`February 4, 1996

It's the evening and we have left Merida for Progreso, which is on the gulf coast. It will undoubtedly make some people feel a little bit better to know that the cold front, such that it is, has sort of reached here. It is incredibly windy tonight, unceasing wind, and chilly (you STILL have our sympathy). We are in a motel that has jalousie windows which don't exactly close. We have hung the bedspread up over the window to block the wind.

Yesterday, Vally recovered enough so that we could go to Uxmal-a major Mayan ruin. We took a guided tour for $10 which was well worth it. Our guide was Mayan (Spanish was his second language and he said that he also speaks German and Italian). I can't even begin to describe the ruins which include two pyramids that were about 75 to 100 feet high and an incredible number of unrestored piles of rocks. The feeling of the place was scary and intense. There were many ceremonial rooms and in each one we had the feeling of wanting to get out fast. It felt like a lot of people had died there-in that city. The Mayans did practice human sacrifice, but I don't know if that's what it was from. We learned about some of the symbols, chac the rain god, the twisted rattlesnakes and the turtle as the symbol of water. It felt like the various temples were about somehow channeling the energies of these things. The mayans were obsessed with time and cycles, as you may know and every 52 years, when their sacred and secular calendars, which ran thru 260 and 360 day cycles once again corresponded, it was time to rebuild and start a new era-which is why there were temples upon temples. Well, bedtime. To be continued in the AM.

We survived the night, although I can't say I'd recommend the bed or the pillows. The place is clean though. Vally is out walking in order to allow me to sleep later, but I didn't manage to sleep as much as I hoped. Back to the story....

I had said that I thought the guests at the Casa Mexilio were all Americans, but I was wrong, they included Germans and Canadians. Yesterday, we started a conversation at breakfast with the Canadian couple, Terry and June from Vancouver. He is a retired pharmacist, she a nutritionist. They have been all over the world. Anyway, we discussed the pros and cons of renting a car and they asked us where we were going. As these things go, we wound up stuffing them into the back seat of our VW and spending a delightful day with them. We first went to the mercado in Merida. One should definitely plan on seeing Merida on Sunday- the downtown squares become markets and there is food and music and people rent rickshaw-like things and ride around with their families. There are children everywhere. We spent a lot of time shopping, and the Canadians were absolutely blown away by Vally's ability to bargain. The quintessential experience of the whole thing though was that when we got to the main plaza, we wound up hiring a horse and carriage to take us to the ATM to get some money! Well's Vally's back with about 5 pounds of shells that he picked up on the beach. Later...

Oh my, which day to continue with? I guess yesterday. After we shopped we went to the ruins called Dzibilchantun, which are located between Merida and Progreso. Roger had told the Canadians that they HAD to go there to see the new museum. We got there just before 4. Guess what, the museum closed at 4 PM even though the ruins stayed open until 5. The Canadians were determined and we managed to bribe a guard to let us in for 10 minutes. It was a fantastic museum, well laid out with all of the information in Spanish, Mayan and English. I didn't pay very close attention, figuring I see it at leisure the next day. Wrong! Today was Constitution Day and the museum was closed. Dzibilchatun, as a ruin was not very exciting. It is a huge site and very much unrestored. There are no guides. Actually, though, when we went back today we really enjoyed it. It is very peaceful. There are no carvings or statues, presumably they have been carted away. There is the remains of a 16th century Spanish open-ended mission church in the middle of what used to be the main square-clearly built with the same stone-building techniques used by the Mayans in the other buildings. Dzibilchatun is different from Uxmal in that it was continuously inhabited until after the Spanish conquest. Later it was a cattle ranch for awhile.

We had dinner in Progreso with the Canadians who told us about their son John who is now a homeopath in Palo Alto and their son Peter who is a film maker and about Terry's various illnesses which included bladder and kidney cancer and last year a brain tumor. Canadian medicine performed very well both in speed of delivering service and in skill. They were totally pleased with their care. Their son John has alkalysing spondylitis (sp?) a crippling arthritis-like disease and they did have to go to the Mayo clinic to get him diagnosed. Interestingly it was the people at Mayo who suggested that alternative medicine could help him, which it has. We left the Canadians at the bus stop and hunkered down for the night (as described above).

After I shut down the computer this morning, Vally and I went for a walk on the beach and collected another few pounds of shells. It had warmed up considerably, although I don't think anyone went swimming today. We ate breakfast in the guidebook-recommended place which was on the main square. Much people-watching and a few beggars coming to our outdoor table. After breakfast we walked to the supermarket. The big chain here is St. Francis de Asisi. It was a combination supermarket and discount store. It wasn't as different as the market in Chile was. I think I could have found most of what I was familiar with there, except for natural foods. I had to try the "Danone" new flavors which were mamey (remember that fruit I wrote about) and tuna (which is prickly pear). I liked the mamey, although, like all Dannon yogurt it was too sweet. We also stopped in at the mercado and Vally got some carrot juice. All of the mercados are filled with elderly women selling small piles of produce. They sit there with utter patience and its hard to imagine how they make any money doing this. Later we stopped at a handicrafts shop and after a conversation with the friendly (as is almost everyone here) clerk we realized that Mexicans are fascinated with Vally's skin color. He said, "He's brown like us, but different." Several have said that they realized he was Indian from his beard.

We're now in Valladolid which is the nearest town to Chichen Itza and exactly halfway between Merida and Cancun. The trip was easy, half on a two-lane highway with many exciting examples of death-defying passing. It seems that in Yucatan, at least, the most common car on the road is a VW, mostly beetles, some buses and a few more modern. Our beetle was manufactured in 1994. We also have seen a lot of Nissans (Tsuru model and older) but virtually no Toyotas. The second half of the trip was on the toll road, although there is a free road and were at least 5 ways to change your mind if you happened to get on the wrong road. It cost 40 pesos (divide by 7.4 for dollars). It was divided, no access, two lanes in each direction and very well maintained. No billboards, although a lot of helpful reminders of the "Buckle your seatbelt" and "Left lane for passing" variety. The nominal speed limit was 110 km/hr (about 70 mph) but in practice everyone seemed to be going as fast as they felt like. Vally kept it to 125.

In Valladolid we are staying at the Hotel El Meson del Marques-a truly magical place for $35 per night. It is in a 16th century colonial Spanish house with a huge shaded courtyard where they have a restaurant and plants everywhere. Our room is ENORMOUS, with AC, TV and a phone. The one thing we did not realize is that there is a school just outside and next to our room. They start at 7 AM but the children must get there WAY before that. It was pretty funny- kids noises, then a male voice on the PA and the kids got quiet, then the big marching drum and the trumpet started. I imagine the kids marched around for awhile, then there were more speeches by different female teachers, more drumming, singing and a grand finale with the trumpet (amateur) and the drum, followed by a brief burst of music on the PA. I guess sleeping late is out of the question. Well, off to today's adventures.

Love

Phyllis and Vally