Arrested Development - Ex-Pats Mexico

I can't tell you how relieved I am to see you posting again, your dogness. Happy! Happy! Happy! tears of joy happy! As I was waiting for the post to open I had my fingers crossed, hoping it would be your caustic wit that greeted me. I love hearing from Brigitte but in this case, I was afraid to see a post from her.

Can you hear the tappity tap of Mimi and Jonna doing the Happy Dance over here in Mérida?

Dawg: I know gall bladder surgery and the long recovery period is very serious business. It hit my son at an early age in the "emergency" form, and he came very close to dying. Took him months to get back to his old self.

Lets hope you do better than that....and am so glad to hear you're still aboveground.

Please keep us posted.

Dawg ~ Good to see you back posting. Any day on the right side of the grass is a good one. My sympathies, recovery is an ordeal. Our wishes for a speedy one. Lizzy'n'Bob

Glad to see you back, Bob. And I'm sure Bridigette is more than ready for a rest 'cause this must have been an ordeal for her too..

Bubba,


I'm not too surprised, but seems a bit extreme to get back on Mexconnected? (no more gall)

Rolly writes;

Glad to see you back, Bob. And I'm sure Bridigette is more than ready for a rest 'cause this must have been an ordeal for her too..


Well put, Rolly. Brigitte has proven to be a saint during this ordeal to say the least. Without her, this episode in Chiapas would have been far more difficult and dangerous. Her grasp of colloquial Chiapas Spanish and regional cultural eccentricities has been a Godsend and believe me, understanding the language and, as importantly. understanding customs and mores in this isolated southeastern state which are more attuned to those of Guatemala than Jalisco, is more important than one can imagine when one is seriously ill and needing to communicate not only idiomatically but culturally. She is so good at this that she had the whole street which is mostly indigenous with Tzotzil as their primary tongue, praying for my recovery. Now, I´m not a religious man but maybe I need to rethink my former position on the power of prayer.

Arbon writes:

I'm not too surprised, but seems a bit extreme to get back on Mexconnected? (no more gall)


Funny you should mention that, Arbon. I expect to be writing a series of articles on southern Mexico for Mexico Connect starting sometime this spring - gall and all. That is a fine internet magazine and I look forward to joining them then. Sorry Jonna and thanks for the nice comments from you and Mimi.

One more thing. In my previous post I wrote of the dingy and dirty hospital in San Cristóbal where my gall bladder extraction took place. In fairness, I should point out that I was in two separate hospitals. The first was a Catholic hospital run by a stern order of nuns and, despite the fact that they were dirt poor, that hospital was immaculately clean and well managed by the sisters. Unfortunately, I had to transfer to a private hospital at a later date because they had the necessary operating facilities for major gall bladder surgery. The latter was the hospital that was filthy and poorly managed. I did not mean to imply that hospitals in general were substandard in San Cristóbal where I had the finest team of local physicians I have ever encountered in Mexico, the United States or France - all of them being places where I found myself hospitalized at one time or the other.

Brigitte, forgive me for consistently mangling the spelling of your name. I just now noticed it. By now I think everyone knows that spelling is not my best feature, and I can't say much for my proofing reading, either. But I am really good at eating.

Hound dog, glad to hear that you're on the mend and looking forward to reading your input on Mexico Connect. the best to ya.

I was going to pass this on to you sooner, but with the holiday season, and then your close call - but then maybe you might enjoy a good read right now. I am thinking of the author Julian Barnes, and thinking of you because he is uniquely respected in both Britain and France. He seems to combine the best of both. He is mostly known for "Flaubert's Parrot", a superbly written and enteratining book. His most recent book, and hence my trepidation, he addresses death and religion. Here is his website,
http://www.julianbarnes.com/
just click the link "nothing to be frightened of" (note as well the praise of Garrison Keilor - they have a similar sense of humor)

I was going to pass this on to you sooner, but with the holiday season, and then your close call - but then maybe you might enjoy a good read right now. I am thinking of the author Julian Barnes, and thinking of you because he is uniquely respected in both Britain and France.

Thanks, Gary. I had not heard of Barnes but will seek out several of his writings when I get a chance.

When I no longer feel like one of those Firestone tire retreads on my thrifty dad´s 1953 Ford station wagon flapping in the breeze as he drove from Montgomery to Fort Walton Beach on a steamy Alabama summer´s day for our annual month at the beach, I will post some good stories on dancing with the grim reaper in the exotic and highly spiritual environment of Highland Chiapas. That is, if I don´t sail off into the Chiapas equivalent of some South Alabama swamp to languish there as was often the fate of those 1950s retreads. And there are some entertaining stories to tell.