We all are familiar (or should be), with Charlton Heston in the 1956, academy award winning movie, The Ten Commandments. Playing the part of Moses, Heston hails down locusts and turns water into blood as he blackmails the Romans into releasing the Hebrews from slavery. The plagues do the trick and the Hebrews are released from generations of bondage to wander in the desert.
These days the southern Mexico village of Bacalar seems to be living through its own plague of biblical proportion. Situated on the Lake of Seven Colors, Bacalar has returned to the quiet little village we moved to seven years ago. The streets and park are empty. There has been one reported case of plague number one, Covid-19. The campaign #quédateencasa or Stay Home along with the lack of tourists seems to be doing the trick. People are hurting but they are not dying in large numbers.
Plague number two is drought. We can’t even remember the last time it rained in southern Mexico. The jungle is brown and crunchy. Crops are nonexistent and the once lush, green jungle is quickly disappearing.
Plague number three, mosquitoes seems unlikely given plague number two. Drought doesn’t usually increase the mosquito population. Each year we anxiously wait for the rain but know that rain brings mosquitoes, dengue, zica, chikungunya and maleria. None of these diseases is fatal, but the plague of mosquitoes is annoying as hell.
I believe that plague number four is causing the mosquito infestation, the fires, Dealing With The Burn. Mosquitoes are driven from lowlands by burning jungle and relocated to Bacalar. We are dealing with itchy eyes, scratchy throat and painful lungs. People are screaming on Facebook but the authorities seem to have bigger fish to fry. Generations of clearing land with fire are not abandoned readily, regardless of the environmental impact.
It’s hard not to take it personally, although locals suffer far more than immigrants. We are hanging in there, not kidding ourselves that “this will be over soon”. Hopefully God is not mad at us, although sometimes it feels that way.
DOS TORTAS
the adventures of dos tortas 
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