This post is dedicated to my mom. though I promised her I will tell her the story while she is sitting down in front of me, so she can remember the whole time that it's just an adventure and I'm fine, but mom, you are sitting now, and remember, I'm fine :)
So, this is the funny story of how I went to the chiropractor for the first, and so far, the only time in my life.
It was in Guatemala, 2011. I was staying for a long time in a little village called San Marcos on Lake Atitlan. My friend John offered me to hike with him to the villages around the lake, and so we did. We took a boat to the main town called Panajachel, and from there hitch-hiked on the back of pickup trucks towards the native villages. We had a wonderful day with them in the village, though they were quite shy and scared, we got to experience some of what their daily life looks like.
But my story actually begins on the way back home. We went back to Panajachel, and ran into an American guy, around his late 40's, big, bold head, hardly any teeth, full of gang tattoos, and riding a big motorcycle (which is not very common around the lake). He offered us to buy some special tea herbs he has. I had all my radars up and thought this was a bad idea, but John was very trusting and decided we should go with the guy. I trusted John and his judgment and decided to come along. The guy took us to his house which was up on one of the cliffs above Panajachel.
The beginning of the road we did on the back of his bike, but then we had to start climbing. It was a very steep climb, and there wasn't a proper path, but it also wasn't too challenging. After 20 minutes of climbing, we got to a very very narrow ridge, we had to walk without backs towards the rock wall and move like crabs to the side. Though my heart started pounding I was still very calm doing this, until we got to the little stream that separated one side of the ridge from the other. It wasn't too big, but all the ground around it was wet and slippery, and since I'm not a tall person, I had to do a little leap to get to the other side. I was so terrified that I already psyched myself in my head and told myself I will not make it. Surely enough, I slipped. Luckily, John and the guy grabbed me immediately and pulled me up. after I managed to catch my breath back, we continued the ridge for 10 more minutes until we got to his little wooden shack. On the edge of the cliff, surrounded by forest. It was quite beautiful.
We came into his house, and he started telling us his story; he is an ex-con from Kansas, who fled the states and moved to Panajachel 13 years ago. He got married and had a son, but the wife left him and took his son. he was quite lonely there in his magical little shack. While he and John were talking, I was looking around, and I didn't have to wander far with my eyes before I noticed the big rifle and machete hanging right by the door. Great, I thought. Here, no one can hear us scream. But the guy was very nice, he seemed to be wanting company very much, and though I was eager to go back since we already got the herbs from him and it was starting to get dark, and I knew we were going to have to make this treacherous road back. Eventually, we thanked him and told him we must head back to catch the last boat back to San Marcos. My heart was joyful. We made it. We are going back and nothing bad happened. That's when he mentioned that before he was in jail, he was a chiropractor, and asked if we want him to crack us.
Though it is always a tempting offer to get such an amazing service for free, I wanted to leave. But John, again, being very trusting, said he is interested. So, he stood up very close to John, grabbed his cheeks with both his big hands. This second seemed to last forever, and all that was going through my mind is: "he will twist and break his neck, then I'm off to fend for myself as he goes for me". My heart raced again, and I was already trying to think of self-defense moves or how I'm going to grab the machete quickly and hit him before he hurts John. But to my surprise, he started cracking John's vertebrates from the neck all the way down to his ass. In 5 seconds with many cracking sounds, John seemed to be standing much more postured and aligned. He had a big smile on his face. then the guy asked me again. Seeing that everything was fine, I couldn't have let this opportunity slip from my hands. I agreed. I stood up, and he put his hands on my cheeks. Once again, my heart started racing, but I remembered I should trust. 5 magical seconds. my back never ever cracks, but he managed to do it.
Though I know some people say it's not good to crack, my back needed it very much. I felt like a superwoman right after. We thanked him and hit the road back. It was already dark, yet now, my back was at 100% and none of that road seemed to faze me. We got down without any trouble and even made it to the last boat back home, happy, and straight-backed.
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