The Day I Got a Chinese Massage

For nearly 2 weeks, I had a sharp pain in the upper part of my left shoulder blade. The pain was there all the time, but worsened when I turned my head. As the days passed, the minor distraction became a major mood-shifter. I was quite grumpy, and wanted to feel whole again.

Years ago, SF had taken Matt to a Chinese masseuse for pain in a similar location. Matt had told me, "He put some black tar on it and told me to keep it on for 3 days. After that, the pain was all gone!" I'm always interested in learning about and experiencing different healing techniques, so I asked him to take me there.

We rang the bell at the gate 10 minutes before lunchtime, expecting to make an appointment. A woman caring an assortment of keys, unlocked the gate on the door of the house and addressed us at the yard gate. Like many homes in Orange Walk, the yard was enclosed with cyclone fence and concrete posts, having locked access points for foot traffic and cars.

Recognizing her expression as curiosity and surprise, I guessed first that she was not accustomed to walk-ups, and then considered she may be the wife of the practitioner. I stated, "I hoped someone could help me. I have a pain in my back." and I pointed to the place it hurt. "Can you come back at 1:00?" she asked. So we did.

This time she unlocked both gates, and invited us into the first room on the right. The house was sizable. A long narrow hallway reached into the concrete structure with rooms flanking both sides. We entered the room which had a high bed to the left, a chair to the right, a desk and chair in the far right corner and a makeshift stool which had a cooler lid for a seat. There were old calendar photos of Taiwan which almost encircled the room, and a few other images hanging on the wall. Oh, and a certificate of practice with a photo of a man. I couldn't help but feel she was in someone else's space. I suppose we were too, but at her invitation, so I went with the flow.

She fiddled around at the desk, putting on gloves and moving things around. Then she asked me to sit on the cooler stool. She felt my neck and the back of my head, and began massaging specific areas. She used oils that smelled like eucalyptus and spearmint. I found great relief when she massaged the two ball shaped areas at the base of my skull. All around my neck, head, and arms she went - barely touching the spot where the pain emanated from. Yet, I was feeling better already.

Her final step in the massage was to pull my fingers and then my arms this way and that; up in the air, across my chest, behind my head. She spoke broken English, but I understood her for the most part. She told me to stay away from fried food. Then she said to put hot towels on each shoulder when I was resting. She suggested to do this while I was sitting around watching TV.

She started preparing a patch with the infamous tar, and continued with the instructions:

• If your head hurts, put the warm towel here... and here.
• If you get fever, put towel here.
• If your stomach hurts, put hot towel here.

Then she applied the patch.
She decided to add another patch on my neck.

We made small talk, then there were a few other instructions:

• No fried food.
• Wear for 3 days.
• If you shower, dry off before reapplying patch.
• Can you come back Friday?

Since we were coming Thursday, I told her we would be back then.

I left feeling great. My discomfort was gone.
I slept with the patches, but after the 2nd night, I'd had enough.
It was pulling at my hair, and felt bulky and itchy at times.
I took them off, showered and only replaced the large patch.

When we returned to the massage lady 48 hours later, I asked her to please remove the tar. At the last visit, she mentioned another patch would be put on at this visit. I told her I didn't want it, as it was uncomfortable. She acquiesced.

Then she removed the tar. When that was complete, she began massaging my face, my neck, my arms, my fingers. She did the pull up and down and around thing with my left arm and moved to my right.

For some reason, she cranked the pressure up when massaging my hegu - the pressure point between the thumb and first finger. It was really starting to hurt and I told her so. "Yes, it hurt" she said, and continued.

I started to feel lightheaded, and recognized the sensations that occur right before I pass out. I slumped over and told her I was going to "fall over." She stopped and waited, as if I would recover instantly. Of course, I did not. She went and got me a cup of warm water. I drank what I could, and breathed, and rested, and dropped my head between my legs, and tried to recover.

It was obvious that she wanted to finish. I eventually lifted my head and let her continue. She finished messing with my right arm by doing the up and down and around thing, and then she moved to my shoulders.

I didn't care what she did. She was away from my hand and I was relieved. She could poke and pull and prod on my shoulders and it would be nothing compared to the pain I just endured in my hand. I zoned out and waited for the end.

It felt like she was scratching my shoulders hard. Fine with me. Just leave my hand alone. She called Matt over to see. "Here it is coming out. But not so much on this side. Here is the problem, on this side." I heard her say to him.

She instructed:

• No fried food, but coconut oil okay
• Eat apple and beet
• Beet I think will be good for you
• Lots of vegetables
• Ginger

Later, Matt told me that she left some crazy marks on my shoulder. I couldn't see, but didn't think too much of it. Then at Rosa's, she said, it look like I got beat up. She helped me look in her mirror and sure enough, there was a long black, blue and purple mark running the length of my shoulder and one running up my neck. The spots were tender, but did not hurt like bruises hurt. I could still feel something in my shoulder blade, but it was a dull feeling; no longer a sharp pain.

I lasted the day, but was quite tired. The next day, I was even more tired. The pain in my shoulder was subsiding, but my head was getting full. I felt tired and feverish. I worried that I would have a bad sinus reaction, and managed to drag myself out of bed to squirt salt water up my nose. Then I collapsed again. Matt cared for Tetra, except for when she came for milk. We made it through the day without too much trouble. I didn't puke. Tetra behaved. Matt was patient and good.

The next day, I felt good. And the following day, even better. I couldn't bare to eat too much sugar or caffeine. My body just didn't want it. "Water. Water. Water." it said. I made dinner. Mashed sweet potato with butter and ginger, steamed carrots with honey mustard, butter and sugar, and a salad from the sweet potato leaf.

I made dinner the next night too. Although it wasn't my choice to eat pasta, I still enjoyed making it.

So, I seem to be managing even better than before, which is essential right now. We're in our final weeks of being here, and are already packing, sorting and making lists to make a smooth exit. All this thinking and action can stress a person, and a couple, so we need to be on our best behavior.

Overall, I'm glad I had the experience of the Chinese massage. It's something I'd like to try again, for the sole purpose of a cleansing. I'd be interested to try it in WA or OR too, where I might be able to ask more questions, and understand more of what's happening.

TJ's Birthday: Part 2

Sunday was fully packed with activities. It was the Sunday after TJ's official birthday, and the day of the Rover meet. We managed to pull this all off with the help of Mrs. Acosta. As I've mentioned before, she's a big help to our little family.

We dropped TJ off at Rosa's house around 10:00 and ran a few minor errands before showing up at Maracas to do a minimal set up. We had time to post signs, eat lunch, and talk to the reporter from the San Pedro Sun.

One Rover was already there by the time we arrived, but the owner was not. People started trailing in to eat and see the show, but for a long time, it was only us and the other Rover. TJ, Rosa and company arrived just after 1:30. 

Soon, Steve Davis arrived, and a bit later another Rover. We were holding steady at 4 Rovers until 2:30. We had to hand out the voting cards, or this would never end. And, it had to end, because we had planned TJ's party at the nearby park for 3:00. 

Folks voted. We handed out awards. It was a good time.

Then, another Rover showed up. And 10 minutes later... another! We had 6 Rovers!

It felt like the party was just getting started, but we (or at least I) needed to get on my feet and over to the park. It was now a few minutes past 3, and I did not want to be a bad host to TJ's friends and parents. 

Rosa, crew and I said farewell to Matt and jumped in the Rover. We drove about 1/2 mile to the park and began setting up. Fortunately, no one had arrived before us. In fact, everyone arrived well after 3:00.

No matter. Nearly everyone we invited did come, and it was great to spend the waning of the day in such good company. I'm certain that while TJ was exhausted to begin with, she was perfectly happy with her park party. She acknowledged all the kids who came, but mostly chased her friend Jesse around. "I'm coming Jesse!" she would yell, as she trotted around behind her.

After all that action, TJ was spent. She asked for booby, and I gave it to her. She fell asleep instantly, and that was our cue to pack up. It was about 6:00. Matt put everything away and we thanked everyone still standing. We made it all the way home, and got the little one into bed without a peep.

Kids Guest List

Jesse

Josen

Francis

Astral

Angel

TJ's Birthday: Part 1

It's an important day today. We made sure little T knew it was her Birthday. We started with wishing her Happy Birthday of course! Then we watched a Dora Birthday and a couple of Daniel Tiger shows. Then it was time for the real fun to begin!

I had noticed an abundance of playgrounds in Corozal during previous trips, but with other errands to run, we never had time to visit but one. She really enjoys the slides, and I wanted her to know every slide in Corozal. I tucked away a plan to make a day of visiting all the playgrounds. Today, that plan came to life.

First we picked up the rental car, and TJ picked up a puppy. Look at her little heart melt...

I decorated the car and gave her a balloon.....
Which. She. Loved.

We stopped right away when we reached Corozal, so we could sit on this gorilla.

and this elephant.

Welcome to this episode of "shows you how much I know"

Here, at the first playground, she refuses to go down the slide. 

"I'm fine here, thanks!"

We showed her a smaller tunnel down below. "Now Dad do it," she says.

It was nearly 12:00 so we decided to check out a place we had never noticed before this trip. It's called "Blue's." Turns out, it was the perfect place for TJ's birthday lunch. 

There were lots of slides.

and a trampoline.

The food was alright. We paid for the playspace and the breezy seaside view.

After lunch, Mateo had some fancy Rover interview, so TJ and I went to the town square and went down the biggest swirly slide in Corozal! over, and over, and over...

There was a big fountain in the middle of the town square. The only way I could keep her out of it was to say we were going to go swim in the ocean. 

Ah, the bargaining we must endure.

After all that, she was pretty tuckered out. So rather than expending energy on any more playgrounds, we decided to treck back to Orange Walk for some famous tacos.

THE END. (stay tuned for more after Sunday, April 10th)

April Showers Bring May Flowers

SF and Mateo cleared, burned and have been continuing to clean up some land.

We transposed some papaya into the nutrient rich soil.

Just in time for some nice cooling rain showers.

P.S. The Rover meet is less than 5 days away!

Making Up for Lost Posts

There's a lot going on in my head right now, which is why I've been postponing a blog post. We haven't had any life threatening circumstances, or roller-coaster adventures. Sifting through the thousands of ideas in my head, it's been hard to gauge what might be interesting for readers. I'll just throw out a few updates and leave it at that.

TJ
Almost 2, and acting like it too. From what I understand there is this "terrible twos" phase. Well, it's hard for me to see her in anything but a sympathetic light, but we do have challenges. It's the crying fits which can be difficult to experience. These don't happen much, but they seem to be happening more. Sometimes, her incessant breastfeeding is also problematic.

I do believe she is going through a major growth phase. Instead of just growing in one way, I think she is experiencing growth in all three directions. Physically, her largest teeth are coming in. She drools and often wants to put things in her mouth. Intellectually, she is putting so many words together, and is really pushing herself to communicate with others. Emotionally, she has learned that not everyone or everything has the best intentions, and/or that their intentions may not align with hers. I put this emotion theory together, based on her calling out one night in a worried tone, "big bat!" She did it a couple times. The next day we watched a particular Dora show; one that we had seen only once, the day before. In this episode, a dragon takes Boots away. When it did, Tetra started bawling. I realized "big bat" was the closest she could identify with the dragon.

We also made the mistake of watching the "Good Dinosaur," or at least attempting to watch it. From one minute to the next, terrible, life-threatening things kept happening. We turned it off after the giant red snake thing fell out of the tree. I was as stressed as TJ was, and regret purchasing it on Amazon. (we can't rent through Amazon since we are out of country -- there are some laws).

How to resolve all of these growing pains? Matt and I work hard to keep her occupied. We try to give her a "variety of assignment." We play with her, if and until she shows that she wants to play alone, or if and until we are about to burst. We take turns, and play as a family. She does get to interact with other people who visit. She also goes to events in town, and visits Auntie Rosa and other children in town. We use books and videos to support ideas that we want her to learn: teeth brushing, potty training, swimming, that baby birds belong with their mommas and not with little children.

She's strong, smart and beautiful inside and out. I'm quite proud.

Me
I continue to have a lot of gratitude and appreciation for the beauty and people and animals that surround me (on this plane and invisible planes). I read books, and they inspire me. I really enjoy doing coursework everyday through the Internet Society to learn about the history, and technology of the Internet. I work in the orchard. I'm usually doing some kind of weeding. My tools are the weedeater, machete, hands. Between my life online and in the dirt, I feel a comforting balance that steadies me, as I age here on Earth.

I care for Douglas too, and ponder her future. She can't climb trees, and that worries me about her safety alone. I'm hoping that after she drops the eggs in her belly, she will be better able to climb vertically. Perhaps she is just too old and big.

I put Lucy to sleep. I see her occasionally in my dreams, and we play together. I often think of all the wonderful times we had, and it warms my soul.

Jack is good. He's a committed kitty: honorable, respectful, cuddly, and all things fuzzy.

Matt
He is arranging a Land Rover meet in Orange Walk. I'm helping him with it all, and it's quite fun. Many people have expressed excitement about the event, and we look forward to the big day. He also does quite a bit of work on the orchard, with TJ, and is always kind enough to run the major errands in town.

I suppose that's it for now. I'll try again in a month or so. If there's anything in particular you care to hear about, please send me a message or leave a comment.

Cassava, the Internet and You

We all know that the internet is a jungle filled with truths and untruths, happiness and terror. So typically, when one does a little internet research, it should be taken with a grain of salt. However, when results 1-5 insist that you are going to die within the next 3 hours (or sooner) it can be a bit disturbing. This is our story.

We were recently invited to a friend’s house for new year’s day. I had just been experimenting with sweet potato greens as a salad, and had decided to bring a fresh salad direct, with love, from our garden. We had a bit of cassava root lying around and I thought it would be good to chop it up into small pieces to provide an accent and texture. I peeled the root, then cut it up into tiny pieces (~2 cm). I tasted one, to be sure of it’s flavor. It had a light sweetness to it, which I thought was delightful. I wanted to share it with Matt, so I gave him a small piece too. “Eat it!” I said. “What is it?” he said. “Just eat it!” And he did.

I was so excited about the flavor. Surely, all the clever recipes would be online. I went to the device and looked up “raw cassava root food.” I think the top result was “even ONE bite of the uncooked CASSAVA root can be fatal.” The following results also spurred fear and terrible thoughts….

Matt and I were frantic. So far, we learned cassava has a defense mechanism (a toxin) which can give a person cyanide poisoning if ingested. I tried to vomit, but couldn’t. I called Kaiser and Matt called Rosa. Kaiser was unwilling to offer advice, since the nurses are not licensed in Belize, but they gave me the number for poison control. Rosa had never heard of anyone dying from eating cassava, but she gave Matt the number to the Hospital. He called the hospital and I called poison control. (I continued to try to vomit during this time, but could not)

The hospital also, had never heard of such a thing. Poison control must have had slightly better internet skills, or resources than I, as they told me the toxicity level was very low. She thought it was unlikely that we would get sick. I wasn’t so sure. “If we do get poisoned, how quickly will it happen?” I asked. “2-7 hours,” she said, “but on average 2.5 hours.”

“Go to the emergency room if you start vomiting or feel sick, and they can keep you comfortable,” she said. Oh great, we all know what ‘keep you comfortable’ means, I thought; we’re going to die. Matt was glaring at me with impassioned eyes, “Ask if there is an antidote!” he said. “Genius!” I thought.

She said there is an antidote. If available, it could prevent the toxin from taking over. She encouraged me to go to the nearest pharmacy and get some purified charcoal, which could help counteract the poison... I tried to explain that we were in the jungle in Belize, but sometimes that’s hard to get across. I guess she understood that I was crazy when I asked if I could eat charcoal out of my yard. In any case, she did help a lot. I thanked her and got off the phone.


Matt and I agreed that we should check with Sandfly, so he paddled up to the front in the dark and asked him. He was back home quickly, running to the door.  “SF said that no, this is not the kind that has poison. ‘People eat it raw sometimes, just like hicama… No, we have the nice one’” he said.

He felt considerably better, but it took quite a bit longer (and more online research) for me to chill out. I’m still a bit anxious about it all. I mean we both were living with the reality that we may have eaten something described online as “highly toxic and fatal.”

While I was fairly confident that we wouldn't be dying soon, I still felt inclined to stay awake to 3:30am to pass the 2-7 hour window, but I only made it to 12:30. (4 hours from the incident – and 1.5 hours past the average reaction time of 2.5 hours) It was New Year's Eve and we were happy to be alive.

I was even more happy when I woke up alive, and when Matt did too. Tetra slept through the whole thing, so until she can read this blog, she’ll be oblivious to our 'near death' experience.

OH - some other things we learned

• all varieties contain the toxin
• the bitter varieties contain more toxin than the sweet
• the sweet variety is the one that is normally cultivated and sold
• the toxin is more concentrated in the skin of the root and the leaf
• the toxin, when mixed with stomach juice turns into cyanide
• cyanide poisoning is pretty brutal
• all sorts of other fruits, veggies and seeds can poison you too… if you eat enough of them
• it’s safer to cook the cassava before eating it
• some children have been prescribed raw cassava juice over number of days to fight a rare life-threatening bacterial infection

I decided not to add the raw cassava to the salad.

A Thief! A Thief!

do you ever look at some stars and think, is that star watching me?

Well, after we dropped off TJ at Rosa's, we went to A&R. We came out, and while passing the Rover, Matt put a bag of stuff in. We walked down to Casa Economica and Maya Tortilla. We took our time.

Upon our return, I noticed that the cooler was open. I asked Matt about it. He looked in the vehicle and noticed the back seat was down. We'd been robbed!

Matt went directly to the nearest grocery store, which we were kind of parked in front of, and asked to see the video. We backed up 15 minutes in time. The big screen 70" or 80"? It was HUGE and right at the entrance/exit of the store. A man behind a counter held the remote and lead the hunt.

I was a little off on the timing. We watched about a minute of video before Matt and I passed the frame. (as people passed in and out of the store, they stopped to watch the drama unfold) Soon after, some dude comes up. The folks in the store start shouting something. We think we hear, "that's their, that's theif." He casually watches the vehicle and looks around. More people arrive at the store and announce, "yeah, that's him. that's the guy." He then opens the door, grabs the bag and sets it out. He then returns to the vehicle, gets inside and after a bit, comes out. He get's in one last time and leaves. Everyone confirms it's the person they know, who's name is Steve, not thief.

After watching the video, we go toward the vehicle. I think Matt was ready to go look for the guy. Fortunately, the grocery store called the police. They found us down at the corner and told us that an officer would be coming soon. The officer was a real nice guy. He listened to us and the people at the store. He watched the video and agreed that it's Steve. Steve has a history of this sort of thing. Nobody knows Steve's last name. The officer told us to go file a report, and meet him down at the station. Matt told the officer that he liked his bike. It was some nice foreign shit. They agreed the bike was cool and we parted.

On the way to the police station, we had to stop and pick something up for our friend down the road. We saw his lady friend who gave us 2 bags of sweets to pass along. The lady confirmed that Steve is wearing a black shirt and is a thief. She encouraged us to have no sympathy for him. She's known him to steal a phone.

When we arrived at the police station, I suggested that I go to the library, while Matt file the report. He agreed. As he was in there, I returned books and sat outside to gather my thoughts. I wanted to read, but didn't have the patience. I really wanted to move. I thought that picking up the trash in the yard at the library would make me feel good, so I went in to ask if it was okay. As I was explaining to them why I wanted to do such a task, I mentioned "Steve." They said, "Steve is right around here somewhere! I think he's drunk." Having just encountered a ration of people who knew Steve without a last name, I thought it must be Steve. If that was him, I'd have to tell someone!

I went directly to the police station. I didn't want to encounter an angry thief, so I did not approach Steve. I walked into the least fungi shui looking joint ever. As soon as one enters, they are assaulted with rooms built out into the small entry. It's crowded too. I'm sure there were people sitting on top of each other to save space. I spoke to Matt directly, and in front of everyone. Three officers left to get the guy. They told Matt to stay inside. Peering out the window, we saw them lean down to get someone. I knew instantly, it was the wrong guy. I went outside and told them. The cops were already handcuffing him! I got the feeling I should move out of the scene, so I went back to the library, slightly embarrassed for just sicking the cops on some dude washing cars.

Next, Matt and I were both informed by the librarian, and the officer, that that guy is also "Steve" and he spends much of his time in the police station or in jail. There are actually two Steves with bad raps! Everyone had a little laugh about that. Except the Steve who got handcuffed. Poor guy. I hope they didn't rough him up too much.

Matt told me later that all the officers he dealt with were very easy to talk to. He said they were really busy too. The phone rang many times while he was filing the report. One call was an elderly woman in distress needing a ride to the hospital. The officer writes down the address, hangs up, and starts asking other officers about the ambulance situation. Another officer points to the wall where a scruffy list of phone numbers is taped to the wall just beneath the Burger Hut menu.

Oh. By the way. We were at one of my favorite restaurants the other day and a bus load of people in matching purple shirts came up. When we got a good look at the logo, it clearly read, "Police Drama Group." There was a happy/sad drama mask and a badge adorning the text. We pondered over what the police drama group might be doing, and joked that you'd think they get enough drama at their jobs. In any case, it is impressive, the number of roles some people will have in a community.

Of course, I can't help but think of Spoon River Anthology - the thief poem, which I usually do sympathize with. Then I remember that Steve didn't take any food. There are all the other characters too, living here. and, everywhere else too.

If we edit our own character, does that edited piece transfer to another spot in the universe?