MY ROLE

I have been in Merida for the past week and a half.

Today the dentist completed my three-unit bridge work and I am entirely pleased with the result and the cost. It came to about $2500 less here than it would have been in the States. Of course, that more than covered the entire trip.

The dentist says about half his business is from American tourists. 

I also got new eyeglasses.

In a month, I will be going to Guatemala and Honduras to work as part of a medical service team. Perhaps then I will have something more to write about other than myself and the joys of temporary expatriation. 

I have learned, though, that being at a distance is helpful in handling all sorts of crises. One is necessarily helpless at such a distance. One's responsibility is alleviated. 

This is why I came. I missed the inauguration and, although I am aware of what is happening, I am absent from eye contact with a humiliated population in the midst of a terrible suppression.

I have always been the alien. I function best as the outsider. Here, in Mexico, my role is fulfilled.