gobi Desert.

Hospitality is memories, connecting with the server or bartender, engaging with the sights and smells of the surroundings, and making that memory unique and special every time. In truth, there was no re-training of this staff, there was no miracle. I simply discerned what I could hone in on, what things they were already making special, and guided them in heightening the impact of the things they do well.  

We could add garlic to the wok-made bread, include local herbs from green house, make some hummus as appetizer snack because it’s easy to store and recreate.  We focused on that which was affordable, accessible, and memorable. When we realized that an experience could not be what tourists might expect we shifted the story about the experience to make it special and unique to the location. For example, the freezers could not be kept steady enough to make ice but a chilled passionfruit cocktail in the desert was surely more memorable than

Aside from the training of the staff, I had amazing adventures in Mongolia that I won’t soon forget. Jalsa wanted to give back and protect resources from exploitation and so we shared a common bathroom, drank filtered water, and traveled by car through the desert to get to the place because no roads were paved as not to disturb the ecosystem. I tried yak, camel, and horse milk, had a staff dinner complete with spaghetti and camel meatballs, set up a greenhouse so that food would become more sustainably grown year-round at the lodge. I spent thirty days with no communication, making the occasional call back home with a military style satellite phone.

One evening we experienced an Olympic-style talent exhibition: Archery, horse racing, wrestling, even falconeer-ing. There were so many people watching at the lodge that night and it was truly remarkable. Mongolian Idol aside, perhaps the most memorable was my dinner in the desert. Some guests of the lodge and I made an 11-mile camel trek, and as we let the camels graze, we watched them as they walked across the setting sun like something out of a movie.

I spent time with amazing people, my books, and myself. It was a stillness-filled, serene, peaceful, and focused daily meditation. For a Buddhist, the emptiness of the place, the place being void of everything, the place making me feel whole, was indescribable. There were no roads, no lights, and to get to this oasis, one must drive through the desert itself. I permitted myself to be in that uncomfortable place of being with only myself and the countless, limitless stars.

The vast and deep experience I was given in those thirty days made me want to add more of that into my life. There are not, in my mind, many places you can go to get away from light sound and communication. This chance to disconnect is a rare opportunity that I’d encourage others to take advantage of more often.

Haiti

Fulll Moon Over Haiti

When disaster struck Haiti, our local community came together.  

Our dear friend and Haitian Methodist Pastor, Sony Augustine formed a strong relationship with myself as well as the Ministry of Pastors for Haiti, a collective of Haitian ministers in the area (Asbury, Neptune City, Ocean Grove) of diverse religious backgrounds. Asbury Park is home to one of the five largest Haitian populations in U.S. and so it was important to assess what was happening there. This would allow the pastors to report back to congregations, to make connections, and to get relief and aid into country. 

As the token Buddhist, I was grateful for the welcome I received as I entered this particular group. I was infinitely grateful to be a part of these efforts, which would eventually be endorsed by Asbury Park itself.  I made the trip with the Sonny Augustine and Marc Steiner (a photographer and videographer who documented the trip.) You can see more photos here.

In Haiti, there are no institutional safety nets, no governmental safety nets. And so, non-profits become the safety nets. There are religious non-profits, orphanages, missions, and the like. As with anything else, some are great and others … well, not so much. When we went to Haiti, we were filming and touring on the ground to bring back stories: some uplifting some sad. We’re hoping to further the awareness of the good that is being done and all the hard work ahead of us.

We began with a tour of Port Au Prince and the outlying area. There we met with e so many people doing so much good there. One of those people, Elizabeth, ran an orphanage to which we would continue to send aid and support after our trip. Through our interactions with people like Elizabeth, we found ourselves profoundly heartened by the strong thread of family in Haitian communities, and by the enduring hope and resilience they exemplify in spite of, or perhaps because of, the decades of political and financial strife in the country.

The food was minimal but the spirit overflowed. The people in their time of need were so generous and welcoming with their hearts. Our trip was full of warmth, connection, community, and love. We returned to our home state feeling exhausted, inspired, renewed. We arranged to send containers of goods, as well as money through outreach agencies in Asbury and across New Jersey. We raised over $40,000 and used the money to ship containers of goods to the people of Haiti, to those whom we considered to be the newest members of our community family.

While it was our efforts to report back to the Haitian communities in New Jersey that brought us to Port Au Prince, we could not help but be caught up in the culture of the island.

On this particular trip we met Charlotte Charles, a local artist who empowers women in her community. Charlotte takes women who are trying to support their families, teachers them art, and helps them to work to earn a living wage. These women create art items for tourists that are sold in gift shops. Charlotte herself is known for intricate and beautiful masks and has developed an artist community of mostly women to support one another.  

Haiti also has a strong Jazz community and the outlet that the arts provide give the people of Haiti a mode of self-expression, a way to get feelings out, and a way to heal and grow. There’s an active artist and creative community there but it can be difficult for these gifted artists to get their pieces to an American audience. Clothing Designer Donna Karan has created Papillion Enterprise Haiti to support local women artisans by providing meaningful work, training, and a living wage. Customers can shop online from this socially conscious collective, knowing they’re supporting women in the process.

The efforts of Charlotte Charles, Donna Karan, and the volunteers and community members we met in Haiti are helping to make a difference on the island. These efforts are serving to send ripples of support, empowerment, and change that will no doubt impact the future of Haiti and the preservation of its artistic and beautiful culture.

When you come back from a place like that so many things become visible in different ways. The truth is that most people may not travel to places like Haiti. But it is place where you could retreat, eat lobster on the beach, and sleep in a clean loving guest house provided by an owner who wants you to have an awesome experience in the place they call home.

I saw many, many, powerful and moving things when I visited Haiti but one visual remains with me as I write this. Every day of my trip I watched people in the place we were staying. I saw that they’d rise in the morning get dressed in fine clothes, and head off to work. Dirt roads or not. Long treks or not. The children would rise early, don well-kept uniforms for school and head off, seemingly unfettered by the utter poverty in which they lived.

 There’s a part of me that becomes strangely envious for a moment when I think of those well-dressed children, men, and women heading out on those early mornings. Here in the U.S. we tend to take simple things for granted (clean clothes, water, bed, electricity, ability to cook our food, flush toilet, remove garbage). The people of Haiti lack a great many of those things in general. Even so, they may very well be stronger, more vibrant, and more creative because they do not have the resources that we do. When I think of those people waking and walking unencumbered by the weight of a “lacking” mentality, I find them to be people trying to do good things with limited resources. I find that this inspires me to do the same. Join us on March 7th at 5pm for the final cut of the documentary from our trip

Thank you!

Spain

Spain: Black Ham And Bars

A whirlwind exploration of southern Spain and Madrid in 6 days!

Six friends, great wine and a grand finish at the oldest documented restaurant in the world!

We started on the southern coast in a kiteboarding town called Tarifa - The Hotel Hurricane offered one of my best meals of the trip - definitely the best dry sherry finished the meal.

You know how you get into your hotel the first night of your trip and you are too tired and lazy to venture out? I used to be jaded on hotel dinning experience, but after opening my own hotel restaurant -Dauphin Grille at the Berkely Hotel in Asbury Park I know I have to keep an open mind.

Well, I must say that our first meal at The Hurricane Hotel was by far one of the top 3 of the trip. The front desk staff was kind enough to lead us to our other top choices for the south coast. We asked them about the hotel on top of the hill - right above the sand dunes El Tesoro. There was no chance of finding this without there help: We’re so grateful because it was truly a memory for the books!

The next night for our second dinner we ventured into the old part of Tarifa and headed to El Curro.
”Oh my God!” I thought as I explored the stand up tapas bars full of lots of pig and port!

“Will the real black Iberian Ham please stand up!”

The little white town on top of the hill about 45 minutes east of tariff Frontera is definitely worth a day trip

Our adventure also led to one of the best visuals in my memory - Cows under gigantic windmills as far as the eye can see until you come upon the fields of solar power. “What is wrong with America?” I thought as I gazed at this remarkable view.

The next day we headed out for rolling surf and gambas de ajilo at the lazy coastal town of El Palmar. We took in the surf, ate, and laid about. This is vacation after all!

We were then ready for the total private experience in an artsy cabina by the sea - We traveled a bit east along the coast and kept right at the fork by the gas station. Arriving in a little town up the road we hung a right and headed to the sea.

Speaking of the sea: Check out Zahora 

Hacienda Sajorami is the hotel up the road from the surfing beach (the beach cabins after the gas station)

Www.haciendasajorami.com

The only reason we didn't stay here only because we stumbled upon it!

We can’t wait to go back!