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 :)

Tinum- staying with a Mayan family

This past weekend, our group stayed in a rural village about two hours outside of Merida called Tinum. We didn't know what the conditions would be like or what we were getting ourselves into, and I was, quite frankly, terrified. Seriously- once we were within twenty minutes of the village, I was freaking out. Apparently it was noticeable because my friends were laughing at my terrified expression. What if there was no running water? What if everything was dirty and smelly and GROSS? Since I was 12 years old, I don't think I have gone 24 hours without showering. I honestly can't think of a single instance. And I've never been camping. This was going to be a  disaster.


Okay, like everything else, it obviously wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. All of the families have running water (thank God). After being led to our host family's house, my friend Kaitlan and I entered a clean, tiled room with a refrigerator, a TV, a stereo, shelves with decorations and lots of statues and pictures of saints, Jesus and Mary. Not bad. We were then being welcomed (and air-kissed, like always) by a short, smiling Mayan woman, Doña Ofelia. The entry area became our room for the weekend which was fine by us because it was definitely the nicest part of the house.

From the entry area, you would descend a few stairs into a kitchen/dining room with a cement floor and walls made of screen. The bathroom was in a small room in this area. There was a shower but we actually ended up not using it because the bathroom was just a little bit too...."rustic" I suppose. Looking out the screen into the back yard, they had so many caged birds- chickens, turkeys, and...then I saw it- a peacock!! Being the culturally competent person I am, "Peacock" by Katy Perry immediately started playing in my head. When we asked why they have a peacock, the answer was extremely confusing, so we really don't know, but it was pretty cool. I would have taken pictures, but I wasn't sure if they would find that rude and I didn't want to scare the animals or anything.
The family was really nice. There was the mother, Doña Ofelia, and her husband (in their 60s) and their daughter (I don't know the names). The Señor currently works as a construction worker. He used to be a farmer but it didn't pay enough. However, he still has a "milpa" (cornfield) and the family grows a lot of their own food. The daughter was in her upper 20s but had an "infection in her throat" (as her parents called it) and isn't able to talk so she stays with her parents.They had 3 other older children who went to the technology college in Merida and now live in Merida and Cancun. (Clearly, they really aren't as cut off from the rest of the world as we thought.) They all spoke Mayan (in addition to Spanish) and the parents spoke it to each other constantly, as it's their first language. They only had one cat but dogs passed through the house on a regular basis. We have seen quite a few dogs living on the streets here, mostly in the smaller towns but some in certain parts of Merida too. Oh, and the food was amazing. Tortas, vegetable soups, rice, always tortillas, yyyuuummm. 

My friend Kaitlan and I with our host family in front of their house.












We slept in hammocks for the weekend which was a little bit difficult. Hammocks are comfortable for sitting around in, but for sleeping all night....no, not my favorite. 

My friend Kaitlan and I in our hammocks! 

Acanceh y Mayapan!

Last weekend, we went on a trip to see Mayan ruins in the towns of Acanceh and Mayapan. Never having been much for history or historical sites, I wasn't sure if I would particularly enjoy it. But let me just say, this is no page from a history textbook.

Acanceh was the smaller of the two sites. The pyramids(far left) are located in the town center and literally in the backyards of some residents.

Me on the pyramid with the still-intact (literally over 2,000 years old) carvings.
One of the odd things about the site at Acanceh is that many of the residents don't realize the historical/cultural value of the pyramids and many have taken stones  from the pyramid to build their fenses and outdoor steps.

Mayapan consists of the mostly-intact ruins of a Mayan city- the picture on the left is only about a third of the whole town.
(I'm the person in the white next to my friend Allison wearing black)

My friend Allison and I on one of the smaller pyramids.

Some friends and I on one of the structures at Mayapan.








Definitely more interesting to learn about Mayan civilization while climbing on the ruins of a Mayan city!

Classes

Yes, I do actually go to school here. I am taking 4 classes at the Central College house with other Americans (Mexican History and Civilization, Latin American literature, Understanding Contemporary Mexico and a service   learning class) and one class at the local university, Marista (International Marketing).

Predictably, I don't exactly "blend in", per se, at Marista. Besides being very white and clearly American and having to ask "repite por favor?" (repeat, please) on a regular basis, I learned the hard way that people at Marista dress for class a little bit differently than those at Ambrose ;) My jeans and flip flops make me look like a serious bum compared to the other girls in my class who wear the highest, most elaborate heels (sometimes I literally just stare at their feet and wonder...how do you walk?) and dress up for class. Not to mention I think I may have been the only person on the whole campus carrying a backpack! haha. Fortunately, I fixed that one by day 2 and got a fair-trade bag in Progreso.

<First day of school with mi amiga Rachel!

Progreso!

There is an excellent beach town a 30 minute bus ride away from Mérida- 15 pesos (or about $1.20) each way. Needless to say, this might become a frequent afternoon pastime...

On the beach with mi amiga Kaitlan!

Unfortunately, the woman I was staying with passed away in the hospital with her family on Saturday night. My program director, another student and I went to the memorial mass on Monday evening. 

I am currently staying in the Central College house with other students and will move in with another family on Sunday afternoon.

Living in Merida and Yucatecan politics

On Sunday night, I moved in to my host person's house. I am staying with a 80-something year old woman  who has been very welcoming and always reminds me that "es su casa"- it's your house. There is a woman who cooks and cleans for her who lives here also, and another woman who comes and helps less frequently. It's definitely an older house, but clean.
Members of her large family come to visit pretty frequently. I have never met people so interested, passionate and vocal about politics. Whenever her family is here, there is always a very heated political debate. They hardly waste time greeting each other before jumping into debate, always mentioning "la gobernadora ignorante"- the ignorant governor. They debate (always very animated, as is everyone here) for an hour or so, then kiss each other on the cheek and go on their way. The first night I stayed with her, I had Yucatecan Politics 101 and received my first lecture from my host woman's son (maybe 50 or so years old), who is a political journalist here.  "I am embarrassed to tell you how corrupt the government is here" he told me, even briefly switching to English to emphasize that he is "ashamed" of the corruption. "More corrupt that you can even imagine" he said. After more discussion, I offered that, if nothing else, the peninsula is the safest place in the whole country, to which he agreed but claims this is only because we are nearly surrounded by water. Drugs can't be conveniently trafficked out of the Yucatan like they can out of border cities like Ciudad Juarez, nor would it be convenient for drug cartels to locate here because they are so far from their main market, the United States. This is a safe area by geographic "suerte" (luck). (This is a controversial viewpoint and many feel that the police here are significantly less corrupt and tolerant of crime than in the rest of the country) Like everyone else, he emphasizes that we need to close the cartels' routes into the U.S. because business from the U.S. is what makes this trade so lucrative.
It has been interesting and it's clear I need to start reading the local newspaper...!

Juanes!

My most successful "being in the right place at the right time" definitely happened this weekend. My absolute favorite Hispanic singer-songwriter (a preference shared by much of Latin America), Juanes, was the leading musical act at the FREE Fiesta de la Ciudad celebration in Merida. So of course I dragged a few American friends along to the outdoor concert in the street to sing along with 70,000 other Yucatecans.

It's hard to see but there must have been at least a thousand balloons they released as Juanes came on stage.

We were pretty far from the stage but there were big screens so we watched from those.