Friday, December 31, 2010
If folks are reading this...
... prospero año again. Send a comment, it is nice to hear from home. I do wonder what is happening in the US, we get very sparse news from that part of the world.
oh, man...
Merida is a very friendly town. Ok, there are lots store employees who are stationed around town and seem to think all touristas de los Estados Unidos are dying to buy hammocks and-or Panama hats; they are always trying to direct us towards those stores. They sometimes open store doors and try to guide us in. But again, most other people are friendly and very good humored.
This is a really creative town. Today we went to a regional art museum. My personal favorite piece was a bird sculpture made from seed pods. We were also very taken by work by a photography who varied his colors just enough to make the images look like they come from the edge of dreams. Another one did some wonderful shots of natural areas in Mexico. A third did shots from the air of cities in the developing world -houses upon houses upon houses with no visible space in between. There was also a room of photos that I can only describe as science fiction art - cats in space suits, all kinds of images of extra-terrestrial critters. There are really some creative folks around here. We look forward to seeing what kind of musicians and other performers show up on the Plaza tonight.
But it is so congested and hot, and yes, the air quality is pretty bad. Imagine yourself in a huge crowd of people rushing along the very thin sidewalks. I described it in my journal as like being in a human avalanche with no way to escape the rush; meanwhile, cars seem to be aiming for people. We have not seen anyone get hit, I think people here know how to deal with all this.
Again, it is good to experience this to get an idea of how most of the world lives.
We refreshed ourselves with a home made ice cream a little earlier. I think Kate had strawberry mango. I had grape, and it was yummy. You can get really unusual ice cream flavors in Mexico. I have also seen avacodo, cheese, corn, and jalepeno ice cream.
We are heading back to our little apt. to rest in a cool place for a while. We will cook later and come out to see what the New Years festivities are. We will spend tomorrow at Celustun, another bird filled estuary, and will leave Merida for Isla de Mujeres on Jan. 2. I will check in from there if not before.
Again -¡Prospero ano nuevo!
This is a really creative town. Today we went to a regional art museum. My personal favorite piece was a bird sculpture made from seed pods. We were also very taken by work by a photography who varied his colors just enough to make the images look like they come from the edge of dreams. Another one did some wonderful shots of natural areas in Mexico. A third did shots from the air of cities in the developing world -houses upon houses upon houses with no visible space in between. There was also a room of photos that I can only describe as science fiction art - cats in space suits, all kinds of images of extra-terrestrial critters. There are really some creative folks around here. We look forward to seeing what kind of musicians and other performers show up on the Plaza tonight.
But it is so congested and hot, and yes, the air quality is pretty bad. Imagine yourself in a huge crowd of people rushing along the very thin sidewalks. I described it in my journal as like being in a human avalanche with no way to escape the rush; meanwhile, cars seem to be aiming for people. We have not seen anyone get hit, I think people here know how to deal with all this.
Again, it is good to experience this to get an idea of how most of the world lives.
We refreshed ourselves with a home made ice cream a little earlier. I think Kate had strawberry mango. I had grape, and it was yummy. You can get really unusual ice cream flavors in Mexico. I have also seen avacodo, cheese, corn, and jalepeno ice cream.
We are heading back to our little apt. to rest in a cool place for a while. We will cook later and come out to see what the New Years festivities are. We will spend tomorrow at Celustun, another bird filled estuary, and will leave Merida for Isla de Mujeres on Jan. 2. I will check in from there if not before.
Again -¡Prospero ano nuevo!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Intense...
...does not begin to express it.
Merida is a crally creative and vital city, with lots of creativity. Last night in the main plaza we ran into: really excellent drummers, jugglers, an Andean group (playing an Andean veriion of Sounds of Silence on pan pipes, an astronomer with a telescope trained on Jupiter, many, many crafts folk. People were everywhere enjoying the scene. One of the great things about Mexico is that there are gatherings like this on town and city plazas at night, and many of the performances are spontaneous.
It is really hot today. We went to an anthroplolgy museum where we learned more in depth about Mayan culture. There was also an exhibit of the Mexican Revolution early in the 20th century. Little of this text was in English, but the photos were very dramatic.
We also went to the Merida City Museum. This was a Mayan settlement. After the Spanish took over they built a cathedral on the main temple and set up very segregated neighborhoods. This area developed as an agricultural area, specializing in crops that were used for garments. There was incredible stratification, and constant fear of an uprising by the farmers. Very progressive politicians wound up in charge of the city early in the 20th century, and they promoted many reforms, but they were deposed and executed. After that, the rich tried to think of this area as a cultural center, patterned after Paris. Since then, many writers, artists and musicians have come from here.
The creativity remains. This place is also crowded plus. Sidewalks are thin, crowds are huge, traffic is massive,and again, IT IS HOT! Music blares at you from every store, accompanied by car horns and alarms. Shopkeepers try to get us to come into their shop for a panama hat; we also find people shoving things like fruit roll-ups in our faces. Shops include such specialties as a combination shoe and gun shop. There are more beggars than we have seen in other cities in the Yucatan - not as many as in Mexico City, but plenty. The think I keep in mind is that this is a city in the developing world, and this is how most of humanity lives. More often than not it is far more congested than this, minus the music and culture in many cases.
We really like our apartment, and will head back there soon to relax and cook. We will probably come out for music on the main plaza after a rest.
Again, we will post when we can find open internet places.
¡Prospero año nuevo!
Merida is a crally creative and vital city, with lots of creativity. Last night in the main plaza we ran into: really excellent drummers, jugglers, an Andean group (playing an Andean veriion of Sounds of Silence on pan pipes, an astronomer with a telescope trained on Jupiter, many, many crafts folk. People were everywhere enjoying the scene. One of the great things about Mexico is that there are gatherings like this on town and city plazas at night, and many of the performances are spontaneous.
It is really hot today. We went to an anthroplolgy museum where we learned more in depth about Mayan culture. There was also an exhibit of the Mexican Revolution early in the 20th century. Little of this text was in English, but the photos were very dramatic.
We also went to the Merida City Museum. This was a Mayan settlement. After the Spanish took over they built a cathedral on the main temple and set up very segregated neighborhoods. This area developed as an agricultural area, specializing in crops that were used for garments. There was incredible stratification, and constant fear of an uprising by the farmers. Very progressive politicians wound up in charge of the city early in the 20th century, and they promoted many reforms, but they were deposed and executed. After that, the rich tried to think of this area as a cultural center, patterned after Paris. Since then, many writers, artists and musicians have come from here.
The creativity remains. This place is also crowded plus. Sidewalks are thin, crowds are huge, traffic is massive,and again, IT IS HOT! Music blares at you from every store, accompanied by car horns and alarms. Shopkeepers try to get us to come into their shop for a panama hat; we also find people shoving things like fruit roll-ups in our faces. Shops include such specialties as a combination shoe and gun shop. There are more beggars than we have seen in other cities in the Yucatan - not as many as in Mexico City, but plenty. The think I keep in mind is that this is a city in the developing world, and this is how most of humanity lives. More often than not it is far more congested than this, minus the music and culture in many cases.
We really like our apartment, and will head back there soon to relax and cook. We will probably come out for music on the main plaza after a rest.
Again, we will post when we can find open internet places.
¡Prospero año nuevo!
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
¡Estamos en Merida!
This is the capital of Yucatan state, and a much bigger town than Campeche or Vailledolid. It{s also more of an in your face kind of city. People who work for craft shops stop travelers on the street and make reconnendations about places you should visit, then they try to guide you to the handicraft of panama hat shops they work for. We know how to show no interest; they quickly decide we are losers and leave us alone Whew! Restauranteers are just as aggressive. We walked past an outdoor cafe earlier. A waiter tried to guide us to a table, practically pulling out chairs for us. The place was crowded, I don{t know why he was so anxious. When we walked on, he called,
-What are you looking for?
-Vegetarian, I said. He left us alone then.
For the record, there are many places where you can find veggie options in Mexico. There was a health food store a few blocks from our hotel in Campeche, and we got several good sandwiches to go for lunch. There is also a nice veggie place here where we had dinner a little while ago. Mine was rice and mushrooms, Kate had stuffed squash with a regional sauce.
Merida has a beautiful square, with a big cathedral. There are buildings with murals, and we are about to check out a nearby bookstore. It is sure a fast paced place, esp. after the two very laid back towns we just visited. These are initial impressions, more to come. Oh yes, we actually have an apartment here for four nights for far less than the cost of a hotel room in the US.
Things may shut down here for New Years. I am guessing I will be able to check in tomorrow,
the 31st and 1st may or may not be harder. If I donot post until the 2nd or so, assume its the issue of finding a computer. But do not be surprised if I do.
Oh yeah, the Mexican keyboard behaves somewhat differently from the US one. If you find typos, that is a large part of why. I will edit when I have a chance.
-What are you looking for?
-Vegetarian, I said. He left us alone then.
For the record, there are many places where you can find veggie options in Mexico. There was a health food store a few blocks from our hotel in Campeche, and we got several good sandwiches to go for lunch. There is also a nice veggie place here where we had dinner a little while ago. Mine was rice and mushrooms, Kate had stuffed squash with a regional sauce.
Merida has a beautiful square, with a big cathedral. There are buildings with murals, and we are about to check out a nearby bookstore. It is sure a fast paced place, esp. after the two very laid back towns we just visited. These are initial impressions, more to come. Oh yes, we actually have an apartment here for four nights for far less than the cost of a hotel room in the US.
Things may shut down here for New Years. I am guessing I will be able to check in tomorrow,
the 31st and 1st may or may not be harder. If I donot post until the 2nd or so, assume its the issue of finding a computer. But do not be surprised if I do.
Oh yeah, the Mexican keyboard behaves somewhat differently from the US one. If you find typos, that is a large part of why. I will edit when I have a chance.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Small Misadventure today, and we are fine
As Kate mentioned, we got bad directions to the Mangrove Conservation Center. Bus drivers did not know where it was, and people in town pointed down a road and gave us a few directions. An hour later, we realized we did not know where we or the Center were. The walk was lovely to that point. A bus to Campeche came by and we took it. The bus took us through villages that most tourists never see. We did some birding in town when we got back. Very interesting winged critters down here!
Campeche, as I said, is a very nice town, recommended when you are down this way. Tomorrow we go to Merida, which is the cultural hot spot around here. I will try to check in tomorrow, if we find an open internet place.
Campeche, as I said, is a very nice town, recommended when you are down this way. Tomorrow we go to Merida, which is the cultural hot spot around here. I will try to check in tomorrow, if we find an open internet place.
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