Who is Bill Milligan M.D?

WILLIAM MILLIGAN M.D was born and raised in Houston, Texas for the first eighteen years of his life. Following high school and a year of college, he joined the U.S. Navy and spent approximately four years as a radar-man onboard a Landing Ship Dock, (LSD), ironically during the Haight-Ashbury era. He spent much time traveling throughout the Caribbean and Europe, which opened his eyes to a vast new world as compared to Houston.

Following his discharge (honorable) from the Navy, he returned to Houston to begin College. While in college, he began training as a respiratory technician in San Joseph’s Hospital. This introduced him to a totally new world, one which would ultimately lead him into medicine, through a series of serendipitous events. While working in respiratory therapy, he developed an intense interest in other aspects of medicine, as he was exposed to residents and interns, in a teaching hospital. While working there, he entertained the idea of beginning pre-med courses at the University of Houston, which was shelved due to his limited GI bill resources. He then looked to foreign medical schools, which at that time the optimal was the Autonomous University of Guadalajara, Mexico. Due to limited resources, that was his choice, and four later he found himself doing an internship in Canada, followed by a Social Service of one year in Mexico, working with the indigent, and later a three year residency in Family Medicine, in Voorhees, New Jersey.

Following his residency, he entered into private practice, in Cherry Hill, N.J., where he spent the next twenty-five years in solo practice. He has always been interested in alternative medicine and proper diet, along with a holistic outlook, which he was able to utilize in his practice. During that time he entered into Qi Gong training, with a Master from China, in Philadelphia. After many years of training, he found Eden Energy Medicine, which took him on a completely different journey into the realms of our innate healing systems. For the past eight years this has been his passion. He is one of a few Medical Doctors in the world, who is certified in Energy Medicine. Bill edits an energy medicine website through the energy collaborative, which specifically works with physicians who are interested in energy medicine.

Bill now splits his time between Wilmington, North Carolina and Quintana Roo, Mexico. While in Wilmington his time is divided between playing congas and African drumming, being part of a steering committee for alternative medicine, photography, high end audio and recording world music. He shares his new life with his partner, Yndiana Montes, a noted journalist and videographer from Caracas, Venezuela. Both are now working on projects to help promote ecotourism, sustainable living, and alternative medicine in Mexico. They are now launching a new project, www.solocaribemexico.com, which is the sister website of .www.solocaribe.com. Even with all the troubled times in the world, Bill has a deep love for Mexico, its culture, phenomenal beauty and diversity and its people.

Who is Yndiana Montes?

YNDIANA MONTES (Indiana Montezuniga) has been with the tourism industry for more than twenty years as a contributor to the sustainable tourism industry development in the Caribbean. She has concentrated on showcasing the natural way of living and travelling among the Caribbean Islands. She has created her own web site, www.SoloCaribe.com, specifically for promoting the Caribbean way of living, along with contributing many articles and interviews with VIPs and the leaders of the tourism industry in the most respected and recognized tourism publications. Her publications have been found on three continents and in Spanish, Portuguese and English.

Yndiana has become one of the most well known and respected tourism specialists in the Caribbean. As a journalist she attends the most important conferences, promoted by the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) and the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO). Her work has been recognized with the following awards: “Huesped Distinguida” (Distinguished Guest) of Santo Domingo City (Dominican Republic, 1998), and the “Star Journalist” in the Annual Conference of Tourism in Aruba (CATA, 1999 and 2000). She was also given recognition for the support to the tourism development in Jamaica (1997), and the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA), along with the Caribbean Media Exchange (CMEx).

She was also been recognized for her contribution to the support of tourism industry in the Caribbean through her TV program “Caribbean World”, aired by Caribbean Traveling Network Dominicano and TeleAruba . Most recently she completed a 62 chapter series of the TV shows “A Toda Costa” and “Mundo Verde” in her native country Venezuela.

Almost two decades ago Yndiana was the founder editor of Curacao Today and Bonaire Today, the sister papers of Aruba Today, a full color daily newspaper dedicated to the tourism industry development in Aruba, where she lived for two years. She also aired two radio shows on Hit 94 and Channel 90 in Aruba, during the two years she lived and worked on this Dutch Island (1999-2001). She collaborates with her two sons, Raul and Cristobal, who have been instrumental in supporting her with both camera work and audiovisual production for promotional videos. Her son Raul lives in Venezuela and Cristobal in North Carolina.

Through out these years Yndiana have been working as an executive, and the official representative of tourism for the Island of Trinidad and Tobago (TIDCO and TDC). Before that she worked with Captain Don’s Habitat, Captain Don’s Habitat Bonaire, Holiday Inn Aruba and Holiday Inn Sun Spree of Montego Bay for Latin America. She has launched important Caribbean websites along with doing E-newsletters for Islands and products.

In 1974, she went from Caracas, Venezuela, to Santa Barbara, California to study and learn English. She finished her Senior Year (12th grade) in Laguna Blanca School) in 1975, and them went to Santa Barbara City College for another year.

While in the U.S. she learned about healthy foods, yoga, and exercise, which introduced her to a whole new life style. In 1978 she was given a scholarship to study Paper Engineering in Spain. After college she returned to Caracas, but traded in Engineering for Journalism at the Central University in Caracas. As a child she began working around and with journalism with her father, who had a well respected social and political radio show called Radioperiodico Orientacion.

Along with journalism she began working in printing and broadcasting media communications; radio, TV, newspapers and magazines. She always included a segment on Healthy Life (“Vida Sana con Indiana”), whether it is TV, radio or print.

AND NOW…

No matter what island she was working with, she was always seeking natural health food stores, yoga, and better ways to eat. While in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2004, she discovered the wonders of Ayurvedic medicine through an Ayurvedic doctor. Since then she has been following the Ayurvedic way, which has made dramatic changes in her health. After doing a seminar with Dr. Prerak Shah, she went to Gujarat, India (Ahmedabad), for Ayurvedic training, which included self-massage and shirodhara.

In 2007, Yndiana was the presenter of Ayurveda and Tourism at the Sustainable Development Tourism Conference held in Cayman Islands.

In 2009 she met her present partner, Bill Milligan, who is a retired family physician from New Jersey, who has been involved with holistic medicine for fifteen years, and Eden Energy Medicine for eight years. She now has discovered the beauty of our body’s natural energetic systems, which includes Chakras, Meridians, Auras, “strange flows”, along with others. She now is on another path, all part of taking care of oneself, through knowledge of Ancient systems, some more than five thousand years old.

Yndiana and Bill now split their time between the Mexican Caribbean and Wilmington, North Carolina and also promote alternative medicine (Integrative Healing Forum of Wilmington), and Ecotourism.

MERIDA'S HUARACHAS

MERIDA'S HUARACHAS Text and photos: Bill & Yndie

http://www.solocaribe.com/

The story takes us back to 1542 when "El Mozo" as he was nicknamed, Francisco de Montejo founded Merida, a Spanish colonial city that exudes tradition in its streets, plazas and avenues, which belies its cosmopolitan reality. Its reputation of peace and serenity has led many Mexicans to move there, looking for the security long lost in the major cities. Not only Mexicans but also Europeans and Americans seeking something more than sun, sea and sand, are beginning to gravitate to this enchanted city, captivated by its nightlife, theater, cinema, street performers, restaurants, and people watching. Being a university town, keeps a younger spirit, intermixed with locals, expatriates, businessmen and outlying Indians dressed in their traditional garb, selling their wares on the streets and plazas. Merida is also well known for its textiles, leather and handicrafts, which are very reasonably priced, due to it's being off the tourist route. This is an old, well kept, clean and lovely city, which has something for everyone, and deserves at least a three day stay, especially on a Sunday, to get to know it better.

That's why, every year possible, Bill Milligan M.D. returns to this city with his huaraches, seeking the perfect shine, only to be found in the main plaza, with its variety of shoe shine boys and men. His latest pair of huaraches was bought on his previous trip in February of this year, while attending Merida's five day carnival. Since that time he hasn't had a shine. He loves his huaraches and they have become his summer and spring favorites, as he says, their simplicity, soft leather and comfort, become a natural extension of his feet, whether walking short or long distances, around the house or outside working in the yard. The soles are made of old, thick tire treads, which last forever, and the uppers, of soft, pliable leather, that molds to the foot and allows the environment to flow through, cooling and massaging the foot. Were it not for the cold weather, he would live in them year around.

At times he sounds like a tour guide for Merida, obviously in love with this city, and enjoying his return to "center city", reminding him of previously living in Philadelphia, and now living in downtown Wilmington, North Carolina. His previous carnival trip here, he describes as civilized and both adult and family oriented, which he viewed from the balcony of his hotel, overlooking the carnival route, while enjoying a glass of vino. He was "hooked" on Merida after his last trip, thinking of what it would be like to own a center city, Spanish courtyard type of house, perhaps converting it to a wine bar with local artists decorating the massive interior courtyard walls with their indigenous and more sophisticated pieces of art. He's a dreamer, but a realist, and has seen many previous dreams come to fruition with time.

The culinary delights of this city are impressive, with regional Mayan dishes predominating, but tucked away are special jewels, of which our favorite was Amaro, serving a combination of regional and vegetarian dishes in a large courtyard, under a huge hundred year old tree, while listening to a guitarist sing beautiful Cuban ballads. This became our respite from the outside and sometimes noisy city. Once you walk through the ancient wooden doors and take that first sip of vino, you are transported to another time, limited only by your imagination. Restaurant Amaro, was an eighteenth century mansion, where Andres Quintana Roo was born, a journalist, poet and dreamer, and where his spirit still lingers in that courtyard. He became an Ambassador and congressman with a devout social sensitivity, which eventually led to the southern part of the Yucatan, being named after him.

Two vinos later we exited those ancient walls and headed for the main plaza, with one thing in mind, ShoeShine, shoeshine and shoeshine. We weren't disappointed, as the plaza was full of people, activity, and shoeshiners. Now came the hard part, which one could take on the task of lovingly clean, rehydrate and shine my most coveted pair of shoes. Finding the right person requires the analytical mind to step aside and permit the right brain to intuit the correct path, which occurred within minutes of entering the plaza. Even haggling over the price was avoided, as he knew he would get the "gringo fee", but it was OK. Twenty pesos seemed a fair price, the equivalent of one dollar and sixty cents, and it was settled.

As he sat back in the chair on that beautiful, sunny day, in that lovely tree lined plaza, I knew everything would be fine. Dialogue was minimal, he knew he had a task in front of him, and here sat a foreigner with a Latina, which was probably a bit discombobulating for him, but it would all be over in a matter of fifteen or twenty minutes and he would be putting a twenty peso bill in his pocket. As he began cleaning one shoe, it was evident that he was serious about his work, rarely looking up, even when hit with mundane questioning.

Stepping down off the chair, it was obviously one of the best shoe shines he had ever had in Mexico. That sense of guilt about not taking care of my huaraches was now gone, and he felt relief, at least for the present, before he started putting them through the everyday grind again. Now it was time to enjoy the delights of the plaza and its people.

All over the plaza, activity was buzzing, from the vendors with their small stands, selling handmade jewelry, purses and clothing, to the taco stands with their mixture of aromas, beckoning one to step closer for further gustatory inspection. All ages, sizes, shapes, and colors were represented, many with traditional Indian garb from their respective villages, each unique in its own way. Classical music could be heard coming from a remote area of the square, which was the Friday afternoon special, presented by the local orchestra. Looking across the square, one could see them, all in starched uniforms, seated underneath one of the large arches of a government building. Another small group, with men in all white garb and women in beautifully embroidery dresses were wandering around the plaza, playing folkloric music and dancing from Oaxaca. This was a special group, specially trained in regional music and dance, which came from Mexico City as a cultural exchange program with Merida. After strolling through the plaza, we headed for the sorbet café, located outside and underneath one of the grand arches, where we indulged in a mango sorbet and double espresso.

The main plaza in Merida, built by the Spaniards, houses a magnificent Cathedral, the oldest in Latin America, along with an imposing two story governmental building, the Palacio municipal, which occupies one complete side of the plaza. Lovers chairs are sprinkled around the interior of the plaza, where young and old alike, sit facing each other but separated physically by a concrete arm, which insures minimal touch, in case the chaperones attention has been diverted. This is a place for one to go sit, relax, walk; people watch or play, if of the appropriate age. There is a civility here, which is accepted by all, and makes this a very special place for people to congregate. Merida has all the trappings of a bustling little city, whether it be a new and imposing Theatre, an old and prestigious University in downtown, an up and coming art district, impressive museums, numerous café and espresso bars, restaurants of all varieties, art galleries, major department stores (Sears, Liverpool, Homedepot,etc.), and a fine cigar and wine bar. It has a bit of everything for everyone and surely deserves a stay, making sure a Sunday is included, as streets are closed, traffic diverted, and pedestrians and bicycle riders take to the streets. And when tired of the urban life, take to the highways, as the surrounding terrain extending from Merida outwards for a one to two hour journey, is loaded with interesting towns and ruins, many still undiscovered, and lovely people who complete this archaic journey back to pre-Columbian times.

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Bill & Yndie thank SEFOTUR for their support on this trip. Also Maison Lafitte and Hotel Intercontinental Presidente for their stay; as well as Turistransmerida for their transportation from Merida to Chichen Itza.

Amaro Restaurant: Calle 69 by 60 and 62. Centro Histórico, Merida.