Yucatan 2007
Merida and Mayan Pyramids.
We planned our trip to study a week of Spanish in Merida and climb a flew Mayan pyramids in the Yucatan peninsula.
From the airport at Cancun we took a bus to the charming colonial town of Valladolid. We checked in to the Meson, an old hotel on the plaza,
where we had stayed 15 years ago. We enjoyed the tiles and bouganveilla and guitar music in their garden restaurant, fresh churros for dessert in the plaza
and had fun watching teens courting in Renaissance loveseats, ladies in dressy local embroidered huipil and a wedding in the cathedral. There was excitement
dodging the kids in bumper cars and watching the free easles and paint inspiring the young artists. We toured the Maya ruins of Ek Balam, the dark jaguar.
Then off to Merida, the capital of Yucatan which contains one third of the peninsula's population.
Merida's 400th Birthday
Merida was celebrating her anniversary and there were fireworks, marathons, and free music in the park.
Balloons in Merida Zocalo
New Year's Day, 2007. You can buy anything on the zocalo: clothes, toys, corn on the cob or avocado ice cream.
Convento of Izamal, 1562
Izamal is small and quaint, with horse and buggy for your taxi. Everyone dips into the same yellow
paint bucket for an entire color coordinated plaza of golden arches and not a MacDonalds in sight.
But the salbutes and panuchos were muy rico! The small town is dominated by the convento and a pyramid.
Lucely teaches the rebozo dance.
Our classes in Merida were small and fun with students from Canada and Australia as well as the USA. We brushed up our Spanish quite a bit and spoke it constantly for two weeks.
Meson de Valladolid, 1672
Definitely worth revisiting. The best food in town and excellent atmosphere and service.
Henequin or sisal was used all over the world for rope during the days of the sailing ship. Conditions of the workers was horrendous and one cause of the revolution in 1910.
After World War I, the hacienda owners lost their wealth as synthetic rope replaced sisal.
Uxmal
This Maya center for commerce dates from 500 CE and was rebuilt several times until the Spanish conquest, when it fell into disrepair.
Lord Iguana
Iguanas are food and entertainment and can be up to 4 feet long! This fellow is an Uxmal native.
Loltun Cave,
In Maya mythology, Loltun, a one mile cave, is one of the entrances to the underworld of Xibalba...
Hammock Weaving
Hammocks are still very much a way of life in the steamy Yucatan. Even modern houses have strong wall hooks for the hamaca, which are airy and comfortable in the summer.
Traditional Maya house.
Round on the ends and high in the middle, it is the typical Maya house, not Ohio.
Don Antonio, storyteller, Izamal
Don Antonio was most gracious when I tracked him down and introduced myself as a fellow storyteller. He told me local legends of ghosts and wicked women and sacred wells. We sang a song together in Spanish and he sang it again to me in his dialect of Maya.
Mamacita Gloria's Tortas
While studying Spanish, we lived with Gloria and her husband, Guadelupe. They were wonderfully friendly and her cooking was heavenly. She is famous in her neighborhood for the pork leg she marinates in orange juice and spices and cooks slowly all day. At night, she has a crowd of regulars for her tortas - spicy grilled sandwiches.
Merdia Plaza©Cathryn Tells All
cfair@monitor.net