La Corazon

Here I am in Mexico again. This time to help Glenn with surgery. We are actually in the small town of La Cruz Huanacaxtle at the north end of Banderas Bay where Glenn and La Sirena (his schooner) are in the La Cruz Marina. The town is named for the cross at the center of town made of huanacaxtle wood. It is the perfect place to have heart-related surgery, because being here as a gringo, one sees just what is missing from the culture we come from - The Heart. Despite the fact that these people are being invaded by the new marina (which is being built to dock 500 boats thus nearly doubling the population of the town); the new condos going in; the hotels that are being planned; they are gentle, smiling and caring for us, the strangers that will soon ruin the town. Glenn has been here 4 months and already the locals know him and care about him. When they saw him with his arm in a sling, they asked what happened and seemed to really care when they heard the answer. Children walk freely, unafraid. Their faces are open and innocent. They smile at strangers as if they were family. I feel like an alien sometimes, not because of the way they treat me, but because of my own lack of humanity. More and more expatriots are moving here from the States, Canada and Europe. Will we bring our sickness of the heart with us too? Or will we instead entrain to their hearts which in the long run, are stronger than ours.