La Clínica: A Doctor's Journey Across Borders

Chapter Four

 THE vILLAgE WAS PERCHED oN A LoW BLUFF ovERLooKINg a river that drained part of the nearby Sierra Madre. Tiny hamlets of three or four adobe houses dotted the horse trails that led up out of the village, but the village itself was the end of the road. Large lorries lumbered through the unpaved streets before unloading their goods, which were sold at family tiendas, each tienda usually no more than a counter attached to a house. Sometimes trucks would arrive at night, unload, reload, and leave before the first light. Some people said it was related to drugs or some other illegal activity, but the business transacted was never discussed or apparent the next day at the tiendas. Most family members, including children, took turns at the tienda selling sodas, candy, rope, tools, soap—essentials and luxury items— to the village residents and the village’s frequent visitors. These visitors would often ride for hours to fill saddlebags with canned fish, bread, or powdered milk. I wondered what they traded in return: perhaps a bag of grain. Larger goods were packed onto the backs of mules for transport up into the mountains. Tables, chairs, beds, and boxes full of food might be seen protruding from the backs of mules, attached with twine or leather strapping. Ricardo specialized in difficult packmule trips when he wasn’t busy overseeing his herd of cattle. on this, my first weekend in the village, he invited me along for a short pack trip. He told me that he had already discussed it with don Carlos and received permission for me to go. Noticing my hesitation, he said, “Don’t worry. I’ll give you the gentle female. Just hit her with the stick if she won’t go.” chapter four  • david p. sklar I wasn’t used to hitting animals with sticks, neither mules nor pigs. I nodded, afraid to admit to him that I had never ridden a horse or mule. He hoisted me onto the saddle, and I clutched at the saddle horn as the mule took two steps forward. Ricardo handed me the reins and began to laugh. “you don’t have to hold her like your wife,” he said. As we proceeded forward, the slow sideways movements of the saddle developed a pattern that I could recognize. But the bump, bump, bump of a trot always seemed to bounce me around so that I received maximal impact. Two men on mules appeared suddenly from the bush and greeted Ricardo with a whistle and salutation. “Bienvenido, amigo.” They welcomed him. “This is my friend, David,” he said, “who is living in my house. He is a doctor.” I bowed my head and removed my cowboy hat. “Mucho gusto,” they both said. “David, I have some business with these men,” said Ricardo. “Momentito.” Back in a moment. And he rode off, leaving me with the mules. A few minutes later, he returned and we continued up the trail. “Those were muchachos from Chilar,” he said. “I have many friends in Chilar. They wanted some beer.” The cargo we carried, covered in burlap bags, caused the mules to groan as they swayed and picked their way over sharp rocks along the narrow trail. The cargo was beer for a party, which was usually prohibited except for a fiesta day, which this happened to be. There would be parties up and down the mountain trail and a big celebration back at our village. Connections between people traveling the isolated mountain trails were as likely as connections between people who took the same train to work every day, though they were not so apparent to me. “It’s the fiesta of San José. We can drink beer and dance all night,” Ricardo said. I hadn’t thought about dancing since I arrived at the clinic. It didn’t seem right to think about dancing when there were people sick and in pain all around me. Butaswedeliveredourcargoatasmallstore,Ibegantothinkabout it. What kind of music would there be? Rock and roll? Traditional Mexican music? I had always felt self-conscious at dances. Who would dance with me? Would everyone be watching? And then I realized  la clínica • I’d hardly seen any girls in the town. Were there any? As the mule swayed and bounced, Ricardo began to sing about how much he liked to dance, how much he liked music. When we arrived back...