Saturday, January 4, 2014

La Gorgonia

La Farmacia used to be just before the stairs; it's now se renta. 
Between bouts of relaxation, the only thing I had on my calendar yesterday was to find something that would tame this cough enough to allow me some sleep. Last year there had been a pharmacy on the main cobblestone path through the village, by where the Garcias live, up above the rocks at the shore. I decided to try there. 

But there was no sign of a pharmacy at that location. I wasn't surprised; small family enterprises around here come and go all the time. One of the pleasant diversions of being a regular visitor here is speculating about the evolving economic scene.

I questioned a young couple who might have been Mexican, but were tourists, and they didn’t know if la farmacia had relocated. A little further up the trail, I met a village matron and asked her the same question with my passable Spanish. 

The trouble is, you can rehearse what you want to say, as I did, but you’re out there without a net when it comes to the answer. Rapid diction and even a few unknown words can throw my comprehension all to shit.

From this lady about all I understood was that there was a place called La Gorgonia, somewhere near the iglesia--church--that would satisfy my need for “algo para la tos.”

As I walked back along the path below El Cerrito--a new restaurant that's supposed to be good, but is too expensive to make regular--I remembered the place to which I’d been directed. 

Two years ago, I banged up my shin when I slipped getting onto a panga. It was real bad, swollen, sore and darkly bruised. Someone, probably Solana, told us about a friendly, wizened old woman who ran a little storefront in a niche behind a flowering arbor. You sidled up to what looked like a takeout window, only ancient, and described what was ailing you. She was something of a curandera and would have just the thing.

I went there and come away with a branch of arnica and a small bag of camphor, along with mimed instructions to grind, mix, and apply with oil. I felt better immediately.

This time Gorgonia prescribed something much less organic. Its active ingredient is similar to codeine and it came in a box. She cut out two blister packs and priced them together at 15 pesos, just over a dollar. "Take with water, just before bed," is what I understood.

It worked pretty well. I woke up a lot during the night, but was able to quickly get back to sleep. One thing about all this puzzles me though. I remember that "gorgon" comes from Greek myth and is some kind of evil woman. La Gorgonia didn't strike me that way in the least. Doing a little research I discovered that the face of a gorgon was also supposed to repel the evil eye, and her blood to have healing powers.

Maybe, after using a dictionary and rehearsing, I'll ask her about all that. But if the past is a guide I doubt I'll understand much of the answer.

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