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Author: Subject: Why does Baja like you?
DENNIS
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[*] posted on 5-23-2007 at 03:49 PM
Why does Baja like you?


What is it that you contribute to Baja, money excluded, that makes you part of the Baja community?
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DENNIS
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[*] posted on 5-23-2007 at 03:51 PM


Clue........ Think JRbaja
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Packoderm
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[*] posted on 5-23-2007 at 03:53 PM


Because I'm usually willing to buy a pitcher of margaritas?
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DENNIS
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[*] posted on 5-23-2007 at 03:54 PM


For whom?
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Packoderm
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[*] posted on 5-23-2007 at 04:00 PM


I don't know, I never think about it. If there is a group of dudes, and they are friendly to me, I'll just buy a pitcher of whatever they are drinking. But usually Mexicans. It always seems to go over pretty good. The hardest part after that point is to make a diplomatic exit before each one of them buys a pitcher as well.
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DENNIS
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[*] posted on 5-23-2007 at 04:06 PM


Good point packo.............. How many maggies can a normal man drink.

My question is pointed to a cultural end, more than social lubrication. Thanks.
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woody with a view
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[*] posted on 5-23-2007 at 04:09 PM


because i don't stay very long? that, and the friends we've made over the years.....



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DENNIS
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[*] posted on 5-23-2007 at 04:18 PM


Well, Woody, we havn't had the pleasure of meeting personally but, I would bet that you and yours would be welcome in any Baja environment, only because you show humility and curiosity. That's a good mix.
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[*] posted on 5-23-2007 at 04:20 PM


I contribute to the local economy to the extent I can, by buying groceries, building materials, etc., locally instead of stateside. I pay local folks to handle projects, and I patronize the pangueros in my area. I contribute to a fund to pick up trash from our local beach and do some pick up myself. I donate used clothing and toys to the fishing co-op. I treat people with respect and do my best to communicate in their language (something I need to and should do much better).



\"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.\" -- Frank Zappa
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DENNIS
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[*] posted on 5-23-2007 at 04:25 PM


DanO ----

Yeah... thats it. That's the idea. Give more than you get. Thanks for what you do without thanks. Very cool.
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[*] posted on 5-23-2007 at 04:33 PM


If they like me a little now it's because I'm beginning to understand things. Once in Mulege I saw a crude sign that said Mangos. Two old guys were sitting, rocking outside a little hut. I stopped, went into the hut, let them know by my smile, my gestures I might be a buyer. They pulled back some straw mats under which were hundreds of ripe mangos. When I let them know I wanted 2 mangos their look said I was begging to be thrown into the river. Later I gave my Jeep full of mangos to anybody I could find.
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Baja Bernie
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[*] posted on 5-23-2007 at 05:07 PM
Dennis is this what you were getting at?


For years the wife and I contributed to helping a young Mexican boy whip Leukemia. He has now been free of that killing disease for 2 years. We also worked with the school in La Mision and contributed to sending an outstanding young man through 4 years of college work.
Just a whole bunch of stuff like that and that is some of the stuff we miss most since moving back to the States.

Most of the Mexican family’s in the area knew if they needed anything from the States all they had to do was ask and we would, in some cases, smuggle it down. At last count I had brought 8 stoves, 26 TV’s and a sh……pot of other stuff they couldn’t get at a reasonable price.

Used to bring guns and ammo down, but that was a long time ago Honest!.

Speaking of JR, he was always hitting me up for that "Off" stuff to take down to the mosquitoe areas.....but then a lot of us did that stuff.

[Edited on 5-24-2007 by Baja Bernie]

[Edited on 5-24-2007 by Baja Bernie]




My smidgen of a claim to fame is that I have had so many really good friends. By Bernie Swaim December 2007
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[*] posted on 5-23-2007 at 06:27 PM


To give the ex-pats my $$$:saint: so I can live my dream vicariously through them?



When the way comes to an end, then change. Having changed, you pass through.
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DENNIS
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[*] posted on 5-23-2007 at 06:33 PM


Thanks Bernie ------

I've been reading JRs posts and cant help feeling his comitment to his feelings. He truly had a brotherhood with the people of Baja, those of the country and unaware of progress as we know it. He didn't try to change anybody. He just tried to give them a hand.
Im reading more and understanding more.

Bernie......... You have the same love for Baja, perhaps not so intense but, the same from the heart.

Thanks
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[*] posted on 5-23-2007 at 06:51 PM


higher contracters so they can feed there famillys. give fish to those who have no way to get them. support the local beer stores.:bounce::coolup:
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[*] posted on 5-23-2007 at 06:52 PM


From the first day I stepped in Baja I was in love...the desert, the people, the plants, the geography, the surf...its been almost two years since I've rolled around in that beautiful red dust, the longest stretch ever, and I gotta tell you absence makes the heart grow even fonder. I hope Baja still loves me back!
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[*] posted on 5-23-2007 at 08:07 PM


At my work we have collected clothing for the orphanes in Tecate and T.J. over the years and we have given monies to the group that goes down not only around T.J. but Mexicali to help the poor people put some small houses together each year. The customs in Mexico has made it tough to get the clothing, food, and building supplies through and caused some of these outing to be stopped over the recent years. Every time something good happens someone always putting their hands in to rip out what they can for themselves but people still try which is good. The animal shelter care donations is always a good one to give to when in Baja. bajafun777



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[*] posted on 5-23-2007 at 08:11 PM


I deal with the community the same way I do when at home. We, along with 6 others, pay he tuition of one of the local boys to go to high school. We interact. I give a lot of fish away to people who have become my friends over the years. I invite them to my get togethers and they invite me to some of theirs. I quit bringing clothes and give aways but bring a large load of things that I have a person in town sell on a garage sale basis and then give the money to the school. I attend weddings, funerals, coming of age parties, and other social events but try not to collect these as chevrons on my uniform. I freely share my philosophy of life but listen carefully when they share theirs. I am not the mini-mart, the bank, the social worker, or the general contractor, but want to be dealt with respect as I show respect in return.
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[*] posted on 5-23-2007 at 09:49 PM


I love Loreto, and I love my neighbors. Anything more is between me and my friends.:dudette:



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[*] posted on 5-23-2007 at 09:58 PM


I am the new chiropractor in Todos Santos and I started to implement my wishes to donate my services to groups of people that can't afford it or otherwise would never get an adjustment. In Eugene, Oregon, they would always close the doors to this kind of social service - the bureaucracy, the red tape, the fear from competition, I could never figure out why I couldn't give my services away in the USA; I tried for 27 years... Here they welcomed me with open arms and I am building a respectable and honorable reputation. It also makes me feel that I am part of the community and what I am doing for them is only a small token compared to the health and happiness that I am finding here. My volunteer work so far has been limited to one of the local agricultural camps, where migrant farm worker live in deplorable conditions. I try not to get involved in the politics of these camps, but they do exist, and the workers need all the help they can get. Attached is a short story I wrote today about my second visit to this camp last Monday. I'm sorry if it is too long, but I thought it fits nicely in this thread:

Second Visit to El Carrizal – 21 May 2007

This week I went for my second visit to El Carrizal agricultural camp to adjust the workers and their families. Volunteering for this kind of social work fulfills my desire to give back to the community with the skills that come so easy to me.

This time the session was more organized. The camp knew I was coming and they were ready, although there weren’t as many people as last month during the peak harvest season. I treated only about 40 people this time, including about a dozen children.

The 5-hour shift started with a young boy; he told me: “Last time you fixed the pain in my arm. This time my leg is hurting!” Children are easy to adjust and he was very compliant. His smile and gratitude at the end of the adjustment was my reward and everybody that followed compensated me with the same appreciation.

This boy then brought me one of his young friends that had fallen off a bicycle: “My friend here is also hurting in the leg.” Then he brought me another young boy that had slipped and fallen during a soccer game: “He twisted his neck and he is hurting here…” he pointed. This little recruiter brought me several of his friends one at a time and each stayed around to watch me adjust the next one; it was so much fun to have an interested young audience watch me work! I admonished all of them not to try to imitate me and attempt to “adjust” each other, and this little lecture was going well until I had to shoo them off when they got too rambunctious playing with my beard…

Then a team of Mexican government doctors arrived from La Paz to immunize the babies. This is National Children’s Health Week and free immunization is a federal program. While they were setting up they got interested in what I was doing and I got to adjust these doctors, too. It was their first chiropractic experience, and they needed it; a bonus for them and for me!

The camp worker’s shift in the fields is over at 5:00 and then they started lining up in the waiting room. There were only 3 chairs there, so they were standing in line against the walls and I could see a line all the way out into the courtyard. As soon as my door would open to let out the last patient, the next person would walk in. It went non-stop like this until almost 9:00 pm. At one point I had a chance to peek out the window and saw the beautiful gold and red and pink clouds of a magnificent Baja sunset, but there was still a line of people waiting so I didn’t tarry too long in the clouds.

When I work like this I lose track of the count of how many people I adjust, but two of them I remember in detail. A girl of maybe 7 or 8 years was terrified and crying sadly; her knee was swollen and her leg splayed out. She had a lot of apprehension about me touching her leg and her mother explained that the girl had been to many doctors and they had all hurt her, and not even the injections were giving her any relief for over a year. I adjusted her back and neck first and she started to relax and to trust me; I think intuitively she knew then that maybe this treatment was not like the others. I put her on her side and adjusted her hip, and the loudest “pop” I ever heard on a child this age ensued. While I was adjusting the mother later, I saw the girl walking around, she was testing how she could move her hip now, she could bend her knee, she wasn’t limping… she couldn’t believe that she got her leg back, and neither could I! What a blessing for this little girl, she would have developed into a crippled woman for sure! These are the rewards of my work.

The other case was a middle-aged woman that was in so much pain everywhere that she could hardly walk or talk. After each bone that I adjusted on her she would mumble: “Yes, doctor… yes, doctor” or “Please, doctor, please…” My empathy was fully aroused for this person, and after the adjustment her color, countenance and energy made an incredible transformation. When she left, her smile and the glow from her eyes did not require any words, and her tight handshake gave me goose bumps.

And so it went for a few hours until everybody that wanted an adjustment was treated. I’m looking forward to going next month again and continue my service. Kudos to the Fortalecer Foundation whose officers coordinate these visits to the workers camps.

If you know of other venues where I can donate my services to groups of poor and needy people, please let me know.

Thank you,
Amir.




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