Rivaling the Romans

Today we went to Dzibilchaltun. Say it how ever you want because I have no idea. It's Maya and I think I would do better to just to hear it and not try to work out how in the world you pronounce this. It is one of the smaller Mayan people ruins. The Dzibilchaltun Mayan lived there. So here are some photos. The guide talked about a few things, but it was so hot that really, I can't remeber a thing besides the fact that Im tired.




This picture is the templeo de los seite munecas, I believe. (There should be a mark above the 'n', fyi), or the seven dolls. Don't wonder or ask because I have no idea. The temple is the orginal building. The steps and older temple walls were excavated away to should the inner temple. The Mayan people for the majority just kept adding layers to their temple over hundereds of years, so the archeologists have to determine which layer to keep.

Most of the other ruins were dilapated buidings such as palaces, ball courts, etc. Also we were able to swim in a cenote, or sink hole. The water is amazingly clear and refreshing.






Later we went to Progreso, and had lunch at my senora's beach house. It was great. Burned. Badly burned. Didn't think I could actullay burn that bad, but it happened. And now Im off the bed.




Chao!

Cinco de..¿qué?

It's Cinco de Mayo.....and it's anti-climatic. No fiestas, no celebraciones. Nada. The children don't have to go to school tomorrow though in celebration of it. Some of the classes at the university were cancelled, too. Of course not ours. We are Americans, we don't celebrate the holiday. Shameful because the celebrations in America are much bigger than the ones here. During school we learned about Mesoamerica and the common characteristicas of the different civilizations. Our teacher attempted to explain that the gods really aren't gods and that they exist in statues, in the rain, in the sun, etc. We kept trying to understand, but it was declared a failure. We also learned about the calendar system, writing system, and their agriculture. These two hour long classes can be hard to concentrate in for that long, especially at seven o'clock in the morning. But I hang in there. However, I have determined that the Maya are very comparable to the Chinese, very different in different regions and sometimes it is really difficult to understand their way of thinking since I was raised with a Western point of view.



Tonight we went to the weekly cultural fiesta en la Plaza de Santa Lucia. It was awesome. There were singers yucatean, dancers, etc. A lot of people showed up including the usual mexicanos and then the tourists. Tonight I discovered that the lack of care of the city is made up in the culture. The people really value their culture through the arts such as music and handicrafts. I really could get used to this.



Yesterday, I was in a shop looking at postcards and such and the owner came up to me asked started talking in Spanish, sometimes they just go straight for the English. In the middle of our conversation, he asked if I was Mexican. I said yes, and then told him I was joking. He laughed. I guess though, Im doing something right to at least have them question where Im from. Right?

Do you see, what I see?

Later this afternoon, a group of us went down to el Centro. Here are just a few things we saw.



The oldest cathedral in the Americas is in Merida. When we went inside, they were having mass, so I really didn't see anything except the bapistry here. The saints are made of porcelain, I believe. In comparison to the ones in Europe, it isn't very old, but more people attend mass.




Across from the cathedral is a park. There were a number of Mayan people selling their goods. Some of the stuff was very pretty and most of it appeared to be hand-made, but one never really knows down here what goes on.

Then we just walked around. We stopped at a sorbete place. I tried the zapote. It is a fruit here. Not really big into fruit, but so far here, things have been good. The mangos are really sweet and this zapote fruit was good, too, at least in sorbete form.




Finally, many of the building here are different colors. Bright colores. Like this building they stick out. There are greens, reds, blues, and of course yellows. It is quite different from the US, where buildings are generally gray, black and brown. They paint them here to absorb the sunlight, and not have it reflect off into the eyes of people.

When All Else Fails.....There is Wal-Mart

Yesterday, my roommate Michelle and I went to find an alarm clock. There is a supermacado near our house, so we went there first. Actually we went to a fabric show, first, and I fell in love. The fabric (tela) is really cheap here. Como muy barato!! i couldn't believe it. I just might be bringing back a suitcase full of fabic. Who knows!!

So went to the supermacado. There were a lot of things, but no alarm clocks. There are more supermercadas than in Spain, but there are still a lot of speciality shows. So now..we looked at each other and said where to?. Well....instead of looking in several shops and actually asking the local people where to find an alarm clock, we just got lazy. So off to Wal-Mart we went. Lame, I know.

It was very similiar to the ones in the US except instead of beating out Smiths, Kroger and others, they try and beat out the local "Mega" store, which is actually bigger than Wal-Mart. The store was divided into one section of clothing and the other for the regular stuff. The two sections don't connect either as we discovered.

Luckily we were able to find some ghetto alarm clocks, and other supplies such as baby wipes, washcloths, bananas, and bread, which white bread is about three dollars a loaf here because no one eats it. But there are a thousand variety of tortillas, cooking oils, and milks. Neither the milk nor the eggs are refrigerated though. Figure that one out.



This is the aisle of all the cooking oil brands. All of the shelving was oil. No jokes.





So the Wal-Mart was cleaner and the people actually were helpful and knew where things were located. However, sorry to disappoint, there was one or two check-out lines open, so the check-out process still was slow. Some things are just global.

As soon as I find a converter for my camera, then I'll be able to post some pictures.

Chao from Mexico!

Hailing the Buses

Yesterday us four roommates just roamed around and tried out the bus system, which (ps)es un poco loco. There are bus stops, but you can also just hail a bus from anywhere....like the middle of a street. Yesterday we were trying to all get on a bus, but got on the wrong one. So our senora told the driver to stop. He stopped in the middle of the road and let us off. Then we were crossing the street to get to another side. However, we stopped on the medium mid-way through. I asked why did we stop. Senora said, Oh we are waiting for the bus here. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD!?!?!?! I really couldn't believe it, but we did it. Then we saw the bus way off in the distance, stopped. We started walking towards it. She kept yelling wait, wait, wait. So the driver waited. Lack of order, I tell ya. Some of things that happened, like this one, just totally blow my mind. I never would have dreamed I would be in a situation like that. So i guess my study abroad is doing its job.