Back in October of last year, my partner Takiyah and I were musing on our dream of having a space to share our cooked meals with the public. Since we started seeing each other, this was one of the ways we spent time together. Whether it was taking a cooking class on Thai food via AirBnb (which if you haven’t tried you are bugging) or just making dishes together, it’s always been something we enjoyed. We dubbed our future eatery, Café T&D.
During a retreat she took earlier in the year, Takiyah shared a photo of the food she was served. I was not impressed. I immediately thought we could do much better and that if we ever had our own retreat the meals would be as important as the activities. Then it hit me, what if we were to play a game of Cafe T&D at a retreat of our own? A testing ground of sorts. We both were up for playing that game so I took it to the next step and spoke to someone I know who does retreats, my teacher, Bàbá Faṣeye.
On a trip to Puerto Rico to do some spiritual work for an old friend, I got to ask Bàbá if he would be interested in Takiyah and I supporting his next retreat. Well it just so happened that the medicine making retreat he JUST completed before I arrived was so popular that people were asking for another one asap. He was planning to do it in January of 2022. Perfect. We would provide the food and in exchange we could learn to make medcine (and play our game). Bàbá really liked the idea as he normally prepares the food AND teaches during his retreats. After a few conversations, with Takiyah included, on what the menu could look like and how the days might flow, we were indeed playing a new game. We got everything as settled as we could in December and booked our flights for January. Then it was really time to play.
But of course things don’t go exactly as planned. You see, Bàbá was also planning to have another one of his students, Ifapelumi join us to help with cleaning and overall maintenance of the space during the retreat. Well, Ifapelumi ended up getting sick and not making the trip. So Takiyah and I became in charge of the food and partially in charge of maintenance. Oh and did I mention we were off the grid and working with a generator, on a mountain? And using bottled water and harvested rain water? And we never cooked together for a group of people. And the night before people were set to arrive the generator stopped working. Game on.
After a neighbor came to fix the generator and we got a good nights rest (not Bàbá who was up all night painting), we prepared for the guests and made a fish Moqueca with a side of plantains based on Bàbá’s request. After that, all the dishes were meals Takiyah and I suggested, including veggie pad thai, curry friend rice, shakshuka, rosemary potatoes and more. We played a big game. The retreat went from Friday evening til Monday afternoon and by the time folks arrived we were ready to go.
The people we would meet at this retreat turned out to be nothing short of amazing. Beautiful souls from various parts of the country all wanting to learn about medicine making. All with their own back stories, coming together to form a new community without even knowing it. We learned about medicine, plants, their various uses, and the wonders of nature that could be found all around us. We also learned about Osanyin, the Yorùbá spirit of medicine and herbs. And we created a new Yorùbá slang word that I won’t say here because for that, you just had to be there. But even that came out of medicine.
The great thing about doing this retreat in Puerto Rico was the abundance of powerful plants all around us. We took a hike together (that wasn’t planned) where we found sugar cane, the sweetest grapefruit I’ve ever had in my life, and gorgeous views. Such a great experience. I can’t wait for the next opportunity to play such a big game.
