It’s been nearly a week since we returned from Mexico and neither of us have attempted to record it. Many have asked about it, and said that they are waiting for our post about it. So here goes. It’s always hard to describe a vacation, there is always the danger that the telling will get too long, and become boring, or too short to draw up accurate portrayals. We took lots of pictures- most of which are less interesting if you don’t know about them. (I might add that Tom took and stitched together the photo that makes up the very top of our blog!) So I’m just warning you that his post is going to be long, I wanted to make a more detailed account just for my own journal- so feel free to skim!

    Everything went smooth from the airport to the bus station. At the airport everyone spoke english, and seemed especially equipped to help us tourists. The only thing was- we weren’t doing the tourist thing, we were immediately leaving Cancun for the small colonial town of Valladolid. So we were instructed to take a shuttle to the downtown bus station, where we could catch another bus to Valladolid.  Tom immediately took the lead and started to use his limited spanish to get us tickets. He was successful- despite the fact that the high level of noise made it impossible to hear the lady behind the glass. She handed us our tickets and waved her hand to show which direction we should go. But all we saw in that direction was a huge sign that said “Arrivals” So we walked to the other side of the bus station that said “Departures” all in an incredible rush, as the bus was to leave any minute. We were then waived back the other direction, only to be entirely confused. We saw some Elders and asked for their help. Basically in the one minute we had walked to the other side of the station our bus had left, and we were forced to buy two more tickets. Ahhh. “Welcome to Mexico!”

    Anyway, I had read there were 1st and 2nd class buses, but couldn’t remember the difference between the two- to be adventurous and to save a few bucks we took the 2nd class bus. We quickly learned that the difference is that the 2nd class bus stops every 20 feet or so to pick who ever decides to hail the bus- at any point on the street. There were times when the bus would stop pick up five people and then drive ten more feet and pick up two more. I guess the idea of bus stations has yet to appeal to the Mexicans. It actually turned out to have been a great decision because, although it took us twice the amount of time to get there that it otherwise could have, we were able to stop and see many of the little towns or Pueblo’s along the way. I have never seen such limited means, and yet I still have not seen poverty. Many of these small villages were composed entirely of small thatched roof houses. Many with just one or two rooms. Many smaller than my bedroom at home. Many of them seemed tiled or just concrete, and few had yards as you think of them in America. The ground must be hard, because there was very little attempt to cultivate that we saw. Regardless there were an amazing number of small nurseries along the way with beautiful tropical plants and bushes- I told Tom, if I lived in Mexico, I too would own a nursery. Everyone had some sort of job there it seemed. The thing that struck me as I watched curiously from our bus window, was how similar their lives were to ours. I saw one small bare footed girl swinging from side to side as she fluffed the skirt of a puffy pink dress in a store entrance. I saw boys running after dogs. I saw grandmothers sweeping as their grandkids played on the floor. I saw grandpas gathered together talking on benches. There was so much joy, sociality, and energy in the people. That three hour bus drive made the entire trip worth it for me.

    We arrived in Valladolid and after asking four people found our hotel: Maria de la Luz. It had been one of the cheapest hotels I found online but when we arrived we realized it was probably one of the nicest in town.

    We spent the next day exploring the town. We visited a beautiful art gallery. There were so many things we would have liked to buy, especially with thoughts of our new house continually looming in our minds (at least mine). There were carved wood creations painted so intricately they looked like fur, pottery that reminded us of Italy, exotic jewlery, colorful textiles, and delightful Mayan chocolates (the only thing that was cheap enough for us to buy). We tried out the town bazaar for lunch, which is a big galleria type building with shops all around the periphery. They feature local dishes. I tried the papatzul, a dish of corn tortillas filled with chopped up hard boiled egg and topped with a sunflower seed sauce. I wanted to be adventurous, but I regretted it after I nearly gagged. Tom made the comment, “Just think, if you were on a mission here you would have to eat that whole thing.” To be ‘tough’ I ate one whole egg enchilada but the other three were left on the plate- I just couldn’t stomach them. Tom had another local dish Pork Pabil which is pork soaked in a special sauce and cooked in a banana leaf. It was good. We mainly filled up on the horchata- a Mexican rice drink, and a big glass of fresh squeezed orange juice.

    While we were walking around the main square we walked past a store that smelled of leather and had a large variety of leather sandals displayed, a charming young girl welcomed us in, and we had fun trying on the various styles of sandals. The whole time we were there the man was in the back sewing shoes. I bought a pair for $140- pesos that is. In other wards 14 dollars. I love them. Here are some pictures of town:

   
        

This is the main cathedral right on the square. It is very different than the cathedrals we saw in Europe. It is made of a combination of mud, stucco and stones. This picture was taken from our hotel.

  
             
  

    I loved the color of this old deserted building. I think the old wooden door and ladder against the salmon colored walls are very artistic.

     

This is foyer of the old convent of San Bernandino de Siena. It is the largest church in Valladolid. I found this minimalist display of wild flowers growing out of a pot set on a railroad cart with a backdrop of peach alcoves to be just lovely. I guess the thing I love most about it is that it seems like the creation of some simple church orderly, not some trained artist. Valladolid is not a tourist town, very few people probably walk into this convent- and yet someone utilized their creativity to produce this charming scene.

    Behind the convent is a sacred cenote. In Mexico there are not many lakes or rivers- most of the fresh water is found in cenotes- or sinkholes. This stone and rock structure was build around one particular structure- when you walk up into this there is a huge well looking thing with a large descent into a pool of water. In this particular cenote the spanish through alot of weapons, when the Mayans had an uprising against them in the War of the Castes. 

 

The Spanish took possession over Valladolid and promised to work with them, but as demonstrated in this picture- one of  three huge murals that are found in the town’s museum- they soon made them slaves, and took away their religion. Finally the Mayans had had enough and revolted against them- actually running out the spanish! At one point they even wrote a letter to the United States during the Mexican American War in hopes of joining with them! Valladolid has a fantastic history, and were fortunate to have unknowingly visited on their independence day. The second day we were there they were setting up all day for a huge parade and reenactment of the whole affair. There was a band, a choir of school children, dancers, and battle reenactments. We didn’t stay to watch the whole thing, as we couldn’t understand the spanish, but we enjoyed watching how proud the people were of their history and how supportive they were of the local actors and dancers- all of whom were obviously amateur!

The second day in Valladolid we visited Ek Balam. We arose early and made it to the park at 8:30- the first of the day. We had the whole site to ourselves for around an hour. Ek Balam is a smaller site than Chichen Itza but larger than Tulum. It was my particular favorite. Tom and I investigated every inch of it, we walked in every room and climbed every building- we climbed the tall one of 108 stairs twice!  The place was just magical. It  is set out in the middle of the jungle and when you rise to the summit of the main temple you can see nothing but jungle all around you.  There are some very intricate carvings  that were unlike anything we saw elsewhere. Our camera unfortunately ran out of battery and shots before we reached the main temple- so the following picture is borrowed. Which is a real shame because the temple was gorgeous- but I suppose we appreciated it more.  Our tour guide at Chichen Itza told us that only 10% of the buildings at Chichen Itza have been restored, and only 4% of the sites in the Yucatan have been restored. Ek Balam is a rather recent project- in fact you can see they are still working on it in the picture across the top of our blog. There are Mayan masons that are specifically trained to restore these grand buildings.

    The next day Brigette and Dave arrived and we went to visit Chichen Itza- one of the wonders of the modern world.

    This is El Castillo- the most famous of the buildings here. The Mayans are known for their advanced understanding of astronomy. There calendar was 365 days broken into 18 months of 20 days. Each month was assigned a protective god, only the last five days, the festival days were not assigned a god. They also had accurate predictions of the eclipses. On March 21 on this building, thousands of tourists come to watch the light move each hour from the top level down progressively  to to the bottom level where the light hits smack on the head of the snake (on the left side, not shown here). While their knowledge of astronomy was exemplary their religious practices were far from it. The Mayans adapted the practice of the Tomtecs of sacrificing strong men to tear out their beating hearts and lay on a special altar to the gods. They believed that then sun had to wrestle with a jaguar all night and that when it rose it was tired. By offering a beating heart they gave the sun strength to be carried across the sky by an eagle.

    Here we see a carving of a jaguar on the left and an eagle on the right eating hearts.

   

    This part of the site is particularly disturbing. In a huge U shaped sculpture are rows upon rows of carved skulls. Next to it is a temple to the gods where they would dance and use the sculpture as part of the ceremony to show they had made proper offerings to god. The site of Chichen Itza is huge. One of our favorites was the observatory- the only circular building at the site. The Mayans understanding of astronomical events proves the power of observation, and inspired me to be more aware of my surroundings. (As you can see from these pictures we had great cloud coverage the entire time we were there- which was throughly welcomed as it made the temperature more moderate.)

  
                   

As of yet I have failed to mention that Brigette and Dave joined us this day. We had a blast with them all week. They are such a great couple and we enjoyed hearing their perspectives on many things. Just to not make this whole trip sound to rosey-wonderful (as I have oft been criticized for doing) I will note that after a relaxing afternoon at Ik’kil we wanted to return to Chichen Itza to take a few more pictures and explore some areas we weren’t able to see as long as we have liked with the tour guide. We had taken a taxi there, but Tom and I decided that it wasn’t that long of a walk that that we should save a few bucks and walk back. It really wasn’t much over a mile, but the way was a long a busy highway with now shoulder. Every time a car drove by we had to step off in the bushes (and usually a pile of plastic bottles- as Mexico has not adopted litter laws either). Many of the buses and taxi’s flashed their hazards at us or shook their heads as if to say “crazy tourists.” When we finally arrived at the park we found it closed. Now Mexico doesn’t use clocks. I only saw two public clocks there. One in the bus station, the other in the touristy Xel ha natural water park. So we hadn’t a clue what time it was, and we didn’t know when the park closed. Well apparently it already had. But Tom suggested we walk through the park to get to the other side where the taxis were. The park was completely empty. When we were about half way through a worker started walking towards us calmly waiving his arms in the air. He told us the park was closed. Tom simply asked, when the parked closed, and how to get to the entrance. Now I believe that if we had done that in America we would have got yelled at, scolded, and escorted out of the park, but this guy simply waived his hand in the direction of the entrance and said nothing more. We slowly walked out, and were not questioned again. I love the laid back way of the Mexicans. Well naturally as the park was empty so was the parking lot- not a bus not a taxi. Wait, there is one it was just pulling out and we ran up to ask if we could hitch a ride. He already had a passenger going in another direction but he promised if we waited 10 minutes he would come back and take us. Phew. We had a ride home.

    The next day we traveled to Tulum. We spent the first part of the afternoon picking out our lodging. We finally selected a cabaña on a side white beach- with next to no one on it.

 

    We then rushed off to see the Tulum ruins before they closed. We had several friends recommend getting an LDS tour guide at Tulum, so we followed their advice. We were glad we did. Here are some of the more impressive things we learned:

 

    It’s a little hard to see in the picture. (Man I wish I had a longer zoom!) Look up at the top of the building were there are the three niches. Oh it’s so hard to see in this picture. In the first niche on the left there is a carving of a god standing upright. You can see his head crowned  in the upper third of the rectangle. In the middle box there is a carving of the same god upside down. You can see his legs in the upper third his head is at the bottom- it’s pretty hard to make out in this photo. In the third what do you see- nothing, exactly what was intended. LDS scholars believe that the first is a depiction of Heavenly Father, the second, known as the “Descending God” is a depiction of Jesus Christ- who looks like his Father, and the third- the Holy Ghost- a spirit, unable to be captured in stone. There were many other neat things we learned and which are affirmed by accounts from Spanish priests. For example the Mayans practiced baptism my immersion. They believed in resurrection and their graves all had steps up so that the spirit could leave and go to heaven. Their scriptures have a creation story that involves multiple gods creating earth in several periods and making man to have dominion and to care for the rest of the earth. Itzaman is depicted throughout the Tulum ruins. He is the god that is usually equated with Christ. There is a depiction of him, again upside down symbolizing descending, except this time as an infant. There is a huge sculpture of him that make up the corners of one building on one side his eyes are closed on the other side open- symbolizing ressurection. On one building there are the remains of hand prints placed one on top of the other, like in the laying on of hands. I was glad we ended our tour of archaeological sites with an LDS tour, because without the perspective of what these people were once like, it is easy to be disgusted by their savage practices. It is obvious from the Mayan descendants that they are a family centered, loving, creative, artistic, and happy people- and yet these ancient temples testify of brutal practices and corrupt leaders. Its sad to think that they descended into such wicked practices when we learn from the scriptures that they were once such a “delightsome” people. I am so grateful that as prophesied, a knowledge of Christ has come back to them, and they are again living joy-filled lives.

     

    We spent Saturday at Xel Ha a natural water park, where we enjoyed an abundance of eating, snorkeling, biking, swimming, rope walks, cliff jumping, tubing, more eating, resting in hammocks, watching dolphins, and enjoying one another’s company. It was a fun filled day. I must add a few more details about our cabana at this point. Now you must know that sleeping on the beach is on my list of “50 things to do in life.” And I felt that sleeping in a thatched roof hut on the beach was perhaps as close as I was going to get. So I was stoked about the option. As I mentioned we found one on a beautiful beach that the four of us could share. I was delighted. Well the first night the quickly deflated my optimism as the sweltering heat, combined with the low hanging mosquito nets made it nearly impossible to sleep. Countless times I considered leaving to really sleep on the beach where there was a nice breeze, but the thought of the white crabs crawling over me stopped me- I just laid there fanning myself and Tom, laughing at myself. I couldn’t be mad- I chose to stay there. Needless to say we were all in favor of leaving after two nights to go to Cancun where we would have a hotel with air conditioning. We attended church in Tulum which was nice.  We spent the rest of Sunday traveling to Cancun and then napping in the hotel.

    Monday we took the ferry to Isle Mujeres- The Island of Women. We spent the day on the beach- reading, swimming, and soaking up the sun. This was the only day I let myself sun bathe, and I forewent sunscreen in hopes of getting a bit of color to bring back. I was delightfully successful! We finished up the day shopping in the street markets were gorgeous plates such as the following picture were being sold. Tom bought me one to brighten my new kitchen that I just love. We got on the last ferry home and insisted on staying on the top even though a storm was developing- we got pelted with rain for the first half of the trip and then sat soaking- laughing at our silliness as we watched the lightening strike behind us.

   

We left the next day. Only to miss the last public transit bus by 15 minutes so we had to pay for a taxi- grr. Oh well- we learned about the life of our Ukrainian driver which was fascinating. Overall it was an incredible trip. It was priceless to be able to spend it with Brigette and Dave. It has been such a long time since I have been able to spend much time with Brigette, and I have never really been able to spend much time with Dave. I absolutely love and respect both of them, they were great travel companions. The trip renewed my love for Tom and his sense of adventure. By the end of the trip his Spanish had improved to the point where he could figure out anything we needed. I was so grateful for his willingness to just jump in and try it. The trip sparked a new interest in archeology, and ancient American history. I gained a great love for the Mexican people and an endearment towards the Mayan people especially. I hope I will never forget the little man at the desk of the hostel we stopped at to ask for information. Tom asked- do you speak English? And he responded with a sparkle in his eye and a smile- “Do you speak Mayan?” and then he proceeded to speak in Mayan. The two girls, probably his granddaughters laughed and rolled their eyes at their silly grandpa, but he just smiled again and then proudly told us all about the archaeological sites, how to get there, what it would cost, and what else was worth seeing around town. He was so full of life and spirit. I loved him immediately. I loved seeing how social they were. The taxi drivers waived at people that they obviously knew in every little town be drove through. Our tour guide at Chichen Itza laughed and talked with the vendors that were strewn through out the site. On several occasions children starred at us or smiled shyly behind their mothers- they seemed to think we looked silly with our white faces, but they still giggled playfully. As redundant as it becomes it was nice to hear the vendors yell out “My friend, for you I give special price!” Both Tom and I left Mexico with the immediate desire to go back. Going once, we simply exposed ourselves to how much more there is to discover.