Sastun: My Apprenticeship with a Maya Healer

The aroma of moist, rotting humus was ambrosia to me, and it felt
refreshing to be back again on my solitary treks through the beckoning,
high bush.
I found Panti at home, sitting in the darkness of his cement house. His
shoulders sagged and his expression was lifeless. Something was terribly
wrong.
I cleared my throat to let him know I was in the room, then planted a
warm kiss on his weathered forehead. He looked up, and slowly a sign of
recognition flooded his soft eyes. “Ah, mamasita,” he said feebly. “Where
have you been? I thought you’d forgotten me.”
My heart ached to see him so forlorn and hunched over. I asked about
the notes I’d sent with his grandson, but it was obvious the secondhand
messages hadn’t allayed his fears that I’d deserted him.
“I was sure you were never coming back,” he said, despite my
assurances that would never happen. I relayed the whole, sad story of our
fire and what dumb gringos we were for placing our lives in the hands of a
stranger. He was sympathetic, reminding me that such a bank of knowledge
about jungle survival must be learned through fateful mistakes if one didn’t
learn it growing up here.
“A dry season fire should never be started in the morning. What a lying
idiot you hired,” he cursed. “A morning fire is caught by the winds and
blows all about. It should be done about four in the afternoon, so it can burn
for a few hours and the dampness of night puts it out naturally.”
Then he looked down at the floor. Something was still bothering him. I
asked about La Cobanera and knew I had struck a raw nerve. “She has
robbed me,” he said, keeping his head down. “She stole my life savings. It
happened a month ago yesterday. What an old fool I am, Rosita, trusting
that old cow.”
She had finally agreed to come stay with him on a permanent basis but
first had to go home to pack up her things. They agreed he would send a
taxi when she was ready to move.
He waited for two weeks, lying awake at night, thinking and planning
their new life together. He went around the village looking for a small
house to purchase, thinking she would be happier living in a home not so
close to his family and patients. He told Angel that they were getting
married, and Angel agreed to welcome her into the family.