grand adventures

The 14th of may turned out to be a quite humbling, magnificent, adventurous day. The morning started as the last few had, with a 15 minute writing assignment at breakfast, but today, instead of trecking off to the city, we hopped on the van with Harvey's business class to go to Chichen Itza. It was about a two hour ride to the magnificent Maya city. Although it was crawling with tourists and you had to go through turnstyles to get in, the first view of the mighty pyramid was really breathtaking. Amongst the fanny-packers and merchants yelling that their wares were "almost free" or "only one Mayan dollar" (the equivalent to twenty US dollars, we walked on to the expansive ball court to start out drawing. Just being in that space was so humbling because ball game played there involved hitting a twelve-pound rubber ball though a hoop about 20-25 feet up using only your hips, wrists, and elbows. The Mayans were and are obviously incredible people. This became most obvious we we drew the main pyramid in the center of the site. I was really glad we were there to draw the structures because it made us really appreciate all the beautiful architecture that went into building it as well as the skill and determination of the Mayan people. After we finished there, Christina and I walked across the lawn and talked about the tourists and then somehow ended up in what can only be described as the breeding grounds of the tourist in the "Mayaland" hotel. One of the workers there asked for our tickets, but since Brent had kept them, we got into a bit of a confusing conversation. The we noticed about two hundred butterflies (mariposas) congregating at this one spot, so we stopped to take a picture.

When we walked out onto the main site, we bought some cute hand-embroidered handkerchiefs for which to wipe our sweaty brows, only to discover that the dust that had been flying around had nicely collected on our faces. After shopping on the road with the many vendors, we caught up with the goof troop all wearing their idiosyncratic hats. I learned later that Brent chased a lizard while we sat around drawing. He has pictures..

Next we went to a restaurant in Piste for lunch. I got panuchos (again) and there were muy delicioso (as usual).

Next we took a short drive to Cenote Ik-Kil (called the "Sacred Blue Cenote") to swim. It was probably the most beautiful place I have ever swum. For only 35 pesos a piece we swam in crystal blue water among little black catfish (and several tourists in ridiculous bathing suits). Words and pictures can't really describe how beautiful the cave and water were with the roots of several trees hanging down to sip the water below.




group photo: (clay is really good at cheerleader pose)

Once we dried off and changed clothes, we got back on the road to see the carcel (prison) to see the hammocks the prisoners make. In Mexico, the government pays for the actual jail and guards, but the prisoner's families have to provide their food, which is easy for the wealthier prisoners, but those whose families cannot afford to bring them food much have to do things like sell hammocks to make up the difference. They were really well made, but no one bought one because they were kind of expensive.

Then things got a little interesting...

On our attempt to get back to Merida, Harvey took a wrong turn somewhere and we ended up in the backroads and very rural Yucatecan towns. While it took about an hour to find our way back to the main highway back to Merida, we got to see a side of Mexico we probably would not have seen any other way. The tiny huts and towns were so quiet and peaceful and the people were so nice (when we stopped to ask for directions), it gave me another nice view into Mexican life. When we finally found the right road, we stopped to get something to drink at a local convenience store, where Harvey decided that after the long adventure on the extremely bumpy roads he should make us try SPONCH, which is probably as tasty as it sounds (although I refused to try it). It consists of marshmallow covered in coconut, with jelly, all on a cookie.



When we got back to Merida a few of us decided to go to the panaderia (my fav) and I got something that I think is the equivalent of communion wafers. Harvey bought a bunch of tamales, and Clay and Beth and I got stuck talking to this woman who wore a lot of lipstick and she seems a little crazy because she insisted that the three of us were brother and sisters. But that may just be my ignorance of Spanish tripping me up again.
Tomorrow we are off to Progresso to explore the beach and expand our drawing and sociocultural skills all the more.

Buenos Noches, Amigos,

Alli B.