Time warp

---

Again this is an entry that was started a day ago in another city which in the travelling timewarp seems light years away - especially after an overnight 15 hour bus ride. At least the buses are more comforatable than in Canada and the US - lots of leg room and the seats recline and fortunately they turn off the movies between 11pm and 7 am (they have overhead speakers here - you do not use headsets and while you often can turn off the speaker above your head, your neighbour is not far away - this bus had fold down televisions and unlike in Canada where they played videos here it is all on computer).
Staying in a cheap hotel here near the zocallo - basic, clean, seems safe - for 150 pesos a night - like having my own space for a day or two. After I got here just walked around the square and by the water on the malecon and out on a pier - is a big port here with large ships and some navy vessels. And a breeze which is nice and relative quiet by the road - no salsa, or tv, or roaring cars - find Mexico is a noisy place - as i type this there is music from some store outside.

Am missing George Bush´s visit to Merida on Tuesday (or actually he is going to a hacienda just outside the city). Big news there - first saw protest banners in the main square and yesterday for Domingo in Merida where they have music and a market in the square and close some roads to traffic, there was a small protest with loudspeakers - guess there havebeen small protests all week. Quiet though. More military checks on the roads going into the city and the army planes were flying overhead on Sunday.

On Saturday I went to Izamal, at small town about 1.5 hours from Merida with a 16th century Fransician convent build over an old pyramid and also a smaller pyramid from Mayan times that was left standing when the Spanish came. The convent which dominates the main squares was visited by the pope in 1993 and quite special. I seem to have an affinity for convents - wonder if I was a nun in a former life. The town itself is cute and quiet compared to Merida - colonial with cobblestone streets and almost all the buildings painted a deep yellow - the one and two story buildings, with the administration and churches and market at main square. Area around there is quite poor - smaller homes with not much more than hammocks ad a chair or two for furnishing. As in the rest of the Yucatan (and elsewhere) quite a few buildings in the country are abandoned, just the ruins - the concrete walls with no roofs being filled with bush, and stonewalls also covered - remain - urbanization in general? aftermath of hurricanes? or what? In that respect, much like rural areas of north America - poor in comparison to cities, and being abandoned, homes left behind. The smaller towns we passed though were sleepy on a Saturday afternoon, and the squares were all dominated by large yellow churches.

Saturday night is happening in Merida - there was the Noche Mexican - folk dancing and singing in one square with excellent food booths (great tacos (chicken) and panuches) which I had been to last time I was here, and this weekend they also had the streets in the historic center of town shut with bands playing on small stages and tables set out on the street outside of restos and bars. Nice atmosphere, but while I love the street scene, i am not really a party girl - have been one of the first asleep in my dorm at midnight not going out to the bars - would rather read a book or spend days visiting sights. While I love festivals I also crave quiet, and while I love a lively street scene I also am a bit of a "library girl" - find my dress very conservative here compared to most of the Mexicans (volumtous women poured into very tight clothing) and the tourists.

The nun in a previous life thought (or a convent life of some sort) came back to me on the bus early this morning. I also was thinking about Mexican women - tend to be heavier and proudly display their bellies and hips, but with the bellies on younger women - not huge but there- you think "fertile" - this woman will bear children, her belly is designed to expand - and they do - think of the population growth in the last 30-40 years here - while fewer per woman now, childbearing is still basic - unlike myself who will probably never have kids, and probably was not meant too, and so many of the skinny professionals in North America who often have just 1 later in life.

Sundays in Merida was a bit of a disappointment - had seen all the stalls before and have seen too many markets. The dancers were the same as the night before, the bands playing salsa with seniors dancing were no longer new and it was hot. I´m sure I would have loved it more when I first arrived in Mexico. Walking around the same small area of town, sticking to the tourist areas - looking for something to eat - other than the same old - found decent pizza but the centre is limited and like most, did not really venture out. Went to the park by the zoo, but while the streets were empty, it was a grid scene of families. Was glad to leave which is funny cause I had really liked it a few weeks before - but I guess the newness had worn off, the noise was bugging me, and also a different crowd at the hostel and I did not bond with anyone - seemed to be more people interested in going out to bars all night rather than seeing things.

On the bus I was thinking more about novelty and brain noise - cause I like peace and quiet and have been craving it, but also require stimulation - but I think it is to fill the mind and senses with uplifting or challenging material, not just trinkets, the constant noise, tv, things where is it being bombarded but with what purpose? Here seems a little quieter, fewer tourists, but then while the crowds get to me, I think that much of the world is this crowded or even more so, and how spacious much of North America is - even Mexico for that matter - on drive this morning went past long stretched with barely any people or homes, just grass and bush and cows and horses. Becoming more urbanized like rest of the world. Even in the ruins when the crowds occasionally annoy, have to remember that these were once cities and were full of people and life.

Here I found a great place to eat cheap lunch - a pedestrian sidestreet serving locals but with tables set out - but I might head to the tourist zocallo for dinner as the square is happening. Compared to the crafts elsewhere, the Artisans on the malecon sell typical souvenirs - tshirts, key chains, shell and stone necklaces and bracelets (the same ones sold at the gift shop where I worked in Tofino) etc. Interesting town will get my head around it tommorow - to fort, beach, and rio boco.

---