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...