Christmas Eve Morning

“Experience, travel - these are as education in themselves”

- Euripides

Merry Christmas Eve ! Traditionally today is the important holiday for my family, We gather with my maternal side of the family and have a great dinner, sing some karaoke, play a couple games and generally just bask in each others company. This is only the second time that I won't be home for Christmas.(The first time was in 2002 when I was pregnant with Mika and stayed in Spain because my then husband couldn't get his Visa in time.) More importantly, this is Mika's first Christmas away form home. 

 We've spent the day swimming and Kayaking in the lagoon. Tonight we are going on a velada (taking the boat out at night) to the Pirates canal for some midnight swimming and kayaking.

When I told Mika that we could go buy her presents when we got home, she shocked me by saying,"Nah, I think we should put that money aside for our next vacation, or give some to kids who need toys. I don't need anything else." Such a difference from her wish list of just 4 weeks ago.Which included ipad 2, lap top, nintendo ds3d.... etc. I guess traveling throughout Mexico has opened her eye to just how lucky she is.

Bacalar- A Slice of Heaven

Bacalar is the 3rd city we visit in Mexico. I wasn't quite sure what to expect as I came here solely off the recommendation of a friend. As we pulled up in the bus from Merida I was at lost for words. In the distance I could see a body of water glimmering with blues, teal, aqua and turquoise. The water looked like it had been Photoshopped, suddenly I was very hot and dying to get into the water. I woke Mika up as we were only getting a "courtesy stop" aka the bus was pulling off the road for us to hop out and then continuing on its way.

La Laguna de los Siete Colores (The Lagoon of Seven Colors) is a beautifully undeveloped area. There seems to be only a couple hotels and everything else is a "Hotelito" a privately owned home that rents rooms individually or as a whole. (There is a HUGE beautiful hotel on the south end of the lagoon that is completely abandoned because the former owner is an incarcerated narcotrafficker) The lagoon gets its name from the 7 distinct colors it has. There are also 7 cenotes that feed into the lagoon.(Which is why the water is not stagnant.) 

We took a boat trip out on the lagoon today and got to about half of it, along with throw on some life jackets and let the flow of the water take us. Mika loves it here. Her exact words are "Lagoon? Hammock? Yes please!!"

Zocalos, Mercados, Tacos and Esquites

Merida is a beautiful town. It has a beautiful city center which is bustling around it's Zocalo. There is a Cathedral on one side and The governor's Palace on the other. One can sit on the benches that wrap around the Zocalo and watch the locals scurry back and forth weaving in and out between buses, taxis and other pedesrians.

Merida is a wonderful town with just the right blend of city bustle and colonial charm. It reminded me of Antigua, Guatemala.  Outside of the center we found streets of homes with pealing facades. It was amazing to see how just a few blocks away from the chaos of the Zocalo we could find streets that were nearly empty.

 After thoroughly exploring the city We decided it was time to go for a swim. This is the fabulous pool at Hotel Dolores Alba, a B&B just a few blocks away from the city center. It was beautiful place with  Frida Khalo prints lining the atrium. Definitely a great choice.

 IN the evening we went for a stroll to explore the "Mercado" it was packed with locals and had everything from bras and underwear to hammocks to belt buckle to pinatas! We worked our way through the Mercado and stumbled upon a taco cart where we decided to have dinner... sure there were a few health codes violated, but we ate 6 tacos and 2 tortas and had 2 drinsk for $60 pesos!

Esquite: corn kernals in a cup with mayonnaise, cheese, lemon, and hotsauce = Yummy!! We stumbled upon this cart on the walk home... Mika and I had these everyday. 

Merida

We took a quick flight over from DF to Merida, seemed like the better option against endless hours on a bus. The moment we walked out of the airport a wall of Yucateco Heat slammed against our bodies. What happened to the nice winter chill of DF? Nowhere to be found! "Hace mucho calor" I told the Taxi driver, "No güera, esta frescesito, hay que ver como esta en el verano, no baja de 40" I laughed at the thought of a stale summer heat.

Mexico is Calling...

     "Everyone has seen photographs of Mexicans wearing those big sombreros. When you come to Mexico, the astonishing thing is, nobody wears these hats at all."

-Bruce Beresford

    After much debate I decided to bite the bullet and go to Mexico. I want Mika to experience Mexico, she has been resistant to speaking Spanish and I want her to take pride in her heritage. My family and friends are not very approving of the idea of me and Mika strapping on some backpacks and traveling around Mexico for a month. However,  I've been dreaming with my grandfather and our many trips to Mexico when I was a little girl. I feel like I'm being called back to the motherland...
     I know for a fact that I want to go the pyramids near mexico city and the Frida Kahlo museum. Mika is interested in the many ruins throughout Mexico and Central America, so maybe I'll let her look up different archeological sites and pick a few. I've found that it is much easier for both of us when I let Mika "choose" where we're going next... Next stop, Mexico!

A New Adventure

Greece and Spain seem to be on the menu for this summer. I have to be in Santorini on July 1 for a friends wedding and Spain is the place I love. I was hoping to throw in Egypt; however the political climate in Arab countries is temperamental at the moment and I don't want to get caught in any sort of scuffle...

Finally

Today I made a promise to myself to begin to put together all my notes and journal entries from my and Mika's trip last summer and FINALLY blog it out... The entries are going to be separated by city and provide highlights from each stop....  otherwise there'd be about 100 posts..... Here goes nothing!

Unique

“Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe, a moment that will never be again. And what do we teach our children? We teach them that two and two make four, and that Paris is the capital of France. When will we also teach them what they are? We should say to each of them: Do you know what you are? You are a marvel. You are unique. In all the years that have passed, there has never been another child like you. Your legs, your arms, your clever fingers, the way you move. You may become a Shakespeare, a Michelangelo, a Beethoven. You have the capacity for anything. Yes, you are a marvel. And when you grow up, can you then harm another who is, like you, a marvel? You must work, we must all work, to make the world worthy of its children.”

- Pablo Picasso