Mérida Primera Semana - Part Two

continued....

The next day began our first weekend in México. We were educated by the Finus on the local public bus system and met our other classmates downtown, in el Centro de Mérida. We roamed around for a few hours, shopping in various stores, including a Mayan cooperative where we browsed the jewelry and sampled hand-made hammocks. Hamacas are very popular in the Yucatán, particularly with the Mayans – many of whom still live in thatch-roofed huts. They are made from one variety of the Agave plant which affords them with an ingrained protection from mosquitoes (a huge problem here). They are also much cooler than a bed which is great for the heat and humidity. In fact, every house here is equipped with hammock hooks in the walls of each bedroom, although they mostly all have beds as well. We had lunch in a fairly tourist-y restaurant and continued to shop. Late in the afternoon, we siesta-ed with some cervezas and then headed back home to eat and get ready for the evening.

Big Finu hooked us up with some of the most amazing tamales I´ve ever had. We had two varieties – red and white (I still haven´t figured out the difference between them besides the size and color) – and they are both delicious. They´re not wrapped in corn husks like in the US but in banana leaves. Very interesting and very delicious. After dinner, we met up with our over-age classmates at a club called Amarantus.

Open Bar is pretty popular here and they also love Gringas. Most places have a cover charge (about $8 for ladies and $17 for guys) but then you get bottle service at a table for free (with the exception of tipping the server). We danced into the wee hours of the following morning and had an absolutely lovely time.

The next day, Sunday, was our first excursion with the school. We visited Uxmal (Oosh-mall) and saw the Mayan ruins. They were incredibly impressive and we enjoyed ourselves even though we were all wiped out from the night before, especially walking for hours in the sun. We also went to a similar but smaller site, Kabah, and roamed the grounds. The history of the ruins is amazing and we were able to climb the steps of some of the temples. It was a great experience but scary as all heck because the stairs are shallow and steep and there is NOTHING to stop you if you fall. In fact, you´d probably take somebody else out if you were to slip.

Upon leaving, we stopped at a nearby resort and had a buffet lunch. After we returned, Maia and Lauren and I went to the hotel Fiesta Americana to swim for a while in their pool. The water was so soothing after spending the day in the sun that we didn't want to leave even though there's only so much time you can spend splashing around in a pool.

So, that was my first "week". Only 4 days or so – clearly, I need to work on my verbosity for my next week! I can hear you all eagerly anticipating the reading of that one.