nomadyeshappy

Don’t Let Us Get Sick

As we wandered in the city, the sun slowly drifting past the mountains, reminding us how quickly the days disappear while traveling. We’d been told about San Cristobal and how it was a beautiful city filled with gorgeous churches. We weren’t expecting such an amazing place in southern Mexico. As we drove into the heart of the city we began to notice a plethora of gringos; apparently lots of tourists fly into this city and go out on excursions to the ruins from there. We began to admire all of the beautiful architecture and as we stepped out of the truck and began to walk around, we realized that this city looked very European. I felt like I was no longer in Mexico but that we were walking the streets of Spain. The sun was almost down as we walked into the square, there was a beautiful, old, Catholic church that we walked into. We spent a few minutes in prayer, I used the time to reflect and thank God for giving me a life that allows me to see so much beauty and of course for giving me someone to see all of that beauty with.

As we walked out of the church we walked right into an outdoor concert. We stuck around for a few minutes listening but our stomachs began to lead us in a different direction. There were so many options we didn’t know where to begin. We finally settled on a nice little Mexican restaurant. As this was our last night in Mexico we wanted to have as much of that delicious food as possible. However at this restaurant their portions were huge. We started with nachos, and I kid you not, I don’t think I have ever had a dish with this much cheese on it. They easily used 2 pounds of cheese for one plate of Nachos, which sounds amazing but really affects the digestive system. We left the Restaurant and the city vowing to return to spend more time there some day. As we began to drive my body began to shut down. I had a fever, headache, and a deathly cough, as well as the affects of the cheese on my body. Jessica was beginning to feel under the weather as well. We drove as far as we could before complete exhaustion set in. We pulled into the auto-hotel only to realize we were out of peso’s, fortunately we went to a gas station and surprisingly found someone that was willing to trade dollars for pesos. We showered and collapsed hoping to awake healed and healthy…

Don’t Go Chasin’ Waterfalls

The ruins had a curious effect on me. I tried to picture the ancients living out their daily lives, transforming the rubble before my eyes into their rightful state within my mind. However long the vision lasted, it was always interrupted by one from this time. You know…a Tourist. Snapping away, commenting on how uncomfortable their bed looked, asking questions as if there was something that needed to be proven to them. “So what did they worship? What kind of sewage system did they have in place?” Everyone looked like they expected to be impressed at every corner, but who was I kidding? I was looking to be impressed. It came to the point in time when I realized that I had seen enough of someone else’s ruins. I wanted to experience this life. The now. So we went to a waterfall and dove in the water downstream. For some reason, no one else was swimming. We floated for a while, allowing the current to carry us further down the river. After a time, we tested our strength and swam it’s width, pulling ourselves up onto the bank. It felt good. We followed the path behind the waterfall and found a boa, its head shooting straight up, allowing the water to crash over it. Was this the reason for the lack of swimmers? Finding a rock to relax on, we closed our eyes and listened to the water, the families passing through, our own breath. It is good to be alive.

Its the end of the world as we know it…

He flashed his badge and stated with authority that he was an official guide. Lively and eager, already having lived a longer life than the subjects of his stories, he led us into the ancient dreamland. With speech blended of awe and an air of matter of fact, he opened their world to us. Brows lined with sweat after carrying stones 7 kilometers to construct their glorious city. Stone by stone. Not a mule or horse in sight. Brows flattened after 3 painful years of binding their foreheads to a wooden board. Fashion was painful. Brows furrowed until they finally settled on a calendar of 18 month, 20 days each. 5 extra days dedicated to celebration and play. We ask the obvious question and are told that this year marks the end of an era. A new one is coming for the Mayan people. As we walk through the ruins of an abandoned empire, we contemplate the possible ruin of ours. Perhaps the Mayans paved the way for us. Abandon what is finished and press on into new life. Everything has its time under the sun and then evolves into something new. The Mexican people are aware of an awakening conscience. Are we?

(havent have internet access for a few days…more blogs coming! We are also both recovering from a nasty sickness…lets hope it continues to go away!)

Hungry Eyes

Something sounded different as we made our way to the ruins in Palenque.  It was smoother.  Quieter.  We were entering the tourist area.  For the first time on our trip, the men selling snacks on the side of the road looked different as well.   Fellow gringos seemed to be coming out of the woodwork.  It was almost dinner time, and I was tempted to stop a few times, but Caesar had given us vague directions to apparently the coolest hotel in Mexico in which we could enjoy a pizza in the jungle.  We were told to head for the ruins until we saw an arch.  At that point we were to take an immediate left and find ourselves in El Panchan.  As we headed toward the ruins, we were struck by the many interesting hotels that we could stay at if in fact we could not find El Panchan.  However, just as Caesar had directed, we pulled in.  Hippies from distant lands swarmed the place.  Dreads, funky hair, gauges, flowing shirts and twirling skirts were the norm. Little children running around barefoot as their mommas smiled at their freedom greeted us with curiosity.  We paid for our bungalow and were lead through the jungle, passing artisans selling there wares, signs for ancient tattoo artists and body piercings, live music and salsa dancing. Despite the fact that our room smelled like mold, we were overly excited for our stay.  Throwing on our best threads, we made our way to the party.  The music drew our weary bodies that for the unknown reason of “travel,” have become tired and stiff.   We sat down to one of the best meals we have had in Mexico, while being serenaded by a duo of Mexican men, a guitar, and hand drums.  It infiltrated our souls in the way only a smooth deep Spanish speaking voice can.  Ok….maybe it didn’t have quite the same effect on Caleb. Once the second band set up, the floor was crowded with dancers.  They all made it look so easy.  Every Mexican in the room could dance well.  I found myself wishing that our culture focused a bit more on celebration through dance, but what can you do?  I now have my entire life to learn different forms of dance, travel the world and let loose.  After we were satisfied with our meals and were ready to check out the music in the other venue, we headed out into the jungle.   I noticed a man staring at Caleb and whispered to him after we passed.  Caleb found it quite the ego boost and wanted to get a better look at the dude who checked him out.  After passing a second time, he too noticed the dude staring.  The other venue had died down by the time we reached it, so we headed back to the first place and sat down at our table again.  Immediately a petite older man with a long braded beard came to our table.  I recognized him as one who was sitting with the guy who checked Caleb out.

“Excuse me, my friends and I are trying to settle a bet.  Where are you from?”

“The US”

“Oh ok.  We through perhaps you’d be Nordic or German.”

Hmmm…I don’t doubt that Caleb can turn heads with his good looks, but it suddenly dawned on us that the bet was what commanded the eyes of the table.

We stayed longer when we saw new musicians setting the stage. Five musicians playing multiple musicians with lots of various percussion instruments. It was beautiful. We stayed and listened for quite some time and then headed off to bed falling asleep to the sounds of the jungle.

Bridge Over Troubled Water

We woke up with sore backs after a night of sleeping on the floor, but somehow it seemed fitting that we should rough it on this journey at some point.  With hair sticking out in all directions and still shaking the sleep off of me, I opened the door to the living room only to be greeted by Chew, Caesar and Isabella.  Chew immediately began cooking us an authentic Mexican breakfast of beans, and eggs with ham and peppers.  We sat down to our meal and were instructed as to how to eat the food.  Corn tortillas bound the ingredients together in a delicious combination.  Fresh green salsa was added.  Caesar tempted us with chili peppers, but upon recalling the habanera experience the previous night, we graciously declined.  Coffee and sweet bread with a caramel like topping served as a dessert.  We thanked our hosts for an amazing night of beautiful conversation, wonderfully authentic food and good tunes. Caesar recommended a stay in the jungle  outside of the ruins in Palenque.  Isabella was a little sad that she couldn’t join us on our trip after hearing about the bungalows.  As the goodbyes drew out, my stomach started screaming at me.  Get to a bathroom NOW!  I tried to hint to Caleb that we REALLY needed to get on the road, but it took a while to actually leave. 

We were off! ….bathroom….where are you?  We stopped in a tiny gas station with a bathroom that had a door that couldn’t shut properly.  I will spare the rest, but I almost got walked in on.  Poor dude.

Ok now we were really off.  Except…what did Chew tell us about how  to get on the correct road?  We doubled back a couple times, but finally headed out of Mexico City…only to be greeted with toll after toll.  Seriously?  How many tolls can one road have?  I am not exaggerating when I say it must have been at least 10 all together.  As I am writing this, Caleb is saying “No it was more than that.” As we pressed on through the tolls we did our best to follow the route towards Pelenque, however the signage in Mexico can be a little elusive (and here is a little tip Mexico, if you put North, South, East, and West on your signs it wouldn’t hurt), so we ended up driving a little too far so took a bit of a back road. This route took us through rural areas filled with speed bump, after speed bump, after speed bump, after speed bump, and of course there were no signs to warn you about said speed bumps. Eventually we ended up in the mountains driving through clouds unable to see very far ahead. Then we came upon the scariest part of our journey so far…the most sketchy bridge either one of us has ever driven over. We stopped for a minute unsure that it was worth the risk, but then a tractor trailor truck pulled behind us, we had no choice but to cross, and I (Caleb) figured that if this truck planned on crossing that we would be just fine, we said a prayer, held our breath, and crossed with ease. Shortly thereafter we finally found a hotel and decided to call it a night. The hotel seemed near empty and after our long journey we were excited to go to bed. The hotel staff then led us up 8 flights of stairs to the farthest corner of the hotel…our room.

Take Five

We arrived in Mexico City yesterday around 3. The ride was smooth no problems at all. While in Mexico City we were staying with Israel Chew, a friend of Jessica’s from one of her cruises, however we were talking and not paying enough attention and drove about 20 minutes too far. Once Chew found us we made our way back through the hectic traffic of Mexico City, this reminded me a lot of India.

Once we arrived at our destination we met up with Israel’s brother and brother’s girlfriend, who is Polish. From there we spent the evening talking and laughing about music, culture, and life. Nights like these are why I live…in a room with 3 different cultures represented talking into the night. Then we wandered over to a taco stand for a late and very spicy dinner. We had pastor (a type of pork) tacos and esquites (a delicious dish with corn, mayo, cheese, lime, and cilantro) soooo good. Against the warning of a couple of mexicans that were passing by we used the habanero salsa…that’ll clean out your sinuses…local cuisines, local drinks, beautiful people…easily our best night in Mexico thus far.

Sic Transit Gloria…Glory Fades

We headed out after a restful night and solid breakfast.  Exchange money.  Check.  Get last minute supplies.  Check.  Drive onto the open road for a whopping 20 minutes before we are stopped at Immigration and asked for our permits.  Ummm….what permits?  Didn’t we go through Immigration yesterday?

Remember how glorious it all seemed.  How trusting the Mexican people were.  How truly spectacular it all was yesterday?  Yeah.  About that.  Apparently we should have known that there was a magical little building about a mile down the road that would give us, and our vehicle a permit.  $400 later, we were on our way.  Again.  Suddenly the sun wasn’t as bright as it had been the previous day.  Leave that to the fact that were finally a bit disillusioned…or simply that the sun had actually started to go down by the time this process was over.  

With the proper papers, we finally started on our journey.  Driving through the night was not as horrific as all the blogs and books we had perused through had indicated.  After feeling satisfied with the amount driven, we pulled into a Motel…and I literally mean pulled in.  We had our own little garage in which we entered the room through.  Despite the fact that we had depleted our supply of pesos (side note, there are a LOT of tolls in Mexico) the stay was cheap and comfortable.  You can be serenaded by a charming mariachi band by the flip of a switch.  Ok, it was just the radio, but somehow it seemed charming when you closed your eyes and imagined them playing for you.  Oh, AND you could order room service and have it delivered through a little hole in the wall.  Again, I literally mean a hole in the wall.  Sadly, we had no pesos left… All in all, Mexico has proven herself to be alright.

Off to Mexico City!