Happy Easter everybody!

Since I will be missing the U.S. version of Easter, I expect you all to save some egg painting and creme chocolate eggs for me! :)
Seems like they don't any of that Easter basket and Easter bunny stuff here, unfortunately. Sounds like everyone just goes to church and spends time with their families. Also, almost everyone is off work for Holy Week and the week after, so a lot of people go on vacations and spend a lot of time at the beach. So, I have been avoiding the beach because of the massive crowds! All the more time to get some real work done, right? Hmm...

For Good Friday, our group went to a Passion Play/Stations of the Cross in a little town, Acanceh, about 30 minutes outside of Merida. The program is done by local people, mostly for local people (very few non-Mexican tourists), is done entirely outside, and the crowd literally follows the re-enactment around the village. It was really a unique experience. The lack of an adequate sound system and the 109 degree F heat made it a bit trying after a couple hours, but it was definitely worth seeing.
Since we couldn't really hear what the actors were saying, I just guessed what was happening.

I think this was the Sanhedrin trial of Jesus. I can't even imagine how uncomfortable all those people dressed up as the townspeople were, especially wearing those cloths on their heads. Yikes!

 Jesus with Pontius Pilate.

Jesus with the guards bringing on Barbarus. Notice everyone with their umbrellas for protection from the sun!

Jesus carrying the cross through the town.

Jesus falls the first time.

Jesus meets the daughters of Jerusalem.

Jesus and the two thieves on crosses. It was an odd situation because right behind the crosses are the ruins of a Mayan temple. A unique juxtaposition of cultures.

It was impressive to see how this little town with not a whole lot of resources arranged and performed this detailed and lengthy Passion Play.

Beaches!

Of course, we also spent some time on the beautiful beaches in Tulum. They were pretty crowded but it was still really nice :)

Snorkeling in a Cenote- "Dos Ojos"

Our second day in Tulum, we went snorkeling in an underwater cave/cenote. I'd have to say it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Much of the time we were in the dark and using flashlights. The underwater cave formations were so unique. (If you want to read a bit about how awesome this cenote is, I'm always a fan of wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sistema_Dos_Ojos)
One of the girls had an underwater camera so we got a couple pictures of us snorkeling. Unfortunately, none of the pictures of the underwater cave formations turned out because of the lighting :(
The group in the cave!

< Me with my snorkeling gear on in the cave!

Spring Break!

For Spring Break a couple weeks ago, a group of us went to Tulum which is an easy 4 hour bus ride from Merida.

The town itself is fairly small, at least compared to Merida, but there are lots of small restaurants, shops and a couple of excellent ice cream places!
We stayed in a hostel which was pretty nice for a hostel. Our only issues were that room didn't have a/c and the bathroom was sort of gross  but it was a good deal for a total of about 50 U.S. dollars for 3 nights.




The group at the hostel with our friend from Argentina

<Kaitlan and I at the hostel

Ek Balam

On the way back from Holbox on our refrigerator bus (our driver liked air conditioning a bit too much) we stopped at the ruins at Ek Balam. After grumbling about having to pay the entrance fee- since all ruins are free to Mexican citizens- we spent about an hour exploring the site. Most of the site was really well-preserved which made it especially interesting.

Holbox

A few weeks ago, I spent the weekend in Holbox (on the northeast part of the peninsula) with some friends.

We signed up for a tour, but like many things in Mexico, we didn't know what to expect or really any details at all. We just knew that a bus would pick us up at midnight and we would get there at about 6am. After hours of not much sleep, we arrived at a port town where we took a boat to a tiny island (Isla Pajaros) which also serves a wildlife reserve for birds that migrate from Canada and the U.S. for the winter. In my 7am haze, I saw all kinds of unique birds, which was pretty neat.



A couple pictures from Isla Pajaros:

We made another stop at an "ojo de agua" which is a small body of fresh water and then went on to Holbox. We arrived at the hotel at about 10am. To be straightforward (as I usually am), for those family members who have heard the story of the notorious "gross-out inn" that my parents, mom's parents and aunts stayed at when they went on a trip years ago, this hotel topped that. I went into the room that I shared with my friend Allison, put my stuff down on the bed, and noticed that the pillowcase had a weird stain on it....then that it had hair all over it! Pulled back the top sheet, and found sand. Yup, clearly these sheets were not clean. So, I took the pillowcase off and used an extra shirt I had brought as a pillowcase, and slept on the spare blankets in the room. (Okay, there were also a few panicked texts to my mother between this realization and solution.)
Our group then headed over to the beach, which was really nice. We found an almost-empty area on the clean white sand and spread out our towels. Beautiful day and we didn't even have to be bothered by with a ridiculous amount of people trying to sell us things as is the case at the beach in Progreso.
The town itself is, not surprisingly, very small. Besides some restaurants, hotels, boutiques and a main square, there's some residences and not much else. So you definitely feel like you're cut off from the rest of the world a bit.

Hace Calor!!! (Better get used to hearing this one from me! It means "it's hot!")

Well, it looks like I have some updating to do on here! I have finally found some air conditioning (Starbucks!) which should help me accomplish something! Yesterday, it was over 100 degrees Fahrenheit and with the combination of that and the very bad cold I've had for the past couple of days (who gets a cold in 100 degree heat?!) all I could do from 1-5pm was to lay in my room- shades closed, lights off, fan on- and sleep, or rather, try to. So, today, I am spending as much time as possible in air conditioning!
I think some version of the Statue of Liberty inscription would be appropriately suited on the front door of Starbucks..."Give me your tired, overheated, caffeine addicted..." Something like that.


Anyway, then I'll head over to the movie theater later with a couple friends, anything to avoid the unbearably hot hours of 1-5pm! Oh well, honestly, I would much prefer this heat to the midwest winters. Whenever I tell people here that I'm from the northern part of the United States, I often get a very serious response of "It's freezing there isn't it?" and when I respond that there is actually snow there now people often shake their heads and say something along the lines of "how terrible!" haha :)

Protest near Agua Azul

During the long bus ride back to Merida, we were stopped behind a long line of sitting cars just outside of Agua Azul. Our driver got out and asked a few people what was going on. Turns out there was a political demonstration going on and the streets were blocked off. Outside of the bus, we could hear yelling from a ways away. Of course, we all wanted to go watch but our director said if foreigners showed up to a protest like this, it would likely mean immediate deportation. Bummer. 

< All of the cars lined up behind us.

We were able to see a little bit of what was going on after traffic started moving again. As we passed through the village where the protest was going on, we looked up to see hundreds of people on a hill about 50 feet above us- right fist in the air, left at their waist, most wearing red bandannas around their necks with huge banners, just standing silently. The contrast between them and the police on the other side of the road was pretty stark. The police looked almost silly in their uniforms and bullet-proof vests, not to mention carrying huge guns, next to the people in their sandals and worn-out jeans. 

I know a little about the Chiapas situation and the Zapatista movement but I'm not going to pretend to have a thorough understanding of the situation. I do know that the government has been continually accused (quite fairly, from my perspective) of mistreating the indigenous Mexicans for over a century. 

Wish I knew more about exactly what happened there, but at least we got to see a bit of it.

Chiapas trip- San Cristobal

San Cristobal is this adorable town in the mountains. Absolutely beautiful! And again, the Europeans. It really does feel more like a town in Europe than in Mexico. Unfortunately, while we were there, it was also freezing. Well, not freezing by Wisconsin standards by any means, but when you're used to 100 degrees and sunny every day, 50 degrees and rainy feels like Antarctica.

San Cristobal:

< Me in my new (handmade!) Chiapas sweatshirt! Can you tell I'm  freezing??

The first night here I found a vegetarian restaurant and had some delicious eggplant! There were actually quite a few restaurants with vegetarian food which was great! I suppose I have the European tourists to thank for that one :)

The first day in San Cristobal, we went to these villages in the mountains about 30 minutes away from the town. In the first village, everyone was out and walking around for Carnaval weekend. Our program director asked us not to take any pictures here because many of the people have negative associations with having their picture taken. So unfortunately, I can't show you any pictures of the clothing! It was really unique. All of the women wear long furry skirts made of sheepskin and dyed black, and on top a very detailed and colorful short sleeve blouse from a silk-like material. The men wore long sheepskin vests, again dyed black, over their regular clothing. However, the most memorable part of our trip to this village was walking through the local church. Absolutely the strangest religious situation I have ever been in. When we entered, the air was thick with burning incense, the room was lit by more candles than I have ever seen in one place at once, people were kneeling on the ground in front of candles, chanting prayers in Maya, women were burning some kind of leaves in front of statues, the ground was covered with green pine needles to represent everlasting life. Now here's what surprised me: this is a Catholic church. Lined up along both walls are saint statues...dressed in local clothing. Basically the people have taken Catholicism and made it their own. They all practice the sacrament of baptism but that's where they stop. Then local spirituality is mixed in with Catholicism which results in a pretty unique place of worship.

In the second village, we were able to take pictures but were told to be respectful and discreet about it. So I just walked around the village center, holding my camera at my side and snapping pictures "discreetly." So these really aren't the best quality pictures, but I thought I should definitely attempt to snap a few just because the way the people dress was again really unique.

            

<Me in the village. The pictures really don't do any justice- it was beautiful with the mountains all around!

Chiapas trip- Agua Azul and Misol-Ha

Ah, yes, that air-conditioned hotel room and warm shower were excellent. But despite my wanting to sit in the air-conditioning and take hot showers all day, I left with the group for Misol-Ha which turned out to be a beautiful waterfall!

We were able to walk behind the waterfall which was awesome (you can sort of see the people walking behind the waterfall on the left in this picture).


< From behind the waterfall :)
< Me in front of the waterfall!
< The whole group!

After Misol-Ha, we went to Agua Azul which means "blue water" in Spanish, and it was true to it's name! Although I really think the name ought to be changed to "blue water and Europeans." They were everywhere! French, German, British, Spanish... I was a bit confused what country I was in for a while.

< The group at Agua Azul.
And, look, big surprise- a European jumped in our picture! See the man on the far left? Yup, we couldn't get away from those Europeans no matter what we did.



So, like true tourists, we swam in the water at this gorgeous place. I was pretty excited because I swung into the water from a rope tied to a tree!!
Okay, it was more like as soon as my feet weren't on solid ground I screamed and fell into the water. So I went about a foot. But still. :)

< There I am, living life on the edge! Haha.











It was all around an excellent water-filled day. Sort of like a better version of the Wisconsin Dells without the large white men with beer bellies. :)

Chiapas trip! Palenque

Well, looks like I've been slacking on staying up to date on here! So last Thursday-Tuesday my group went on a trip to the state of Chiapas. And let's be honest- no one knows where that is. So here's a map:

For this trip, I honestly just heard air-conditioned hotels and that was enough to get me out of bed at 3:30am and to stumble onto a bus with my gringo buddies. After some half-sleep and hours of "If you're going to San Francisco" on repeat, I woke up to pretty green hills! Merida is great, but there really isn't much for scenery. 

First we went to Mayan ruins in the city of Palenque. Absolutely beautiful! 

< The view from the top of one of the structures.












Me on one of the structures (peace!). Love all the trees and vegetation!!





During the whole time we were there, local (adorable) children about 7 or 8 years old were trying to sell us "signos"- our Mayan astrological sign. So of course I bought one (they cost the equivalent of about 1 dollar). I never know if buying from children helps or exacerbates the situation....

< Kaitlan and I- in the shade!!- wearing our signos :) 

Pollution!

Well, it turns out that I am quite sensitive to air pollution! And not so conveniently, Merida has a bit more pollution than I am used to. I was totally fine for the first month but now I've had an annoying cough for the past week which is especially bad when I am in the city center. Some of these old buses are just gross with the amount of toxic air they create. Also, I don't think the trash in the street helps at all. Merida has such a strange relationship with the environment. When buying clothes and stuff here, quite a few times the bags I got have been biogdegradable which I rarely see in the U.S. unless I´m at one of my favorite greenie stores. It´s the same thing for a lot of snack food wrappers here- "will biodegrade within 3 years." But then you go for a walk in flip flops, come back with your feet nearly black, covered in who knows what.
Oh Mexico...

Public Transportation

Ever since I arrived in this country, I knew I was going to have to post about the bus system. Let's be honest- it drives me crazy. However, I can't make any comparisons to the U.S. system because...well...(another honesty moment!) I have never taken a bus in the U.S. Yes, quite awful, but in my defense, the bus systems don't reach to either of my parents houses and at school, it isn't convenient (not to mention I would be significantly more uncomfortable taking a bus by myself in Davenport than I would here in Merida). But anyway, this whole bus thing, and this whole lack of car thing has been quite the experience.
Admittedly, there are pros to the bus system. It is pretty convenient once you know where the buses pass by to just go to the corner and stick your hand out when one is close. The difficult thing is that you don't know when the bus will come! Apparently, there are bus schedules but I haven't heard of a single person using them and have only heard that they are right "some of the time."
Well, where to start. My first memorable experience with the bus system was after my second class at the University Marista. The university is a little ways away from me so it is, by far, the trip that has caused the most bus confusion for me. I was told to go wait at the bus stop at the school and a bus would go by. One hour later, no buses. Finally, some of my American friends got out of class and we called our director who came and got us. Turns out, no one waits at the bus stop for buses, of course. :)
So the first time I got lost on a bus was again after a Marista class. I wasn't sure what bus to take and after a few had passed by, I decided I had to get on the next one that came, which is exactly what I did. Within a couple minutes, there were only a few people on the bus. Here I am, on a random bus in Mexico, no idea where I am or where this bus is going, nothing to do but laugh at this crazy situation and wait! Finally the bus driver asked where I'm trying to go and I listed 3 major landmarks in Spanglish, to which he knew the third and said we would go there. Thank God. haha
Welllll, my weirdest experience getting somewhat lost on a bus happened Tuesday evening. I got on a bus that had "Mega Balcones"written on the window, which is where I always get off the bus. It had a bunch of other things written on the window but I never pay attention to those anyway because I don't know where anything is in this city. So after a few minutes on the bus, I realized this thing is not going in the right direction. After a few more minutes, we are headed down a barely lit back road that I have definitely never been on. Great, this looks legitimate. So we end up in this little neighborhood that looks like Tinum but more broken down and I'm crossing my fingers the bus hurries out of here. Then we drive around to more random places that I have never seen. The bus is getting really full at this point. The bus driver keeps picking up more people, and soon every seat is full and the aisle is packed with people standing. By the time I actually started to recognize where we are, I was thinking no way am I going to get off of this bus. But no way was I going to stay on this crazy thing either! So when I had to get off, I literally had to push people to get to the door, good thing I'm not claustrophobic, yikes. Definitely going to try to avoid the buses that go to weird little towns at night.
Yes, there is more. I use the buses every day so all kinds of unique things happen. Yesterday I missed the shuttle to the Marista so I had to take a city bus there. Or rather, try to. A bus pulls up, I ask the driver if it's going to Marista, he says yes, so I get on. One hour later, I have missed half my class and the bus still hasn't gone to Marista. I was about ready to use some choice Spanish words with that driver, but I just got off in the city center and took a bus home.
Sometimes the bus system is very convenient but it definitely keeps life interesting...

Tinum activities

So while we were in Tinum, we did a lot of "hands-on" learning experiences. Corn has always been a big part of the Mayan people's lives- historically and today. Like the Señor I stayed with said, "Even when there is nothing else, there is corn." So naturally, we went to a milpa (cornfield) to learn about planting and harvesting corn. Today, other vegetables are planted along with the corn.

Our planting demonstration from a local farmer, Tsotsi. You use the large stick to make a small hole and then toss about 5 seeds into the hole and cover it up. Of course, he did this in a fast and fluid motion, but when any of us students tried, it was anything but successful.

We also learned about removing corn kernels from the cob to use as seeds. 
Us students awkwardly and slowly giving this a shot. (I'm in the purple)




After we learned about planting corn and other vegetables, we went into the field to learn about "harvesting." This consists of carrying a huge basket around your head and throwing in husks of corn. For the vegetables that grow on the ground, you pick them up with this large knife-like thing. 

I decided to give this a try. 
Me trying to get the vegetable thing off of the knife!



















Throwing it over my head into the basket- I actually made it.


























Later we went to an even more rural village called Lop Shul to learn about basket making. All 16 of us students entered a thatched-roof home and learned to remove the outer coating of vines to prepare them for making baskets. We watched as a few local people started weaving baskets in front of us, very cool.

Preparing the vines

Making the baskets. The woman on the left told us her mother taught her to make baskets when she was just 7 years old. 




















In Lop Shul, we took a walk to see how charcoal is made here. I was not particularly excited about the process- it is made by cutting down lots of trees:

(The red is the natural color of the sap)

Then the trees are stacked like this and burned...

to get this. 
Really not a big fan of chopping down trees and burning them to make another not particularly environmentally friendly product. Although in comparison to my lifestyle (I say from my cushy SUV) maybe it's minimal. They said the trees grow back quickly but...yikes..talk about environmental degradation. 

On a happier note we did see some banana trees which were pretty cool :)








All around, the trip was a great learning experience :)