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men who had asked him to give up his practice showed up one day <strong>with</strong> a<br />
painful, swollen jaw.<br />
When the documentary aired the following month on Belize television,<br />
it was a huge success. Because of its popularity, it was played over and over<br />
again.<br />
Once he was on television, his fame spread into parts of the country<br />
where he had been little known. For a while, twice as many patients showed<br />
up at his door. Many of the new patients spoke little Spanish, and it became<br />
necessary for me to spend more time in San Antonio as his assistant,<br />
translating, chopping, collecting. Sometimes Greg came to help out, lending<br />
his skills and expertise. Even <strong>with</strong> the three of us, there were times when<br />
we could barely handle the influx. Doña Rosa filled in when we were<br />
absent.<br />
In spite of my efforts to bring Don Elijio to town so that he could see<br />
the documentary in the home of the only person I knew who had a<br />
television, it was a full year before he had a chance to see it. Doña Rosa<br />
bought a TV, and that same weekend Don Elijio went to visit.<br />
Like excited children, they turned on the TV for the first time, only to<br />
see Don Elijio sitting at his chopping block, discussing Man Vine and ciro.<br />
“Ciro is something that jumps in your belly like a rabbit,” said the Don<br />
Elijio on the television.<br />
When he came home, he told me how impressed he had been. “It<br />
remembered everything we said that day,” he said proudly.
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