Tuesday, March 7, 2017
It all begins and ends with yourself
Huge heart looking upon with adoring eyes. I'll go to the ends of the earth for you...you meaning family, friend, lover or foe. Boundaries are set reasonably but my heart will still beat for you with hope, optimism and dreams that you will achieve your full potential I know you are capable of. Just believe and embrace yourself, allow it to come to sweep you off your feet as the only person capable of making it happen is yourself.
Friday, October 28, 2016
Dance & Disability Discourse & Panel-October 15th, 2016
So many issues and topics were brought up in this panel and this was the first
one I’ve been involved in related to dance and disabilities although I must
stress…Deafness is not a disability. We
view ourselves as a culture and often times in lingo between feeling foreign in
our own home country.
One of the topics we heavily discussed is how in schools
children with different disabilities are grouped together in special needs
classes when many of them need different kinds of attention and generally don’t
belong. There’s a stigma of teachers and
other adults not wanting to deal with them because they require more time and
this is apparent ableism happening everyday in those classrooms. We need to stop this segregation and implement
full inclusion and full access for everyone.
The question most people have is how?
The answer…ask those with disabilities what you can do to make it for
accessible for them and implement that along with educate others about this
implementation. Education and advocacy
are the key here. Not sure where to
start? Just ask or do your own research.
Honestly I did not speak much at the panel, I already am a “think before I speak” individual and then by the time I plan to contribute something someone else has already said it. It was a “popcorn” style panel meaning people can jump in with their opinion anytime someone else has finished and this is difficult for Deaf individuals because by the time the interpreter is finished interpreting one person’s input another person has already started with theirs. Mr Antoine Hunter shared some very good points one being that we need to revamp our books in education. Currently they are written by “experts” who are not actual experts in that field. Why are there hearing individuals writing about Deaf culture? Why are there white researchers writing about African American history? The other issue is that many qualified individuals from minority groups do not get the chance to have their articles or books published due to lack of opportunity or funds.
Honestly I did not speak much at the panel, I already am a “think before I speak” individual and then by the time I plan to contribute something someone else has already said it. It was a “popcorn” style panel meaning people can jump in with their opinion anytime someone else has finished and this is difficult for Deaf individuals because by the time the interpreter is finished interpreting one person’s input another person has already started with theirs. Mr Antoine Hunter shared some very good points one being that we need to revamp our books in education. Currently they are written by “experts” who are not actual experts in that field. Why are there hearing individuals writing about Deaf culture? Why are there white researchers writing about African American history? The other issue is that many qualified individuals from minority groups do not get the chance to have their articles or books published due to lack of opportunity or funds.
However while we were talking about inclusion, I threw in that
while we must try to stop segregation in schools and education we also must
attack segregation from the top. There
is too much idolism in our society, there is only space for ONE African
American Ballerina, ONE Latino Artist, ONE strong Mexican leader, ONE Deaf
dancer…No!! There are several other
individuals who are doing just as much or more that are not being
recognized. It’s as if the American
culture treats us as a checklist…okay we have one black person, one Mexican,
one with a disability so we’ve got our diversity handled and no one can say we
are not diverse…This mindset needs to change and it can only start with us. We have to step up as leaders and tear this
mindset down to rebuild it the right way.
This means putting ourselves out there, writing articles about our work
or the work of others we feel should be recognized, make films and
documentaries, be active in social media. What are some other ways we can tear this mindset down?
Then after the panel was finished someone asked me about Deaf
institute and inclusion in education. I wish they asked this during the
panel as of course I jumped at the opportunity to educate about Deaf culture
and needs in education and would love for the other panelist to hear about this. This is a completely different ballgame. Deaf institute education wants to preserve
our own language and culture and its important we do so and should not apply to
full inclusion principles with Hearing schools.
Not to mention there are generations of Deaf family who want to keep
their traditions and roots alive through institute. It will naturally evolve over time. If we are talking about the mainstream, we
definitely should implement full inclusion here in the presentation of having
an instructor teach fully in ASL while the students are mixed Hearing and
Deaf. This has proven to be very
successful and if you are wondering how the hearing children will learn if they
don’t know ASL…they will learn. Children
are fast learners and highly adaptable to learning multiple languages at a
young age. This is the same concept of
speaking Spanish at home and learning in English at school. However if you try to force this on Deaf
students, it is not as successful. It
makes more sense for hearing to learn ASL than for Deaf to learn how to hear
and speak. Europeans learn 4-5 languages
in school easily, should Americans continue to be limited to only one
language? This serves as a barrier in disguise
of a privilege.
#Hearingprivilege
#hearingprivilege is when ASL interpreters fees are higher than the Deaf dancer fees in a performance
-Zahna Simon #zahnasimon
#hearingprivilege is when you expect the Deaf client to voice for themselves
-Zahna Simon #zahnasimon
#hearingprivilege is when you don't cringe or get disappointed when restaurants and bars dim the lights as it becomes evening/nighttime
-Zahna Simon #zahnasimon
#Hearingprivilege is when you are not mistaken for being hearing or hard of hearing when you naturally understand hearing people better than most and feel compelled and happy to provide access to other Deaf individuals by interpreting including making sure their voices are being interpreted in the way they want by other ASL interpreters or taking over for regular ASL interpreters because they are overbooked by hearing organizations who don't understand and being completely exhausted and wiped out during the process and at the end of it needing lots of recovery time and/or caffeine
-Zahna Simon #zahnasimon #deafinterpreter
#Hearingprivilege is when you can hear the difference between "Z" and "D" so you know when someone is verbally pronouncing your unusual unique name correctly and them misunderstanding your name because it's hard to pronounce "Z" sound as a Deaf person even after several years of speech therapy
-Zahna Simon #zahnasimon
#Hearingprivilege When you don't have a vicious vibrator alarm right under your head or one that "earthquakes" the entire bed just to wake up
-Zahna Simon #zahnasimon
#hearingprivilege When it's no problem or disrespect when they say follow the music, move here or do that move when you hear this sound or they say this word during the dance rehearsal/performance
-Zahna Simon #zahnasimon
#hearingprivilege is when you are in the bathroom and don't have to worry about someone coming in the bathroom after they knocked or waiting forever to use the bathroom thinking someone is in it because the door is closed and/or the light is on and then turns out no one is in there
-Zahna Simon #zahnasimon
-Zahna Simon #zahnasimon
#hearingprivilege is when you expect the Deaf client to voice for themselves
-Zahna Simon #zahnasimon
#hearingprivilege is when you don't cringe or get disappointed when restaurants and bars dim the lights as it becomes evening/nighttime
-Zahna Simon #zahnasimon
#Hearingprivilege is when you are not mistaken for being hearing or hard of hearing when you naturally understand hearing people better than most and feel compelled and happy to provide access to other Deaf individuals by interpreting including making sure their voices are being interpreted in the way they want by other ASL interpreters or taking over for regular ASL interpreters because they are overbooked by hearing organizations who don't understand and being completely exhausted and wiped out during the process and at the end of it needing lots of recovery time and/or caffeine
-Zahna Simon #zahnasimon #deafinterpreter
#Hearingprivilege is when you can hear the difference between "Z" and "D" so you know when someone is verbally pronouncing your unusual unique name correctly and them misunderstanding your name because it's hard to pronounce "Z" sound as a Deaf person even after several years of speech therapy
-Zahna Simon #zahnasimon
#Hearingprivilege When you don't have a vicious vibrator alarm right under your head or one that "earthquakes" the entire bed just to wake up
-Zahna Simon #zahnasimon
#hearingprivilege When it's no problem or disrespect when they say follow the music, move here or do that move when you hear this sound or they say this word during the dance rehearsal/performance
-Zahna Simon #zahnasimon
#hearingprivilege is when you are in the bathroom and don't have to worry about someone coming in the bathroom after they knocked or waiting forever to use the bathroom thinking someone is in it because the door is closed and/or the light is on and then turns out no one is in there
-Zahna Simon #zahnasimon
Monday, October 10, 2016
Ableism
The biggest adversity in living with a disability or a difference from
the majority is not in overcoming the disability itself but rather in
overcoming the ableism and any "ism"--others derogatory and ignorant
perspective of you and your culture.
I left part of my heart in San Diego
https://www.facebook.com/zahna.simon/videos/10157916887690179/
Image description: Caucasian woman with long blonde hair down and light blue/white faded T-shirt smiling and signing
Hello hello hello, Good morning. Wow Urban Jazz Dance Company just flew to San Diego Saturday Oct 8th for San Diego Deaf Festival. Three of us Deaf dancers flew to perform there. Really wow we were thrilled and had a wonderful beautiful time. All the people…wonderful to see. everyone again and they’re so welcoming for us. Thank you, really appreciate it. I always explain to Antoine Hunter my director and to dancer Leah Mendelson, always tell them I used to live San Diego 7 and a half years. I miss all you wonderful amazing people, I miss all of you and you’re beautiful. They saw for themselves. Really heart touched but one thing is wish we had more time with you all. I saw many of you…familiar faces and know that I want to chat, catch up, hug and say hi. Catch up on whats going on in your life and time ran out. I caught up with some people thank you, it was really good to see you. Yes Hi Victor, yea I miss you all too. Thank you San Diego Deaf Festival, thank you San Diego community for having us. Urban Jazz Dance Company really enjoyed ourselves and we want to come back! So thank you. Post your videos, post your pictures on FB. If you enjoyed having us there post reviews on my group page, on Antoine hunter fan page…post post post. Tag and let the world know three of us Deaf dancers came and gave an awesome show. That! Interesting we already booked another show October 8th, here in Oakland that why the three of us had dash to fly back to Oakland. So really we were really lucky…Me I just knew and followed my instincts that we need to go to San Diego…we had to! So I worked it all out perfectly for for to go. That’s why we have to leave fast. I understand not enough time but we will come back. So we flew back and Antoine Hunter performed for Raks Africa Bellydance. Beautiful wonderful show then yesterday Sunday, class we always have class every Sunday morning. Company class and also open to public for anyone to come always. My favorite on Sunday Mornings that. Also yesterday Antoine Hunter taught a master class at Lines studio an advanced professional high prestigious studio in SF. High honor and high respect wow. That’s a typical weekend for us. We are always going to several different places and keeping busy with different performances, groups and organizations. We truly heartfully enjoyed our recent weekend so thank you. Feel free to text and contact me and us. We love to keep in touch. Now Monday back to work at my day job here in SF. Not sure if you all know but I have 4 jobs…really I LOVE it. I’m happy and I love it…busy wow yes but always inspired with following my passion, my goals and vision. So have a wonderful Monday beautiful morning! Looking forward to seeing all of you again…I don’t when and I don’t know how but I know it will happen. Okay love you all. Bye
Friday, April 29, 2016
Carnaval King Queens Competition 4.23.16
SO I admit, while being an assistant during tech at SF Carnaval King
Queens competition, a part of me is frustrated because we didn't
recognize it was the wrong music. In some way this reaffirm their
concerns with Deaf not being able to hear the music even though it was
just us not following our Deaf instincts.
Tech was moved along too fast literally, a rushed ten minutes it felt like to explain the lighting, do the spacing, run the dance two times all the while I'm interpreting and timing it to make doubly sure it doesn't exceed 3 minutes as points get deducted for that...I did notice the music was slightly different but I'm still DEAF even with my hearing aids and all the while focusing on interpreting in a darkly lit area (as a Deaf person it takes 300% of my focus) and the music wasn't loud enough to feel it so we thought it was the sound system. It's a constant struggle with myself trying to be superhuman and do it all perfectly when I am in fact only human...What we should have done is stop and insist to feel the speakers, have them play the music louder until we could hear or feel it and basically assert more time for ourselves as equal rights and opportunity to ensure fairness among the rest of the contestants. Self Advocate! Sighs...Constant living, learning and reminding...
Additionally I wasn't allowed to go backstage to ensure my boss a timely arrival to the stage for his solo (two Deaf minds is better than one in those situations.) As a result, the person backstage was clearly anxious or nervous around him and sent him out early in a panic deducting points off his competition score. We are always adapting to the hearing world and often times accepting work with no interpreters and getting along fine by ourselves but I realized that in a situation like this where you're competing against other individuals, its crucial to insist for equal access and opportunity so we're on equal footing with our other competitors. It is just exhausting to always have to advocate for our rights that sometimes we just want to go with the flow than constantly come up against brick walls.
It's funny because all my life people have always asked me... How do you do it? How do you dance to the music...how do you stay on beat? Do you feel the vibrations through the floor?
Tech was moved along too fast literally, a rushed ten minutes it felt like to explain the lighting, do the spacing, run the dance two times all the while I'm interpreting and timing it to make doubly sure it doesn't exceed 3 minutes as points get deducted for that...I did notice the music was slightly different but I'm still DEAF even with my hearing aids and all the while focusing on interpreting in a darkly lit area (as a Deaf person it takes 300% of my focus) and the music wasn't loud enough to feel it so we thought it was the sound system. It's a constant struggle with myself trying to be superhuman and do it all perfectly when I am in fact only human...What we should have done is stop and insist to feel the speakers, have them play the music louder until we could hear or feel it and basically assert more time for ourselves as equal rights and opportunity to ensure fairness among the rest of the contestants. Self Advocate! Sighs...Constant living, learning and reminding...
Additionally I wasn't allowed to go backstage to ensure my boss a timely arrival to the stage for his solo (two Deaf minds is better than one in those situations.) As a result, the person backstage was clearly anxious or nervous around him and sent him out early in a panic deducting points off his competition score. We are always adapting to the hearing world and often times accepting work with no interpreters and getting along fine by ourselves but I realized that in a situation like this where you're competing against other individuals, its crucial to insist for equal access and opportunity so we're on equal footing with our other competitors. It is just exhausting to always have to advocate for our rights that sometimes we just want to go with the flow than constantly come up against brick walls.
It's funny because all my life people have always asked me... How do you do it? How do you dance to the music...how do you stay on beat? Do you feel the vibrations through the floor?
Let me tell you...Deaf Instincts, Inner Rhythms, tactics that we have
developed using our other senses such as watching other people and their
reactions or body movements, touching the speakers to reaffirm the
beat, memorizing our movement and music...
It's still an ism we must face...The fact that people even question it and ask (let alone be intimidated or not accept you because they don't know how or are willing to work with Deaf people) is a form of audism. Often times I feel like I always have to go above and beyond, achieve perfection and never be off beat just to prove that Deaf can and do even better. Then when you do make that one mistake (of which everyone does yet we are just in the spotlight because we have to constantly prove that we are just as good or better) it throws everyone back into that age old perception of Deaf can't. We must keep going...keep going after our goals and dreams and never give up. We CAN and we DO just as good or better and are simply human just like everyone else...except Curry...
It's still an ism we must face...The fact that people even question it and ask (let alone be intimidated or not accept you because they don't know how or are willing to work with Deaf people) is a form of audism. Often times I feel like I always have to go above and beyond, achieve perfection and never be off beat just to prove that Deaf can and do even better. Then when you do make that one mistake (of which everyone does yet we are just in the spotlight because we have to constantly prove that we are just as good or better) it throws everyone back into that age old perception of Deaf can't. We must keep going...keep going after our goals and dreams and never give up. We CAN and we DO just as good or better and are simply human just like everyone else...except Curry...
Monday, March 17, 2014
How we got started
It's been a long year and a half. I used to cook delicious mouth drooling Asian food all the time, specifically Korean, Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese. If I can find some pictures from those times I will post them :). But then my husband got slammed with health issues in October of 2012 and we've been battling that ever since. We drastically changed our diet overnight and eliminated half of the food supply due to him being allergic to 19 out of 37 things! NONE of them in the same category either, allergies and reactions were all over the place...We then eliminated GMO's (or of what we could eliminate) and started buying only organic foods which meant we threw out more than half our kitchen. Our meals were very simple, basically rice with chicken and steamed vegetables with coconut oil. We had to keep it simple because we were on a whole new territory with foods and already exhausted with trying to figure out Joey's issues.
Still not out of the woods though we felt somewhat optimistic as we figured out by this time after plenty of research and feedback from his acupuncturist and such, that he probably has Systemic Candida Overgrowth and/or Leaky Gut Syndrome, if both, basically feeding off each other in my poor husband's body causing him tons of discomfort. A few months later we went to the holistic doctor and he approved of our diet based on the symptoms we've figured out to that point. "Now I would only eliminate two more things" he said, "Dairy and Wheat". "Do you mean Gluten-free?" I asked, and he responded "No, just Wheat." So we followed suit and lo and behold saw some huge differences. He also performed a blood test to confirm that the Candida antibodies count is indeed high than it should be. Candida is curable, more so than Leaky Gut Syndrome as its still a new concept however neither is an easy task. I researched into the Candida diet and found one that claimed to cure it in 4 months which is a lot shorter than the 6 months to 3 years healing process which is way too long to be on such a restrictive diet. No white Rice for up to 3 years?! I don't think so...
In May of 2013 we attempted to do the Anti-Candida diet, a diet devoid of any forms of sugar or starch designed to starve and eliminate the Candida overgrowth starting with a one week vegetable only detox. You guessed it, we failed the detox miserably after 2 days. Sugar withdrawal is a REAL THING and so NOT funny. We just couldn't function at all, all those claims about sugar being in the same addictive category as heroin I totally believe it! We were supposed to attempt it again but since the holistic doctor approved slowly re-introducing those "allergic foods" list items, imagine being able to eat all these different foods again after being deprived for several months and social engagement after social engagement would pop up further delaying the start of another Anti-Candida diet attempt not to mention I was way too busy with all my dance commitments having been invited to join Visionary Dance Theater and getting accept into Trolley Dances.
I was on an all time high now having received a promotion at work, loving my new dance schedule and commitments, happy to be finally getting somewhere in the professional dance community of San Diego. I have to admit doing the interview for KPBS and being featured on TV and radio was definitely a self esteem booster and something I have dreamed about...dreams becoming a reality, how much better could life get? Well that's the kicker, for every high you have you must have a low and that's exactly what happened. I got bombed with an abnormal pap smear leading to the doctor finding pre-cancerous cells on my cervix that needed to be removed.
This is where we really looked into the Gerson Therapymethod and took it seriously; it is a cure for cancer among other well known diseases even if Big Pharma bans treating cancer patients this way in the US. Since I have pre-cancer and Joey is still battling with his issues and supposedly a raw diet is supposed to be a cure all, after faring better on a weekend trip to upstate New York when eating mostly raw food, we decided and proceeded to try the Young and Raw 21 day raw cleanse. Our first attempt at this cleanse was cut short do to bouts of diarrhea, poor Joey dealing with serious Candida Die Off symptoms and detoxing too fast plus I was due for my LEEP surgery to remove those pre-cancerous cells. We figured I would need all the energy I can get for my 6 week healing process so cannot continue with the raw cleanse. From this point we dove into a mostly (at least 70%) Vegan diet afterwards.
In January of this year we had the privilege to go visit Hong Kong for two weeks, an experience I will never ever forget. Let's just say our inner Asian that has been dormant for a year finally got to pop out. Oh we vegged and we vegged and couldn't get enough of any of the wonderful goodness over there. Every morning we got our dim sum from the street vendors, sometimes a scone, pigged out on authentic lunches and dinners and THEN? Yes of course we partaked in delicious mouth watering Hong Kong Desserts! Of course we still went to the market and bought fruits and vegetables for our daily green smoothies. We were missing our daily juice but we were not about to buy another juicer as we already bought a portable blender which was only $30 US by the way, an absolute steal! So as you can tell the best part was of course the delectable cuisine but the other best part was meeting and befriending the Hong Kong Deaf locals and learning HK sign. These people are genuine and we are proud to have them as our friends now.
Are you confused yet? We went from a chock full of GMO asian diet to a non GMO, organic lifestyle to eliminating wheat and dairy to attempting Anti-Candida diet to kinda gluten-free to eating a raw vegan diet to Hong Kong food, back to raw vegan and now we will be culminating in a just non GMO, non dairy and wheat Asian diet. Whew!! No wonder the past year has felt so busy because we did A LOT!!! My head is spinning just from typing that!
So where are we at now? Interesting you ask, remember the 21 day, err 12 day, raw cleanse we did in November of 2013? The energy and results we felt from that were amazing so we decided we would attempt it again the full 21 days this time after Hong Kong. I've read so much about the Gerson Therapy and how raw plant diets can heal autoimmune disorders and such. The issue here is we learned this time around, the Raw Diet is good for detoxing the body and reducing the work load in the gut but NOT good for healing physical injuries. I strained my lower back a month a go and can feel it getting progressively worse as we proceed into the cleanse. Now don't get me wrong, you can get a lot of excellent healthy protein from a plant diet as spinach and kale take the cake in protein supplementation but it does make sense that I would need animal products, either fat or meat to replenish my muscles and allow my body to heal faster. Big lesson learned here: Meat is not good for healing gut diseases but it IS good for healing muscle and physical injuries. You learn something new everyday right?
Now we are on day 17 of the Young and Raw 21 day raw cleanse, day three of the juice detox and are itching to get back to "real" food! After our recent trip to Hong Kong where we felt drastic improvements, I decided we need to get back to eating Asian food again...this time clean healthy Asian food where I will modify and alter the ingredients to achieve this. I'm already dreaming of this day, my first real Asian meals will be Korean Kimchi Jiggae and Jatjuk, Pine Nut Porridge. I simply can't wait!! Of course I will post my recipe modifications and lovely pictures for you to follow along with but I would recommend a protective cover for your keyboard or phone as some major drooling may occur ;)
Still not out of the woods though we felt somewhat optimistic as we figured out by this time after plenty of research and feedback from his acupuncturist and such, that he probably has Systemic Candida Overgrowth and/or Leaky Gut Syndrome, if both, basically feeding off each other in my poor husband's body causing him tons of discomfort. A few months later we went to the holistic doctor and he approved of our diet based on the symptoms we've figured out to that point. "Now I would only eliminate two more things" he said, "Dairy and Wheat". "Do you mean Gluten-free?" I asked, and he responded "No, just Wheat." So we followed suit and lo and behold saw some huge differences. He also performed a blood test to confirm that the Candida antibodies count is indeed high than it should be. Candida is curable, more so than Leaky Gut Syndrome as its still a new concept however neither is an easy task. I researched into the Candida diet and found one that claimed to cure it in 4 months which is a lot shorter than the 6 months to 3 years healing process which is way too long to be on such a restrictive diet. No white Rice for up to 3 years?! I don't think so...
In May of 2013 we attempted to do the Anti-Candida diet, a diet devoid of any forms of sugar or starch designed to starve and eliminate the Candida overgrowth starting with a one week vegetable only detox. You guessed it, we failed the detox miserably after 2 days. Sugar withdrawal is a REAL THING and so NOT funny. We just couldn't function at all, all those claims about sugar being in the same addictive category as heroin I totally believe it! We were supposed to attempt it again but since the holistic doctor approved slowly re-introducing those "allergic foods" list items, imagine being able to eat all these different foods again after being deprived for several months and social engagement after social engagement would pop up further delaying the start of another Anti-Candida diet attempt not to mention I was way too busy with all my dance commitments having been invited to join Visionary Dance Theater and getting accept into Trolley Dances.
I was on an all time high now having received a promotion at work, loving my new dance schedule and commitments, happy to be finally getting somewhere in the professional dance community of San Diego. I have to admit doing the interview for KPBS and being featured on TV and radio was definitely a self esteem booster and something I have dreamed about...dreams becoming a reality, how much better could life get? Well that's the kicker, for every high you have you must have a low and that's exactly what happened. I got bombed with an abnormal pap smear leading to the doctor finding pre-cancerous cells on my cervix that needed to be removed.
This is where we really looked into the Gerson Therapymethod and took it seriously; it is a cure for cancer among other well known diseases even if Big Pharma bans treating cancer patients this way in the US. Since I have pre-cancer and Joey is still battling with his issues and supposedly a raw diet is supposed to be a cure all, after faring better on a weekend trip to upstate New York when eating mostly raw food, we decided and proceeded to try the Young and Raw 21 day raw cleanse. Our first attempt at this cleanse was cut short do to bouts of diarrhea, poor Joey dealing with serious Candida Die Off symptoms and detoxing too fast plus I was due for my LEEP surgery to remove those pre-cancerous cells. We figured I would need all the energy I can get for my 6 week healing process so cannot continue with the raw cleanse. From this point we dove into a mostly (at least 70%) Vegan diet afterwards.
In January of this year we had the privilege to go visit Hong Kong for two weeks, an experience I will never ever forget. Let's just say our inner Asian that has been dormant for a year finally got to pop out. Oh we vegged and we vegged and couldn't get enough of any of the wonderful goodness over there. Every morning we got our dim sum from the street vendors, sometimes a scone, pigged out on authentic lunches and dinners and THEN? Yes of course we partaked in delicious mouth watering Hong Kong Desserts! Of course we still went to the market and bought fruits and vegetables for our daily green smoothies. We were missing our daily juice but we were not about to buy another juicer as we already bought a portable blender which was only $30 US by the way, an absolute steal! So as you can tell the best part was of course the delectable cuisine but the other best part was meeting and befriending the Hong Kong Deaf locals and learning HK sign. These people are genuine and we are proud to have them as our friends now.
Are you confused yet? We went from a chock full of GMO asian diet to a non GMO, organic lifestyle to eliminating wheat and dairy to attempting Anti-Candida diet to kinda gluten-free to eating a raw vegan diet to Hong Kong food, back to raw vegan and now we will be culminating in a just non GMO, non dairy and wheat Asian diet. Whew!! No wonder the past year has felt so busy because we did A LOT!!! My head is spinning just from typing that!
So where are we at now? Interesting you ask, remember the 21 day, err 12 day, raw cleanse we did in November of 2013? The energy and results we felt from that were amazing so we decided we would attempt it again the full 21 days this time after Hong Kong. I've read so much about the Gerson Therapy and how raw plant diets can heal autoimmune disorders and such. The issue here is we learned this time around, the Raw Diet is good for detoxing the body and reducing the work load in the gut but NOT good for healing physical injuries. I strained my lower back a month a go and can feel it getting progressively worse as we proceed into the cleanse. Now don't get me wrong, you can get a lot of excellent healthy protein from a plant diet as spinach and kale take the cake in protein supplementation but it does make sense that I would need animal products, either fat or meat to replenish my muscles and allow my body to heal faster. Big lesson learned here: Meat is not good for healing gut diseases but it IS good for healing muscle and physical injuries. You learn something new everyday right?
Now we are on day 17 of the Young and Raw 21 day raw cleanse, day three of the juice detox and are itching to get back to "real" food! After our recent trip to Hong Kong where we felt drastic improvements, I decided we need to get back to eating Asian food again...this time clean healthy Asian food where I will modify and alter the ingredients to achieve this. I'm already dreaming of this day, my first real Asian meals will be Korean Kimchi Jiggae and Jatjuk, Pine Nut Porridge. I simply can't wait!! Of course I will post my recipe modifications and lovely pictures for you to follow along with but I would recommend a protective cover for your keyboard or phone as some major drooling may occur ;)
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