An outsider view

I have friends who live in Ajijic, near Lake Chapala in Jalisco, MEXICO.  They used to live here.

In order to find out a bit more about where my friends were moving I looked up some blogs from that area.  

One of the blogs I found belongs to Jim and Carole.  

Jim and Carole travel. They blog about their travels. The research and detail they put in to their blog posts about their travels is absolutely amazing, and makes them must reads for areas you plan to visit.

I learned so much about the Yucatan, and Merida by reading their travel posts; Made me feel quite uninitiated to Merida, like an outsider, when in fact I've lived here for 6+years.  Just goes to show, there's always something new around the corner. 

This past winter Jim and Carole came through Merida - You can read about their travels in Merida here.

I hope you find their info and photos as interesting as I do.

I've learned alot!

Thank you Jim and Carole!

Merida's Orquesta Sinfónica de Yucatán is now available virtually

This is so awesome - our Orquesta Sinfónica de Yucatán can now be seen and heard on (live only) www.meridatv.com.mx - or you can listen to it on Radio UADY 103.9  

I love technology!

Motul

Motul, or as the ancient maya called it “Zacmutul” is among other things, the birthplace of both Felipe Carrillo Puerto,

AND huevos motuleños.

Tom and I and friends recently went to Motul for breakfast. 

At about 40km from Merida it's a short drive, about an hour, in which time you get a little conversation going as the sights are typically a bit uninteresting - traffic is light, and the highway is good.  Since we have a car we drive, but you can easily choose to get there by bus/combi, which leave from calle 67x52 in Merida Centro; they make the trip with some degree of regularity and drop you right in Motul Centro at the main square.

We had our huevos motuleños, which were quite tasty and did a little walking around.  I always enjoy the little museum dedicated to Felipe Carrillo Puerto which is just next to the municipal market.  We went to the church, unfortunately it was closed.   There is also a lovely cenote there, lamentably we each had other plans that day and needed to return to Merida so didn't even attempt that sidetrip.  There's always tomorrow!.

The square is lovely - and clean - and look at these fabulous benches -

Motul is a lovely town quite large and rambling.  Quite low key. My cause for posting this breakfast trip is simply to comment a bit on some curiosities...

The other day, here in Merida, as I was attempting to cross a street on a pedestrian crosswalk, which is both elevated and painted bright yellow, a driver nearly ran over my foot, he came that close in his attempt to get by me without respecting either me or the crosswalk.  In Motul, as we crossed on crosswalks, heck even without crossing at a crosswalk, the drivers would slow, motion us across, or stop completely.  Imagine our shock, I mean walking here in Merida, although safe from most human threat, is a deathwish once confronted by drivers behind the wheels of a car which is coming in your direction.

So WHY do the drivers of Merida have neither respect, care, nor caution about pedestrians and drivers in other communities do?   What is up with drivers here?   Can anyone offer a plausible explanation?

Another curiosity upon which we each remarked was the cleanliness of Motul.   Merida is grimy and dirty.  There was a recent article in the Winnipeg FreePress,  where Merida is likened to "...an old, vain Hollywood movie star, best seen in the softer, kinder light of evening."    Oh, I love this phrase!

 The sheer volume of vehicles, their abysmal state of repair which contributes to oil and gas in the streets as well as the plumes of toxic fumes which contribute to the oil and grease all wash up on to the sides of buildings with every rain. Is it just the volume of vehicles????  Aided of course by the canyons created by the tall buildings facing both sides of most streets with no escape for rain water???

Does Motul, for example use some sort of de-greaser????   I remember once, In New Orleans, quite late at night, well it was more like quite early in the morning, returning to our hotel and coming upon huge trucks washing down the streets with a degreaser/clorine bleach combo.  FABULOUS!  By commuter time the streets were clean, and smelled good.

Now there's an idea - Merida has huge trucks that are used to water medians and streetside planted areas; these same trucks could pull double duty - and clean the streets by night while watering the verge during the day.

Just a thought!   It's a curiosity, how much I love Merida, yet how often I wonder about these little oddities.

Ballet Nacional de Cuba performs Don Quijote in Merida

Tom and I had the opportunity to watch the Ballet Nacional de Cuba perform don Quijote last Friday night.

The ballet had been being performed at Teatro Peon Contreras but we had not attended.   The Ayuntamiento/Government organized/allowed  2 nights of performances to be held in front of the Catedral de San Ildefonso free of charge;  So we decided to go.

Friday night was perfect, it was cool, there was a light breeze, the sky was clear...the crowd was immense, over 8000 reported by the newspaper.  There was a large stage, with scenery erected in front of the catherdral, AND there were projection screens placed in a variety of locations around the park, which was truely fabulous as there were way too many people in attendance for the amount of seating that ws available. 

To get seating someone would have had to arrive 2 hours earrly and save seats for your party, although a number of people were permitted through to apparently reserved seating well after the performance had started.   Tom and I got there 15 minutes before curtain and so were standing at the rear of the crowd but in front of the stage.  As we are both tall, comparatively speaking, we were able to see fairly well, and as standing still  is often problematic for my back it was fabulous to be able to walk around a bit but still see the performance thanks to the huge projection screens.    Although the view of the performance seeing the stage was far superior to that of the screens.  One quirk to our viewing was a large tree that bisected the stage, so we had great views of stage left and stage right, however center stage was a problem.

I took some photos, however the quality is really poor.   The photographers from the Diario, with their far better equipment, and freedom to be right at the stage did a much better job, you can see their photos by following this link to ballet photos on Diario  http://www.yucatan.com.mx/multimedia/galerias.asp?cx=17$0$4254073&img=1467003

Here you can see the stage still being prepped, and some of the crowd.

Opening of the ballet, yep, see that tree

Here you can see one of the large projection screens off to the left of the stage.  calle 61 was closed and there were hundreds of people watching this screen.

bus travel - Merida to Playa del Carmen

* edit - all prices mentioned are in MXP (pesos)

We just returned Thursday evening from Cozumel. We've had friends, in differing groups visiting since May 30. The most recent couple visiting were going to be with us only 3 nights then head to Cozumel, we decided to head with them. It was a whirlwind trip, only 2 nights. We left Tuesday on the 9:40 bus, and got home Thursday evening about 8pm.

My intent for this blog isn't so much about the trip to Cozumel as it is about the 'getting' to Cozumel.

I had significant difficulty trying to get specific info on the buses, stations, locations, etc.

So here's what I learned.

I elected to travel via ADO. ADO GL offers a few additional extras that didn't seem to justify the extra expense to me for a short trip like this; Both ADO and ADO GL offer movies and or music, a/c (take a wrap because they keep it icy cold), restroom (take paper and sanitizing hand gel), reclining cushioned seats, window shades, ADO GL offers separate mens and womens bathrooms, baby changing area, a coffee/water/tea dispenser, and I think you get a soda when you board. Both buses list 5hrs 10min to 5hrs 35min as travel times
ADO was $286, ADO GL was $344, oh and they do give half price fares to those with the MX Govt INAPAM card.

Ticket Bus has good schedules; the site is a bit difficult to navigate, although they do show all levels of buses available within your search parameters. Be aware if you don't know which terminal you want in a location with more than one it can be frustrating.

We left from the ADO 1st class station "CAME" in Merida, which is located on Calle 70, between Calle 69 and 71, Centro.

Getting info from the attendants at CAME about which station we would arrive at in Playa del Carmen was frustrating. They really don't seem to know anything but what shows up on their computer terminal, and that didn't tell them much. And in typical Yucatecan fashion, they told me what they thought I wanted to hear, whether it was correct or not.

In Playa del Carmen there are two bus terminals. The older Terminal Turistica o Terminal Rustica, which is at 5th and Juarez is just 2 convenient blocks from the ferry. Unfortunately it only services 2nd class and local buses. The newer Terminal Alterna at 20th Avenue between Calle 12 and Calle 12Bis is where the 1st class buses arrive and depart; this is only about 8 blocks from the ferry, and if you've packed light can be a pleasant walk through the shopping area, taxis are available - we were charged $40 to be driven the distance from the Alterna Terminal to the Ferry.
Travel Yucatan has a pretty good PDC map, click here it shows the locations of the 2 bus terminals, and the ferry.

The Terminal codes for Merida Came are MEY, and for Playa del Carmen Alterna are PDC.

From Playa to Merida there is offered an Express Service, no stops, 4 hours and 15 minutes, these buses depart 0630, 1030, 1330, 1530, 1730, and 2359.

I'll have to go check on this Express Service availability at the CAME station and report back.

Oh, just FYI - the Ferry from Playa to Cozumel also gives half price discounts to INAPAM card holders. Regular ferry fare one-way is $140.

2nd Annual Latin American Bloggers Summit comes to an end

We ended the 2nd Annual Latin American Bloggers Summit with breakfast at the Hotel Colonial this morning.

It was so nice to meet the fellow bloggers; to put actual faces and personalities to each other. Not that we don’t have a sense of each other from our blogs; we share photos, family, tears, fears, joy, and encouragement.

The Event went well, everyone seemed to enjoy the presentations on Friday, and the Salsa music at Cumbancheros, and of course the Welcome Cocktail Party at Jonna and Mimi’s on Thursday. We (Tom and I) had to miss the early activities on Saturday because of a friend’s 65th Surprise Birthday Party but were able to connect with a small group in the evening for some local entertainment and a few cervezas.

I’d say it was a success and really want to let those that traveled how much I appreciate their effort to get here, and also a Big Thanks to Theresa for putting this all together!

I can hardly wait to find out where next years gathering will be!

La Señora de la Asunción (Our Lady of the Assumption)

Every August, one of the two churches within two blocks of us, La Iglesia de San Sebastian hosts a 10-day celebration. La Señora de la Asunción (Our Lady of the Assumption), which runs this year, 2008, from August 5 - 15.

We have walked around a bit when activities are happening but haven't really been to involved. Saturday night there was a band and dancing and carnival rides, and food booths, and lots of people, and, and, and.... There have been a number of processions (parades). Today we went up for te start of today's parade. Sunday is always a big turnout.

Here are some pictures from today's parade.

This year the signs all include the 'Gremio de Mestizos'. I don't remember this last year but that's not really saying too much. The Gremio is like a Union, and Mestizos refer to the local indigenous population.

Here's an interesting perspective:

Journal Article Excerpt
Cultural Continuity and Change in Gremio Fiestas in Yucatan.
by Christina Turner
Festivals are intrinsically paradoxical and multidimensional emphasizing contradictory functions as the specific cultural moment dictates. Festival traditions allow for historical continuity while incorporating societal change. They are a means of flexible adaptation that supports both social solidarity and the status quo. Festivals buttress hierarchical, closed caste/class systems while fostering status and prestige building within those systems through consensus and cooperation. The very act of role reversal delineates the dominant status role. Despite the various forms that festival traditions may take and the different historical paths that lead to them, they are similar in function and structure.
Thus, Glenda Joy Driskell (1981:15) writes in the introduction to her ethnomusicological exploration of the festival tradition in Yucatan that, "the fiesta has been variously extolled as a source of cultural continuity, a foundation of village integration, and a bulwark against exploitation by wealthy Yucatecans. It has also been condemned by economists as an impediment to economic progress and as a mechanism of colonial control."
In a similar vein, Olga Najera Ramirez (1988: 146-147) discusses how the "festival represents a different world view because it encourages multiple dialogues, allows for alternatives to be expressed and therefore has revolutionary tendencies. ...

One thing lucky for us is that Tom doesn't suffer from PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He swears the firecrackers they are blowing up sound like the mortars from when he was in the service. The start about 5:30 in the morning and don't let up till after midnight. We are not getting our full share of sleep this week so if we're a bit cranky, well...

On the 15th there is a special event where they fill paper baloons with hot air from candles and release them. I'll try to photograph that and post some pictures.

It's funny because our neighbors tell us to be sure to go up for the events, but we never see any of them. We do get some looks though. Not mean or ugly, just interest and curiosity.

I have Dengue

Yep - I have Dengue. Last Sunday evening while enjoying a lovely afternoon and dinner with friends I started feeling a bit off. Didn't really think it could be the beer I had, but you never know!

We came home early, I was running a 102f temperature and was having serious bone and joint pain, and horrific muscle spasms. By about 9:30 pm my fever was up and combined with the pain I was delirious. Tom got me to Clinica Merida where they administed lots of pain releivers, muscle relaxers, intravenous fluids, and cold compresses to lower the fever.

I was in Urgencia (ER) for 15 hours.

Tom and Lida maintained vigil, ensuring all was ok, and that I got everything I needed

It's been really rough. I'm feeling a bit better. Maintaining a 100f temperature. I have all the other standard Dengue stuff, eye pain and sensitivity, which is really rough cause I can't even sit and read a book. I am unable yet to eat, but am consuming copious quantities of Gatorade and water. I have a red flush over almost all of my body, and am covered by tiny little rash bumps that cause me to apply Caladryl like body lotion.

We've sprayed the house with enough toxin to kill off the mosquitos, plus just about anything else. We keep each room locked down so that we minimize the possibility of spreading this any further. And I haven't left the house since I got home from hospital - which is driving me a bit crazy because Dec 4 was release date for Pirates of the Caribbean, At World's End!

Now to top it off esposo comes down with symptoms on Wednesday.