BBQ and Raw Food: An Unnatural Combination

Last week Jane and I attended a retreat at Pura Vida Spa in San Jose that featured instruction in raw foods preparation. I had been turned on to this cuisine at a ‘cleanse retreat’ I attended in May at the Hacienda del Sol in nearby San Juanillo, in large part because with the right recipes and preparation, it is delicious. I have been interested in improving my diet since the conclusion of the high season in April, which left me low on energy.
While away, the local Tico businessman who claims to own the property near the beach where I set up my BBQ Smoke Shack had the shack torn down. The irony of this was not lost on me, and indeed if one is inclined to look for ‘signs from the Universe’ this might seem to be one.

I decided to wait for more information from the universe, and was absorbed in the raw foods school, which is designed as a teacher preparation workshop as well as instruction in the techniques and ‘lifestyle’ of raw foods. I contemplated the slogan for a potential new direction for the shack, “BBQ and Raw Foods: An Unnatural Combination.”
Chappa is the Tico who claims to own the choice piece of land where I set up my shack. Years ago when the farms were bought to form the original American Project, this corner was somehow not included in the land registry, essentially making it a ‘no man’s land.’ Chappa has been attempting to claim it through the squatting procedure, and he has paid me visits in the past to express his concerns, in Spanish, that essentially I was squatting on his squat and that he had a problem with that. Through intermediaries, I was able to smooth things over then, at least for a time.
One of those intermediaries, Ty Kennedy, visited with Chappa this week to explore whether there could be a future return for the shack. The good news is that Ty thinks he has smoothed things over and that I will be allowed to rebuild the shack. At this point, since we are experiencing an exceptionally rainy green season, I am inclined to wait until the dry season arrives in November before rebuilding the Smoke Shack.
But today I had a long discussion with my friend Shlomo, who runs the local organic food and mini-mart Organico, and I am pleased to announce plans to sell raw food products as well as barbecue at his store, including cooking classes/demonstrations.