Valladolid, Chichen Itza and Merida

After checking out the beach one last time in Cancun, I boarded a bus westward for Valladolid. I stayed with two American sisters working as paid English teachers at several different schools in the town. It was interesting to see a reverse migration of what you normally think of when it comes to Mexico and the United States. Andrea has been teaching English in Mexico for almost four years, and says that after accounting for living costs her salary as a teacher here is 12% higher than in the US. Maybe that says something about the American education system, I don't know.

The following morning I headed out early for the Mayan Ruins of Chichen Itza. Frugal traveller that I am, I opted to by a guide book rather than higher a real life guide, which to be fair is actually quite expensive for one person ($40 minimum). Fortunately, I met another American teacher in Valladolid who is crazy about the Mayan culture and says he would love to go with me next time and explain everything. I am planning to head there again in a couple weeks on my way back to Cancun to meet Robin and Mohini.

 

Pyramid of Kukulcan. During Spring Equinox and Autumn Solstice the sun projects shadows onto the sides of the stares, forming the silhouettes of serpents almost 40 meters long which terminate at the stone serpent heads at the bottom of the staircase.

Part of what is believed to have been a marketplace. Stone pillars supported roof (now decomposed).

The court where a game was played in which participants had to get a rubber ball through a stone hoop using only their hips, elbows and knees. A member of the loosing team would be killed afterwards. Apparently the acoustics are so good that you can hear someone talking at the other end.

There was a tradition of building new structures over top of old structures such that the original building remained intact within the new one. In this case an early explorer decided to dynamite a whole in the side, just in case there was gold within.

Many of the local modern day Maya make their living selling carvings, t-shirts and other paraphernalia to tourists. Apparently they are going to loose the right to sell merchandise on the actual site soon.

After an exhausting day at Chichen Itza, I caught the bus to Merida where I met my new host Luis. Luis is awesome. He studies mechatronics engineering, is always smiling and is just generally a great guy. We also share some common interests, namely photography and Starcraft, so that has made things easy. Although Luis speaks a fair bit of English, most of his friends do not. There were a bunch of people over on the weekend and it was fun to attempt communication. Even with Luis, I try to speak to him in Spanish as much as I can, and he tries to practice his English in return. In reality our conversations end up being 75% English and 25% Spanish (or something I'd like to think is Spanish).

Luis.

Although I have been surprised by how westernized things are here, I think the real differences are below the surface. One of the trucks in Luis's father's transport business recently crashed and a lot of money was needed to pay for damages and to bribe police. His father borrowed from the extended family to deal with the crisis, and now Luis and his siblings are trying to find ways to help their parents. His brother and sister will help him pay for his rent and food, and Luis hopes to pick up odd jobs doing computer repair. I told Luis that this kind of extended family support structure rarely exists in Canada.

Luis's street.

Historical centre of Merida.

Beautiful, despite the addition of Burger King.

I started Spanish classes today. Oddly enough, I'm the only student at the school this week so I have my own private tutors. This is good in the sense that hopefully I will learn a lot, but bad in that I'm not exactly making a lot of friends. Either way, the first day was exhausting. I have to bus and walk for about an hour just to get there, and then it's four hours of grammar and conversation. Some sort of caffeinated beverage will need to be in the works for tomorrow.

My Spanish school.

Tomorrow evening I leave Luis's place and head to stay in a nearby neighbourhood with Sarie, an architecture student, and her sister. She speaks almost no English, so communication is about to get a whole lot more interesting.

First Stop: Cancun

Cancun generally conjures up images of drunk American college students on spring break. Not too far from the truth, Cancun is a huge tourist centre and there is an entire section of the city called the Zona Hotelera where no one actually lives, but everyone goes to work. The rest of the city is pretty real though, and now during the low tourist season, seems to be fairly devoid of tourists.

After surviving the tourist traps at the front of the airport and making my way to the end of the platform where the regular buses are, I purchased my ticket to the downtown and boarded. I was struck by how many American retail giants operate in Mexico, including Wal-Mart, Starbucks and Home Depot. The humidity hit me hard and I was reminded of my first day in Ghana before I adjusted to the weather. The buildings also reminded me a little of Ghana: low rise, concrete boxes with flat roofs (no snow loads here!).

After checking out the downtown a bit, I grabbed a taxi (paying almost double what I should have) and headed to the address of my host, Hector. Hector is in his late twenties and works in marketing and customer service for one of the local hotels. His two roommates are both cooks in the Zona Hotelera. They have a very nice condo about 4km south of the downtown and a dog named Eto.

I brought some maple syrup and made pancakes.

Shortly after arriving, Hector and I took the bus to the Zona Hotelera, grabbed a couple cervezas at the convenience store and proceeded to the beach. Never having been to the Caribbean, I was amazed by the perfect sand (imported from Caribbean Islands after hurricane Wilma removed the previous beach) and the beautiful blue of the water.

The beach. Erosion is an ongoing issue.

In the evening Hector told me that a friend of his had gotten free tickets from another friend who worked at the Coco Bongo club in the Zona Hotelera. Hector informed me that the Coco Bongo is legendary and that tickets normally cost upwards of $80. In the interest of journalistic excellence, I decided I had better see what all the fuss was about. Although in my opinion not worth $80, it was an experience none the less and I think certainly an important part of what Cancun is. The night included an open bar, frequent confetti drops and dry ice explosions, a dance floor and a cabaret-style show with elaborate costumes, acrobatics, singing and dancing.

"The Matrix" portion of the show.

Fearing a manufactured tourist mecca, I was tempted to plan on getting as far away from Cancun as quickly as possible. I'm glad I decided to spend a couple nights here though. Not only has it been a lot of fun, but it's been interesting to get to know the people who are employed in the tourism industry here. Hector and his roommates do quite well for themselves and sometimes take their own vacations to all inclusive resorts in Cuba or other countries. As college educated, single men they obviously represent something of a bias sample, but I was still a little surprised how at home they were with everything. I asked Hector if he ever found all the tourists annoying, but it didn't seem like something he'd really thought much about. I guess all the foreigners and their full service hotels just become a natural part of life. It might take me a little longer to get comfortable with the idea...

Tacos. Only significant because they were my first.

Adios New York. Hola Mexico!

Taking full advantage of the free wifi in JFK airport, I thought I'd write a little about the adventure so far. I left Winnipeg on a dingy, three-times-a-week bus bound for Minneapolis and three weeks later I'm sitting at the airport gate about to get on a flight to Cancun, Mexico.

In Europe I discovered what I find to be the most rewarding way to travel, not by staying in hostels with other travellers and spending the day visiting famous sites, but by staying with and getting to know local residents. CouchSurfing.org, a social network of people who love to travel and love to host travellers, provides this opportunity by connecting the two groups.

In Minneapolis my host Danika introduced me to her neighbourhood and took me on a bike ride through the city centre and its amazing bicycle facilities. Madison, Wisconsin was my next stop, where I stayed with Zack, a fellow engineering student who I met on exchange in Denmark. Finally I hopped a discount flight from Milwaukee to New York where Mohini had prepared a spectacular Indian dinner and invited friends over for her roommates going away party. I spent the next two weeks biking around Brooklyn, checking out free events in the city (there's a whole list everyday), making pasta salads, taking in a little of US Open Tennis and even seeing Madonna.

Danika, my host in Minneapolis

The house in Brooklyn

Madonna, shooting video on Broadway in Brooklyn

Manhattan, Brooklyn Bridge

Statue on free walking tour of Governors Island

US Open, womens doubles.

Friends at West Indian Day Parade, Brooklyn

West Indian Day Parade, Brooklyn

Hasidic Jews