Laura vs. the World: Tixkokob, Izamal, Ek' Balam...try pronouncing those!

This week was full of adventures! I only had class twice this week, so there was tons of time on my hands. Tuesday a group of us hit the beach in Progreso for the better part of the day. After being in the sun for about three hours, it started to pour rain. But that didn't phase us; we just swam in the the rain. It was so fun! Wednesday, we went to our weekly salsa class at Institute. We tried to get there earlier to make sure we would get a male partner, because half the time I end up dancing with another girl since we're short on guys {isn't it always that way at church dances?} But boy did I have a surprise in for me! The instructor called me up to the stage to help him demonstrate all the salsa moves. I was so nervous because I am still learning myself, but I think I did pretty well. I was able to keep up with everything he was doing, at least. After Institute, a group of us headed to a park to rent bikes, or bicis. Mérida was having a ride, promoting bike riding. It was basically organized by a group of Mexican hipsters, no joke. But it was so fun! We rode around Mérida for about three hours on bikes at night with 350 people. Quite the experience!

We had excursions on Friday and Saturday this week, so double the fun! Friday, we first headed to Tixkokob, the hammock capital of Yucatán, maybe even the world. Unfortunately, the thread factory we were going to go to to buy hammocks was closed, so we ended up go into some the residents garages to buy them. I'm pretty sure that almost everyone in Tixkokob knows how to weave a hammock. There are two basic materials used to make hammocks: nylon and cotton. Cotton hammocks have larger holes than nylon, which keeps you cooler; most yucatecos prefer cotton. Nylon hammocks have really close stitches and are more suaves than cotton ones. But because of the stitches, they are hotter than cotton hammocks. Hammocks also come in different sizes: individual, matrimonial {queen size}, king size, etc. However, we had limited selections because we shopping in people's garages. I ended up not buying a hammock in Tixkokob because I just felt like maybe I should wait and see what other options I would have in color and size somewhere else. And get this, after our excursions on Friday, two women knocked on our door after our family had finished dinner, and they were selling hammocks! And they were great quality hammocks; our Mamá even encouraged us to buy them, and she is very critical when it comes to hammocks. AND they had a yellow matrimonial-sized hammock, which was exactly what I had been looking for. AND it was only 350 pesos, whereas the Tixkokob hammocks were about 800 pesos! It was a very lucky day for me.

On Friday we also visited Izamal, my Mamá's hometown and the town where our parents got married. The whole town is painted yellow, instead of multiple colors like other towns. Pope John Paul II visited Izamal in 1993. Even though he was only there for two hours, the gente there mention it to everyone who comes through. It is a pretty big deal for a town of 20,000. Another cool thing about Izamal is the fact the there are Mayan ruins in the middle of the city. Right in the backyards of its residents! After visiting the cathedral and ruins, we rode down a path of shops around the town in horse-drawn buggies. It was pretty neat.

Saturday we went to another cenote, the ruins at Ek' Balam, and Valladolid. The cenote was SOOOO beautiful. It was a lot more touristy than la Ruta de los Cenotes, but cool none the less. Ek' Balam was especially fun because unlike Chichén Itzá or Uxmal, you can climb and explore the ruins as much as you please. The view from the biggest pyramid was stunning! You could see jungle for miles, or kilometers! We didn't get very much time in Valladolid, so we just checked out some of the local shops. If you are ever in Valladolid, I HIGHLY recommend the helado de coco sold by the vendors in la plaza central. It was excellent. So excellent, in fact, I bought two.

Here come the pictures. Have a relaxing Sunday and a wonderful week. ¡Nos vemos!