Tulum

Went to the ruins today - I was the first person in line as I wanted to take pictures before the hoards descended - good idea except apparently Sunday is the day that the locals go. I will try tomorrow again if it is sunny - this morning it was cloudy and I would like another chance without clouds. The ruins are interesting but mostly because of the view of the sea. Tulum was abandoned 75 years after the Spanish conquest so is 'relatively' new, however it was built during the decline of the Maya empire so is not near as awesome architecturally as other ruins.
Partied last night with others at the hostel and will probably do so again tonight. Tommorow I am going to Puerto Morales - It is only 20 minutes from the airport so I might be able to avoid the cancun city all together.

To Quote My Favorite Person, ``Yikes´´

I arrived here in Tulum at noon and found a hostel near (1 km from) the beach - I thought with a population of 7,000 this would be a quiet tranquil town - oops. I ate lunch near the hostel and paid 30 pesos for a beer - the most ever on this vacation. Tomorrow I go to the ruins and then Monday I am getting the hell outa here - not sure where, but if I am going to pay that much for a beer I damn well better be on a beach.

hmm, maybe not the brightest thing I´ve done...

I traveled from the border to Comitan to San Cristóbal de las Casas to Ocosingo to Palenque by colectivo - why not continue???
This morning I got up and left at 7:30 for Playas de Catazajá by colective - very easy as the place was 2 short blocks from my hotel. 15 pesos and about 30 minutes later I was at the intersection of the highway that runs from Villahermosa to Campeche. I only wanted to go as far as Escárcega on my way to Tulum. Que problemas. It was the end of the road for the colectivos - aparently they don´t run everywhere. I had to wait 2 hours to catch a 2nd class bus to Chetumal which took 8 hours to get to. I still lack 4 hours.
Chetumal however is a very nice town - I am a little surprised by the number of gringos (europeans) here - I didn´t expect it from the lonely planet guide book - the number of gringos is proportional to the number of pages written about a given location (normally). It is a town of 130,000 with broad boulevards, nice shops etc - por eso fue necesario pagar 200 pesos por mi havitación.
tommorow I leave at 8:30 for Tulum.
no regrets - beat the hell out of traveling all night.
ciao

OK, its not quite the right song...

Its more of a love song (OK, its a love song) but it sort of sums up my feelings about traveling. Substitute the we for I and the love stuff for traveling and it sort of works.

I ate my ticket for tonight and am leaving tommorow morning by colectivo - heading towards Tulum (under the assumption that you can get there by colectivo) - but hey, you only live once and I may never pass this way again and to miss it by traveling by bus at night is just plain dumb.

Life, so they say, is but a game and we let it slip away.
Love, like the Autumn sun, should be dyin' but it's only just begun.
Like the twilight in the road up ahead, they don't see just where we're goin'.
And all the secrets in the Universe, whisper in our ears
And all the years will come and go, take us up, always up.
We may never pass this way again. We may never pass this way again.
We may never pass this way again.

Dreams, so they say, are for the fools and they let 'em drift away.
Peace, like the silent dove, should be flyin' but it's only just begun.
Like Columbus in the olden days, we must gather all our courage.
Sail our ships out on the open sea. Cast away our fears
And all the years will come and go, and take us up, always up.
We may never pass this way again. We may never pass this way again.
We may never pass this way again.

So, I wanna laugh while the laughin' is easy. I wanna cry if it makes it worthwhile.
We may never pass this way again, that's why I want it with you.
'Cause, you make me feel like I'm more than a friend. Like I'm the journey and you're the journey's end.
We may never pass this way again, that's why I want it with you, baby.

We may never pass this way again. We may never pass this way again.
We may never pass this way again. We may never pass this way again.

tengo sed
hasta pronto

Palenque

Some pictures from the ruins of Palenque - I enjoyed them more than the ruins in Copan Honduras but not as much as Tikal. Definitely worth it even if there were too many tourists.
















I bought my bus ticket today for tommorow to go to Tulum which is by the beach and is very near some ruins which are basically on the beach I guess - I am taking a second class bus (250 pesos vs 470 pesos) but it has no bathroom - the ticket guy said it stops 4 times so shouldn´t be a problem - its an 11 hour ride and leaves at 7:30 pm - it really sucks because you don´t see the country side - but its too far to try and go by colectivo in one day - or is it?? maybe I will get up in the morning and just go... well with the ticket I have the option.
Thank god for air conditioned internet places....

In the words of Jenny Owen Youngs

...what the fuck was I thinking....
I started my vacation in Quito with an elevation of 9,200 feet and now I'm in Palenque with an elevation of 270 feet. Hot and muggy, people really pay big bucks to sweat - I am not sure I get it, can I head back to Guate???? I am staying in a decent place with private bath, small patio, ceiling fan and its quiet for 120 pesos. I plan to go to the ruins tommorow. The ride here from Ocosingo was awsome - a tad over 2 hours for 40 pesos and the views were awsome. This part of the country is heavily forested and hilly. The road was narrow and curvy - not for Deb or Ang, but it was beautiful.
Tengo sed.

Monday

I forgot to mention that I didn´t realize until 8 pm last night that the time zone is different in México than in Guatemala - oops, good think I wasn´t traveling by bus.
Going to bed at 3 am is not recommended, but I was up at 8 am. Had coffee and chatted with the guy from México last night and a gal from España until 9am. Then went to the bank - the first bank had a line over a block long outside the bank (no exaggeration) and the second one was packed inside, so I said screw it and went back to leave.
Took a colectivo to Ocosingo. Left at 9:30 and got here at about 11:30 I think. 40 Pesos. The way the colectivos work is they wait till they are full and then they take off - this was a 13 passenger van. The countryside is beautiful - heavily wooded with hills and small pueblos. It is a very poor area but I believe rich in resources which had something to do with the Zapatista revolución.
Found a cheap place here (60 Pesos) - it is very simple and I don´t think I would stay again - I guess its better to pay a tad more.
Ocosingo is small (30,000), much hotter than San Cristóbal and I don´t think they see many tourists - however a guy from Wisconsin sat down next to me in this internet place - small world. I payed my 237 pesos at the bank, but the gal was perplexed as what to do - it got figured out (I think) or at least I am 237 pesos poorer.
Off to lunch and a siesta.

Sunday In San Cristóbal del las Casas

Yesterday I walked around a lot, read some and listened to music in the park. There was a band that I listened to on the grandstand and later there was a family group - I bought a CD from them for 100 pesos.



I walked past a little place where they were grilling a ton of chicken - it smelled really good. So I went back at 12:30 to ask if it was just to go or if I could eat there - although there was a table she said it was just to go. I said lastima and then walked across the street - the other lady inside (owner maybe) yelled for me to come back and said I could eat - I had a half of chicken, rice, tortillas and a grilled jalopeña for 35 pesos. I really think they don´t normally serve there but apparently I got lucky.





Last night and Saturday night I had dinner at the same hotel that Deb and I stayed at last year - I didn´t realize it until after I ordered my dinner - its to bad because I am still angry at them. Last year when we stayed there they had a wedding reception that lasted until the wee hours of the morning and the rooms surrounded the dinning area - which meant we couldn´t sleep and I had the flu - I get pissed just thinking about it.

Last night at the hostel I talked and drank until 3 in the morning with a guy from Uruguay, a gal from France (fluid in Spanish), a brother and sister from Puebla (México) and a gal from Texas (she really was rarely in the conversation since her Spanish was so poor). Most of the conversation was in Spanish and I fared OK - unless they were talking between themselves, then I would get lost. Sometimes Alejandra (girl from México) would talk to me in English and I to her in Spanish - an odd conversation to say the least.

Huehue to San Cristóbal de las Casas

I left yesterday (1 day late). Carlos drove me to the terminal (actually the main drag near the terminal) and I caught a bus to La Mesia. La Mesia is the guatemalan border town near México. I borderd the bus at 10:18 am and was walking across the border at 12:30 (Q 15 for the buss). Once across the border it was a 10 peso colectivo for the 4km to immigration.
I believe its $1 US for 11 pesos, but the bastard only gave me 10 to the dollar - I only traded $40 cuz I knew I was being ripped off, but I needed pesos.
Went through immigration, I still need to go to the bank to pay my 237 pesos for my tourist card - which will never be looked at by anyone. From there I took a collectivo to Comítan (25 P) and then another to San Cristóbal de las Casas (30 P). 2 government checkpoints on the first leg and one on the 2nd. They searched the van on the first but not anyothers and the last one he walked through the bus and only asked me if I was from the states.
I got to Comítan about 2:20 and San Cristóbal de las Casas about 4:15. I am staying in a nice hostel (private room with bath and hot water) for about $9 US per night. They also have free internet and coffee.

A Day In The Life Of The Kids

Most of the kids go to school. In Guate if you move in the middle of the year you are screwed - you ´lose´ the year. I think if you miss the first week its done, thus the kids that come to the orphanage from Jan to Oct have to wait till the next year. This I have deduced from my observations - I have never talked to a guatemalteco about this so I could be wrong. There is also no special ed so some of the kids don´t go to school with behavior or learning problems. The kids that go to school usually go from 7:30 - 12:30. There are also 4 kids that go to school at night - they go from about 7 till 9.

The kids have a tremendous amount of responsibility - there are 4 or 5 employees working in the main orphanage and 1 in the cafeteria (cafe run by the fundación to earn money). For instance Graciela (one of my favorites) works with the girls 4 - 7 years old (not sure exactly the age group -that is a guess). She has one other girl that works with her - they are responsible to get them up, showered, dressed, to breakfast, teeth brushed, etc, etc. They live with them in a big dorm room - right now Graciela told me there is only 7 kids but sometimes there is as many as 15. Graciela is only 15 and has been doing this for 4 years. She acts as if its no big deal - its like kid having the responsibility of taking the trash out once a week - no big deal (but in the states many kids would find a reason to bitch about it). Everybody works and I have never seen anybody complain about what they have to do.


Graciela's room - this is where the kids keep their clothes - they might share everything








Notice Esperanza has her monkey (note earlier post about the ferria)
















The girls making tortillas.













































The younger kids never leave except to go to school and the older girls get to leave occasionally. Graciela says she can leave on Sunday afternoons and checks her email. The thing that continually amazes me is the lack of complaining and how they seem to get along - they have a tough life but maybe they look at how lucky they are to be where they are when the alternative is so much worse.


Reyna Guadalupe and her cat - well I think all 5 of the cats she claims.

A Day In The Life Of Me

I am in San Cristóbal de Las Casas in Mexíco and am reflecting on the last 4 weeks. Several people have asked why I haven´t posted much. Well my normal day is the same as the last.

I get up at 5:50 am to shower on the off chance that there is water. It works like this - if I get up at 6:30 there is no water but there was at 6:00 - if there is water at 5:50 AND I get up the water is still on at 6:30 - I can´t win. And to make matters worse Carlos and Shirley are getting a deposito (rooftop water storage tank) installed this week - sure as hell didn´t help me. Anyway, after my shower I go back to bed till around 7:00, then I get up eat breakfast and leave for school around 7:30. It is about a 15 minute walk to the school.

I usually get to school 15 minutes early and chat with Yesi. She is one of the teachers and lives at the school and is one of my altime favorite people. School is from 8 to noon give or take. Usually we start a little late but with Yesi, Sheny (the director) and Otto (Sheny´s husband) it is school wherever you are - we can be drinking beer at 11 pm and they will be correcting my spanish. In other words when we start late its really lessons with 3 or 4 teachers. We usually take about a 30 minute break at 10:30 but again during the break I have more than 1 person correcting my spanish (unless I am cheating and talking in English to another student).

I usually leave school around 12 to 12:30 and head home. Usually I stop and check my email on the way home and get there by 1 pm. I then eat lunch and am usually done by 2 pm. Lunch is usually the biggest meal of the day. After lunch I head back, check my email and see how badly my tigers are doing and then head for the fundación salvación. I usually spend 2 to 3 hours there leaving between 5 and 6.

On the way home I often stop at the restaraunt margarita near the fundación for a cold beverage, check my email one last time and then stop at the tienda closest to my house. Gloria and Ruben are the couple that own the place and then I spend up to a hour in their houses chatting and having a couple of beers. Having friends like Gloria and Ruben make it all worth while learning spanish.

I usually get home around 7 pm and we eat dinner around 7:30. After dinner I go out and have a couple of beers in a restaraunt and read or in a bar and chat. Then its home, chat with Carlos for 10 or 15 minutes and then to bed.

Thats it, a typical day for me in Guatemala