February 17, 2006
Dreaming of Prunelax.
The wonderful accommodations at Hostel Alvarez in Merida have turned into the sick ward. It’s now Friday evening, and I haven’t ventured more than 50 yards from the bathroom since early Thursday morning. Fortunately, Ruth and the kids are fine, and our only suspicion is that for the most part, I’m the one who handles the money, and perhaps I picked up my bug that way. Meanwhile, the young woman from France in the next room is confined to her bed with a sore back, and it is a tribute to our hosts, Enrique and his sister Miriam, that all of us sickos feel so comfortable here. (They even have a computer for our use and a genuine Whirlpool direct-drive washing machine just like ours at home (and the model most often recommended by ReCycle North’s appliance staff)).
This “down time” in Merida hasn’t been for naught. Ruth has been getting lots of Spanish practice in talking with Miriam and Enrique and even helped Miriam clean rooms today. Meanwhile, Miles and Jill have enjoyed having Miriam’s 8-year old daughter Ally around to play with after she gets out of school around lunch time. All sides are having to stretch their language skills and make numerous improvisations.
Between trips to the john today, I created a 3-fold brochure in MicroSoft Word for Enrique and Miriam. It was a great vocabulary builder for me since I know where all of the tools are in Word, but don’t have a clue to what they’re called in Spanish.
We did manage to make it to the ruins at Uxmal on Wednesday. We failed to check the bus schedule before heading out, and ended up having to wait at the bus station in Merida for over an hour and a half. Interesting observation there: The Mennonites. It turns out there is a large Mennonite community near Campeche and they sell their cheese in Merida. I’m not sure what language they were speaking to each other and it seems that in their attempt to keep their lives simple, they don’t adhere to modern hygiene standards. Despite old fashioned, modest dresses and overalls, they smelled bad enough that we asked Miriam when we returned if she knew about the Mennonites, and her reply was, “Yes, they always smell bad.”
What a surprise pulling into the relatively remote ruins at Uxmal only to pass a line of 14 BIG RV’s in a caravan from the U.S. These were the Big Boys with amazing 5th wheels and tow rigs and huge Class A buses as well. Walking alongside the line-up I told one of the drivers that we had left our rig parked in Phoenix and flew down. He assured me we saved money doing it that way.
The ruins were fine and despite our late arrival, we had plenty of time to see everything. We also had the good fortune of forgetting a wristwatch. That forced me to ask a local guy what time it was so we could catch our bus. He provided the time, but also came up with a much better solution than the bus. Instead, we caught a Collectivo van (a Dodge 15-passenger van) with a bunch of employees at the end of their day. It took us to a small town where we caught another Collectivo to Merida. We arrived a couple of hours ahead of when the bus would have delivered us, and we never had any assurances that we would have a had a seat on the bus in the first place (we had hoped for a place to stand).
The bathroom beckons.
Paul
A follow up: It´s now Saturday and I'm in a high speed computer lab a couple blocks from Hostel Alvarez. Why the confidence to venture so far? Because my garlic oil and Gatorade home remedy seems to have worked. (The garlic oil is in capsule form. I don't stir it into the Gatorade.) Ruth and the kids are off at Miriam's house and we may just head out of here tomorrow. Or, we may not. We're getting pretty good at staying loose.
Dreaming of Prunelax.
The wonderful accommodations at Hostel Alvarez in Merida have turned into the sick ward. It’s now Friday evening, and I haven’t ventured more than 50 yards from the bathroom since early Thursday morning. Fortunately, Ruth and the kids are fine, and our only suspicion is that for the most part, I’m the one who handles the money, and perhaps I picked up my bug that way. Meanwhile, the young woman from France in the next room is confined to her bed with a sore back, and it is a tribute to our hosts, Enrique and his sister Miriam, that all of us sickos feel so comfortable here. (They even have a computer for our use and a genuine Whirlpool direct-drive washing machine just like ours at home (and the model most often recommended by ReCycle North’s appliance staff)).
This “down time” in Merida hasn’t been for naught. Ruth has been getting lots of Spanish practice in talking with Miriam and Enrique and even helped Miriam clean rooms today. Meanwhile, Miles and Jill have enjoyed having Miriam’s 8-year old daughter Ally around to play with after she gets out of school around lunch time. All sides are having to stretch their language skills and make numerous improvisations.
Between trips to the john today, I created a 3-fold brochure in MicroSoft Word for Enrique and Miriam. It was a great vocabulary builder for me since I know where all of the tools are in Word, but don’t have a clue to what they’re called in Spanish.
We did manage to make it to the ruins at Uxmal on Wednesday. We failed to check the bus schedule before heading out, and ended up having to wait at the bus station in Merida for over an hour and a half. Interesting observation there: The Mennonites. It turns out there is a large Mennonite community near Campeche and they sell their cheese in Merida. I’m not sure what language they were speaking to each other and it seems that in their attempt to keep their lives simple, they don’t adhere to modern hygiene standards. Despite old fashioned, modest dresses and overalls, they smelled bad enough that we asked Miriam when we returned if she knew about the Mennonites, and her reply was, “Yes, they always smell bad.”
What a surprise pulling into the relatively remote ruins at Uxmal only to pass a line of 14 BIG RV’s in a caravan from the U.S. These were the Big Boys with amazing 5th wheels and tow rigs and huge Class A buses as well. Walking alongside the line-up I told one of the drivers that we had left our rig parked in Phoenix and flew down. He assured me we saved money doing it that way.
The ruins were fine and despite our late arrival, we had plenty of time to see everything. We also had the good fortune of forgetting a wristwatch. That forced me to ask a local guy what time it was so we could catch our bus. He provided the time, but also came up with a much better solution than the bus. Instead, we caught a Collectivo van (a Dodge 15-passenger van) with a bunch of employees at the end of their day. It took us to a small town where we caught another Collectivo to Merida. We arrived a couple of hours ahead of when the bus would have delivered us, and we never had any assurances that we would have a had a seat on the bus in the first place (we had hoped for a place to stand).
The bathroom beckons.
Paul
A follow up: It´s now Saturday and I'm in a high speed computer lab a couple blocks from Hostel Alvarez. Why the confidence to venture so far? Because my garlic oil and Gatorade home remedy seems to have worked. (The garlic oil is in capsule form. I don't stir it into the Gatorade.) Ruth and the kids are off at Miriam's house and we may just head out of here tomorrow. Or, we may not. We're getting pretty good at staying loose.
posted by The Lambersons at 5:22 PM
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