part 1: mexico
my apologies go out to those readers who have not yet visited the yucatan peninsula, because you are truly missing out. we love it so much that we took our third trip and revisited merida, as well as branched out to a few new sights.
we met up with friends from allegheny college, liz and j, and explored merida at a leisurely pace: wandering through museums and historical buildings, eating at the local market, and spending plenty of time in the myriad of parks throughout the city. we had an awesome time, and coy and i were thrilled to be back, this time as pseudo tour guides.
near to the plaza grande, historical buildings abound. i believe this is a side view of the catedral de ildefonso.
the inside of the palacio de gobierno is lined with murals by fernando castro pacheco, depicting the history of the region, as well as cultural scenes.
outside the palacio you might find anything, from a stagecoach to a volkswagon bug.
j and coy duck inside a doorway to avoid the rain...or sun.
the colors of merida...
the sun setting over a church just down the street from our hotel.
coy, j, and liz pose for a photo after a delicious mexican meal of tacos, tortas, y gringas pastor. oh snack food for dinner, how we love thee so!
random building on a random street in merida. there is beauty in the peeling paint...
from merida, we ventured to the archaeological sites of uxmal and kabah. while not quite as popular as chicen itza, uxmal is impressive in both layout and detail work. kabah is a smaller site not far from uxmal. the structures are not nearly as large and humbling as those at other mayan sites, but it’s worth a visit. we also had the opportunity to see a large archway here, which is said to have loomed over an ancient roadway connecting kabah to uxmal and chichen itza.
view of uxmal’s largest temple from inside an archway of another structure.
me and liz posing in front of the enormous central plaza of uxmal.
in front of the first structure at kabah, there was almost a burial ground of carved stones. not sure where they came from or what they mean, but they still looked pretty cool.
we packed up and headed to valladolid, a small colonial town with vibrant colors just oozing from the buildings, and mayan cultural tokens on sale everywhere you looked. valladolid has a certain charm to it, and is certainly a great place to relax and enjoy the moment. we only had the chance to spend one day here, but would gladly return. with several beautiful historical buildings, many gorgeous parks and churches, as well as a cenote (sinkhole) in the middle of town, valladolid is well worth the visit.
i didn’t even catch the name of this church, but it just looked so picture perfect with the palm trees framing it, that i just had to share this shot.
look closely...yes, reader, it’s subway. apparently they are taking a stance against the beloved mexican torta. personally, i don’t think they have a chance with the locals. and, indeed the man on the left selling snacks or whatnot from his cart...sponsored by pepsi. hehe...i would take a pepsi umbrella in that hot sun too.
this is the cenote just blocks from the center of town. it was partially covered by a cave and populated by so many bats and birds that the smell was a little overwhelming. the water was an unusual color of greenish blue, perhaps obtained by so many bird droppings. large black fish also attributed to an unfortunate discouragement for any hopeful swimmers.
part 2: other insanity
our COS (close of service) conference began a day after our return from mexico, so coy and i did our best to unpack, repack, and jump on a bus. cos conference was held in the lovely village of hopkins and peace corps really did it up by giving us super swanky accommodations. the conference served to help us plan for our last few months at site, complete all the necessary peace corps paperwork, and also plan for our futures in the states. it was also the last time our group would be together, as volunteers began finishing their service and leaving belize almost immediately following the conference. we had a great last hurrah, and our group bonded again...in all its dysfunction.
coy and i, however, found ourselves a bit detached from many of the sessions, since we will be staying here in belize until december. yes, folks, we have extended our service by a few months and will not be departing belize until just before christmas. we chose to extend in order to more fully prepare our current projects for sustainability as well as to try to line up our departure date with the dates for our potential transfer to another country. while we have been invited to another program, we are not quite ready to announce it on the blog yet. there are still a few more details to work out with the prospective country, and we just don’t want to jinx ourselves. more news on the next adventure in the near future!
immediately following the conference, coy joined several of our chess champs at sibun lodge for yet another chess adventure camp. joined with chess players from other districts, the kids enjoyed days packed with chess games, sports, swimming in the river, and team building activities. the final day they competed as two teams in an ultimate adventure challenge, which included rappelling down the side of a mountain, and forming a human chain of inner tubes floating down the river. needing a break from the hectic schedule, i opted out of this camp experience and therefore have no exciting photos to share.
coy had just about a week to unpack his bags and relax before we headed back to pennsylvania for a long overdue reunion.
1 comment:
It was great to see you guys too, Melissa! I'm so glad we got to share that experience with you! It was so much fun. Thanks for making time in your VERY hectic schedules for us!! Love ya! - Liz.
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