7th/8th grade Spanish Trip to Yucatan

Hi all,
Our departure is just around the corner. Please meet at the airport (Lindbergh Terminal) at noon on Tuesday, Oct. 16th in front of the CONTINENTAL AIRLINES check-in upstairs.

Here is our flight itenerary once more:
TUESDAY, Oct. 16th
CO flt 1017 MSP-IAH (Houston)
leaves 2:59pm arrives 5:57pm in Houston

CO flt 1842 IAH-Mérida
leaves 6:54pm arrives 9:05pm

RETURN flight
MONDAY Oct. 22nd
CO flt 1843 Mérida- IAH
leaves 7:00am arrives 9:05am

CO flt 1816 IAH-MSP
leaves 11:25am arrives 2:17pm

Please refer to your e-mails for the emergency phone tree and the cell phone numbers of Sra. Kunze and Srta. Gleason

After some initial difficulties (late flight, rerouted to another airline, lost luggage-more than half the group) we arrived safely at our hotel in the centro de Merida a little after 10pm. The night passed very quickly. We had a lovely breakfast at the Casa de Frida before heading out to Mani. The church in Mani is famous because Diego de Landa burned the Mayan books on its front steps. We were quieted by the calming courtyard and the layers of texture that enveloped the inner courtyards of the church.

We left Mani for an hour drive to Uxmal. Along the way we were rerouted by a feria in a small town and wound up lost for a few minutes. We had lunch at the Hotel de Uxmal. The view out the back of just the tippy tops of the ancient pyramids took our breath away. Finally, after lunch, we arrived at the famous ruins of Uxmal. The rounded pyramid supposedly built in one night by a dwarf, his witch mother, and the forest elves was enchanting. However, the kids most enjoyed scaling the ancient ruins and looking out over the jungle. Nothing deterred our determined MPAers. Not even a downpour brought on, perhaps, by somebody angering the fearsome Cha'ac - the terrible rain god, whose image appears on the corners of many of the pyramids.

Hot and unbelievably sweaty, we returned to Merida. In fact, after a brief stop at the airport, we even had everybody's luggage.

The kids faced off against their teachers and some parents in a splash contest. After an hour long soaking, it became abundantly apparent that the kids were the better splashers and used cunning and stealth to their advantage.

We finished the evening with a fabulous meal at the Casa de Frida. Some ate a chicken breast covered in rajas de chile while others ate one of the famous dishes of the Yucatan: chile nogada. We ended with a refreshing coconut ice cream - which was, incidentally our third serving of ice cream in 24 hours. It is beastly hot and at least 80 percent humidity.

Sorry about the late update, but yesterday was a long, hot, sweaty, late day. We spent the day at Rio Lagartos. We took three boats out into the estuary where we saw nesting osprey, black eagles, American eagles, cormorants, pelicans, grey herons, blue herons and most incredibly... PINK FLAMINGOES!!!! They were a vibrant pink color with a black stripe on the underbelly of their wings. As our boats neared, they would take off as a group, creating a most impressive, natural sight. Of course, there were other highlights: the red mangroves, crocodiles, the salt flats and the mud bath. That´s right, the mud bath. We swam in the salt baths that are used to evaporate the salt from the water. The water that is left is highly saline, creating a Dead Sea effect. We floated on our tummies, on our sides, and did synchronized swimming moves usually only achieved after years of practice. We followed the bath by having a salt scrub applied all over our bodies by the locals for exfoliation. We looked like walking pillars of salt. Our return to Merida was highlighted by an evening serenade of the Ballet Folklorico of Yucatan performing their famous, regional dance, la jaranda.

Today we left early for the newly discovered ruins of Ek Balam (Black Jaguar or Star Priest). The ruins have only been open for tourism for 6 years and are still in the process of being uncovered. In fact, after climbing the acropolis, it is possible to see at least two other pyramids that to the unenlightened eye would appear to be hills buried by jungle. The kids enjoyed the wickedly steep climb up to the top as well as the view in every direction that stretched to the horizon. After our descent, we mounted bikes and headed for the XCanche cenote. (We consider today to be a Mayan triathalon - pyramid climbing, mountain bike riding and cenote rapelling. Some zip lined over the cenote or rappelled into it. We all enjoyed swinging on a rope and plunging into the 'refreshing' waters. It was a welcome respite from the unrelenting Yucatan heat and humidity. We ate lunch in a Mayan hut and rested afterwards in hammocks while mustering the energy for the return trip.

We are, without a doubt, having the time of our lives!

First off, I apologize for the lack of photos on this site. Honestly, we have little to no time to go to the internet shops as we are up at 7am, breakfast at 8am and then we are off, not back to the city until 8pm each evening when we have dinner. By the time we get back to the hotel at 10pm, it leaves no time for uploading pictures on the painfully slow internet connections that we get at the shops. We'll do our best tomorrow to try to find somewhere with a quicker connection.

Hoy, el 20 de octubre, was a much more relaxing day. The heat continues to be oppressive, but at least we weren't climbing Mayan pyramids, biking to cenotes, and jumping from great heights into the cenotes. Not that any of that is bad, just exhausting. Today we headed about an hour outside of Mérida to a living sisal hacienda. During the 20th century, the Yucatán was one of the richest states in México due to the production of sisal, also known as hennequen, that is made from the green agave plant. We had the opportunity to see the hacienda in action from the cutting of the agave leaves, the separation of the fibers, to the braiding of the ropes. It was fascinating. In the late 20th century the haciendas lost money and eventually many of them shut down because hennequen was being produced more cheaply in other parts of the world, especially Brazil. Nowadays, the few haciendas that do exist have been converted into upscale hotels and restaurants and a very small number still do produce hennequen for local use.

After the visit to the hennequen hacienda, we took a ride to another cenote. The one we visited today was just recently open for the public's use, just 18 months ago, and is almost completely underground. The water is crystal clear and absolutely stunning. All MPAers enjoyed the opportunity to cool off and swim with the few fish.

On our return to Mérida, we ate lunch at another hacienda where kids tried local fish and a few experimented with trying shark.

In the evening, we got our first chance to really shop and visited two different artesanía cooperatives and many parents and students bought some wonderful handicrafts.

Tomorrow we will be in Mérida where we will visit the open air market, and other treasures of the city.

Today we got to sleep in until 8am! Yeah! After breakfast, we headed to the Anthropology Museum of the state of Yucatan. It was very interesting as it had loads of information about the Maya, obviously, with their system of counting, a couple of chac mools found within Chichen Itza, which are thought to be the messenger gods between heaven and earth, and examples of their way of living, just to name a few things. After the museum, we had free time to visit the large open air market in the main plaza of Me'rida as well as shops around the city center. Parents and students alike had the opportunity to watch some more traditional dancing as well.

As it is evening, we are getting ready for our farewell dinner and to pack up to head home. The van to pick us up to take us to the airport will be leaving at 4-45 AM. Feel sorry for us. We should be in Minneapolis around 2pm on Monday afternoon. It has so far been the trip of a lifetime for all involved.

Parents and students:
Please drop off a CD of your pictures if you'd like me to make one CD of all pictures from the trip. I also will be making a DVD from the video footage I took. Please contact me if you'd like a copy!
Gracias!