Wednesday March 1 – Ash Wednesday and the halfway point
I haven’t paid attention to Ash Wednesday since the last time my forehead got dirty 30 years ago, but it would be impossible not to notice around here since it means yesterday was the last day of Carnaval. Oh boy! Carnaval was huge! As the guidebook says, Merida celebrates Carnaval bigger than anyone else on the Yucatan. There were daily parades and the parade route was just around the corner from our house.
Considering our usual parades – Burlington’s Mardi Gras Parade in usual sub freezing weather, and Hinesburg’s 4th of July parade with a huge turnout of fire trucks – Merida’s parades were an eye opener. We went whole hog on Friday night and paid for seats along the route with Enrique, Miriam and Allie (in fact, Enrique paid for the seats). The seats themselves are thousands of folding chairs up and down a couple of miles of parade route and the logistics of setting them up is staggering. Each side street is barricaded at the intersection of the parade route, and there was a goofy scene trying to buy tickets.
“We want to buy tickets to the parade?”
“I’m sorry, but you can’t come through the gate without tickets.”
“Right. Where do we buy tickets?”
“Inside the gate from the woman selling tickets.”
“And how do we get inside the gate?”
“You need tickets.”
All but one of the parades were at night and each float had its own monster sound system and lights. Miriam had advised us that the dancing women on the Corona, Sol, and Superior (beer brands) floats would attract the most attention from the men and draw the most frustration from the wives. Indeed, when we were comparing notes back in the kitchen afterward, a British neighbor lady said, “It was very Brazilian!” It appears the local health clubs were raided as well, since I’ve never seen so many muscle bound Mexican men either. They were centaurs (sp?), half men, half beast.
And in addition to the shaking and grinding, all kinds of things were thrown from the floats and Miriam had told us to bring a few empty bags for the loot. We not only caught the usual candy and cookies but a bag of talcum powder as well. We missed out on the spaghetti, though a bag of it exploded at Ruth’s feet at a second parade. We also dodged flying bottles of fruit juice and it was interesting to note, the Kotex float didn’t throw anything.
These parades, with their over the top grandeur and dancing were a welcome change from the first Carnaval parade we saw which was the children’s parade. It was made up of about 50 different kindergarten groups mostly dressed in Disney outfits with Disney music blasting from the aforementioned mega sound systems. The locals loved it, but for a family that doesn’t “do Disney” it didn’t do much for us. Maybe I’ll have to rethink if we’re heading to Disneyland in May after all.
The kids didn’t have school Monday or Tuesday in honor of Carnaval and we got some day trips in. Sunday we went to Celestun, which is on the west coast of the Yucatan. It’s known for its sunsets which took a while for me to figure out since we were on the east coast of Mexico, but if you look at a map it makes sense. Celestun is also in the middle of a huge biosphere reserve and pink flamingo habitat. After lunch and some time collecting shells on the beach, we headed for the tour boats to see the flamingos, except that there were huge clouds moving in fast. But, we’d already spent 2 hours on the bus getting from Merida to Celestun and had planned on meeting Miriam and family at the boats (though they wisely changed their minds and stayed put in Merida when the rain poured down). Weighing our options to spend the night and try again in the morning or give it a go with a young couple from Merida to split the cost of the boat, we (I) decided to head out in the boat with the optimistic captain.
We got pummelled by rain and wind and were completely soaked and frozen, but the rain eventually thinned out and we did see hundreds, if not thousands, of flamingos – and no other tourists, since they were smart enough to stay on shore. As part of the tour we also whizzed through a tunnel in a mangrove swamp. The captain “came in hot” and scared the heck out us as we zoomed in at about 25 knots from open water into a wall of mangroves. Indeed, the narrow path was open and I trust there is an agreement among captains about one way traffic.
We also saw an “ojo de agua” which is a freshwater spring feeding the marshlands. As I understand it, most of the Yucatan sits on a limestone ledge and huge volumes of water flow underground toward the sea. It was pretty impressive to see the water pouring out at the surface.
Soaking wet, we caught a bus back to Merida after strategically lingering near the young lovers from the boat who had their own car. They were very sweet folks out on a date with what was probably the girl’s dad’s fairly new car. I don’t blame them for being interested in having some time alone.
Other cultural travels: Miles got a haircut at a local barbershop, and we went to the Department of Motor Vehicles with Miriam and her uncle. The Mexican DMV looked as bad as any others with huge lines and plenty of seats for waiting around. Hurray for renewal by mail in Vermont! Meeting Miriam’s uncle was superb. He’s 88 years old and spent most of his career living in California as a U.S. Marine. His 3 sons live in Burbank and he and his wife take frequent cruises and trips to Europe. He wasn’t in the least bit ostentatious (in fact Miriam had to be present at the DMV because he is driving her old car) and was clearly just a man who had good fortune and health, and was living every day to its fullest. Needless to say, his English was excellent.
We also stopped by to see Sergio’s company. Sergio is Miram’s husband and he and his brother own a company, Franco, that makes and rents scaffolding and rents construction equipment like Bobcats and concrete mixers. Except for the scale, it wasn’t that different than Trench Shoring in Atlanta (my brother's company)with metal fab and welders in back and rental inventory up front. Miles and I are now the proud owners of Franco caps. Sergio also owns a 1965 Rambler American station wagon that is almost identical to my old 1966 Rambler and he is a landlord with apartments in Playa del Carmen. We have had a lot to talk about. (Fortunately, we haven’t shared the experience of having a tenant die in an apartment and go unnoticed for 3 days in the Mexican heat!)
Yesterday (Fat Tuesday in New Orleans) was a holiday and we made a little road trip with Miriam, Sergio, and Allie to some nearby ruins and out to Progresso. Progresso was buzzing with Carnaval festivities and we had fish in a local fish place before getting a back roads tour from Sergio. Progresso is home to the Yucatan’s largest cargo wharf which at over 3 kilometers long was quite pretty all lit up. But we also headed to the old port where hundreds of big fishing boats are docked with their owners living on board. On a beautiful night, it was part African Queen part Tugboat Annie and it was great to talk to some of the sailors. It takes them 72 hours to make it from Progresso to Veracruz and despite the fact that many of the vessels looked like they would easily sink, we were assured that the whole fleet is active.
And now, it’s March 1st and we’ve been away from home for 3 months with 3 months to go. How did we mark the occasion other than getting up at 6 a.m. to get the kids ready for school? Ruth broke out the new toothbrushes! Life’s simple pleasures.
Ruth is already daydreaming how to make the trip last even longer and we’re certainly in no rush to leave, but we hear there are some amazing destinations ahead in San Cristobol and Oaxaca and sooner or later we’ve got to get to Baja California by the end of April.
In the meantime, we’ll pick the kids up from school, stop by the Merida English Library for a few books (we’re members), and stop by to visit Enrique’s former collection of antique cars that he maintains for the new owner.
Life is good,
Paul
I haven’t paid attention to Ash Wednesday since the last time my forehead got dirty 30 years ago, but it would be impossible not to notice around here since it means yesterday was the last day of Carnaval. Oh boy! Carnaval was huge! As the guidebook says, Merida celebrates Carnaval bigger than anyone else on the Yucatan. There were daily parades and the parade route was just around the corner from our house.
Considering our usual parades – Burlington’s Mardi Gras Parade in usual sub freezing weather, and Hinesburg’s 4th of July parade with a huge turnout of fire trucks – Merida’s parades were an eye opener. We went whole hog on Friday night and paid for seats along the route with Enrique, Miriam and Allie (in fact, Enrique paid for the seats). The seats themselves are thousands of folding chairs up and down a couple of miles of parade route and the logistics of setting them up is staggering. Each side street is barricaded at the intersection of the parade route, and there was a goofy scene trying to buy tickets.
“We want to buy tickets to the parade?”
“I’m sorry, but you can’t come through the gate without tickets.”
“Right. Where do we buy tickets?”
“Inside the gate from the woman selling tickets.”
“And how do we get inside the gate?”
“You need tickets.”
All but one of the parades were at night and each float had its own monster sound system and lights. Miriam had advised us that the dancing women on the Corona, Sol, and Superior (beer brands) floats would attract the most attention from the men and draw the most frustration from the wives. Indeed, when we were comparing notes back in the kitchen afterward, a British neighbor lady said, “It was very Brazilian!” It appears the local health clubs were raided as well, since I’ve never seen so many muscle bound Mexican men either. They were centaurs (sp?), half men, half beast.
And in addition to the shaking and grinding, all kinds of things were thrown from the floats and Miriam had told us to bring a few empty bags for the loot. We not only caught the usual candy and cookies but a bag of talcum powder as well. We missed out on the spaghetti, though a bag of it exploded at Ruth’s feet at a second parade. We also dodged flying bottles of fruit juice and it was interesting to note, the Kotex float didn’t throw anything.
These parades, with their over the top grandeur and dancing were a welcome change from the first Carnaval parade we saw which was the children’s parade. It was made up of about 50 different kindergarten groups mostly dressed in Disney outfits with Disney music blasting from the aforementioned mega sound systems. The locals loved it, but for a family that doesn’t “do Disney” it didn’t do much for us. Maybe I’ll have to rethink if we’re heading to Disneyland in May after all.
The kids didn’t have school Monday or Tuesday in honor of Carnaval and we got some day trips in. Sunday we went to Celestun, which is on the west coast of the Yucatan. It’s known for its sunsets which took a while for me to figure out since we were on the east coast of Mexico, but if you look at a map it makes sense. Celestun is also in the middle of a huge biosphere reserve and pink flamingo habitat. After lunch and some time collecting shells on the beach, we headed for the tour boats to see the flamingos, except that there were huge clouds moving in fast. But, we’d already spent 2 hours on the bus getting from Merida to Celestun and had planned on meeting Miriam and family at the boats (though they wisely changed their minds and stayed put in Merida when the rain poured down). Weighing our options to spend the night and try again in the morning or give it a go with a young couple from Merida to split the cost of the boat, we (I) decided to head out in the boat with the optimistic captain.
We got pummelled by rain and wind and were completely soaked and frozen, but the rain eventually thinned out and we did see hundreds, if not thousands, of flamingos – and no other tourists, since they were smart enough to stay on shore. As part of the tour we also whizzed through a tunnel in a mangrove swamp. The captain “came in hot” and scared the heck out us as we zoomed in at about 25 knots from open water into a wall of mangroves. Indeed, the narrow path was open and I trust there is an agreement among captains about one way traffic.
We also saw an “ojo de agua” which is a freshwater spring feeding the marshlands. As I understand it, most of the Yucatan sits on a limestone ledge and huge volumes of water flow underground toward the sea. It was pretty impressive to see the water pouring out at the surface.
Soaking wet, we caught a bus back to Merida after strategically lingering near the young lovers from the boat who had their own car. They were very sweet folks out on a date with what was probably the girl’s dad’s fairly new car. I don’t blame them for being interested in having some time alone.
Other cultural travels: Miles got a haircut at a local barbershop, and we went to the Department of Motor Vehicles with Miriam and her uncle. The Mexican DMV looked as bad as any others with huge lines and plenty of seats for waiting around. Hurray for renewal by mail in Vermont! Meeting Miriam’s uncle was superb. He’s 88 years old and spent most of his career living in California as a U.S. Marine. His 3 sons live in Burbank and he and his wife take frequent cruises and trips to Europe. He wasn’t in the least bit ostentatious (in fact Miriam had to be present at the DMV because he is driving her old car) and was clearly just a man who had good fortune and health, and was living every day to its fullest. Needless to say, his English was excellent.
We also stopped by to see Sergio’s company. Sergio is Miram’s husband and he and his brother own a company, Franco, that makes and rents scaffolding and rents construction equipment like Bobcats and concrete mixers. Except for the scale, it wasn’t that different than Trench Shoring in Atlanta (my brother's company)with metal fab and welders in back and rental inventory up front. Miles and I are now the proud owners of Franco caps. Sergio also owns a 1965 Rambler American station wagon that is almost identical to my old 1966 Rambler and he is a landlord with apartments in Playa del Carmen. We have had a lot to talk about. (Fortunately, we haven’t shared the experience of having a tenant die in an apartment and go unnoticed for 3 days in the Mexican heat!)
Yesterday (Fat Tuesday in New Orleans) was a holiday and we made a little road trip with Miriam, Sergio, and Allie to some nearby ruins and out to Progresso. Progresso was buzzing with Carnaval festivities and we had fish in a local fish place before getting a back roads tour from Sergio. Progresso is home to the Yucatan’s largest cargo wharf which at over 3 kilometers long was quite pretty all lit up. But we also headed to the old port where hundreds of big fishing boats are docked with their owners living on board. On a beautiful night, it was part African Queen part Tugboat Annie and it was great to talk to some of the sailors. It takes them 72 hours to make it from Progresso to Veracruz and despite the fact that many of the vessels looked like they would easily sink, we were assured that the whole fleet is active.
And now, it’s March 1st and we’ve been away from home for 3 months with 3 months to go. How did we mark the occasion other than getting up at 6 a.m. to get the kids ready for school? Ruth broke out the new toothbrushes! Life’s simple pleasures.
Ruth is already daydreaming how to make the trip last even longer and we’re certainly in no rush to leave, but we hear there are some amazing destinations ahead in San Cristobol and Oaxaca and sooner or later we’ve got to get to Baja California by the end of April.
In the meantime, we’ll pick the kids up from school, stop by the Merida English Library for a few books (we’re members), and stop by to visit Enrique’s former collection of antique cars that he maintains for the new owner.
Life is good,
Paul
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