subiendo la muela...sacando las muelas

I finally made it to La Muela, an ancient volcano that I have admired from my bedroom window all these weeks. We left at 9:30 a.m. After an half hour break stocking up on chips and water for the "arduous" journey, we began the climb, stopping occassionally to try to catch lizards and take numerous photos. We ate most of our snacks about half way through the climb, resting in an open field near a charasmatic religious gathering. From where we sat we couldn`t see anyone but the wailing prayers echoed throughout the mountain. At 11 a.m. we arrived at one of the spiky summits of the mountain. Below us was the entire city of Xela - beautiful, seemingly small looking down from those heights. We sat for a long while, laughing, talking, eating the remaining food and then separating to our own spots to admire the mountains in silence. Dark clouds began to gathering and we, reluctantly, began our descent. Half way down the mountain and back on the paved path we hailed a pick-up which brought us back home. And so I climbed La Muela...por fin. Next in the plans is a camping trip...



The climbers (minus the photo-taker, Dina): Marcos, Victor, Sarita, Rolando, Carlos. We`re tough.

La vista...stunning. The strange white markings are an ancient Mayan design...or the outline of a new housing development. Pick your favorite story.


Speaking of muelas (molars), the next day I served as translator/assistant for a group of Irish dentists that set up a clinic in Fraternidad in the backyard of an evangelical church. Approximately 30 people were seen by the dentists and who knows how many teeth were pulled. My job was to ask the patients which teeth were bothering them, explain the anesthesia procedure, and convince them to look at the dentist and not at the enormous needle entering their mouth. I saw some pretty gruesome teeth, the results of Coca-Cola, fluoride-free water, and years of poor dental hygiene. It was a bloody morning - yanking out rotten teeth, digging for roots, and handing out many baggies of tylenol. Except for a few screaming children, the majority of patients were extraordinarily brave, some losing their last teeth. At noon the sun was scorching hot and I wondered for a moment if I might be the first to pass out...but I had no problems, even when one patient threw up a mouthful of blood right next to my foot. Despite my graphic descriptions, all the patients left pleased and ultimately in less pain than when they arrived. A group of children watched every minute over the adjoining fence. Occassionally the mother of a patient would look to them and say, This is why you should brush your teeth. I was convinced...


The rewards of being a dental assistant - thermal baths. The colder it got outside, the warmer the water felt. Precioso.