Welcome Militar, neck & shoulder massage! Mexico

Well, well my little massage-on -the-beach, business was taking off!  I even got to do energy work on some special folks, like the Mayor of a favorite ski town in Colorado, Breakenridge; circa mayor, from back in the days when the Honey was also amazing! I got to know and work on the legendary founder of the local National Outdoor Leadership school, Tap, a sweet man in his 80's who sailed into the Baja de Concepcion in the 70's (see future posts about Tap).



In my spare time I created a shady outdoor waiting area complete with hurricane damaged furniture and magazines from the nearby dump.  I put up a large eraseboard with my schedule and a clip board with a pen tied to it, for people to sign-up for massage times.  I was feeling confident and getting settled into my new routine of a working life-style and it felt great after rejuvenating for months!


One morning I was hidden away in the palm salon giving someone a massage.  My feet were planted in the sand and I could hear the gentle lull of the water lapping against the shore just a few steps away.  The tide was beginning to come in again, it was so relaxing. Then I heard a loud noise on the other side of the bushes.  It sounded like big trucks getting parked and men unloading things.  I had previously occupied that great piece of real estate until I moved here, next door.  Here there was natural shade but no palapa.  A palapa is a cozy shack for shade and shelter, made from palm fronds and costs an extra dollar a day.

I peered through the palm leaves and saw that there were indeed big  trucks and apparently they came with strong men in uniforms carrying guns!  I was a little surprised to discover the Mexican military was setting up camp next door!  All of my experiences at check-points in Mexico with the Militar were positive, so initially I was only curious about why they would camp here.  Then, a few minutes later, OH NO!  I thought --I am working illegally!!  Flashes of me getting in big trouble flooded my imagination!  I finished the massage and said goodbye and as discreetly as possible took my fee.  I saw that there were already two young men standing near the entrance to my private, massage paradise and looking curiously at my set-up and at me.  Crap! They were looking at my erase board!  Whew! On advice, I had not posted a price for massages!!




I panicked and went and hid in the Honey!  What should I do?  Flee!? Then I calmed down and got an idea.  I would offer free massages!


I hurried to the erase board and changed the posting.  I wrote:

"!WELCOME Militar !! massage" 

then on second thought I added

"neck and shoulder"

I couldn't quite see myself giving them full-body massages!

I had concluded that since I was already in obvious jeopardy that I would set myself up with them to prove I was not doing anything illegal.

Sure enough the young guys had gone back to camp and apparently told the leader guy who came and looked at the sign.  He was with another guy who seemed to be interpreting it for him.  Then the leader came into my camp and approached me.  My heart was racing.  In typical Mexican mannerism he casually and politely said good day and how are you --and then said to me "What is fee?".  They took the bait!!  I said "No fee".  He looked at me like I might not be telling the truth so I added that I only accept gifts if someone wants to share and then I emphasized that there was no fee.  He seemed unsure and repeated "what is fee?".  I gave him the example that sometimes people give me food after I give them a massage, I showed him the banana that was in my hand and said "like this!" but as a gift!

A few minutes later, mister strong-and-scary, who carries a gun, the military leader, took his shirt off, laid on the table and melted under the neck and shoulder massage I started to give him.  He emphasized that he was very, very sore from all the stress and needed a hard, very deep massage.  I didn't take that SO seriously until I heard all the other guys lining up to be next for their massage.  Oh dread!  I would be at it all day there were so many of them!!  Then I got another idea.  If I gave him a REALLY deep massage, he would report it to everyone and they wouldn't want the humiliation.  So I gave this guy such a deep massage he cried.  Literally, he lifted his head up and spoke to me and said "I am crying, ow".  I played dumb and pursued on, he told me three times he was crying!  When he got up from the table he showed me with his fingers to cry means that tears come from the eyes and said that he cried, again.  I smiled at him and said "thank you!".  I asked him if he was the leader, he told me he was the Colonel!  He left and came back a few minutes later and gave me a big red apple.  He actually gave it to me gingerly, as if he wasn't sure I deserved even that.

Luckily it was siesta time and I disappeared for awhile that day. The military guys didn't sign up for massages.  They did borrow a kettle for making coffee and they were friendly and polite.  For several days they made trips in a big boat out into the bay looking for an apparent bail of drugs. The group dwindled down from about twenty men at first, to a few, then one day they were all gone. I don't know if they completed their mission but it was a great relief!