Back after a 34 hour jaunt to Merida, where Carmen and I walked the streets!
That' big news for someone who nearly couldn't walk! The mechanical and semi arthritic conditions in my back had piled up. Carmen suggested I see the chiropractor who got her off a cane six months ago. She was on the verge of using a walker due to sciatica. She was referred to the man known as chiropractor to the stars.
We rolled into town at 4am and went to the office. I thought it was to check out his sign and phone number. It was to wait for him. Now, I am totally underdressed with a light jacket over my white huipil as is it is inching toward 45 degrees.
Then along came a Nice Man who went and got us cappuccino laced with cinnamon. They nicely sat on each side of me to help warm me up and soon I just stretched out on a cement bench to cool my spinal column inflation. Within minutes, I was snoring like a cat purrs.
Funny, because on the bus, Carmen snored like a trucker! Sharing this detail with her family was funny, because they all know the sound. She was one of seven in the choir on the bus.
She had told me to bring along pain pills, because about 12 hours after the chiropractor did his thing, I would suddenly have pain. Ok fine. I felt so good, I didn't think it would be possible.
Then last night, eating fresh oranges and sweet bread at her parents' house in Halacho, I suddenly let out a yelp! Time to take the Ultram! Wow, I still hurt today. But after the treatment I shopped for miles like a near normal person.
We go back to the chiropractor in about 15 days and that should be it for dealing with my facet syndrome
and different spondy-this, spondy-thats.
So back to the chiropractor. By 6am, there were 30 people behind us. "We are first. You could have been in the waiting room with 40 ahead of you if we got here later, Carmen noted. It was like a behind the camera scenes of a faith healing show or something like that. Old ladies on walkers, children with canes, folks walking with arms around shoulders of relatives. Quite a scene with more pix to follow.
I could hear my bones move. So could Carmen from across the treatment room. Her treatment was much quieter, a touch up. We each paid 200 pesos and that was it.
Then we took a cheap cab to close the municipal market and walked and walked. Carmen got pinatas for the grand kids for 35 pesos each: they are 150 here. I got a great handbag for 112 pesos; 300 here. A New Year's dress for $40 dollars. Nothing that elegant here at any price.
We took a 25 peso combi to Halacho, an hour and a half away, and visited with sisters and parents, nieces and nephews. It was great and no stress at all.
Then we hopped a bus to Merida, took a midnight bus back to Cancun, and here I am, alive to tell the story over the coming days!
And Lora, she got a full spa treatment from Delfino. When I woke up from the concrete bench outside the chiropractor's office, Carmen said, "Your dog is warm in her house and you are sleeping in the street. Life is funny." It sure is! And doggy dog looks beautiful.
The new SuperXpress opened in La Gloria today, possibly changing forever the way islanders do business. It is from the same corporation that has operated the supermarket in Centro for a decade. But it means that people can save the 20 peso round trip by cab to get their groceries.
There are a lot of other options in the neighborhood that will have to rise to the occasion to stay in business. The little tiendas which people are accustomed to going to when they need an egg or a CocaCola. The veggie ladies on the corners, the green grocer in his shop and the stalls in the market. The fruit truck that drives by.
