My lucky day

February 13, 2015

Today is my birthday.  68 years younger than yesterday.

The day was planned.  And oh!  what a plan!  It was the day for Leslie's Medical Massage project to commence:

In brief: ....... am pleased to announce that this is the 38th year of our Medical Massage project which  provides free Medical Massage,  Polarity Therapy and self care classes to indigenous communities in Cabo Corrientes, Mexico.  (from Leslie)
 What do we do? We travel 2 hours and 2000 feet into the mountains (or by boat  coastal villages)  into one of the poorest areas of Mexico where clients then travel from local villages  where as few as 20 people may be living..often without running water or electricity, to receive a series of hr-long of medical massage and rehabilitative exercises for a range of problems including: polio and post polio syndrome, stroke, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, injuries from domestic violence, chronic headaches, anxiety and insomnia and plain old pain and soreness from injuries and daily life  of grinding corn. We provide people with special salves and oils, instructions for simple self care and then return 1-2 weeks later for followup care.

Leslie rented a nice van, we loaded massage tables and paraphernalia and left before the sun came up.  Mina, who you will see below, massage therapist extraordinaire, came along.  The drive took us through the south side of Puerto Vallarta where all the mansions along the cliff are, then into Cabo Corrientes, the countryside of the state of Jalisco.   This is beautiful country, mountainous, lush valleys, small ancient villages.  Existing side by side with the upscale tourist side of Puerto Vallarta, it elicits more questions than solutions about "living the good life" and what that really means.

People work hard here, in traditional ways; machetes are still used to cut the brush and much work is hand labor.  Women have children, many children.  There is minimal access to health care, and education is very hit and miss.

Interspersed into these indigenous communities are many expatriates, my age, most of whom have been here at least on and off since their early lives.   Many came to Mexico as 20 something adventure seekers, fell in love, literally and figuratively and created lives and livings here.  As Leslie said, Mexico spit some out as well but the ones who stayed have woven themselves into the fabric of these towns in interesting ways.  My sense and through talking with Leslie is that there is acceptance and a mutual respect that comes from cultural interchanges.

I came here in my 20s and stayed for a while...but that is another story.

Back to today.  I'll share the story of the day through the photos.

We couldn't believe this but later found out that each rooster is tethered to his house and this is a breeding place for cock fighters.

Mina!  Here we are going to cross this river with the van to arrive at a ranch where we have been invited for breakfast.

Mina was happy to be on this adventure and though she doesn't speak English, we had many laughs!

Bonnie greeted us as arrived at her ranch.  She and her husband and mother live here, acquired it some years ago and created a bird sanctuary where groups of people come and stay in full facility cabins or rooms where they provide the meals.

Have a glimpse of the place from the photos below.

Breakfast was a big deal with fresh papaya and melon, grapefruit juice from the grapefruits grown on the property and Mexican eggs with some sort of dried meat.  

The horses scampered up to us like dogs.  Bonnie and her mother ride them throughout the countryside.  

After breakfast, we headed into Tuito to set up the massage stations for our clientele.  A local woman named Mari communicates with the townspeople about the dates for treatments and then people sign up for times - about 25 minutes per person.   Usually we work at the cultural center of the municipio but it is undergoing construction so we were located at Kai Doyle's guest house.  You'll see a photo of her below.  She generously volunteered her home for our work.

Leslie and Mina talking with the first client

Husband and wife came in for treatments

 We thought this was a very lovely chicken coop.

After about 2 hours of work, we took a break for lunch, heading to a restaurant in town.

Did I mention that Craig came along and helped with set up, take down, and laughter?  Here he is having Birria, a delicious Mexican beef stew.

Mina made us all laugh.  She loves to eat!!  And tell jokes.  She told a great one about a chicken and a rooster.  Remind me to tell you.

It was such a wonderful way to spend a birthday.

This little boy came in with his mother because he had taken a fall about a month ago and hurt his ankle and it was still hurting.   His mother ended up getting a treatment too!

Craig, me, Mari, and Mina

Me, Leslie, Mari and Mina

Mari and Kai and her pooch

Difficult to see but Craig is having a sample of Raicilla, tequila on steroids.  

And on a closing note, I will copy here the conversation that my friend Sue and I had over email this morning where she was reporting some traumas that had occurred to people at her restaurant, and I wrote this:

The world, I have come to believe, operates with this type of chaos.  Spending yesterday amongst indigenous peoples in a small town shows that more than ever.  The women's lives are hard, having children, caregiving, minimal access to social services; it takes its toll early.  Men ....  are also the victims of a system.  It just keeps going on and on.  Power and money corrupt.  People do what they can to survive.  There is some comfort in taking the perspective that we can only do little things to make life a little better for each other.  

My vocabulary words to know beforehand:

arm — el brazo
back — la espalda
backbone — la columna vertebral
brain — el cerebro, el seso
breast, chest — el pecho
buttocks — las nalgas
calf — la pantorrilla
ear — el oído, la oreja
elbow — el codo
eye — el ojo
finger — el dedo
foot — el pie
hair — el pelo
hand — la mano
head — la cabeza
heart — el corazón
hip — la cadera
intestine — el intestino
knee — la rodilla
leg — la pierna
liver — el hígado
mouth — la boca
muscle — el músculo
neck — el cuello
nose — la nariz
shoulder — el hombro
skin — la piel
stomach (abdomen) — el vientre
stomach (internal organ) — el estómago
thigh — el muslo
throat — la garganta
toe — el dedo
tongue — la lengua
tooth — el diente, la muela

And a week later, I had the chance to celebrate my birthday (just like last year) with the gang at Barcelona Tapas.