Amid the cracked granite and boulder-strewn mountains across the California-Mexico border, two villages exist side-by-side. Aurelio Gonzalez, a headstrong but naive college graduate, arrives from Mexico City to fulfill his national teaching commitment.

In the early 1990s, international turmoil has turned the villages' peaceful coexistence into a cauldron of conflict. When Aurelio learns that he is but a "ghost" professor in Baja, California, he crosses the newly-tense border to find work in the U.S. and touches the heart of his boss, Kristin Kuhl.

But U.S. Border Patrol agent Raul Camacho has other ideas for Kristin's affections. Complicating Aurelio's troubled world, Mexican villager Marta Uribe tempts Aurelio with a more profitable, more sensuous path. The mysterious smuggler on the hill also has a special plan for Aurelio.

Through it all, the dreamy magic of the jungle lands of southern Mexico helps Aurelio find his way.