Vacaciones

First off, I apologize to those of you who have actually been trying to keep up with me via this blog - I realize that I'm quite inept at updating things like this. And as far as photos go, I've actually tried several times to upload them! The internet connections must just really despise my pictures and hence, refuse to share them with the world.

I will work on both of those issues.

My last post was in late October, when I was just about to hop out of Mérida for a trip around a bit of México. So let's start there.

We left Mérida that Saturday night ("we" being three of my intercambio amigos: Carter, Carolyn, Ray, and I), October the 24th, on a night bus to Palenque. We arrived in this tiny town at 4:00 am on Sunday, just in time to check into a little hotel room and catch some zzz's before breakfast (chilaquiles verdes & coffee - yum!). The day was spent in a mad rush around the area to visit the three "most important" (or so say the Lonely Planet and Rough Guide) sites in the area: the ruins of Palenque, Agua Azul, and Mishol'ha (please, somebody correct my horrid spelling of that word!). By this point I've been to at least six or seven different ruinas en México, but they amaze me still! Palenque was special to me because of it's location: to visit the ruins, a walk through the jungle is required. The ruins are uncovered enough to see and understand them, as well as climb on most of them, but the jungle is not cut back and away - the adventure of trying to get past giant trees and vines adds to the fun! The archaeological site is massive, with only 5% of the ruins uncovered. With new technology, archaeologists are able to "see" what lies beneath the surface of the earth, but they've chosen to let it be, not for lack of funds as we saw at some other sites (notably Ek Balam), but for the conservation of the local flora and fauna that make the site what it is.

Our second spot of the day was Agua Azul (Blue Water), cascadas (flowing waterfall cascades) that get their name from the many beautiful colors that they display... in the spring. We arrived to find a blue-grey-brown waterfall that was still absolutely stunning (see the pictures...that are not yet online...but are coming soon to a computer near you!). Our final destination of the day was Misol'ha (again, I apologize for the spelling) - an INCREDIBLE waterfall that was even better because of the time of the day, right before dusk, a sort of twilight in the jungle. I really must get these photos online...

The next morning we got on another wonderful ADO bus to San Cristóbal Chiapas, arguably my favorite city in México thus far. This average-sized city in the mountains of Chiapas is reached by traveling through Zapatista territory, where road signs still warn that the Zapatistas - not the Mexican government - rule here. It was very interesting to me how different things still are in some regions of Chiapas due to the Zapatista movement; we spoke to some people about the activity in the 90's...verrrry interesting stuff I hope to learn more about. The culture of San Cristóbal was noticeably different from Mérida; mountains vs. beach, cool vs. tropical, relaxed vs. upbeat, smiles vs. catcalls, sweaters vs. tanks... I always thought I would prefer the tropical salsa-filled life of lowland México, but I can see myself living in a place like San Cristóbal, isolated in the mountains with a few hundred thousand friendly faces and lots of culture to boot. Our residence for the 5-day stretch was the coolest hostel I've ever stayed in: we met some of the friendliest people (or so we thought, until Ruthie's backpack was stolen a few days after I left) who shared food and such with us, and stayed in a not-quite-room with our new buddy, Steve, from Ireland (it was more of a cardboard-wall-type-structure, with a door that we accidentally broke by trying to shut, and a ceiling made out of tapestries). We visited the amber museum (Chiapas and Russia are the two places in the world to find quality amber!), the museum of Mayan medicine (mama & daddy - you'll find this stuff interesting when I come back and chat), climbed to the top of huge hills to visit the churches of the city, bought crazy-strong Chiapas coffee, ate Chiapas cheese (only the best cheese in the WORLD in my opinion), and shopped some of the best markets I've come across in Mexico (Christmas shopping!!!).

The best part of the San Cristóbal experience was a tour with my "uncle" Alejandro (Alex), to two of the neighboring pueblos, and throughout some very interesting areas of town... more on that later. The first pueblo we went up to was verrry interesting for their take on religion. Like 99% of Mexico, the people there consider themselves Catholic. However, since John the Baptist "came first," he is the central figure in their faith (not Jesus, as in most Christian faiths, nor Mary - la Virgen de Guadalupe - as in most of Mexico). They also took out the priest, as they didn't see his function, and the seating in the church - the floor is covered with pine needles, and the walls are lined with shrines to different saints. We witnessed a ritual by a local healer being performed in front of one of the shrines in order to heal an infant child.

The principle tools needed for this healing ritual? Coca Cola and Cerveza Sol (beer).
The method of healing? burping.
By provoking a burp with these beverages, the soul is cleansed and "bad energy" is let out, like sending prayers and spiritual healing out from the body.

In the second pueblo, Alex (the super-star of San Cristóbal's villages; he walks through the streets and every child from 2 to 15 years comes running asking for dulces and to play) brought us to María's house. She invited us into her traditional one-room house, where she quickly whipped up some hand-made tortillas on the fire, and along with beans and pox (a strong strong strong alcohol - one sip and you die! ...almost), and showed us some of her incredible textiles :) Great, great trip.

I'm getting a liiiitttle bit sleepy so the next part of this may be short and sweet and not nearly as entertaining - just to warn you. We did another over-night bus to Oaxaca Wednesday night, during which I surprisingly slept very well (we didn't have 4 screaming babies in front of us like the last bus ride - joy!). We spent the next four days in Oaxaca, exploring by day and celebrating the Day of the Dead (days...) by night, following and dancing with the street celebrations, enjoying the music, dance, and costumes around us - rather, being FORCED to enjoy, pulled in by the masked monsters who had a little too much mezcal in their systems (the Oaxacan cousin of tequila).

Oaxaca was beautiful, but by the end of the trip, we were all anxious to get "home" to Mérida. It was then that I realized that Mérida has become a home to me. I no longer feel like I'm abroad in someone else's country... México has become part of me, and I part of it.

The comfort lasted almost 24 hours. As soon as I arrived home, I found no lights, no water, and no people in my house, and quickly learned that I had to move - my family was tired of dealing with electrical problems and had decided to change houses themselves, so I was set up with a new family in Montecristo. The next day, I said adios and moved in with my NEW host family!

I just keep finding more family I never knew I had...