Visiting the unusual

Back in 2005 we walked into a herbal medicine shop in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico. The owner of the shop was on his day off. He was not doing any consultations, but he was friendly and willing to talk. I don't recall his name, but his shop had so many interesting things on its walls. It was a contradiction of images. There were saints, death, demons, dolls, images of God... and the shelves were full of packages of tea bags. Teas for curing diabetes, cancer, liver problems, colon cleansers, kidney problems, etc. There were candles to fix everything else. There were candles to attract money, women, men, luck, love, hope, faith, and on and on. The shop owner was a healer. He was a listener. You talked and he listened and diagnosed your aliment. The healer explained the connection between God and all the images that he had there. The all served a purpose in doing Gods work. Faith was the main ingredient in all his cures. Without the belief in God none of herbs, teas, or candles will work.
Elfida had no reaction to the shop or the environment. A good indicator that there were no evil or negative forces there. Having lived with her for almost 30 years, I trust her ability to read a person's Karma, vibes, aura or whatever people call the force that surrounds them. In talking to this healer, he did say that his biggest customers were USA truck drivers who came by every three months to get the teas that serve as body cleansers. He said the teas rid the body of all chemicals that have been ingested by the body. Well, we were there for about an hour and learned more about his faith in God than about the herbs and candles he had.
I was surprised that he allowed me to take photographs inside his shop. I was in New Orleans and they have lots of shops like this run by people with black nail polish, purple lips and jet black dyed hair, who act like you will expose their scam if you take one picture. Not this healer, he was relaxed and even welcomed the opportunity to be photographed.
Two years later we went back to the shop. Elfida was looking for a St. Christopher medal for Carlos who was in Iraq. He had some small ones for sale and we bought two. Before we left the shop, he gave Elfida two "estampas" of St. Christopher. He told her to send them to Carlos so he would make it back safe and unharmed.
During that same trip, we met the owner of one of the oldest hotels in Piedras Negras. the "Hotel Reforma". She was very friendly and gave us a tour of the hotel. She was a teenager during the flood of 1954 and spent almost two weeks trapped inside the hotel with about 20 other people. She had a very interesting life story. She showed us her dogs, which are descendants of the dogs the Aztecs bred. They have almost no hair and their skin is bluish. There breeds name is Xoloitzcuintle. About three weeks ago one of the other Sgt.s at work mentioned a news story about someone possibly finding a dead "Chupacabras" here in Texas. I pulled the story up on the Internet and saw the picture of the dead animal. It looked like one of this dogs. I am pretty sure that is what it was. I took about six photos of the dogs at the hotel. All through the glass window since they aren't use to people other that the hotel owner and her family. That photo is the one that shows the dog better. My brother Carlos was with us and he took this photo of me and Elfida. Sometimes Elfida doesn't feel comfortable with me talking to total strangers, but then if I quit doing it I won't make any new friends. I figure that if I walk into a building and they don't want me there, they will let me know and kick me out. Ok, the camera helps break the ice when meeting new people. Anyways, she enjoys meeting new people too.