Happy Passover &
Plague- and Locust-free Easter!
On our way back from Lake Malawi, we meet children selling locusts by the roadside.

The Reaping starring Hilary Swank opened this weekend. I want to see it so I can better understand the old testament. I went to Catholic school growing up and heard a lot of these stories, although they never really made much sense to me. Who's afraid of a grasshopper?

There was a bad outbreak of them a few years ago in Northern Africa -- Mauritania, Niger and Sudan. A BBC report (10/03) explained that desert locusts are normally solitary insects but when climatic conditions are favorable they can rapidly increase in number.

As adult, winged insects they form swarms that can travel in tens of millions and travel great distances, crossing international borders in search of food.

They can devastate crops within minutes.

"And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt; very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such."—Exodus. X: 14.

What's really whacked is that this stuff really happens. In 1987 to '89 a swarm of locust traveled from Sudan to India. I wonder if global warming had anything to do with the plague conditions. It's like we need to actually see the polar bear drowning before we consider the impact of how we live our lives. Sadly, I think I would have to see a small army of locusts in my apartment before I would bother changing out all my light bulbs to a more eco-friendly variety. Even now, I'm conveniently convinced that my little light bulb does not feed the bigger problem.

But I think that's the whole point of all those "wrath of God" stories. It *is* our individual accountability. I still didn't make that donation to pay for my carbon footprint from my trip to Africa. It's going to be about $300. I have the money....it's just not a priority yet. See. That's the consciousness I need to change within me. I'm working on it. And yes, I'll make that donation.

"And the Lord turned a mighty strong west wind, which took away the locusts, and cast them into the Red Sea; there remained not one locust in all the coasts of Egypt."—Exodus X: 19

We are still in the window of time called, Pesach (Passover). It started last Monday at noon and ends tomorrow, sundown. The name "Passover" derives from the night of the 10th plague, when the Angel of Death passed over the houses that had lamb's blood over their doorposts, thereby sparing the first born.

You know...I'm the first born. Although I'm a girl, so I don't think I would've been killed. (David, you would've surely been snuffed out, so you really should think about this kind of stuff.)

I am working on my ego, which is the spiritual point of the holiday. The work you did this past week on your ego can help to eliminate its control over you. I am doing the work, as best I understand what that means. For one, I haven't eaten any bread this week. Bread (and wheat and rice, I think) represents ego (expanding) so, you don't want to eat that. That's why everyone's eating matzo. It's unleavened (commemorating the hurriedly-baked bread the Israelites ate on their hasty departure from Egypt). Matzo is actually an important spiritual tool for making a connection to higher consciousness. Nice thing about living in New York is that it is very easy to come by. I'm getting some fresh matzo ball soup for lunch.

I'm not Jewish. But I study kabbalah. The old testament story of this holiday is the Exodus and freedom of the Israelites from ancient Egypt. In kabbalah, you decode the story. "Israelite" is anyone on a spiritual path. Egypt represents "ego". The point of this week is to gain freedom from your ego....leave Egypt so to speak, forever.

I don't want to go off and float on a mountain as a practice of my spirituality. My goal is to transform my ego and love my life and laugh at it and soak in everything. Some days are just perfect for that. My whole trip to Africa was like that.

Here's me and my new friends Delia and Megan discovering and enjoying Africa. Megan is a native Botsie (Botswana) who just took a position as head chef at the lodge where we were staying. So, Malawi was new to all of us and we were all in a mindset of discovery.

We went to a club to celebrate Megan's birthday (she's 22 I think, but a very old soul). It was the end of my and Delia's trip. We stayed out till 1 or 2 am and planned to head out to Lake Malawi the next morning.

Before the sunrise, maybe 4:30 am, the three of us spilled into the car all hung over and sleep-deprived. Our tour guides for the day were Guy Pickering (who owns/runs the Kumbali Lodge) and his friend Peter (who saved my life when I nearly drown. I'll share more on that later.)

We drove several hours and woke up to some of the most majestic sights on the planet. This is actually one of the best days of my life. The whole trip, every minute of it, we laughed ourselves out of our minds.

This clip is 3:19, and worth a watch if you're at all curious about African bug delicacies. According to Wikipedia, locusts are the only invertebrates considered to be Kosher food. So, if you keep kosher, this little recipe might help you mix things up a bit. I had no plans to try the "desert shrimp", as they're called, but I'd eat that before I would eat mice (like Guy describes) or flying ants, which Megan and Delia ate a few minutes later as we continued down the road. I'll post that video in a bit.

I think Megan is describing a recipe for cooking caterpillars here. I just love her accent. We bounced along in the car like this the entire trip. I get road sick just looking at it. Imagine driving 5-6 hours this way! Was it 5 hours? I don't even remember. But it was ridiculous and glorious, and random and perfect.

The bumps were all part of our joy.