Grutas in Calcehtok

Today wasn't my favorite excursion but pretty much everybody else loved it.  We went to a cave and explored.  We had to climb down into it on a ladder.  It was beautiful and pretty amazing.  It was really cool to know that the Mayans used it as a place of worship and a place to put offerings to their gods.  There was evidence of may ceramic pots and vases.

Most of the group went through a tiny little tunnel that takes 40 minutes to wiggle through.  I was the first to raise my hand saying that I was NOT going.  They had to wiggle through on their stomachs and there wasn't even enough room to army crawl through the small tunnel.

Also there were tons of bats.

All in all...not my favorite place!

Rachel, Profe, and me

The descent into Xibalba

Morning Stroll in Progreso

We usually only get to go to Progreso in the afternoon after classes but today we didn't have class and we didn't have an excursion so we all decided to go to the beach.  It's so nice in the morning because there's not as much wind.  A crazy wind starts up around 3pm and it's no fun to on the beach. 

I've said it before and I'll say it again...I love this place!!!

 As we were walking down the pier we ran into this cute little grandpa teaching his grandson to fish.  He let us take a swing at it and we actually caught some fish!  The people here are so nice and so willing to get to know us and show us their culture and ways of life.

 After our fishing adventure, we parked it on the beach under a palm hut enjoyed some fun drinks and a beautiful view.

Beauty

This city is so gorgeous! I'm so luck that I get to be here

Coco Loco in Progreso

Rachel and I got out of school early today so we planned to go straight from school to Progreso.  It was a very good plan, I must say.  All of the stores were open.  They're usually all closed by the time we get there because it's siesta time after school.  It's such a beautiful place.  It has a familiar beach-town feel about it.

Rachel had never had fresh coco water so we HAD to get one...right?  They lady went to town on it with her machete!  

If anything it was a fun experience and good photo-op since I don't really enjoy coconut water that much-or at all

Diego at the Albergue

We made another little friend at the albergue today.  Meet Diego!  He's super cute...as you can see!

He loves it when we come on Tuesdays because then he has a bunch of people to pay attention to only him.  He's so nice, and well behaved, and cute, and outgoing, and fun!

He especially likes to play train

Then we all crammed into a car to go to our very favorite Taqueria named Mixe

CHAC...Que venga la lluvia

Chac is the Mayan god of rain.  Apparently someone prayed really hard to him today because never in my life have I seen rain like this.  The entire city flooded

Bailando en el centro

Every Sunday in Mérida there is a party in the centro.  It's so fun!  There are hundreds of venders selling food and clothes and souvenirs and trinkets.  But in addition, there is some awesome dancing!  When we got there, a live band was playing a mix of salsa, merengue, chacha,  and cumbia.  It was all old people dancing-they're the cutest.  We figured we might as well get out there and dance with them!  So a group of us jumped up a squeezed through the the crowd to find a little place to dance.  It was a party for sure!

La Noche Blanca

Last night got a little crazy!  OK not really but it was really cool! As you can see there were 11 museums and 27 art galleries open to the public for free.  Not only were those open but in every plaza or park there was a concert. Some of them were set up with an actual stage with lights and the whole shabang.  In other parks there were small stages set up with a little band singing or kids dancing.

Everyone was out!  There were hundreds of thousands of people out and about the city!  It was so cool.  So of course there were a ton of high school aged kids out running around but more than anything there were adults.  They were going from place to place enjoying their city!  Every single restaurant and store was open as well.

It took us forever to find a parking spot but as soon as we did, we hit the town!

First we went into the church where Malena's mom got married. It was tiny and beautiful

I don't remember what everything is called but I'm going to attempt.  From the pretty little church we headed to La Plaza de San José where there was a huge concert and a really big church.  We didn't stay there long, we had lots of ground to cover and time was ticking.  As we made our way from plaza to plaza we stopped in each art gallery that we saw.  I felt so sophisticated.  I also felt underdressed in my shorts while everyone else was in slacks and dresses...oops!

One great surprise of the night was that we ran into Marta and Alejandro (the cute couple from Torrion that we met the other day at Cochito).  We were so excited to see each other! They're so cute!

To top off our night, we stopped at the cemetery on our way home.  We heard that they were showing a movie.  So we went!  Cause why not?  Why not go to a cemetery at midnight to watch a zombie movie!?  Really we just went to see what was going on and to get a good picture but either way it was fun.

I'm sure I've said it plenty of times but I LOVE THIS CITY!!!  There is so much culture here!  I love that there are traditions and cultures.  I could be here for years and it wouldn't quite be enough time!!

 Museums and churches along El Paseo de Montejo