|
MexiBlog
[Recent Entries][Archive][Friends][User Info]
Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in the "keith_in_mexico" journal:[<< Previous 20 entries]
|
04:50 pm
[Link] |
We're back
Well, we are.
|
|
01:31 pm
[Link] |
Odds and Endings
So, we went to Ek Balam two weeks ago tomorrow and I haven't mumbled word one about it. "It was pretty nice," how about that? I have to say, after all the build up, it really was a bit disappointing. Yes, there were ruins and some carvings that were well preserved (although I think they look more like they were well re-created...) But, we went with our friend Fernando and met two news friends, so that was nice. Also, we went to the Dzitnup cenote (underground swimmin' hole). The water was so freaking cold. It would have been refreshing if it hadn't started to rain just before we left Ek Balam to head there.
Last weekend we went to a benefit for an animal shelter with Bif and Liz, whom we met on our Ek Balam trip. It was an OK time and it helped out animals.
Only two weeks until I return; I am stressed and unfocused. I apologize. I'm going back to the house to play indoor soccer.
P.S. We have so much space that I've been using an empty front room for kicking a ball around. Good exercise, fun and childish. Three for three!
|
|
04:04 pm
[Link] |
The Rainy Season
Ladies and Gentlemen, it has begun. Drenching rains Friday, Sunday, Monday and a fair shower on Tuesday. It really changes life around here, moreso for some folks. My Monday afternoon class had one student. One. Out of six.
One of the absentees asked me on Tuesday (sigh, in Spanish)
"Was there class yesterday?"
"Yes, Rosie."
"But... it rained."
"Yes, I know."
"And you came... in the rain?!"
"I go to my job even when it snows."
*sound of head exploding*
But was it my head or hers? We may never know.
Current Mood:  exanimate
|
|
02:22 pm
[Link] |
Where'd those statues come from?
I had a wonderful experience Saturday that increased my affection for this city.
I was trudging along in the heat, running some errands and I decided to cross through the main square in the center of town. As soon as I put my foot on the first step, I felt there was something wrong. The atmosphere of the people was disturbed somehow. Then I looked up and thought "Who put those statues there?"
There were two statues, human sized, but a foot or so taller than average, made out of what appeared to be copper. Each was 10 feet or so from the other, with a strange box, resembling a narrow pyramid with the top lopped off, sitting between them. Both statues were wearing a cross between Muslim robes and Jedi vestments and were in a vaguely welcoming, vaguely threatening posture. Something somehow biblical. I wasn't sure why, but the statues struck me as, well, evil.
Then I saw the eyes. The whites were pure white, without a trace of any other color. Then I realized... I was out of time at the Internet!
CONTINUATION...
Then I realized that the eyes were human eyes. They weren't statues at all, but people with their faces painted copper and wearing copper colored clothing. The box between them was for donations. Every time someone dropped in a coin they would change position. After one donation, the statue on the right reached down to shake the man's hand. The hand extended his hand - and couldn't get it back! I plunked in five pesos and avoided eye contact on my way past. It was some of the best performance art I have ever seen and I hope they are there again this weekend so I can take pictures!
Current Mood:  excited
|
|
01:12 pm
[Link] |
The Waterman Cometh...
A saga was promised, and just like a (good) waterman, I deliver.
There are two major brands of water here in Mérida: Cristal and Electropura. As everyone who knows anything about Mexico knows - don't drink the water! So every house and business goes through several garafones (20 Liter jugs) every week. For the most part, these are delivered by the company.
When we moved into our house, we had Electropura service. There were empty EP jugs, so we just went with the flow (water pun!). Our delivery guy was very nice and it was always a pleasant experience to talk to him. Until one day, he brought along a trainee. Soon enough, just like Star Wars, the student became the master - except that "masterful" would be an ill fitting adjective for how he carried out his job. Our block was scheduled for Tuesday/Friday delivery. As we went though about one garafon a week and had two, we only needed deliverly once a week. This was good, as often our deliveryman would just skip us one time a week. Then, it became two times a week, and three times in a row. We had our neighbors call the company to complain of our slow death by thirst. They promptly sent out a truck... which had no garafones on it. Ah, of course; Mexican efficency. The man who parks cars on our street (Don Ernesto) asked what was going on. We told him, and I am pretty sure he had one of his friends carry two garafones to our house from the store. Very nice, but nothing at all to do with Electropura.
So Clarissa, who is working at Coca-Cola teaching English, tells this horror story to her class and they are more horrified than we were. Their jaws dropped and they asked with trembling lips "You drink Electropura?"
Turns out EP is a Pepsi product; Cristal a Coke one. They told Clarissa a man would be at our house at 10AM the next day to switch our garafones to Cristal free of charge. Of course, this being Mexico, he was 48 hours late. But, he did come and he did make the Big Switch. The next week we were not home when Cristal came by and they actually left us a note telling us of the next delivery time. Amazing. What would have been more amazing is if they had actually showed up then. But no. So we made a push to the next Tuesday, and with nothing more than a sheesh of water left, halleluah, the doorbell rings. Clarissa asks "Who is it?" and the response is "Waterman!" We open the door with glee only to find that yes, it is a waterman - the Electropura waterman. Oh, Lord.
Amazingly, unbelievably and incredibly enough... Cristal also came that day. And we haven't had any problems with our water since. Except that the Cristal water sometimes tastes a little funny...
|
|
07:43 pm
[Link] |
Ya terminaron las classes
Well, I didn't mention it beforehand, but Clarissa and I took some intense Spanish classes this week. In exchange for teaching 2 hours of English, we got to take 3 hours of Spanish every day this week. Wow. So, I taught class from 7AM to 9AM, cooled my heels for an hour or so, had class till 1PM, ate lunch, did my homework, taught from 5PM until 7 or 8 and then friggin' collapsed. Too much for one poor boy.
But I did learn things. A lot of things. Although mainly what I learned is how much is left for me to learn. I know a lot of grammar in Spanish, but the way the rules interact with each other is much more complicate than the rules themselves.
I'm not too happy with our teacher. Part of this is because I am a teacher and now what little mistakes to look for - missing a correction, mis-hearing a word, doing blatant time filling - because I do all of them, too. But, overall, she wasn't very focused and tended to be harsh in correcting mistakes. But her biggest downfall was her inability to clearly explain things. Part of this might be because we did not speak English in class. When someone didn't understand a word, it was explain in Spanish almost exclusively. This was good, but sometimes engendered more misunderstanding.
On the whole, I think it was a mistake to take the classes. They weren't worth the money. However, I am glad I made this mistake, for at least two reasons.
One is that the experience gave me valuable insight into my own teaching. It's bewildering to be in a classroom where your language is forbidden and now I can understand that more.
Also, it helped me formulate a philosophy of life (how grand!): I would rather make a mistake by doing something than by not doing something. Had I never taken the classes, I would have always wondered what they were like and if passing on them was a mistake. Now I know, and I much prefer knowing.
|
|
02:09 pm
[Link] |
Lazybones gets to work
Yah and verily, we have returned from Celestun. We had a very nice, short and mercifully cheap vacation. Celestun is only two hours away from Mérida, but it's so different. It's a sleepy little town that basically closes down outside of beach hours. So not a bad place to relax.
The first place we checked on to stay at was the Ria Celestun hostel and the asking price was 80 pesos flat for a private room. For those in the U.S., that's under 8 bucks. Not a bad price. And it's only after we check in that I realize... we're less than a block from the ocean. It was very nice falling asleep with the seabreeze coming in.
The beach itself is OK. It's no Riviera Maya, but the water was a heck of a lot nicer than Progresso. The wind got to be a bit much, though. Especially in the afternoon when it whipped the sand at your ankles like a million angry bees.
The highlight of the trip was by far the boat tour. Of course, we did have to wait about 2 or 3 hours for a large enough group to form, but it was worth it. We got to see all sorts of sea birds in their natural habitat, including the fabled pink flamingos. I prefered seeing the birds in flight. Sometimes they would fly right along next to the boat - even at the same speed. It gave a great opportunity to see the mechanics of flight. Very interesting.
Also nice was the petrified forest. The trees there were fed by an underground freshwater spring. That is, until the Gulf of Mexico invaded it and turned it to saltwater. The unwitting trees sucked up this poison and they're still standing there, stiff as stone, who knows how many years later.
The exact opposite of this site was the freshwater spring we saw. The water was so impossibly clear and beautiful, and bear in mind I'm not usually one for looking at water. Unfortunately, we didn't bring our bathing suits, so we were simply spectators. But that was pretty nice, as it was.
|
|
07:19 pm
[Link] |
Lazybones Takes a Break
Yes, tomorrow we are going on a very short vacation to Celestun - home of flamingos and dead trees. So, you would think when we get back I'm going to write about it. But really, how much writing have I done lately? I haven't even mentioned the coconut candy or the saga of the waterman. And now we even have water and all the coconut candy is rancid. Dear god and how. This lazybones needs a break.
|
|
02:10 pm
[Link] |
Bad blogger! Bad!
So, I know I haven't been posting much, but if it's any consolation: I haven't been doing much, either. Still trying to get into the new trimester's schedule, which is a bit rough as I have 7 hours of work Monday and Wednesday. This weekend should be interesting, as the NFL draft is happening and we're having friends over for a Mediterranean pot luck dinner/lunch (linner? dunch?).
One thing I wanted to mention about San Cristóbal and didn't get to:
Our last day there we were killing time in the main square and recouperating when a group of three kids run up with notebooks and pens and whine in Spanish "I need your name for my school." I decide, OK, maybe they're doing some kind of demographic survey for class, so what's the harm? But as I'm writing my name down in the book, I remember a very similar scam to this from the last time we were in San Cristóbal. The idea is there are four columns: name, country, age and donation. Donation? Yup. Most people feel guilty and don't want to look cheap. Me? Keith, USA, 26, $0. The girl says "What?" and I tell her she asked for my name and there it is. She then hands me back the pen and says "Erase that!" I get ready to cross it out and she says "You can't, the pen doesn't have an eraser." I make a frowny face and say "What a shame." She nods and mumbles agreement until I add "for you," and hand back the notebook. Let me just say, her range of curse words in English was impressive. Fortunately, I could match her blow for blow in Spanish and then finished off with a flourishingly formal "Have a nice day." I know I sure did.
|
|
02:31 pm
[Link] |
Down and Out in San Cristóbal
So, yes, we stayed. Mainly because it's a big hassle to switch hostels. You need to get up early and find another one with empty rooms, book the room, then walk back for your stuff. And there goes any chance of doing a day trip that day. So we stayed, but we also left: to go to the zoo at Tuxtla Gutierrez.
It took us several modes of transportation, but we finally made it to ZooMAT and it was all the was advertised as (i.e. "Mexico's best zoo" - Lonely Planet). Plus, it has a hook; all the animals in it are native to the zoo's state of Chiapas. This might make a boring zoo in Pennsylvania (although Clarissa argues otherwise), but it makes a very nice one in Chiapas. But there are so many animals in Chiapas and the zoo, it also made for a long day. When we finally got back to San Cristóbal we were zonked; dehydrated, I thought. But boy, howdy, I was wrong.
Long story short: turns out everyone in our hostel came down with a stomach virus. Apparently, the kitchen was none too clean. But here's the crazy thing: I talked to other people and nearly every backpacker in San Cristóbal got sick at the same time.
So, we were limping, ready to head home, but we had to recouperate a bit first. We did and then headed to the bus station to find out all the buses were filled that day. Oh, my. So we checked into the nearest place to the station to start killing our 27 hours till the next free bus. We were a bit anxious to get back because Artemis had escaped. Did I neglect to mention that? So, all in all not a terrific vacation. But, we're healthy, Artemis is back and, believe it or not, we had some fun and did some neat things while we were gone.
Now, it's back to teaching frickin' kids! :)
|
|
02:39 pm
[Link] |
The Returned
So, we're back from "vacation" and pardon the ironic quotes, but it took some time to get over this (here they come again) "vacation." Clarissa and I headed to our favorite place in Mexico so far, San Cristóbal de Las Casas. Well, the maladies started immediately as for the first time in her life, Clarissa got carsick. But who could blame her? The first time we went to San Cristóbal I vowed never to go back due simply to the tortuous mountain roads that must be traversed to arrive there. Well, those tortuous roads had their revenge for such a slight and Clarissa paid the price. Me? Well, I was lucky enough to make it nearly all the way to town before I came down with a cold. I had been fighting it for a long time and winning, but as soon as work was over I caught it or it caught me. Aren't I dedicated professional?
So, we were not functioning at full capacity when we arrived. Still, we made the best of it and found a pretty nice hostel and settled in. We made our way around town as much as my worsening cold would allow and Clarissa met some of the other wayfarers at our inn. In particular we got to know a nice Swedish couple who had been living in Nicaragua. Clarissa ended up going horseback riding with them, which was excellent as I am not up to three hours on an animal even on a good day. By this time, however, I was feeling better and we all four decided to go out for sushi. I know! Keith eating sushi; but I had tried it the day before (yes, vegetarian) and liked it, so we went back to our sushi bar (at an orchid garden of all places). We ordered so much we found out that if you buy 5 platters the sixth is free. Later, I also found out I am allergic to MSG. Yes, just as I was recovered from the cold, here comes a night of bowing to the porcelin god. The next morning we decided "Enough of this place" and decided to switch to a nicer (and much more expensive) hostel Clarissa had heard about from some Norwegian girls on the horseback ride.
So, off we went to the Casa di Gladys and I have to admit, it was beautiful spot and the beds were very comfortable. However, our first night one of the guests warned us about an employee, telling us not to take it personally if he got mad or acted strange. Well, long story short, he acted like 100% pure, undiluted asshole the very first night. On the plus side, I got some pratice arguing in Spanish. Anyway, we had a but of a dilemma - stay and enjoy the place, or leave the Head Jerk behind? Stayed tuned for the next episode...
|
|
04:56 pm
[Link] |
Pleasant Sunday
And ya, verily, it was.
Once again our trip to Ek Balam had been canceled. Bloody, but unbowed, we made our way to the market for panuchos or some such. But on the way we passed the Flor de Santiago coffee shop and receieved a heavenly sign: "Saturday and Sunday Brunch - $40 pesos". Yes, more expensive, but a great deal. We had:
Picadillo omlet
chorizo tacos
beans
hotcakes
squash tamal
french toast
bread
coffee
horchata
and maybe more... It was remarkable. Then we went home and conked the heck out. When we finally woke up we went to a Baseball party and ate more and talked. Then we visited our friend Daniel and... well, I didn't eat anymore. Clarissa, well... she didn't eat much more.
Sunday night was less fun, however, as the cats knocked over a (glass) bottle of ridiculously poisonous insecticide at 3AM. So, we were up washing kitty paws and scrubbing the floor. Finally, today the smell has subsided. PU it stunk!
We had a terrible storm yesterday - such incredible rain. It was especially shocking since it has rained approximately 0" since Christmas. We had leaks in the roof, pools on the floor, flickering and eventually knocked out lights. Honest-to-god sparks were shooting from the electrical wires above our house. Scary, but beautiful, too. Then we got even more rain today.
|
|
02:52 pm
[Link] |
All Creatures Great and Small
Clarissa and I volunteered at an Animal Rights spaying, neuturing and vacination thing yesterday. It was... an experience. It was nice helping the dogs and kitties, but I did see some things I wish I didn't see. Like what a cat looks like inside and how they put dogs to sleep. The best part was helping the dogs after their operation - they can't blink and they need to be limbered up so they don't get stiff. A newspaper reporter came and took several pictures of me while I was doing it, but they didn't make it into today's edition. There go my quince minutos of fame!
Clarissa and I nearly added a dog to our menagerie yesterday! I had spent an hour waking the fellow up and didn't see hide nor hair of his owner. So, I named the fellow Rusty, because it just seems silly to pretend a dog with no name is singing Elvis songs (and no, he didn't do "Hound Dog." That's way too trite for Rusty). The time came for us to leave and still no owner. So we told the people who were staying, let us know if no one comes for Rusty and we'll take him. But, supposedly, as we were leaving he was coming in and Rusty is fine. I don't know if I believe this, but there's nothing I can do. So I hope ol' Rusty is fine.
Saturday's exciting event was the purchase of a six pack of Gallo from Wal-Mart. No one knew it could be bought in Mexico, but Ben and Tracy sighted it and informed me. So, now I have 5 cans of it in my fridge. It's not exactly the same as the Guatemalan gold I'd drunk, but it's still pretty good.
Until later, then.
|
|
02:50 pm
[Link] |
Bad Weekend/Good Week
This weekend was a disappointment. Well, Sunday anyway. As I had mentioned, we were planning to go to Ek Balam with Carlos. Well, Saturday night he messages us and says he'll be a bit late for the 8 o'clock departure time. "How late?" we wonder. Oh, around 8 hours late. Now, there's a Mexican punctuality story for you.
The silver lining was that we would for sure not be late to see the free showing of "The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" at the Olimpo with our friend Isis. But, of course, she is forced to cancel and when we finally arrive, every seat is already occupied with an ass. What a Sunday!
But yesterday, oh my friends, yesterday we went to visit Isis at work. A quick bio is in order: Isis is a superfriendly (and yes, superbeautiful) girl I met at the library who speaks very little English. She gave us a standing invitation to see her at the cocina she works at. Turns out, it's also her house, because it's her family's restaurant. That was a surprise.
We got a large and delicious free lunch and got to meet the whole clan, all of whom are stunningly wonderful and nice. I have never felt more welcomed in a place in my whole life. I have to say, it's actually an odd feeling to an American who was raised on guarded, mostly mock hospitality. But, let me tell you, I got over the oddness and we can't wait to go back! And we got two hours of intense (INTENSE!) Spanish practice, to boot. Much fun.
Our second trimester is drawing to an end and our huge Mexico trip is beging to loom (I mean loom in a nice way). So today I began to writie out all the towns we want to visit. So far there are about 15 or 20 and I'm not even a third of the way through the travel guide yet! This is an amazing country.
I may have a chance to try a new kind of therapy for my aching hand. It's "natural acupuncture," meaning, er, acupuncture, but it's all natural. What makes it natural? They sting you with bees! Crazy, huh? But one of my student's husbands does it and he does it as a community service, i.e. it's free. So now if she'd only show up to class I could ask about it...
|
|
03:01 pm
[Link] |
Last weekend
Once again, I am a bad updating man.
Last weekend we actually went to see a movie, in a theater. It wasn't exactly a cinematic masterpiece ("Team America"), but it was a nice thing to do. Sunday we continued the entertainment by heading to the modern art museum and a play (yes, in Spanish). I was impressed how much of the play I understood. Granted, it was for children, but that's about where my level of Spanish is right now.
In other news, our favorite cocina economica moved... two doors down. Into a much larger and nicer building. No more sharing tables with crazy old singing ladies. Although I'm not entirely sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
Also, another building in our neighborhood is being remodeled. I think. They drilled holes in the sidewalk and put in long, rough wooden sticks and then nailed sheets of wood to them to block out the view of the building. But there sure is a lot of chipping noises coming from there. Huh.
Ek Balam this weekend and possibily some odd party. I promise to update!
|
|
02:32 pm
[Link] |
The Comings and Goings of Birds, pt. 2
So yesterday we had one of the coolest experiences I have ever had in my back yard, maybe in anyone's back yard. I know that's a bold statement, but I am prepared to back it up.
I was hanging out in the dining room, reading or whatnot, when I hear a commotion in the yard. I jump up, thinking it's something after my chicks and Clarissa says "It's just a bird." "Huh," thought I, "that's a lot of noise for a bird." But I suppose a bird can make a lot of noise when it's a goddamn huge vulture perched in your backyard (!). It was so amazingly cool. We got some pictures of it which I will post whenever I post pictures. Also, he gave me some advice about White Vulture: "Use your wings more, but don't flap as much." Yeah, I didn't understand it either, but when a vulture talks, I listen.
As for the goings, it seems both our chicks have gone. To where... I don't know. I went to look for them this morning and they were just gone. The coop was unopened and untampered with as far as I could tell and there were no bird bits laying around. The only thing we can imagine happened is that somehow they both squeezed out of a small crack in the coop and in doing so made themselves breakfast for an eater that enjoys the whole bird. It's pretty sad and I think it marks the end of the chicken experiment.
|
|
02:54 pm
[Link] |
The Comings and Goings of Birds
Monday saw us purchase two new birds - Knuckles and Blackie. Clarissa originally had named Knuckles "Youngin," but I pointed out that that was a sissy name. You see, Youngin wasn't the healthiest looking chick and I thought she needed help. So, I gave her a tougher name and a pep talk. But despite my efforts, Knuckles/Youngin passed in the night. Blackie, however, continues to do very well and is forming a nice bond with Sweetpea. They are two cute little birds. Hopefully they will soon be two cute big birds and keep us safe from scary arachnids.
Off to class, then off to celebrate both Ben and Louise's birthday(s). They're birthday buddies!
|
|
01:08 pm
[Link] |
Keith brings home two hot chicks from Carnaval
And I did, too. And it was even Clarissa's idea!
But before we get those purient interests riled up, I ought to mention I mean chicks in the dictionary definition way: baby chickens. Clarissa's been talking about wanting to raise chickens in the future for a long time and this week we found out our friend Louis´ wife is raising some. He told us that chickens in the yard work like gangbusters against the scorpions we've been seeing and, hey, free eggs, too. So we went to the market Saturday and bought ourselves two little chicks, currently named (by me) Sweetpea and Snuggles. We drilled some holes in an old cat litter bucket and made them a nest. The cats are terrified of the strange noises produce by the birds. It's really quite amusing. Although not as amusing as when the chickens will be big enough to beat Fanta up. Oh, I can't wait.
But, the unfortunate postscript is that Snuggles died during the night. We have no idea why, but the evidence is pretty indisputible (i.e. dead bird in bucket). So, we're off today to buy another chick or two, as Sweetpea is a lonley motherclucker.
|
|
12:59 pm
[Link] |
Don´t be sad, it's Carnaval!
And it is, too. I suppose the scene is pretty wild, but nothing like you might think it'd be. Not like Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Pretty much every day has a parade and yes, there are girls in skimpy clothing. But what really gets my motor running is that they're throwing free stuff! I damn near caught a soccer ball, but my vertical was an inch too short. Dang and blast! But, there are several more parades this weekend and week, so I shall get another chance. After the marching there are about a million food and beer stands and half a million stages. So, people eat, people drink and people listen to music. That's about the end of the craziness. But, it's still a pretty neat spectacle to see. I just wish there was more food variety. Almost every stand has the same thing. Luckily, some of it is delicious and it's all cheap. Which reminds me... food time!
|
|
02:41 pm
[Link] |
A Lazy Reporter Files Lazy Reports (or, Weekend Updates)
So, it's about time I account for all the time I've been absent.
This past weekend we went to a Mexican (of course) rodeo with our friend Louise and her beau Yusef. Yusef is a genuine charro (Mexican cowboy) and was riding in the competition. His event, if you are willing to believe it, is flipping a bull over by the tail. He gets on his horse, chases the bull down an alleyway, flips it over by the tail and gets points for how long it takes and how the bull lands. Yes, it's interesting.
Unfortunately, it was a long day in the sun. And here, even January sun is a swelterer. So, I did manage to dehydrate myself a bit and spend a fair amount of the night with a headache and a bucket full of puke. Seven hours of sun can do that to a boy.
The weekend previous found Clarissa and I at a Hip Hop Street Theatre performance "Ceiba Flava" (The Ceiba is the sacred tree of Maya mythology). Surprisingly to Clarissa and rewardingly to me, it was quite good. There were four elements; record scratching, grafitti, mc-ing and 'break' dancing. The record scratching came complete with a live trombone player and percusionist and was in a strictly Mexican vein. Very cool. The grafitti segment was just a movie and some doodling and the mc-ing was fairly standard, although it did have some Mayan shout outs. The so-called break dancing, however, was incredible.
It started with a film of a classic Mexican comedian playing on a giant screen above the stage. Then out walks a dancer, dressed as the comedian, and he starts to do the same dance. But then at some point he goes nuts and really funks it up. It was really a magnificent performance and was done three times with three different films (Cantinflas, Tintan and one other I forget) with three different dancers, each time blowing my mind more. Then, as if I could handle more, all three dancers come out and hoofed it together! So good.
But, being a lazy reporter, that's all I can fill you in on for now. Ta-ta.
|
[<< Previous 20 entries] |
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
keith_in_mexico's journal