Hopefully you've conquered that cold you spoke of last time. It's one of those seldom spoken of fringe benefits of teaching that one gets a front row seat for all the latest bugs and viruses (or is it virii ? ) out there with the rest of the vox populi. Think how robust your immune system has become.
Some answers to things you asked about last time. This is now third year coming down here. Each time it has grown to a longer stay. Friends of ours in Owen Sound asked us to come down and stay in a small guest house (see left) they added on to the back end of a property they bought and renovated in the old central part of Merida. Both the main and guest houses (Casa and casita ) are modestly sized but well laid out and equipped. There's even a washer and dryer set in the casita. The dryer is yet to be utilized since the warm dry air and steady winds of most days can take care of a load of laundry in less time if you take a few moments to string up a temporary clothesline. One small but welcome side-effect of the cement and stone structures we are in right now is that the acoustics are just great. It's like singing in one big tiled shower. I have a little Bluetooth speaker about the size of a mini-baguette that lets me access all my tunes on my I-pod. Place it anywhere near a polished cement wall, in a corner especially and it almost becomes a stadium sized loudspeaker! - Muy Buenos!
Couple all of this with a good Wi-Fi connection and walking distance to the historical centre and it's a pretty sweet setup all in all. My LSBH and I are under no illusions as to just how fortunate we are to have access to it. Our hosts have been encouraging family and other friends to come down but a surprising number of people still think of drug-related violence, killings and all sorts of other media induced negative images when they hear " Mexico " They can't seem to get beyond that. I will bet that when your son first went to Bosnia there was some of the same narrow reactions in some circles. I know there was for our friends who taught at the same school as he. People felt everyday life in Sarajevo included ducking sniper-fire and standing in breadlines.
I do believe both you and I have seen that first hand in that same city. There's no doubt that it was a war-zone, and not too long ago but it was as safe as most North American urban areas by that time.
Btw, it was not far from bizarre to hear about the zero temps in south China where he is now. Our friends were also there and all I ever picked up from our many Skype conversations was about how oppressive the heat could be.
Here on the Yucatan with its high percentage of indigenous peoples the vibe is completely different. In the 8 weeks in total we've been here I can't recall a situation where I have felt genuinely unsafe.
We spent the first two weeks with our hosts gadding about a bit and now that they have gone back to their place near Owen Sound, and very reluctantly back to their jobs and careers we will spend the next three weeks by ourselves. We'll put both places to bed for the hot wet summer here, just before we return.
Last time I told you about visiting the ruins at Mayapan. This time here's some details about our other major expedition. This was to Campeche on the coast on the opposite side of the peninsula to Cancun and the more glittery Mayan Riveria area ( Cozumel, etc., )
It began as a 16th century Spanish colonial outpost to protect the area from the marauding pirates and privateers that were rife in the Gulf and Caribbean waters. It has carefully looked after the architecture from this period, especially the walled city with its 8 bastions and the two forts for the forces that manned them. They've done such a good job, in fact, that this area was declared a World Heritage Site in 1999. Both of the forts have turned into Maya culture museums. The whole central square area is impressive and nothing short of immaculate in its overall condition. The church pic was actually taken from the balcony of a restaurant where we had lunch.
The surrounding historical centre has been similarly maintained. The four pics below came from me simply standing at an intersection and snapping pics of the street in all four directions.
If there is a downside or trade-off for all of this picturesque grandeur it's the fact that the metropolitan area has now grown to over a quarter of a million. In order to get to this jewel at the centre one has to wade through lots of strip-malls, mega-plazas, fast-food outlets and the other attachments that come with urban sprawl. Of course, all of this spawns traffic, traffic and yet more traffic, too. The fast-food and retail big players that we see around us in North America are equally represented here as well. Political colonialism may be past but economic colonialism is alive and kicking up dust, litter and exhaust fumes.
Carolyn, I'd hoped to get into some of the reading that I've been able to do down here but I think I'll save that for the next entry. I brought one hard-cover book and a slew of things on my trusty old I-pad. The paper item is proving to be one of the most provocative reading experiences I've had in a bit - but I'm not quite sure why. Plus, I've ploughed through almost 2400 pages of David Halberstam now, and that been engrossing as well. Now that there's just the two of us I expect to up the reading ante again.
More on that later.
Also, consider the riddles put on hold for this time.
Hasta luego!
Don
Don
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