Seven Dolls, spiders, and cenotes...oh my!!

Friday, June 20, 2008

We took a taxi to Eladio’s this evening and for the first time all seven of us ate dinner together. After ordering drinks, I had a Chelada, we were brought between eight and ten tiny plates of authentic Yucatecan cuisine…almost tapas style. We passed the dishes around and everyone sampled the delicacies, while listening to the live band. It was an evening filled with much laughter and everyone letting down their guard for probably the first time. After our many free appetizers everyone decided to order soupa de limon, a lime soup with chicken, tortillas, tomatoes, and onions – very tasty. The lime flavor is amazing. Most of the group went out for more drinks following dinner, but I was exhausted, as were a few others, so we opted for bed.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

It was another early morning and I could feel the heat seeping in from under the door. After a quick breakfast, always pancakes and scrambled eggs, everyone but Christa hoped aboard a very comfortable little bus for a thirty minute ride to Dzibilchaltun, where we met with Ruben the archaeologist that runs the site. He only spoke Spanish, so Pablo translated for us, but he was very patient and a wonderful tour guide. The two ends of the site are connected by a long sakbe; at least it felt long in the heat. We started at the Temple of the Seven Dolls where we climbed to the top to find a most pleasant breeze. Ruben led us through the many pyramids, up their crumbling steps to see stela, and even down into their dark interiors to see stela embedded in the walls. One such foray brought me face to face with a rather large spider. It was like being back at Angkor Wat, holding the excess of my skirt in one hand and feeling the burn in my thighs as we climbed each step to the top. Ruben took us to the far reaches of the site to see the ballcourt and even to the unexcavated portions where tourists are not permitted.

After wandering around the site for three hours, our cameras suffering from too many photos and our bodies from a combination of too much heat and dozens of new mosquito bites, we took a refreshing swim in the Cenote Xlacah. There were many lily pads floating across the surface and hundreds of little purple fish dancing below the surface; the crystal blueness of the water was so refreshing and a welcome relief from the heat. In fact the water even smelled like flowers. The rocks around the cenote were covered in lush carpets of spongy green algae and reddish purple leaves drifted across the surface. It was an absolutely amazing feeling to splash in the cool water with the crumbling remains of the ruins standing watch.

This evening we are going to the Casa Catherwood for dinner, which has a museum upstairs housing the original Catherwood prints. I cannot believe that I am going to see the originals, in addition to seeing the Xiu family genealogy this morning at the museum in Dzibilchaltun, a sixteenth century document that I have been using in my research on the twisted cords. Tomorrow we depart for Santa Elena with a stop at the Hacienda Ochil. The mosquito bite tally has risen to twenty-three, all except for four are on my feet, ankles, and lower legs. The last four of which are on my shoulders…and as I am writing this I have just found number twenty-four on the bottom of my heel. I miss my built in photographer; I even set the camera on the self-timer a few times. It just seems like anytime I ask someone to take a photo they do a really bad job. Leah took a great one though and so now you will have the first of the photos…enjoy. I wish that this had been more detailed, but I wanted to get something up before tomorrow and will probably add more to this posting later.