Day 6: Natural Energy & Sustainability For 2012
Today I woke up late and felt the need to fast as the traces of alcohol from my fun night out were leaving my body. I skipped breakfast and went straight to work. Maria was on the other porch working away also. She has become increasingly busy in the last few days. She handles bookings for Casa De Las Olas. Sustainable living inspired private beach villas and rooms in Tulum, Mexico. Imagine this… An innovative roof captures the power of the sun and rain, providing 100% solar electricity and 20,000 liters of rain water for vegetation and gravity-fed plumbing. The Casa also offers a natural cooling system that passively circulates cool, fresh air throughout the homes while forcing hot air out. All the shampoos and soaps are locally produced and biodegradable, as well as 99 % of their cleaning products. They have compost and recycling programs to reduce waste and feed plants and have launched a CO2 offset program utilizing large planting areas to help offset the small amount of fuel used by a back-up generator.
It’s located right beside Sian Ka’an. 1.3 million acres of grass savannas, mangrove lagoons, white sand flats, and 70 miles of the second largest barrier reef in the world. Casa De Las Olas works closely with CESiaK, the Centro Ecologico Sian Ka’an, with over 750 local students in the program who learn hands-on about their surrounding environment in addition to working on projects for its conservation.
CESiak’s Ecological Center employs advanced systems of alternative energy like solar arrays and wind generators. It serves as an example of clean energy usage and information source for those interested in such systems. Check them out at www.casadelasolas.com to learn more.
Maria asked me if I wanted to grab some lunch. She also had a key for me. She was going to loan me one of her bikes for the month. Sergio, Maria and I headed over to the local spot where we enjoyed a delicious healthy meal. Maria began to talk about Tulum and Casa Del Las Olas. I listened interestingly as she shared with me their vision to bring more awareness to the suites. “I can help”, I told her. I began to talk about my experience with technology and the world of internet business. She seemed very interested in what I had to say.”I could sit here and talk to you for hours on end about what I can do but honestly, it would not be worth your time”, I explained. “I need to meet the owner, I will explain it all to him and he will understand” Having done my research on Casa De Las Olas, I felt a strong need to be part of the project.
Maria agreed. “Perhaps, we can go to Tulum together and I can introduce you to the owner”, she said. I then started inquiring about finding a fresh natural juice spot near by.”Gaston’s place”, replied Sergio. Sergio was not heavily involved with the conversation between Maria and I, but he was listening attentively. Sergio only speaks when he needs to. He is man of few words. When he does speak, his message is powerful. “Gaston has a juice stand?”, I replied. “Yes, it is just down the street, look for the Mayan art and you will find it there.”
We cleared the bill and headed our separate ways. The little tortilla shop was making green and red tortillas today. They have a special order from a resort to do so. I grabbed my bag for day and headed back to my room. I have been wearing tank tops and shorts everyday since I got here, I thought to myself. I really wanted to wear my jeans and a black dress shirt which is my usual attire for my life in Toronto. I took a shower and got dressed. Ahh, I missed my black collared shirt. I decided to head over for the evening to the downtown core for some excitement.
With my thirst of adventure, I grabbed a coffee, talked with tourists and locals about the day and life in Playa. I walked up the street and saw a young woman staring straight up at the sky. She had a professional photo camera around her neck. She also had a pleasant vibe and glow to her. “Are you a photographer? I need a good photographer for my blog”, I asked.”No, but I just got here to Playa” she replied in a soft voice.”Look at the sky, the moon is right above our head” she continued with a huge smile. I looked up and sure enough, it was directly above our heads at 90 degrees.”The moon is never directly above my head in Russia”, she explained. I took out my iPhone and snapped a photo.”Well, it’s never above my head in Toronto either”, I replied as we stood there with awe looking straight up in the sky with our heads snapped back. A young man approached us both. He appeared to be her boyfriend. “Hi, my name is Joseph”, I said as I reached out my hand for a handshake.”My name is Daniel” the young man replied. The three of us stood there and I explained about my blog. Katarina, the young woman with the camera who never stopped smiling as she took pictures of everything that caught her eye, wanted to know more about the blog.
We all walked over to the Starbucks and started talking. They had just arrived a few hours ago. They were looking for a good vegetarian restaurant. I started to tell them about all that I discovered over the last six days of living here. They were both very spiritual. They enjoyed talking about Yoga, and Hinduism. I told them about everyone I met and shared the stories I learned about the ancient Mayans. The vibe at Starbucks started to change. Everyone began to look at us as we laughed and shared stories. I looked up and someone caught my eye.”Excuse me for a moment”, I said to my new friends as I walked over to a man in the line-up.”Hey you are Dj Addy! I am also from Toronto. It’s great to meet you” I said. “Hey man, what are you doing down here?” he replied. “I am living, working and writing”, I said as I thought about how I actually wanted to meet Addy down here at some point and here he was. He was here for the BPM festival as a featured DJ. Addy is big pile of energy. His energy is pushed into all the sets he mixes. It’s no wonder why he is one of Toronto’s top DJ’s for house music. “I am going to be at La Santanera tomorrow, send me a message on Facebook and I’ll add you to the guest list” he told me. We took some pictures together and we agreed to keep in touch.
I headed over to Daniel and Katarina and explained to them who Addy was. “Let’s go tomorrow night” shouted Katarina.”It will be fun.” We all got up and walked together up and down 5th avenue sharing stories about life. Daniel is very wise for his age of 21. Katarina was also wise for her age of 23. They are full of knowledge and wisdom. It’s amazing to meet young people who are so full of knowledge, well beyond their years. We walked into the Walmart and bought some groceries together. I told them that I had to head out. I have to wake up early tomorrow and I want to run on the beach. We exchanged contact information and I agreed to send them some information by email so they can fast-track on some of the discoveries I have already made to have a more pleasant stay here. They were here for two weeks and were going to have a great time, I knew it!
I jumped on the bike and headed back to Colosio for a good night’s rest. What will I do tomorrow, I thought to myself as I rode the bike down the dark street. A number of new friends from Playa want to connect. There are a few going away parties for those that are heading home as well as DJ Addy spinning at La Santanera. Over here I rarely use my Google calender. Maria told me today, “In Playa, we just do whatever feel we should do next. That is how we schedule things.” I agreed, this is a lot different then my “to the calender” type schedule in Toronto where I even have to book visits to see my family so that I don’t double book by accident 😉
