The Star Fish Club

 I have A LOT, and I do mean A LOT of pictures from today.  But that's because it was Excursion day!  Which we will have each weekend, except one weekend where I believe we are free to do whatever.

So today we got to sleep in a little, which was nice.  We got up at 7:30 AM, then got dressed and ready for the van picking us up at 8:30,  (That van was sweeeeet.  Super, SUPER comfy chairs.  And the back two rows were elevated, like a mini nose bleed section, but not as high.  I'll have to take a picture of the inside next weekend).

Our first stop was Dzibilchaltun (Yeah, that's okay, I don't remember how to say it either).  It.  Was.  AMAZING.  Talk about your Mayan ruins.  And the best part is, we got to climb on them!  Here are the pictures from that:

The Welcome Sign

Pretty little alcove next to the gift shop

This was outside the entrance to the ruins (modern day decor)

The Catholic Church built by the Conquistadors when they invaded the Mayan (Side View)

Side View From afar

Front View From Afar

Front View Close Up

This is one of the ruins to the left of the Church.  Cool fact:  Mayans built/added on to old buildings.  So, the inside of this building is a lot, lot older than the outside.  But it has a corridor that leads from the outside to the interior (old part).  Also, for the other captions below to make sense, note that this building here is the only one I explored and stood on top of.

This is the corridor in the building seen above that leads into the interior/older part of the building.

Random Centipede I found atop the ruin.

Couldn't resit taking a selfie on this ruin.

Birds eye view from the top of the ruin, looking to my right.

Closer up birds eye view (it's the same thing you seen in the picture above, just closer)

 

I just thought the details were pretty cool on this ruin.  By details, I mean the smaller rocks they used to form a continuous design throughout the bigger rocks.  This is seen throughout the whole ruin.

This is the view from the left side of the ruin.  I think this specific ruin we are looking at is cool because you can clearly see how nature played a big part in destroying the remains of the Mayan civilization.

This is a closer up of that same ruin.  See the trees growing on top of it?

 After looking at the ruins, we got to visit the cenote!  Unfortunately, because it was cloudy, it's hard to see the clearness, as well as the green color of the water (the green color is caused by the limestone rock that resides in the cenote).  Here's some pictures:

The cenote!!  It was actually pretty shallow (as far as cenotes go).  I think the shallowest part was 1 ft and the deepest probably 8 ft?

The iguana next to the cenote (apparently seeing an iguana in Merida is like seeing a squirrel in Missouri.  They are everywhere.  And after today's trip, I'd believe it.  I think we spotted over 10 iguanas?)

The fish in the cenote (also known as peses).  These little fish were SO fun.  The moment you put your feet in the water, they swam up and started to nibble on your toes, ankles, you name it, eating the dead skin.  It was like getting a spa treatment.  My feet have never felt smoother :P

These are the ladies I spoke with as I sat in the Cenote.  Because I didn't want to swim in the deeper water, I went and sat in the shallow end where this family was hanging out (these are just two of the five or six that were there).  It was super fun to try talking with them in Spanish.  They told me several times that my Spanish was good :)  When I got out a walked over to the other side, where all my friends were hanging about, my professor said, "You get the brave Spanish speaking award today" or something like that, calling me his hero.  Lol.  It was nice.  I hadn't realized I'd done something brave, but I guess I must have!

I can't remember the name of these thingys, but we saw them as we walked up to the most important Mayan ruin.  I guess, during Festivals, they would paint information and pictures on these pillars, as well as decorate them with fruit and other things - offerings to the gods.

This is one of the normal city walkways coming off of the huge walkway that led to the temple.  Back in the day, traders and other people would walk on these streets, doing business and socializing.

This is the view of the temple from afar.  See the door on the temple?  (the square opening), the Mayans had it positioned so that the sun would shine right through that door.  Then, as you walked closer and closer to the temple, the sun would rise up above the temple.  They were really good with their astronomy.

This is a close up of the temple.  Apparently here is where the religious Mayans (for only the religious/sacred/important/leaders were allowed in here) would come.  For ceremonies this is where the person in the ceremony would offer up their own blood to the gods.  Then, after this small ceremony, they would go into the public plaza to finish up the ceremony.  (There was dancing, music, festivies, etc.  The Mayans sure had a strange sense of celebration.  I am SO glad that there is no such things as human sacrifices anymore).

The ruin I'm sitting on is right in front of the temple.  It probably was a wall or something, used to keep unwanted/unworthy people out of the temple area.

 

Here's those same ruins, from afar.

Found these flowers near the ruins :)

Here's all of us in front of the temple.

 After viewing this ruin, we headed back to the cenote and actually got to swim in it this time (which I already mentioned earlier).  But here's a picture of me actually in the cenote (it only looks deep because I'm actually sitting in the water):

After the cenote and the ruins, we packed our things back up, but kept our swimsuits on.  Why?  Cause we were going to the beach!!  I think it was about a thirty minute drive, but totally worth it.  I should probably mention that this is the beach club, so it's a private beach.  Which I didn't realize until one of the workers brought us ice cream while we were out swimming (I was like, dang, these beaches in Mexico are really nice.  Then someone was like, yeah, that's cause this is a private beach.)  I should note that this is where we also had lunch and met up with our Mexican Mamas.  Normally we wouldn't do so on excursions, but I guess this was a little welcome party for us.  Here's some pictures.

This is the view of the beach from afar.  Look how green that water is!  (And the water was also very warm).

This is the food we had - Rice, Beans, Fish, and Chips.

Claire and I built a Mayan temple sand castle (the sand was super soft.  The only downside was the amount of seashells the waves brought in.  That was where it got a little crunchy and painful to walk.  Luckily, it's only a thin, but pretty, line at the edge of the ocean).

This is me holding a star fish that Connor found on the beach while Becca, Claire, Connor, and I were exploring.  We walked all the way back from where we were so we could grab a camera and take pictures.

Here's a close up of the little guy.  (You can't see 'em here, but the star fish has little orange suction cup feet).

But then we ALL found star fish (I found one, Connor found 2 - though he's not in this photo - and I think Claire found 1) and founded the Star Fish Club.
Left to Right:  Me, Becca, Claire

 We played around and looked for shells and all that jazz for a good three hours.  But then it started thundering and the tour guide came by and said, it's time to go, so we departed hence.

This is my hair at the end of the trip.  Very sandy.  That would be because I laid down on the beach and let the warm waves wash over me. 

This is a picture of the club as you enter.  They had a nice shallow pool (as seen here) that you could swim in.  I don't think any of us did though (who would with the ocean nearby??)

 I think now is a good time to mention the fact that there was a good 1/4 mile where the water was only waist deep.  It was cool to be able to walk so far out in the ocean.
 

These are the shells I found :)  Some I got in the waves.  Some I got from scouring the ocean floor as I waded in it.

 After the beach, we piled back in the van (after dutifully washing our feet off with the hose.  Then we were each dropped off back at our houses.  Of course, when Christina and I got home, the first thing we did was shower.  (I had so much sand EVERYWHERE on me).

Then, after some discussing, we went out and explored the neighborhood around us with the boys (Connor, Brandon, and Scott.  They are the peeps that live closest to us).  We stopped by the bank to pull out some cash.  Then, as we walked round, we stopped by a panaderia (bakery) and got the delicoius brownies pictured below (so good.  I liked how they weren't super sweet.  AND they were only 9 pesos, or $0.60).  We also stopped by the boys' house (so we could see where they lived) followed by a stop to Super Aqui, a grocery store, at which I bought some Aloe (yeah, I'm a little burned) and found the Mayan Horchata (picture below.  Note, the H in Horchata is silent).

After that, we all returned to our respective houses.  Christina and I had dinner with our family (delicoius eggs with a Mayan sausage called Longaniza).  Then we finished off the night by playing Clue with one of MM's daughters.

Well, that's it for today!

'Til Tomorrow.

R J Carr