Bathing in Tea
Last night I bathed in tea.
A sweet and earthy mixture of 4 botanical herbs… yerba louisa, paloma, lengua de perro, and a type of marigold looking flower. After politely refusing grandpa garcia´s invitation to partake in an ayahuasca ceremony and expressing interest in the cologne like grangrance of the paloma plant, Grandpa made us a lovely baño of fortune bringing, friend making, blessing tea to shower in.
After showering with our regular soap I rinsed and slowly began to pour the green liquid over my head. Standing in the middle of his shamanic garden backyard surrounded by plantain and orange trees, an almost magical feeling of a connection to nature calmed my body and mind.
After, sitting around a cooking fire as Grandma made stewed plantains for her family, I, with little bits of leaves still in my hair, smelling of the jungle, relaxed, almost oblivious to the mosquitos which were beginning their nighttime raid.
Calmly, I crossed the street and stood with Natali watching the sun set behind the trees, an evening star just visible on the horizon. We walked to our florecent lit cabana, as the flys became more noticable and we fell asleep as the moon rose behind the house, casting bright blue moonlight through the cracks in the walls, making streeks on our mosquitera.
