Day 52 - Thursday 10th November 2005

They say you learn something new every day. Today I learned that if I had been born in a Mayan culture, I probably would have had a swollen penis as a child. I learned this interesting fact in the Mayan Medicine Development Centre, which I visited in the morning.

The reasdon for my unfortunate ailment? My mother eating advocado or onion within 3 months of my birth. According to Mayan midwives if mothers eat advocado or onion within three months of giving birth they will pass this affliction onto their newborn. I know that one food craving my mum had when preggers with yours truly was for advocadoes, so I am assuming she had at least one after my birth. As I know she reads this, perhaps she would be so kind as to confirm or deny my presumption.

Aside from this I learned that Mayan medicine does not rely on pills, injections, or chemicals to heal the sick and injured. Instead they use prayer, candles, incense, bones and herbs. They do not have GP’s or nurses to diganose and treat, they have prayer healers, midwives, bone healers and herbalists, each with their own role in diagnosis and cure.

I also found the Mexican equivalent to the Holy Grail. The $1 peso taco. This equates to roughly 5 pence. Eat ten of those bad boys and you will be full. 50p a meal. When I arrived in Mexico the tacos were around $10 pesos each. The futher south I have ventured the cheaper the tacos (and generally everything else) have become. I will add that they have got smaller, in the north it took 4 to fill me up, but that makes a $40 pesos meal. Now 10 fills me up @ $1 peso each. Thats a $10 peso meal. Bargain.