Day 3
By now we have settled into Entre
Amigos, I help with the registration packets for the racers at the school,
Gary goes to the Micah True memorial at Los Alizos, which is also one of the
legs of the race. He meets Prospero and
his wife who tend the shrine. They are gracious, quiet people who feed everyone fresh grapefruit, beans and fresh tortillas.
I stay at Entres to help Meruca,
the manager, with food preparation for the dinner to be served in conjunction
with a premier of a movie about Micah tonight.
Meruca is awesome, she is an observant, unobtrusive woman who comes in
every morning with Thomas, her brother in law.
They clean the place and she cooks; this day she was making tortillas,
carne, beans, pollo, kale chips, and making it look like a piece of cake. Flint, the French-Canadian with a quick smile
and an eye for details, is there too.
He is an easy man to like, open and intelligent. When he leaves to get the hikers and deliver
school supplies, he invites me along. He
is in love with this place and the trip is filled with stories and warm greetings
with the locals who watch the influx of strangers with curiosity. I learn that you drive with windows down so
people can see who is in the car, a subtle acknowledgement that this place is
not without its troubles.
We find the racers at the river, like
a pile of colorful confetti. Gary is there swimming in the Urique river. The crew has turned into a group of kids,
swimming, laughing, and shimmying up rocks to bask in the sun. Years are falling off Gary like so much unnecessary
baggage. He is alive with excitement
about the race. His pulled muscles are
still there but lost in the festivities.
We go to the first school, where the
kids are waiting for us. Gary and I talk
with Flint who suggests we not photograph the kids, the Raramuri are shy
people, but before long we take a few photos.
The kids are poor, heartbreakingly so.
Some of them have traditional clothes, some in t-shirts with logos like
‘Big Yeti’s Winter Camp’. Many are
barefoot, others wear the huaraches famous in this area. Flint tells me many walk miles to get
here. I hand out the origami horses to
the shyer children, others crowd around folks with soccer balls and slap
bracelets. Maria and Naomi lead a crew
in some Spanish song. But Sweeny takes
center stage. He has brought a box of
stuffed animals and as he pulls each one out it comes to life; they wiggle,
slither, roar, hiss and bark. His enthusiasm
is contagious; a huge group gathers round him eyes wide and squealing in
delight. It ends too quickly and we head
back to camp.
We get back, working on a few details
for dinner; Tony, Tyler and Sam are working on huge salads from the garden and
Nicole and Benedict are making more Kale chips.
What is with the Kale chips? I
avoided those things in Laramie but now, like the Dr. Seuss character with his
green eggs, I find that like them!
Before long our friends from Colorado, Mary and Bob, have found their
way to the camp. We help them find their
campsite, then off to help serve dinner.
Keith had expected about 30-40 people but there was more like 100. Meruca deals with the discrepancy nonplussed
and the meal comes off without a hitch.