The Little Gringo who Could

Oaxacañian children waving and shouting "hola amigo" or, from those with a weight of culture and learnedness behind them, "waz up man" will tell the tale of the little gringo who could when they are silvered and bent with arthritis. They will tell of a gringo who for four days danced up one side of their mountains, only to fall down the other. They will tell how he sweated through the searing mid-day heat of their valleys and battled through the oppresion of the humid, black skied mountains, disappearing into the clouds only to reappear with a sea of sweat and condensation in his beard. They will tell how the gringo put away the comforts of home: sleeping among the chickens and the turkeys, camping in fields of sugar cane, curled between the roots of trees.

Upon the dawning of the fifth day the little gringo had 140 km to reach his goal, a bed in Oaxaca. "This is not so very far " said the gringo to himself. Then the gringo felt the wind in his face, "ah that will make it tricky". Then the gringo saw that there were only 10 hours of daylight in which to make his way "this will make it hard". Then the gringo consulted his map and saw the mass of brown and gray through which his mountain road would run "this cannot be done". But then the little gringo thought "if you were of this country, would you be a Mexican or a Mexican't?", he was not sure but he knew that he would have the answer by the end of the day. And so the little gringo clipped into his pedals and headed on his way. All morning he turned his cranks, fighting the hills, bouncing to start with, punching the pedals when he grew tired. The road wound so much that as often as the wind was in his face it was at his back and after four hours he had covered half his distance, he would make it! Just as he started to believe this his back wheel dragged, all the air having been leaked from a puncture. Then a bolt on his front rack sheared. However the little gringo did not lose faith: he changed his tyre, he secured his rack with twists of wire and he climbed bck into his saddle. He had lost an hour and still needed to stop for food. However among the mountains there was no food: the Tienda's were baire, having been stripped over christmas. And as the little gringo lost energy so his pace slowed. But as despare was beginning to dawn on him he encountered a little Tienda that had bannanas for sale, "perfect" thought the little gringo. He reached into his pocket but all he had was a $500 note and the owner of the tienda said to the little gringo "no hay, cambio". The little gringo was crest fallen and seeing this the owner of the tienda, a kindly old woman, took pity on the little gringo and gave the bannanas to him. Re-energised the little gringo peddaled harder than ever and with an hour till the sun set he had merely ten km's to cycle. After half this time, the little gringo stood on a rise looking down into the city of Oaxaca, he had made it, he was the little gringo who could! However the little gringo who could, could not, the next day, walk. That is ok, he made good friends with his bed and the sofa.