Tulum and New Friends

Yesterday was a really wonderful day. So was today, so I am in a happy mood. Today was good because I have a new teacher and he is really good. I think I am going to learn a lot this week and I really hope I stay with him the next two weeks we are here in Playa. But on to yesterday. We woke up lesisurely and went off to use the internet and then returned for a "bed picnic" which is our version of eatting in ( see pictures in Michael's next post). Around two we decided to head to the beach and I went down stairs to ask the owner of our hotel, Emelia, how to get a collectivo to get to the beach we wanted to go to. She told me that she and her nephew, Joel, were heading to Tulum if we wanted to hitch a ride they could drop us off, or better yet, we could go with them!

So we decided to head to Tulum instead of saving it for next weekend. Tulum is another archeological site but this one is famous for its location right on the coast, and it was pretty incredible. In addition, there was the added benefit of spending the whole day with native speakers and only speaking in Spanish, which of couse is the main goal of this whole adventure. Tulum was a major location for trade in its time and well defended, one side to the sea and three large walls surrounding the main city. Much of the stone carvings were better preserved here than those we saw in Coba and you could make out the intricate designs of the stone heads at the corners of the buildings. In addition, the views were just breath taking. With the vibrant blue sea as a back drop to the ancient ruins. Perhaps one of my favorite parts was the iguanas who make their home at the site in modern times (probably in ancient times to I imagine). They were huge! There should also be pictures of them coming soon. After exploring the site the four of us returned to the car, and on our way, saw a large cangrejo (crab) running across our path, a fair distance from the sea. I think they may actually live on the land as I vaguely remember reading about land crabs at some point in one of the guide books.

After the crab, we headed for one of the local beaches which was a bit difficult to find but well worth the effort. The sand there was more like white powder than sand and there were sponges and other interesting sea treasures washed up on the shore to look at. (At least that is what I was looking at, Michael informs me there were also topless women, but I, of course, didn´t notice this.) When we returned we were all famished. Together Emelia and I put together an impromptu dinner with some chile verde con venison that came from the deer on her family farm and our spanish tortilla (which is actually an omlet) that we had bought at the grocery store on Saturday night. We sat around until almost 11 chatting with Emelia and Joel and Francesca, a classmate of Michael´s who is from Italy. It was one of those days that you hope for when you are traveling. Where plans just happen, people are just nice, your timing is just good, and everything is just fun.

Our mission this afternoon is to get our clothes washed, I am on my last clean outfit. Given how hot it is here wearing things multiple times is a sure fire way not to make many friends in class. This evening there are plans for watching an open air movie on the beach. Right now it is time for lunch and to let others use the computer.