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Published: November 12th 2008
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Englisch, dann Deutsch:
The following paragraphs are not finished, but we want to share our time with you and will extend it as we go along.
As sson as we got out of Playa del Carmen. we headed to Merida. The guidbook was full of priase for the small town and spoke of locals dancing salsa in the streets and regular weekly fiestas. It is the cultural capital of the state of Yucatan and a former colonial town, which is partly built out of stones removed from Mayan ruins! It is an amazing town and I'm so glad that we're spending a whole week 'living' here. All the hype in the guidebook didn't lead to any disappointment at all. Not only is the town centre very pretty it is the people who fill you with wonder! At the moment they are in the middle of a cultuaral fesitval but I get the impression that there is some kind of festival going on all year! I don't know where they get the money from, but most evenings of the week there seem to be open-air concerts, cinema, Mayan dancing and Mayan music or simply dancefloors/stages set up and filled with locals
of all ages, salsa-ing the night/afternoon away! All this is complete with live brassbands and is all free! They really get into it, salsa, mambo, merengue...especially the older generation. It's an awesome sight, just wish we could do it too! Could do with a bit of this in Croydon hey? The festivities climax at the weekend,, when you'll find a brass band in very square and the locals are dancing, swaying and spinning away! Saturday night is the highlight, but even on Sunday, the town was packed full of people salsa-ing from morning late into the evening while in the UK and Germany we are battling with the sunday night blues. What a different life!
The outskirts and the areas outside of the centre are more run down than the centre but nevertheless appealing in their own way and more like the 'real' Mexico absent in plaes lke Playa del Carmen and Cancun.
On Monday, we made our way to our third set of Mayan ruins, Chichen Itza, which have recently been named one of the new seven wonders of the world. We met two lovely germans, Ralf and Robert in our hostel who happened to be driving
that way so we grabbed a lift and all went together. The main feature at these ruins is the huge pyramid in the middle called 'El Castillo' (the castle). At first sight it appeared to be a simple pyramid, but with closer observation (and the help of a knowledgable guide of course!) we learnt that it is actually an incredibly accurate representation of the ancient Mayan calender.
So what have been up to all week? (It's Thursday already!)
Well, we managed to sing up to a Spanish Lanauge School so have had 4 hours of intensive spanish lessons a day! As it is the low season, we even have 1:1 or 1:2 lessons, bonus! C has been learning verb cunjugations and tenses for the first time as so far he's been learning 'on the go'. My teacher has ploughed straight into the subjunctive (!) with me and we've been having deep and meaningful discussions comparing all sorts: the environment, politics, religion, ethics, social issues, health systems! Really challening, incredibly interesting, motivating and just what I like: a good old debate! Am pleased as six weeks ago, when we first arrived in Costa Rica, I had trouble just requesting a
bed in a dorm! Smiles
Second interesting activity: last night we had a salsa class! Our hostel normally offers free lessons but as it is low season, they aren't on! They put us in touch with their normal teacher so he came and picked us up and we went to his house for a private lesson! His sister was there too so we each had someone to copy. His name is Nesto and we were both entranced by his front garden: the floor was covered in white and at the doorway stood 4 or 5 huge christmas trees covered in snow! Or at least, what appears to be snow! He explained that he loves christmas and likes to bring 'winter' to his town (its 30 degrees outside!) Every January, for the past 3 years, he has collected people's discarded Christmas trees and erected them outside his house. Then he makes a chalky-water suspension and pours it over the trees to make them white 8and the floor too!) How cool is that?
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Unser letzter Eintrag fuer die naechsten 2 Wochen wird ein Gepuzzel und gegen Wochenende schrittweise ergaenzt.
Nach Playa sind wir in Richtung Merida aufgebrochen.
Merida ist die Hauptstadt des Staates Yucatan und eine ehemalige Kolonialstadt, die z.T. aus Steinen alter Mayaruinen errichtet wurde. Das klingt ziemlich zivil, aber die Realitaet ist das nicht, denn diese Stadt ist unglaublich. Sie ist sehr schoen, v.a. die alten (zumindest teilweise restaurierten) Haeuser. Das Umwerfendste aber sind die Menschen. Die Stadtverwaltung (woher das Geld kommt ist mir ein Raetsel) sponsort einen sogenannten Kulturherbst. Das bedeutet, dass es taeglich Freiluftkonzerte und andere (z.T. gratis) Veranstaltungen gibt, zu denen die Leute pilgern. Sie sind aber nicht reine Zuschauer, sondern tanzen zu der Musik - Salsa, Mambo ... Sogar die Rentner tanzen wie verrueckt.
Das Ganze artet v.a. am Wochenende aus, wo auf jedem Platz eine Band spielt und die Leute ihre Hueften schwingen. Sogar am Sonntag Abend tanzen sie bis spaet in den Abend, waehrend man in England und Deutschland mit sehnsuechtiger Miene traurig an das Elend des naechsten Arbeitstages denkt und einfach vor dem Fernseher einschlaeft. Das ist unbeschreiblich.
Was machen wir?
Am Montag haben wir einen Tagesausflug nach Chichen Itza, eines der neuen sieben Weltwunder gemacht. Dank Robert und Ralf, die wir in der Jugendherberge in Merida kennengelernt und die sich auf den Weg nach Tulum via Chichen Itza gemacht haben, sind auch wir in den Genuss dieser relativ gut restaurierten Mayatempel gekommen. Die Hauptpyramide ist eigentlich der Mayakalender, mit beeindruckenden Symbolen. Ansonsten ist diese alte Mayastadt den zwei bisher schon gesehenen sehr aehnlich und ich werde mir die Spucke (Fingermuehe) sparen, darueber zu schreiben.
Was machen wir sonst noch?
Wir haben uns fuer einen Spanischkurs eingeschrieben (taeglich von 8.30 bis 12:30) und werden Mittwoch, Donnerstag und Freitag einen Salsakurs machen. Donika hat schon immer davon traeumt, mit einem Besen wie mir zu tanzen. :=)
Mehr folgt spaeter.
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