EkBalam again

Back to my favorite ruin...Ek Balam...favorite because it is only 2 hours away, not many tourist go there, excavations have just started so there are many hidden places and really its magical! We went on a Sunday when all cultural heritage sites in Mexico are free entry for everyone..its also a day off for the guides but there was some local Mayans hanging around as watchmen. So we asked a Mayan elder to show us around this place that was home to his ancestors. He showed us some chultunes, the clay lined underground storage tanks that could have been used for water or corn.He also showed us a medicinal plant that was good for digestion. Just a little tiny bite of the root numbed our mouth and he warned to only take a small amount. We listened! We asked him to speak in Spanish and Mayan so we could here the differences...the Mayan language sounds a lot like Chinese,in fact he says that he can understand a little of Chinese tourists....We all had a nice cultural exchange as I was with Flor de Maria, her niece Ana from Mexico City and Suzi, daughter of the German geologist we were filming in Northern Mexico a couple months ago.

Back to Mexico

It is so amazing how I can be on the beach in the morning and then by the SAME afternoon be in Texas on the San Marcos River. Wow! Ok I do feel a little guilty knowing that it takes LOTS of fuel to cross the Gulf of Mexico....so I have heard everytime you fly you should plant a tree, as it is taking the equivalent of a resource. See next entry.... While we are on the subject of fuel....I was amazed to find that gasoline was so high in the U.S....about $4/gallon and $5 for diesel!! Yikes! It is still $2.52 a gallon here in Mexico and has been for quite a long time. I don't understand how all that pricing works, but I have heard that since the gas is nationalized (owned by the Mexican government since 1938) and is being subsidized they are able to keep the prices down. I also heard a new term today....drybacks...thats what Mexicans are calling Americans that cross the border to buy their gas! How times are a changin!

Full Moon in June Party (Texas)

Here are two reasons for going to the 30th Annual Full Moon in June Party at Abbe's ranch in Texas!! For the rockin time we have visiting friends and dancing to some of the finest music in Texas! Here is Abbe herself playing harmonica and Charles Maxwell on the guitar (far left) singing a song they wrote together years ago. Then later in the evening, Austin's father of blues, W.C.Clark and his cousin Big Pete played to a crowd that stayed on the dance floor. The other is the swimming hole is like none other, secluded and full of clear, spring fresh water! Not quite as cold as the cenotes in Mexico but certainly as sacred!

Full Moon and Summer Solstice

Time to celebrate NATURE!! Today is the Full Moon which means the sun sets approximately the same time the moon rises! (Party on the beach with friends, drumming, bonfire and tequila tasting!) And....Summer Solstice occurs in 2 days on June 20th. This happens when the tilt of the Earth is pointed directly toward the Sun. This point marks the beginning of Summer. The Summer Solstice has the longest amount of daylight and the shortest night. Here are some graphics I found on the internet to help wrap your head around this planetary motion. Tomorrow I will be in the Texas hillcountry camping and celebrating with many friends, swimming in one of the best swimming holes and listening to the best music!! Yee ha! Full Moon in June Party!! Rock on!!

All in a days work

My job took me a couple hours south of here today to look at some composting toilets built in a Mayan community called Punta Lagunas. I am mapping and documenting them, learning as I go the many different types and styles. The necessity for a better solution than putting our human manure in our drinking water has prompted many to opt for the composting toilet. I am sold on the idea and am thinking of writing a small informative book on what I discover.
Here I am sporting my new belt made of aluminum can tabs...made by one of the local Mayan women that was selling them at their community market.
We drove by this Mayan house that was made of old beehive boxes! I love the ingenuity and spirit of the people!! There were composting toilets at a monkey sanctuary as well as this display of a spider monkey skeleton.

Flowers in our garden

All these flowers are blooming right here in our garden close to my palapa!

Photos from Annie

The square in Valladolid at sunset
Iguana at the ruins
A beautiful and strange bloom.
A pyramid in reconstruction at EkBalam
A storm threatens in the distance.

Convent of San Bernardino de Siena

This 16th century convent was across the street from our hotel in Valladolid.


We climbed up these stairs to the bell tower and roof.

Valladolid

Historical district of the lovely town of Valladolid! Restaurant El Meson de Marquis prepares your dinner right at the table.

Motmot bird

This is the legendary Motmot bird that lives around the edges of the cenotes. Besides the brilliant colors, they can be recognized by their unique call "whoot whoot" and the wagging of their long tail like a pendulum. They dig burrows for nests and there is a legend about why they live in a hole and how their tale came to be shaped that way...too long for this blog. We must have seen about 6 all sitting around in the trees as we swam underneath them and listened to their song!