Ek Balam revisited

Here are a few video that I got at Ek Balam

Extra pics

Here are some pics that have been shared with me by the kids.

 

             

Day 7 - Playa del Carmen

 

Day 6 - Zaci and Ticuch

The cenote Zaci is a basically a large cave filled with water located smack dab in the center of Valladolid. Many of the kids commented how strange it seemed to have such an amazing natural wonder in the middle of town. The truth is that Valladolid is built on the bones of an ancient Mayan city. Every Mayan city had at least one large cenote located nearby as a source of water for the people (there are not rivers in the peninsula). 

We had a great time there.

Later we traveled out to a small village called "Ticuch" to visit a family that are old friends of mine. 

 

I have known Juan and Lucia for 14 years and have visited them often. They are a traditional Mayan family who speak and live Mayan traditions. They have many children and you can see that they care about each other very much. They were married when Lucia was very young (in her mid-teens) and Juan was in his 50's. When I first met them they were a very humble family with lots of mouths to feed and Juan had to work long, long days to provide for the family while Lucia did the same, caring for Juan and the children. Now however, the girls are grown and have families of their own. They all work to provide for each other and now have quite a large income. 

The kids treated the family with respect and it made me glad to see that. They played with the kids, made tortillas and put up with listening to Juan tell stories that had little to no meaning. I feel that it was a beautiful experience that the kids won't soon forget.

  

 

 

 

Here's a short video of Juan that we took. It was a great visit.

Day 5 - Ruins and Cenotes

Valladolid is my favorite place on the planet. It's surrounded by small villages that are full of Mayan speakers. Within some of those villages are hidden treasures that your average tourist is unable to explore.

1st - Ek Balam. Situated in the jungle outside of a small village called "Temozón" are the ruins of Ek Balam. They are larger than Chichen Itza and not as well known. The price for entrance is low and, for now, they allow you to climb prett much anywhere you want on the ruins. The steps are steep and the buildings are high.

 

 

 

 

 

After our visit to Ek Balam we went to the small village of "Dzitnup" to visit a cave known as "Xkeken". Xkeken is an underground cenote where people can go and swim and have a good time. I don't have pictures for you because it's too dark to take them but I have some beautiful video that I will upload later.

Day 4 - On to Valladolid

We left Mérida today and got ready for a new town. Before arriving in Valladolid we stopped in the beautiful town of Izamal. The entire center of town is painted yellow and the convent is extremely photogenic.

 

 

 

 

The town was a Mayan village before it was conquered by the Spanish and there are remnants of ruins all over.

 

 

 

 

Later we drove on to Valladolid and to an amazing hacienda to eat. We discovered a creature there who was unfriendly to humans.

 

Posting

Doing my best! Not working!

Day 3 - More Mexican food?

After kayaking through the Mangrove trees today everyone was wiped out. Even the guides could see it on the faces of the kids as they paddled. As Ana and I spoke about what we were going to do with the rest of the afternoon we decided that a visit to the Mayan Museum would probably be best because it wasn't physically taxing and it was air conditioned.

 

 

 

 

For these 3 evenings we have eaten at some very nice restaurants. All of them have been anxious to show us how great the Yucatecan food that they prepare is. I think every student will tell you that it's delicious, especially the soups. The only problem we are encountering is that each restaurant has served us more or less the exact same things and the kids are getting tired of it. I'm going to have to tell Ana to make sure to tell the restaurants to serve is something new.

 

This was our last night in Mérida. It has been a wonderful place to visit and I think the students have had a pretty cool cultural experience. On several nights I have stayed out with part of the group until 1 AM, eating and relaxing in the parks. The city is so alive at night and I didn't want the kids to miss out on that aspect of the culture. The kids who chose to stay out will tell you all about the night life of the city.

 

From dinner last night

Everyone agreed that it was delicious! We were stuffed, though! Sopa de Chaya to start, and then tamales, panuchos, relleno negro topped off with a strange dessert called camote that no one appeared to enjoy.

If you happen to get in contact with your children, please advise them to drink water! I don't think they're used to this sun. Yes it's hot, but the humidity is what is sucking the life out of them. They have to keep hydrated and the caffeine is not helping!

Kayaking through the Mangroves

Today we kayaked through the mangroves and it was amazing. It was very tiring and the guides told me afterwards that we actually went on a very advanced trip so the kids should be proud of themselves for making it through all the way. On top of the difficulty of learning how to kayak, each student had to deal with how to get through the mangrove tunnels without getting stuck.

We just finished with lunch and will be off to explore the Mayan Museum shortly.

Just FYI: some of our travelers are experiencing some abdominal discomfort. Completely normal for first time (legitimately authentic) Mexican food. I have advised them to suck it up.

Day 2 - El Mercado

So today we went to the very large market and were able to walk around and smell, taste and purchase all kinds of interesting things. We tried, Guaya, Guanabana, Mango, etc. Some of the students tried an interesting fruit today known as "Pitaya". It looked good to them so they pointed it out. We bought quite a few of them for around $1.50 and gave them a try. The described their flavor as kiwi-like, but with less flavor.



The market is extremely busy and beautiful. At first glance it appears very chaotic but the more you walk around it you realize that it's actually quite organized. There's a section for flowers and another for meat and another for technology, etc.

Some of the kids stumbled upon the sea food section and were quite surprised.



A few of the kids said that the fish was so fresh that a few times they saw them flipping and flopping around.

We had the chance to buy hammocks and many kids took advantage of that opportunity.

Jade bought a "Makech". The makech is a beatle that wanders around these parts. The people, noticing the long and clingy legs of this insect, decided to decorate it with jewels and wear it on their shirts as a strange sort of live broach.



Unfortunately her makech wasn't as clingy as she hoped and when someone accidentally bumped her, the beatle fell and was gone forever. It was pretty brave of her to try it on and buy it, though. The look a little creepy.



After an AMAZING dinner we marched down to the parque central and spent time hanging out there and enjoying the culture late into the night.


I'm sorry that I'm not updating this more frequently but the service here is atrocious and the wifi is quite bad also. It's 2:12 AM not and I'm going to give it a try.

Day 1 - Arriving in Mérida

What a long day! I know that many of the kids barely sleep at all. It's tough to sleep on a plane, but many were successful sleeping on the bus. After the flights arrived on time and without incident we met Ana Maria and Our bus driver, Felipe, and headed for Mérida. The bus ride was long; about four hours. But we had a good time chatting and staring out at the jungle. We even stopped and explored for a moment.

 

We arrived in late and after stopping at an exchange house we went directly to the restaurant "El Prospe del Xtup". 

 

The food was delicious and they definitely gave us way too much. We are the traditional Mayan meals "pok chuk" and "panuchos".

 

 

Afterwards we had an odd dessert known as "el Caballero pobre".

 

Then it was off to the hotel. 

 

 

I have video that I would love to share but at the moment I'm having technical difficulties with the wifi and my laptop.

I could tell that the kids were impressed with Mérida. I heard lots of talk about how cool it was. I'm so excited for tomorrow! The kids were great today and I can tell that this is a good group of responsible young adults.