Maui was wonderful, superb, excellent, fantastic! I've been all over the world - 49 countries, 49 States, but my trip to Maui this month was the most wonderful experience I've ever had.
The scenery is breathtaking, and the people are happy and friendly. Best of all is that so many people actually understand about Living Foods, or at least know about the raw food diet. Most of the people I met were vegans, and when they learned I was a Living Fooder they had lots of well-though-out questions about my lifestyle. Very receptive they were to the idea, too. Most had heard about Living Foods, and were very interested in making the transition from Vegan to Raw.
Almost every town on the island has an Organic market with a fresh-daily buffet. My sister, Carol, (who introduced me to Living Foods) and I made smoothies for breakfast. For lunch we'd walk the 3 short blocks to the market, and buy a tray of fresh, living foods and take it back home. The leftovers we had for supper.
For a change-of-pace we'd walk to the end of Carol's street and enjoy the Vietnamese Vegan Restaurant, rated "Best Vegan Restaurant on Maui." They, too, prepared us a wonderful raw repast.
Every day she took me on a different tour. Come lunchtime, there was always an Organic market right there, whatever town we were in. I was 100% raw for a week, while eating "fast food." Absolutely awesome! I dream about the day the all of the mainland is this way.
So, yes, I'll be opening a Creative Health Institute on Maui. I'll be moving over there in February and the center will open in April.
OK, since so many of you have already e-mailed me and asked, here's The Rest Of The Story:
A Typical E-Mail
From: Steven Gibb
Sent: Saturday, October 21, 2006 8:56 AM
To: 'Jim Carey'
How as the earthquake in HI? I'm curious how the news reported it vs. you being there.
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Sunday morning I was walking in the lowlands of downtown Paia, Maui, 1/2 block from the ocean, at 7:07 am, and heard the earthquake more than felt it.
There was a big, deep “BOOM” and a quick gust of wind. Others higher up felt the earthquake more. Carol, 5 blocks up the hill, rocked on her bed for 20 seconds. Friends farther upcountry had a more serious rocking and rolling.
Brad came rushing down the mountain and told of watching a semi tractor rig and a big bulldozer on his property rock back and forth for 20 seconds or more. He was sitting in his VW van and thought at first that 6 big guys had snuck up on him and were trying to roll the van. Then he saw the equipment rocking and realized what was happening.
Other friends farther upcountry had their shelves emptied, as did upcountry supermarkets. Everybody reported a 20-second rocking and rolling. Many heard the same low BOOM that I did, and felt the sudden wind gust; things the media never reported.
Power was out in Paia for about 3 hours - enough time for me to spend $258 on non-perishable food at the Organic market, the only market in Paia with a generator. My Florida training cut in - I headed straight back to Carol's after the quake, and we were at the market when it opened at 8. We laid in a large supply of food while everybody else was still sharing their experiences.
By 9 am the market was packed, and by 1 P.M. they were wiped almost bare, I'm told. Power was restored around 10:30 or 11, and the town was back to normal by Monday morning. Anyhow, Carol's kitchen is now well-provided for.
Air traffic disruptions happened mainly in Oahu, where the airport had power, but not enough power for the TSA security x-ray machines. Thus, everybody was stuck for about 24 hours. On Maui that didn't happen. I flew out on schedule Tuesday afternoon.
People took it quite well. The media tended to sensationalize the damage, and had to look hard to find it, it was so scattered. Carol and I drove to the top of the Haleakala Volcano Crater later that morning, and saw other motorists roll a boulder out of the road.
It happened to be National Guard weekend, and the Guard immediately jumped in their choppers to locate landslides, etc. But in 99% of the cases, by the time the Guard had dispatched a cleanup squad the citizens had already cleared the roads. As far as I know, there were only a few places that needed heavy equipment to clear the landslides.
I saw several people out with brooms, clearing the roads. No deaths, no injuries. Since the media reported that correctly, and since cell phone circuits were heavily loaded all day, I saw no need to call home to say I was OK.
One tip that I learned from others: Do NOT try to run from a quaking building. You'll just stagger all over the rolling floor. I heard some rather comedic stories. In the future, we'll CRAWL out of the building, or under something substantial.
- Jim Carey
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