Northern Yucatan

Merida is centrally located in northern Yucatan and is therefore a great jumping off point. Deb and I did several interesting things from there. First, we went to Uxmal, yet another wonderful Mayan ruin. What makes Uxmal unique, at least in comparison to the other sites I have seen, is the quality of the façades (picture 1). In addition, there is a well preserved Mayan ballcourt. The Mayans played a game with a small rubber ball that they would strike with their hips. The idea was to keep the ball in play in hopes of passing it through a stone ring (see picture 2). Kind of like quidditch without the broomsticks. The games would go on for quite a while, and I have been told that the winning team would be rewarded by being sacrificed. So, in essence, the best athletes in the Mayan world probably never got the chance to pass their genes on to the next generation. Talk about your reverse evolution!

After Uxmal, we drove way out to el medio de nada, and, of course, got lost several times (Mexico, at times, neglects to provide one with signage) We finally prevailed, and found the cenotes that we had heard about. Cenotes are underground sinkholes/caves filled with crystal clear water. The water is the perfect temperature, so swimming is a must. Just outside of the little town of Cuzama, there are three such cenotes within a few kilometers of each other. When we drove up to the place, we were met by a guy who directed us to a small train car on narrow gauge tracks pulled by a horse! And I thought I had traveled in every conceivable way. We were able to see all three cenotes, and all told, it was quite a unique adventure. Below is a picture of Deb and me in our car, and another of the first of the three cenotes.

The next day was our last together, so we decided to trek off to the northwest coast of the Yucatan to check out the flamingos and beaches of Celestun. The flamingos were impossibly colorful, more orange than pink, and stood more than a meter high. They live in the mangrove swamps all year long, but are only visible in the spring when they come out to mate. We also saw several other species of birds as well as a crocodile. The beach was nice, but not up to par with the Caribe side of the Yucatan. I think the mediocre beaches on the Gulf side of the Yucatan are the major reason that it isn't packed with tourists. That evening, we drove back to Merida, got up early the next morning, I saw Deb off on the plane, returned our rental car, (with over a 1000 new miles on it) jumped on a bus, and returned to Campeche.
On the language side of things, I am back in the saddle, I had a series of dinners with patient's families, and as long as I was able to direct the conversation somewhat, I was OK. The trouble for me is still comprehension, so when people change the subject quickly (for instance, this physics professor, who is all over the place) I lose track. Actually, it works out fine for me because I can talk, but I can't understand. Since I really don't care much what other people have to say, and just want to get my opinions heard, its rather optimal.
Finally, on the therapy side of things, things are good, although a bit slow. The average PT here only sees about 12 patients a day, and they see the same patients for months. Imagine groundhog day in Spanish, and you pretty much get it. In addition, there is no HIPAA here, no malpractice, no demandas (law suits), so instead of spending 50 hours or more a year taking (and retaking, and retaking) on-line courses on HIPAA and all the other related topics, and spending 10 hours or more a week documenting, therapists here actually have time to treat patients. What a concept. Next weekend is yet another puente (long weekend), so I'm going ot take a bus to the east coast of the Yucatan to check it out, that should give me something to talk about for my next post. Nos vemos!

Deb arrives!

Forgive me Father for I have traveled and it has been almost 3 weeks since my last admission.

The last 10 days have been a whirlwind. Deb arrived, and we whipped through the Yucatan like an unruly hurricane. First, we went to Calakmul, an ancient Mayan city plopped in the middle of a 6 million acre jungle. We stayed in an "ecolodge". (translated, ecolodges are expensive, rustic cabins, a veritable miracle in modern marketing. Since it contains the prefix "eco", you feel really good about spending lots more money than you normally would for such austerity).

Let me try to set the stage for Calakmul. On the drive in, you pass a gate (where you, of course, pay a bunch of pesos), and drive for about 40 miles deep into the jungle before you arrive at the entrance, (where you, of course, pay a bunch more pesos), and walk for another couple of miles to the ruins.

We gave a ride to a local guy who has worked at Calakmul for 15 years. He had us stop at various places to show us cool stuff, like a scarred chicle tree that used to be drained for its sap to make chewing gum, (it doesn't kill the tree, kind of like tapping maple trees for syrup). This is, by the way, where the term chicklets came from. Evidently there used to be a big chewing gum factory along the road. It must have been good karma to pick him up, because in the course of our one hour drive in, we saw keel-billed toucans, wild turkeys, chachalacas, a great curassow, a fledgling eagle, a pack of wild javelinas (picture above), a tiny deer about the size of a dog (second picture) called a red brocket deer, or temazate in espanol (which is evidently quite a find), and a cascabel (rattlesnake). Even the local guy said we were lucky.

Then we got to the ruins. The ruins are only partially excavated and seem to grow right out of the jungle floor. It is like no place I've ever been. There are four ruins that are taller than the trees that allow for views of the vastness of the jungle that are, well, vast. The third picture is of Deb and me on top of a ruin (estructura uno) looking across the jungle to estructura dos and neighboring Guatemala. Evidently, back in the day, the city of Calakmul, along with Palenque and Tikal, were the most important of the Mayan settlements. Calakmul and Tikal had a trade route, or camino blanco, between them that stretched through the jungle for 50 miles. Like all good neighbors, they fought constantly, trading off dominance for hundreds of years.

We ended up spending over 6 hours hiking throughout the ruins and saw all kinds of birds as well as both howler and spider monkeys feeding from the same tree. We visited 4 other ruins on that leg of the trip including Balamku, Chicanna, Becan and Hocheb. Each ruin has its own charm, but Hochob was especially cool because it is so off the beaten path, Deb and I spent a couple of hours there and saw only one other person, the caretaker. They tell us that Hocheb, although quite small, is one of the best examples of the Chene style of architecture (I have no idea what that means, but it sounds pretty impressive, and I'm a professor, after all). The last picture is of Deb inside the mouth of a serpent at Chicanna.

After returning to Camphece, I gave Deb the two day special tour of the museums, muralla, malecon, etc., and then we were off to Merida. Merida is a nice enough place, a city of over a million in northern Yucatan, but I'm still not sure why folks rave about it. I found it a bit touristy, with lots of shops filled with the same old same old, and proprietors trying to pull you in off the streets. I guess I'm accustomed to the "mas tranquilo" atmosphere aqui in Campeche. Anyway, Deb and I used it as a jumping off place for three adventures which I will talk about in my next blog! Tomorrow I am to return back to work, spending 10 days with Deb was a blessing, but I'm afraid I've forgotten half of the little Spanish I knew.

Mas Gringos en Campeche

The last couple of days have been interesting. As bad as my Spanish still is (todavia es muy mal, yo prometo), I have actually been called upon to be a translator twice in as many days. First, for a woman who's husband had a stroke while working in Lousiana. Most of his medical records were in English and the family was curious what had happened to him there (he is totally aphasic). I discovered that he had some money that mysteriously disappeared while he was at a hospital in Lousiana (bienvenidos a Estados Unidos).
The next day, I had to translate a conversation between a tecnico en Estados Unidos and another tecnico aqui in Campeche. It seems that there was something wrong with the gas water heaters they use to heat a therapy pool at a facility here. I managed to figure out that the heaters were designed to run either on natural gas or propane, and the folks here in Mexico were using butane gas. The only type of gas available here is butane. So, they invested about $7,000 in two heaters that aren't going to work. Esto es un gran problema. Esto es Mexico. Anyway, it was a good test of my Spanish.

Two of the biggest industries here in Campeche are fishing and shrimping. For those of you who don't know, the Gulf of Mexico has the best shrimp in the world, and Campeche has some of the best shrimp in the Gulf.

There are these gigantic shrimp in the Gulf that Texans call "jumbo shrimp" (talk about your oxymoron). Here in Campeche, they are called piguas. I have attached a photo of a camaronero (shrimper) who was pushing his boat out into the gulf to check on his shrimp traps. Actually I just made that up, I have no idea what he was doing. I didn't notice it at the time, but he had on a University of Michigan hat. My brother Jim, who works at U of M, got a big kick out of that. I talked to the fisherman later, and he told me he was mortified with the performance of the U of M football team in recent years. Actually, I never talked to him, I just made that up as well.

Jessica Castellano arrived to Campeche this week. It was illuminating to see the city through her eyes. I took her to the muralla (wall around the city) and to the market, where there are a series of kioskos of fruits, vegetables, etc. for sale. The reason I said this was illuminating is because it seemed so foriegn to Jess, but so familiar to me. I realized that I have, in some ways, become a part of Campeche. I have never felt this way in all of my world travels. In the past, I have always felt like an outsider looking in.
For those of you that know Jess, I don't have to tell you what a breath of fresh air she brings to everything, and her first day in the clinic was no exception. It was a fun day indeed. It has been interesting to see how differently Mexicans respond to a young woman verses a crusty old guy. Now, I realize even in the states a pretty young woman is going to elicit a different response than a man, but the difference here is much more pronounced. Below is a picture of Jess on top of the eastern baluarte (bastion) of the muralla. The baluartes can be found at several places along the muralla and were areas of extra fortification against the piratas. While we were atop the muralla, Jess got to see her first iguana (always a defining moment in any Mexican experience). I also took Jess to Fuerte San Miguel which has been transformed into a wonderful Museo Arqueológico. I have attached a photo of a 1700 year-old Mayan figurine from the Museo.

Jess speaks some Spanish, so this has been a good chance for her to hone her skills in Spanish and experience physical therapy in Mexico. Aldo and I took her to Edzna to see the ruins. All told, I think her experience here has been a good one. She is going to be returning to the states next week, and then Deb is coming for 10 days. Deb and I are going to travel throughout the Yucatan, the details of which I will talk about in my next blog posting. More later!