Sunday, April 24, 2011

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.





Wednesday, April 6, 2011

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