Rafting, Riding, and Ruins

Well, it has been awhile, and I apologize for the delay. Much has happened since the last entry but I think I may skip over it for now. Brief update though: Classes and finals (of which I had none) ended for me on Thanksgiving. Lisette put on a huge fancy dinner for Thanksgiving at a restaurant for our group, our host families, and a ton of other important people somehow connected to us that we didn’t know. The dinner included staples such as turkey, cranberries, and sweet potatoes, but in strange and beautiful arrangements; the kinds of dishes that include garnishes with questionable edibility. But it was wonderful, we had fun, sang Be Our Guest to all present and it was all paid for by Notre Dame. Score.

All the roomies together for one last bash. 

The next day we headed to Oaxaca (which was incredible and will hopefully show up on this blog in the near future) and then I pretty much hung out for a week. I slowly packed, unpacked, explored Cholula more, and had a wonderful “Roomie Comida” with all of my suitemates before leaving. By the end, I was ready to go, the only thing I was sad about was not visiting Tacos Isreal one last time and leaving my roommate, Nalleli.  After much tears and *te quiero mucho*’s I set off with the group for our last big hurrah trip. And that is where I shall begin my tale…

On a night bus, we headed down to the great state of Chiapas, Mexico to the town of San Cristobal de las Casas. It was a cute little town with cobblestone roads and colorful houses and shops. After arriving in the morning, dropping our baggage at the hostel (of which everyone has at least two rolling massive suitcases because we are carrying all of our stuff from the semester and acquired Mexico treasures)  and being a group of hungry grumpy gills, we ate some bagels and set off for our first adventure: Canyon de Sumadera. Our group of 13 took a colectivo to a loading dock bought some tour tickets (lifejackets included) and set off into the crocodile infested river. It was unbelievable. It was liken unto the scene in Fellowship of the Ring after the fellowship leave Lothlorian and takes boats to the scene of the last battle of the movie (right before Sam and Frodo having their oh so touching moment of loyalty and lack of swimming skills…I made a promise, Mr. Frodo!...regresando al punto…). I kept looking for massive statues of elder kings holding out their palms, beckoning us forward or warning us to stay away. The river flowed through this canyon that towered over us on either side we stopped a couple times for crocodile and spider monkey watching. There were moments in which everyone was exclaiming about the miraculous view as well as moments in which the entire boat was silent and reflective.  The pictures do not do it justice but hopefully can give you a little taste of what we saw. It was, without a doubt, one of the coolest natural wonders I’ve ever seen. We landed safely, considered hitchhiking back, concluded that was a bad idea, and passed out in our hostel of pure exhaustion.

The Crew

One of many crocodiles

I found my retirement home...

Our fearless tour guide. This was an attempt at a foto familiar but his son sat down too quickly. 

Chastity, my loyal steed. 

San Cristobal Day 2: Horses! We mysteriously ran into the same woman advertising her horse services on the first day and decided to take her up on it. The large group of us trod, cantered, galloped, and groaned in pain a bit through the beautiful countryside. I dubbed my horse with the name of Chastity, due to its white and pure hair and mane. We rode in a group and sometimes the horses competed on their own accord for the lead, but Chastity was patient, serene, and enduring. Claro. Not to mention majestic. However, I was left with a few bruises…

Maggie and I at Misol Ha

Our next Chiapas stop was in the town of Palenque. There really wasn’t much going on there besides the few tourist spots and hotels for visitors looking to explore them. First we had a waterfall day and went to Misol Ha and Aguas Azules. Misol Ha was a big waterfall that we could climb in and around, including a cave we waded through with flashlights. Aguas Azules was this series of waterfalls that cascaded into pools. Some parts were all raging white water and some were calm enough to swim in. A mysterious rope hanging from a tree over the water led to some great tarzaning into the water. And by tarzaning, on my part, I mean swinging and bellyflopping, though others were more graceful.

Under the Misol Ha waterfall

Aguas Azules...not quite blue, but cool nonetheless

I spy a creepy rock water monster...

 

Climbing trees

The next day we visited the Palenque ruins, which to me, were the most impressive we’ve seen. We were able to climb all over them, exploring houselike structures as well as places which inevitably were sites of human sacrifices. I took a sitting break with a couple others at the top of the tallest pyramid to soak in the incredible view it offered. I looked down at an ancient city with a background of jungle-covered mountains that seemed to stretch infinitely. I wondered what it was like when it was populated by it’s original Mayan builders and their ancestors and what it would have been like to be a part of that civilization (although, we just finished watching Apocalypto today and for those of you who have seen it, I think you’ll understand that I’m pretty okay with having missed out on that one…).

View of an ancient civilization enjoyed during a picnic on a pyramid.

And then, finally, we headed to Playa del Carmen (a bit south of Cancun). I had been waiting for this part of the trip with anticipation, mostly because (did I mention?...) we were all traveling across Mexico with all of our luggage. This was a slight desmadre, but with patience and biceps, ended up being alright.

Mexpandable Waistlines- I know I haven’t written this section of the blog in quite sometime but right now, it’s almost hard to remember the taste of Mexican food. Along with most of the group, I’ve been working with a pretty limited budget in this last trip and we have had the great pleasure of thoroughly exploring every town’s supermarket for the cheapest eats. A couple days were spent on fruit and crackers. In Palenque, the Super Che market put out free samples in their panaderia section which served as breakfast a couple of days.  I was excited for home cooking before this last trip, but now, I take at least 20 minutes out of my day to fully contemplate Mama V’s cooking and Papa V’s grilling and let my mouth water. Ohhh and Grandma Olga’s peas and Grandma Pam’s ambrosia. I could keep going…VEGETABLES! (this semester, Veggietales music not only brought me joy and smiles, but the new phenomenon of cravings as well.) I’ll cut myself off here. But I have to say, I’m excited to cook a Mexican meal for my family with some goodies I am bringing home and the knowledge I gained en las concinas mexicanas.