Monte Oscuro y Cacalote

Backtracking to Sunday, one of the best days of this journey. We had stayed in Rio Grande, which is a tiny truckstop of a town. People get around by moto-taxi's, or for those who have traveled in the east, tuk-tuks. They are three wheeled taxis, cute and loud. I look at them and wonder why they aren't electric. We took one to breakfast and watched the world or Rio Grande go by on a Sunday morning with very loud recorded announcements competing with each other over microphones.

Our first pueblo was Monte Oscuro. Located about 40 minutes down dirt roads it is absolutely beautiful. We asked people when we entered about where Sara lives and they kept responding “el otro lado”, the other side, The other side meant crossing a creek and our taxi barely made it. There is a beautiful walking bridge for the majority of the year when there is too much water to cross it in a vehicle.

Sara's place had kids running around, teenage girls doing laundry by hand on a rock, and mounds of corn husks ready to be filled with masa and tamale makings.

She had not practiced much nor had she set up a clinic for the day. This was not surprising to me, she is a little shy. She also informed us that being Sunday, many people were at the big river or ocean. She left us for a while and we heard a conch shell call. Two different calls. The kids told us that meant a meeting was being called...so now there was going to be a clinic.

It went well and people asked for more. I will be curious to see what happens with her. Some of the other promotores I had already given extra needles to since it would be difficult for them to reach Lauro and re-stock. I know that she will have access to him so I didn't want to leave her with a lot of supplies that wouldn't get used. And...now that people know about it and had good responses, they will be asking her so maybe she will continue to practice. Vamos a ver...we will see.

CACALOTE & ROCA BLANCA

We had a few hours until we were to meet the next promotore, Judith, so we went to the beach for lunch. Wow – it is a paradise there! Thatched palapas serving fresh seafood, small beach with gentle waves and bright blue water, a few surfers and not many others in the small cove. Lunch and a hammock for siesta.

Meeting with Judith was great. There was a general meeting for the parents in the pueblo so not many people came to her clinic but I was not concerned. She already had practice clinics with 6 and 11 people and she was confident. She is a strong woman, she has volunteered with community health since she was a teen, she has an internet computer business, is the first female secretary for the pueblo and is one of the volunteers for the turtle project. All this and not yet thirty years old.

After checking her acupuncture points and treating some of the people who came, she included me in the group treatment. I had almost forgotten how wonderful it is to receive one! I had been exhausted from not sleeping well for many nights and that night I slept 9 hours.

One of the women spoke about her experience with receiving acupuncture from Judith. We have it on video. She is menopausal and was experiencing extreme emotional issues due to hormone imbalance. Sadness, depression, anxiety, feelings of overwhelm. After the two sessions with Judith she feels in control of her life and emotions again. She cried as she shared this with us, she is so grateful to be able to function in the world again. 

After the clinic Judith took us to where they have their turtle project. Dogs, racoons and humans eat the turtle eggs that are laid on the beach. Out of 20,000 eggs laid only about 100 survive in good conditions. For the past year the pueblo goes out at night to gather the eggs and bring them to a protected area. When the turtles are about a month old they are released back into the ocean. We got to release 6 of these baby turtles, putting them into the sand about 30 feet from the ocean. They make their way into the ocean and have the experience of moving from the beach to the ocean so they will know where to come back to later to lay their eggs. It was exciting to watch them make their way to the water...finally make it in then get pushed back onto the beach by the wave. Eventually all 6 disappeared to the new lives off of land.

We went to dinner with Judith and learned more about her story, how it is to be a strong, independent woman in a traditional coastal culture. She is already making an impact in her community. If (and likely when) there is a disaster on the coast I am confident that she will be helping many people and the community acupuncture clinics will be one of the tools that will help them.

We gave Mario, Judith's cousin who was our taxi driver back to Rio Grande, much of the fruit that we were given in Palma Sola - the bananas, plantains, green mangos and tostadas.The next morning we would be moving to the next place and couldn't carry everything with us.