Mexico – Page 9 – My Thought Spot

Today I was “that” runner

Don’t you hate it when you are on a running/walking/bike path and some guy in front of you just wanders around the path not staying in a straight line? Well, I have never really experienced it much since I have rarely gotten the chance to run on a dedicated path.

This morning I got a chance to run on one of those nice paths in the hotel area of Cancun. I was really enjoying the paved path and totally ignoring anything around me. Why should I? There are no cars going to hit me.

Then, all of a sudden, there was a bycicle that passed me right on the edge of the path. He did not screem anything rude at me. Thankfully. But the reason he had to swing to the edge of the path was that I was just aimlessly wandering from side to side with my running. Sorry.

I am just not used to running without having to dodge cars. I felt like I had no cares in the world. I guess I was wrong.

Fate of the bananas

I never gave a final update on what happened with the bananas. In short, they were good, but could have been better.

We were out of town when they ripened; or as ripe as bananas get on the plant. They don’t actually ripen until you cut them off. We are not sure when they became mature since we left town for almost 4 weeks. But they were getting close when we left, and were overcooked by the time we got home.

I cut them off on a Sunday morning and started dividing them up to go to friends that day and the next. We hung about 30 up in our kitchen to ripen and then bagged up the rest. We had close to 170 that were usable. Some had burst on the plant from getting too mature.

One family that we had bagged bananas for did not want them, that gave us another 25 or so to eat on our own. We left them in their bag hung on a door. A couple of days later we found that the ones in the bag were ripening faster than those that were hanging. We had read you were supposed to put a bag around the bunch to ripen them, but I thought that was just to keep the bugs out. Turns out, that is part of the ripening process.

Good thing we had visitors. That week we ate all but 3 of the bananas that we kept. They never really turned completely yellow. I think they were just over mature to look quite right.

I told one of our friend’s daughters that the bananas would not turn yellow and that they should start eating them soon. She could not convince her dad that they were supposedly ready. He did not let them eat them for a few more days (in banana terms, that is an eternity). By the time they tried them they were already pretty mushy. They froze them for future use.

Waiting for a bunny

Today we have spent a typical day waiting on other people. This is not at all unusual but it is a rather frustrating part of life here in Mexico.

I got a good deal on a rabbit cage this weekend at a yard sale. We have casually talked about having a pet rabbit for quite some time. When the cage fell into our laps, we figured there was no better time than the present to get the bunny. I got a recommendation from a friend on a reliable vet who might be able to help us with acquiring a bunny for cheaper than a pet store wants to sell them.

I called the vet yesterday afternoon to see what he could track down. He called me back in an hour telling me he had found a rabbit that fit our criteria. We decided the price, for the type of rabbit, was the best we could get and we had the confidence of knowing that the vet was helping us pick out a good one.

The rabbit was to be at his clinic (30 minutes from our house) by 12:00 today. We waited until 12:30 to go get the bunny. When we arrived at 1:00 the vet was calling the bunny farmer to see when the rabbit would arrive. We were told 4:00. That meant a 30 minute drive home and then another hour long round trip drive to get the bunny at 4:00. Fortunately, some things work differently and better here (just some). Everyone delivers and makes house calls. The vet volunteered to bring the rabbit to us at 4:00, or as soon after 4:00 as he could.

At 6:30 I called the vet to find out if he was bringing the rabbit today. He still had not gotten it from the farmer. He has not even been able to get a hold of the farmer since we were at his shop at 1:00. The vet asked if we had plans to go out tonight. I told him I did not, but that I had already spent several hours waiting at home just so he could bring the bunny. I was not pleased.

He will bring the rabbit by later tonight if he gets it. Or maybe tomorrow. Or…

I have decided to call the vet in the morning and tell him to let the farmer know he can kiss his $35 goodbye if I don’t have the rabbit by 1:00. I cannot waste another day on this. I do have other things to do with my time that does not include sitting at home waiting for a rabbit.

Normal?

Things have been kinda crazy the last 6 weeks or so. I knew it would be, but I did not expect to be such a horrible blogger through it all.

As soon as we returned from our big road trip people started arriving at our house for a week long conference. During the week we were able to accomplish most of what we came together to do. We also spent time at the beach, shopping, Chichén Itzá, Dzibilchaltún (two Mayan ruins), museum and general site seeing around town. This was a group of pastors and missionaries who work with the Deaf here in Mexico. We were doing a planning meeting for camp this summer.

My wife went out of town with two other ladies who were here for our meeting. They all went to Cancun and Cozumel and left me here with the kids for a couple of days.

Today the kids and I went to the park and zoo. The zoo was closed, but we were able to ride the train that takes you through the main attractions of the zoo. We also went and picked up mail that has been collecting dust in the post office for almost 2 months. The highlight of the day…the immigration office. Ok, so maybe that was not the most exciting thing we did.

I am putting the final touches on a new Missionary Talks interview that may be up later tonight or tomorrow.

It looks like things are going to be getting back to normal pretty soon. Finally.

Spring Equinox

Friday, March 21, was the spring equinox. This is when the sun is over the equator on its journey from south to north. The fall equinox is when the sun passes over the equator going back south.

Here in Mayan land there are several phenomena that take place during this time. The Maya were well versed in math and astronomy. They built many of their important buildings to show something special on the equinoxes.

While the weather did not cooperate throughout the day, we visited two of these sites yesterday. While we were still able to see some of the events of the day, we were not able to see it all.

Dzibilchaltún
This is a Mayan town just north of the city of Mérida, where we live. has a temple that is situated so that when the sun comes up in the morning you are able to stand along a sac-be (main road) and see the sun rise perfectly centered through the doorway that is open in the front and back of the temple.

Because the clouds were very thick, we were not able to see the sun come up through the temple door. We woke up at 4:00 for the event and left home about 4:40.

We arrived at the site a little after 5:00 and knew that there would probably not be the show we were hoping for. While there were quite a few cars there already, it was not totally packed. I don’t know how many they were expecting, but anyone could have seen that it was going to be terribly overcast and a non-event before even leaving home. There were probably only a couple hundred people there.

After the non-event which was supposed to take place around 6:15, we toured around the ruins. We went down a path that took us by some of the house structures and led us to the main part of the city. We were walking around in the ancient Mayan city by ourselves when a guard came and told us we had to leave that area because it was not open yet. He was very gruff and acted like we had broken some horrible law. There was nothing to indicate to us that we should not have been in that area. He made us walk back to where a group of people were standing waiting to get in. We stood there for about 30 seconds and then they opened the area. Whatever.

Chichén Itzá
The big event that we were excited about was seeing the Kulkulkán snake make its way down the steps of Chichén Itzá. This is a phenomenon where the 7 large steps at the Pyramid of Kulkulkán casts a shadow on the 91 step staircase causing the shape of a snake which terminates at the bottom of the staircase at the large serpent’s head.

We got to the town about the time I anticipated, but I was very surprised by the amount of time it took for us to work our way to the parking lot and the ticket line. I dropped my group off somewhat near the entrance and they got in to stand in the ticket line. It took me about 30 minutes to park and get back to them.

I got in line with them for tickets and we waited about 40 minutes in a somewhat constantly moving line. About 4:15 a lady announced that at 4:30 they would open the doors and everyone outside would be admitted for free for the event to take place about 4:38. That created a mad push to the front gates which totally destroyed any order or idea of a line. The lady then announced that those who wanted a guaranteed spot to get in (they would only let people in free up to capacity), should still stand in line for tickets. We were willing to pay for the tickets, but there was no chance of getting to the ticket counter now that a few thousand people were told that they could get in for free if they were at the front of the line at 4:30.

Eventually 4:30 came and we rushed the gate with everyone else and were able to position ourselves to see the pyramid. The sun was still strong.

Just a few minutes (maybe 3) before the climax of the event, a very thick cloud rolled in front of the sun. And that was the end of the show. We never saw the sun again that day.

But it was cool being there and seeing what we did. They had anticipated 45,000 people at the event. Only 25,000 showed up. With a good possibility of there being no event, I understand why people stayed away. Especially the local people.

We personally spent about $50 in gas and tolls to take 7 people to this world renown event, while others spent well into the thousands of dollars to enjoy it with their families. I feel worst for those who planned their whole vacation to come to Yucatán on a once in a lifetime trip to see this take place.

The weather is normally very clear this time of year. We basically have no rain and few clouds from December to May. The chances of this not being seen is very rare. But it happened this year unfortunately. We still had fun.

It took us well over an hour to get out of the site and the parking lot. With only 1/2 of the anticipated crowd, I can’t imagine what it would be like if they had all shown up.