Am I really getting paid to do this?

Well I thought it would be nice to write a bit about my job since it is keeping me so busy... whoo, it's a bit windy I believe... but check out the "Playing outside" album to see photos of the cenotes.

I have started to lead tours to the cenotes all by myself! I work with Raul and usually translate his Spanish for the tourists who need English, but he left last Friday to take a group of French couples on a tour throughout the Peninsula. This was kind of a problem for the agencies who vend our tours so he came to me and asked if I would continue to take tours while he is away. He said he has complete faith in me to do a good job and keep everybody safe and having fun. I said, I have only been doing this for a month or two, are you crazy?!?!?! Am I crazy?!?!?! AHHHHHHHHHH! So of course I said yes. Raul took me around town to meet all the people I would be working with and explaining the situation. I felt like I was somebody else and all I could do was smile and nod and I guess that was enough, because everyone was really nice and said no problem. And so since Sunday I have been on my own. I was so nervous on my first day. I recieved a message from the agency that I had two passengers and from which hotel to pick them up. I walked by so I wouldn't get lost in the morning and it was FANCY. Like $200 usd fancy. All I could think of was that I was going to blow it and the people would freak out and want to go home or not trust me to take care of them in the water. You know, all the usual jitters. I woke up extra early, around seven, so I wouldn't forget anything. Memo had gotten the equipment all ready the night before so I could go to bed early. I got dressed, didn't drink any coffee because I was already shaking, searched frantically for the paper with the directions, didn't find it, and headed to the car rental agency. I rented my first car ever, and drove for my first time ever in Mexico to the hotel. The receptionist called the room of the couple and then looked at me and said they had schedualed for tomorrow. I was kind of relieved and then sad beause I really wanted to go. I could swim in the cenotes everyday easily. I started to head back to the hostel and the tour agency called me to say they had two more people who wanted to go. I drove over to pick them up and they just happened to be a young couple who had just gotten married six weeks before. The woman was from Mexico City and the man from Chicago so I would be able to try in Spanish but fall back on English for the tricky stuff. We swung by to pick up Memo since we had extra space in the car. I started giving my speech about the number of cenotes in the Yucatan and how they were formed and I felt so silly at first until I realized they were really interested in hearing the information and I was supposed to be saying all this. They were so friendly and happy I relaxed a bit and was really enjoying their company. Our first stop is always in this pueblo named "Uman" where we walk through a Mayan market and I usually buy fruits and veggies to cook for dinner and the tourists buy spices to bring home. I surprised myself a little and remembered everything I was supposed to say about achiote, a seed that is made into a paste to bake with chicken or pork, you just add sour orange juice, wrap it in banana leaves, and put it under hot stones for several hours. Easy right? Yes, well, next we got back on the highway and sped (don't worry mom, not speeding sped) toward Cacao, the pueblo that has the first cenote we visit. There is a cute little old couple who keeps the key so everyday I stop at their hut and say hello, pay them a bit for passage and pick up the key. The old man got in the car to help with the gate. We passed through onto a narrow dirt road and started bouncing along through the flat green jungle vegetation, laughing as we all flopped around in the poor little rental car. We talked about all the cars and trucks we wished we were riding in at the moment and soon we arrive at Yaax Ha, pronounced Yash Haa. It looks like an opening in the ground with a homemade four step wooden ladder leading down. The water is pretty much hidden from above so the couple looked at me and asked "we are going down there?" Of course! And if you need to use the bathroom there is a thatched roof with one wall to your right where you can pee on the ground. It is so fun to bring folks out to the middle of nowhere and push their adventurous boundaries. I climbed down first to place the sunshade that reflects the light to brighten the cave and attach the rope we use to climb out. I felt very comfortable once I got down in the dark cavern because I knew just what to do and I knew the space would speak for itself and pull them in. I just had to get them in the water. It's a little intimidating at first because there are bats flying around above and the water is so clear and deep and there are little caves in the walls and dripping sounds echoing all around. I dove in and Memo tossed me the bag of snorkels and my fins. I set up our little spot on one side and watched as each of them hesitated for a minute and then jumped in. The water is magic I think, the moment your skin touches it, the fear evaporates and you can feel the energy it carries and begin to appreciate what you have entered. The cenotes are sacred still sacred to the Maya, there are candles in the walls from their ceremonies and they still use them as their source of drinking water. We swan around for a while, I dove down and showed them the stalactites with our nifty underwater flashlight. After that I wanted to give them some time to themselves, so Memo and I started practicing our diving. The couple really loved it and went all around with light looking in every crevace (sp?) and asking all sorts of questions. I didn't know all the answers but they didn't mind at all. It was nice to just have the two of them because I could let them decide how much time we spent in each place. We climbed out after a while and got in the car half soaked. I got nervous on the way to the second cenote because I didn't have my directions but I just tried to look like I knew what I was doing and all of a sudden I saw the turn off and finally took a breath. The second pueblo is in Abala, and has more dogs laying on the road than I have seen anywhere else in Mexico. We crawled through, avoiding the dogs and rolling over the giagantic, mounatainous speedbumps. Once past the town I found the practically hidden turnoff to get to Kankiriche, our second cenote. The name means "fruit of the yellow tree" in Maya. Another long bouncy trip through almost identical jungle and we arrived. Here, we first get out with the cameras to take photos and the bring them back to the car because the ladder leads right into the water. The light was perfect this day, a bright blue circle shot straight down to the bottom and lit up the whole cavern. Kankiriche is much bigger than Yaax Ha and has long, thick roots hanging down from the trees around the edges of the opening to drink the water. We swam around for a long time here, I practiced more diving and holding my breath longer and longer under water. I can now dive a bit more than 18 meters (54 feet) and hold my breath for about a minute and a half. Everyday it gets better and better. I am trying to eat really well and go to bed early so I can get stronger and stronger. I have been watching videos of free divers and I think I will be able to dive like them in a while. Meanwhile our cute couple played and cuddled on the little rock couch we usually stake out until they got so hungry they were ready to leave. Back in the car we all felt wet, warm, sleepy, content, and very hungry. I started back toward Merida and felt confident when I turned off into the pueblo Yaxcopoil. We drove all the way though and I didn't see the restaurant which is right on the side of the road and really impossible to miss. I started to worry in my tummy as I got back on the highway. We kept going and I kept not seeing the turnoff. Finally I pulled over when I had service and called the restaurant for help. They told me it was just a little ways ahead so within about five minutes we were there. Our meal begins with Sopa de Lima which is very similar to tortilla soup, but with a lot of lime in it. Next comes bean taquitos with tomato, avocado, and yummy pink, pickled onions on top. Memo and the couple shared a big bottle of beer (I was driving, remember) and it felt like we were just hanging out with friends. The American husband and I talked about what it's like to be here and be in a relationship with a Mexican and the Mexican wife and Memo talked about the opposite. Quite funny really. The main plate is Pollo Pibil, which is the chicken dish I described earlier. I have quesadlillas as I have been very vegetarian and even if I wasn't, I would not eat meat off the bone without my mom to cut it for me. Finally we ate a little plate of oranges and watermelon and I went to talk to the owners. They agreed with Raul that I could just sign for the number of tourists we have each day, so it was very simple. Now we were full, sleepy, and content and got back in the car to return to town. As we pulled up to their hotel, we exchanged emails with invitations to stay with each other should we be traveling anytime soon. Back at the hostel I collapsed on the bed and could not believe that I just done a whole tour all by myself. We took the equipment out to dry and then just layed around for a while before going to sleep early as I had another tour the next day...

Los Dias de Los Muertos

I have been a very bad writer. I love to write once I get started, it's just the getting started part... But today I should be good because I slept for 12 hours last night! I did not go out for one minute. I kind of wish I had but I was so exhausted from the night before it just didn't happen. The whole hostal was partying all night last night, along with the rest of Oaxaca I believe. I am really glad to have been here for Los Muertos, the city completely transformed between Wednesday and today. We went out early this morning to see if any of the ofrendas (alters) were still up at the Soledad, but everything had already been cleaned up. ¡Que rapido! Yesterday we stopped in the Palacio de Gobierno to see a huge Frida Kahlo ofrenda made of flour mixed with colored water. It was pretty amazing. On Friday night a bunch of us went to the Casa de Cultural Oaxaqueño to see the Dance of the Dead. We started upstairs crammed in a little hallway as the Dead marched through to the atrium. I actually couldn't see a thing here, but the music was creepy and good so I got the idea. The whole crowd, must have been 150 mas o menos, rushed to the balcony surrounding the atrium and the dance began below with us looking down. There were five dancers in black with their faces painted. They spent a lot of time on the floor making interesting patterns and wiggeling like worms. But beautiful worms. It was contemporary dance which reminds of dancing at CCSF which I miss here. My body is so achy right now because I have not been stretching enough. I did find a dance school in Merida, so as soon as I get back I will go. There is also quite a bit of yoga in Mexico which is great. Back to Los Muertos... after the dance in the atrium we followed a masked and caped man down the stairs to watch a dead woman prancing through the hall to the fountain in the patio. She was tiny and had on a long, lacy black dress with long, wild, curly dark hair and walked like a queen. The patio was filled with the traditional magenta and gold flowers and candles in cut paper holders. She rose to the rim of the fountain and danced around it as the masked man spoke of death. The band began to play a happier tune and then all the attendants started pulling guests onto the paths to dance with them. Of course I went. It was so fun, everyone was so sweet and happy. They served hot chocolate and bread and we all put flowers in the water.

After the dance we returned to the hostal and left again with an even larger group of 12 or so. All travelers, Memo was the only Mexicano. There were many bottles of Mezcal being passed around as we walked to the Panteon San Miguel, a cemetery completely decked out for the celebration. There was a music stand out front so a few of the girls and I had to stop and dance for a while. The locals are always so mystified when we do this. As if they are not dancing all the time themselves! The cemetary was beautiful, mainly the walls surrounding it though, about 5 levels of tombs one on top of another with a candle in every alcove. Many of them had dates from the 1800's but are clearly well kept and repainted frequently. Some little boys in costum came around asking us for pesos but instead we danced with them. How fun to have a party in a graveyard! It is so different from what I know of visiting them in the US. It changes death to something natural and integrated rather than pushing it away as something we can avoid.