Big Hearted Woman

I’ve been in Mexico for four days. Already I have four new fillings, five old fillings replaced, and a mold made for my new gold crown that will be attached on Monday, when I will also get the remaining four of my old fillings replaced. All this for what it would cost for two fillings back home! How is it possible?

Not everything is so cheap in Mexico, but dentistry, is definitely worth the trip.

It’s been a lot of fun hanging with Chabela and her kids. Vincent and I went to go kick the soccer ball around the other day. There were some older kids practicing their breakdancing moves on the court (it’s a cement basketball court that also has soccer goals.) They wanted to play too, so we started a game of four on four. One of the older boys pulled out his ghetto blaster and was pumping American hip hop tunes. I only hope they don’t know what the lyrics mean! Each time one of the teams scored, a group of three girls who were bouncing on a trampoline in a nearby backyard would yell, Goooaaallll!!!

Yesterday, Vincent and one of his younger friends asked me to play volleyball. We played on the beach in front of one of the more popular restaurants and before we had the lines drawn in the sand, one of the waiters who was just getting off work asked to join. We had a couple of nice games of two on two while the sun set behind the ocean horizon.

Today, I needed to get the chord from my laptop soldered, so Chabela took me on her errands with her and her kids. I got to see how big this woman’s heart is. She has done so much to help the people of this island.

First we stopped by her workshop where she keeps her equipment used to make all kinds of interesting coconut products, from animals to earrings to baskets. Then we went to the house of one of the women who she hires, to pick up another little person for a play-date with her youngest daughter, Maya. On the way she showed me the recycling depot she built out of cob and glass and plastic bottles, a project she worked on while her husband was suffering his slow demise to lung cancer. The next step planned is organic gardens in the rest of the lot, which is owned by the local high school.

We drove through the poor part of the village and she showed me her next cob and glass bottle project she is going to build, for one of the poorer families who live in a very rustic little shack right now. Then we stopped at Che the fisherman’s house. We stopped there to ask him if he would take some Rotary Club kids out fishing. She is hosting a traveling group of international adolescents for a couple of days, and wanted them to see the traditional fishing methods, that very few people still practice.

All along the way she said hello to the people of this place who obviously know and respect her. She helps people, advises people, motivates people, and encourages sustainable, ecologically conscious choices as this little bit of paradise faces the pressures of the modern world and the disposable culture that we more ‘developed’ nations are handing down through our alluring media and tourist presence. 

She wishes she had more time to do yoga and meditate. Raising three kids, running a business and guest house, performing her endless, unpaid social work and sustainability projects, keep her busy. But her spiritual path is not forgotten. She may even take the time to come with me to the gathering of indigenous elders and new age wisdom teachers that is a few hours from here.

No matter what happens, I know I have met a kindred spirit that shares a path of heart-centred, ecologically minded service. We will stay friends, and our journeys will help to enrich each other’s.

Thank you Chabela!