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As Mrs. T relates below, we are back in the holler. And the weather is too ^%&*(^ cold. And wet. My body more and more appreciates the warm weather of the south where there is no need to dress layer upon layer. And certainly shoes and socks are only for formal occasions.
R just alludes to the fact that a major project is underway here: the construction of the waterfall that she has had at the forefront of her mind even before the house was built. Even as I edit this, the crew is out back with the big Bobcat removing trees and stumps, moving dirt, sculpting the bank, building a dam, etc. This has become much more than a pick and shovel project, although down at the condo that is what they would use. But it appears that it will be quite nice when completed. And we are doing our bit to help keep a couple of guys employed; Muskingum County has one of the higher unemployment rates – a bit north of 12%. However, Mrs. T needs to rein in other ambitious ideas for a while.
The pictures are a bit out of order, but you should be able to see what is happening: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9151458@N07/sets/72157616665013277/
You will note that I did not accompany Mrs. T on her excursion to Yucatan; I decided that my walking was still not up to speed and did not want to impede her. If I had gone, she might not have met the more seasoned Canadian traveler and writer Alison Gardner. Check out her website: http://travelwithachallenge.com/
We are back in Ohio and beginning to readjust. Two days of April snow left us a little grumpy but there are lots of wildflowers in bloom and that made me happy. Before I get to the news from Ohio I would like to mention a few last things about Mexico.
The trip to Chichen Itza was very interesting. We forget what a big country Mexico is. The Yucatan is completely different from the Pacific coast where we live. For one thing it is hotter. In Mexico they call it Caliente Tierra - the hot lands. The temperature was in the 90s every day I was there. I was fortunate in that when I was there, there was a little breeze a lot of the time. But standing out in the sun in the middle of the day was not a good idea.
To get to the site I flew on two airplanes and then took a bus. By the time I got off the second airplane the first class bus was gone so I took a second class bus. What an adventure! The second class bus had nice seats (on second class buses you never know in Mexico) but it took back roads and stopped every five minutes. People just come up and stand by the road and when the bus comes by it stops and they get on. This is actually a good way to see how ordinary people live. Not too well. We had been told that Bucerias where we live is a prosperous part of Mexico but I had not given much thought to what the other parts were like.
In Bucerias on the beach there are palapas with thatched palm roofs for shade.
In the Yucatan many of the houses had thatched roofs. There was an odd thing though; some of them had thatched roofs with corrugated metal over the thatch.
Also, in Bucerias most of the buildings are made of brick or cement but in Yucatan a lot of them were made of rock or sticks. Outside of the towns many of these small houses had no electricity, and I would guess no plumbing. At one point the bus went by some caves and people were living in them. You could see the beds, tables and so on. They had what looked like curtains hanging down at the front of the caves but these were open to let in air and light I suppose.
In the Yucatan a lot of the farming is slash and burn agriculture. This is a lot of work. Every few years they move to a new field and burn every thing on it and then plant it in corn. The ash provides some fertilizer. But the big problem is they have to get the rocks out of the way. We passed many of these burnt fields and they all had huge piles of rocks in them. Looking at them I had to wonder if the pyramids were just rock piles that got out of hand. Ah - no.
A taxi driver later told me more about the corn planting. It was almost time to plant the corn. If it did not rain within three days of the time the corn was planted, the birds ate the corn and the farmers had to replant. From this I wondered if they merely sowed the corn but I do not know. Perhaps the soil is so rocky this is the only way to do it. Within five days after planting if it has rained the corn will sprout and then it will be OK unless there is a drought which seldom happens. In October after the harvest there is a big fiesta and the farmers make sacrifices to Chuc the corn god. I told the cabbie about our Thanksgiving. A lot of food seemed to figure into their harvest fiesta also.
When I got to the hotel it had beautiful landscaping, the bungalow had stained glass windows and was quite lovely. The reason I picked this hotel, however, was because it was right beside the Mayan archeological site. This place was amazing. The main ball court was about as long as two football fields. The hoops the player had to get the ball through were quite high, perhaps twenty feet above the field. I cannot imagine how they did it. Supposedly either the winners or the losers were sacrificed to the gods at least some of the time. I think it must have been the losers because otherwise it would not be much incentive to win, but that is just me. People do strange things for religious reasons and supposedly being sacrificed was an honor.
The main pyramid was quite large. We were not allowed to climb it because an American had fallen off and killed herself some years before. (You know how those American tourists are.) But you could see the intricate carvings quite clearly. There were four main animals that seem to have been revered: the rattlesnake, the eagle, the jaguar, and the bear. I personally related most to the jaguar. (See pictures of me holding a baby jaguar attached. (Pictures from the PV zoo; yes, although black it is a jaguar. dt)) I asked my guide how they knew which buildings were oldest and he told me it was because they carved the date they finished the buildings on the top stone. Dah.
There was a light show at night that told the story of the city - Chichen Itza is translated as 'well of the water sorcerers' – with pictures flashed on the side of the big pyramid. In addition to several pyramids there was a marketplace, several ball courts, a school, an observatory, a palace, a sacred well where they threw in human sacrifices, and much more. Originally most of these were painted in bright colors but most of the paint has fallen off. It was an exhausting but thought provoking day. It put me in mind of the poem Ozymandias.
I was looking for a little memento to bring back to Dan when I found just the thing. It was a bookmark with his Mayan astrological symbol. That is how I discovered that Dan is in reality BATMAN! No, he does not run around trying to save Gotham City in his underwear, but his Mayan astrological symbol is Zotz, a bat. (Probably of the vampire variety: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camazotz dt) I had always suspected he was a Zotz but now we know officially.
At any rate we are back in Ohio starting to work on our waterfall but in the back of my mind I remember the water sorcerers and know that whatever we build is for a moment and then is gone. In the end I think it is the moments that matter.
Best wishes. Keep in touch.
Dan and Rebecca
www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com
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