See ya soon, Celestún

Let's go, Mexico. See ya soon, Celestún. We were busy rhyming today - hopefully it also helps you to see how to pronounce the beautiful city we visited today. Celestún (Sell-a-stoon) was our first excursion, and a gorgeous one at that! I hate to say, pictures really don't do it justice - so when you see the flamingos, mangroves, and water - it'll be nearly impossible for you to understand what we actually saw! We met our tour guide, Luis, today - who will be with us the entire semester. He's planning on speaking only Spanish with us - which will help us advance our language skills a lot - and I was pleased that I understood most of what he said! We have a very nice bus to do our touring in - air conditioned, comfy seats, 20 passenger bus. We first stopped a half hour out of Merida, in Uman - a small town with most mestizos, or mayans living there. It was interesting to see the real difference in the appearance of the people there, especially in the faces, compared to Mexicans around the city. We stopped mostly to experience the market. In small pueblos like Uman, the women will go to the market which is open from 5am to 12 or 1pm and buy only what they need for the day. Although most have electricity, and more recently refrigerators, the idea of refrigeration is new - so it's rarely used. Instead they visit the market each day. It was very colorful, and very fun! They were very welcoming - it was so cute, a man was playing piano and singing and as we walked through he asked us where were were from, we replied los estados unidos, so he made and announcement and welcomed us through his microphone to the market! Mostly fruits, vegetables, and flowers. Also passed through the meat market - clearly not FDA approved :) We also visited the cathedral there. Learned something so interesting. Most cathedrals and churches are in the shape of a cross, and the main entrance will always face the east to allow sunlight to enter during services. Who knew?

 

We finished driving another hour to Celestún. Got on little boats (3 with 6 people in each) and zoomed off to see the flamingos. As we got closer we began to see the pink blobs out in the distance. Crazy. They were so pretty. We learned the average lifespan is about 20-25 years, they get more pink as they get older, and Celestún is one of two places that flamingos reside in Mexico. However they go to the other location (farther east) to reproduce, then journey back. Unfortunately due to the shallow water, we weren't able to get close to all the flamingos, but we could see farther in the distance that there were hundreds upon hundreds more along the shoreline. Again, I wish the pictures could capture what I really saw (what the camera does capture, is how Mexico is throwing my hair for a loop!). Then we boated through the mangroves. So cool. We got off and walked around to explore the fresh water and ojos de agua (freshwater springs where the water bubbles up on the surface) - also saw tons of fish and some pretty birds! Then we went back to return our boats, and bused to our lunch spot! We ate at a gorgeous restaurant called La Palapa (we have a palapa here at Central too - they're huts with a roof made of palms). We got a few choices on what to eat - I had salad, breaded Groupie (I was proud of myself with this choice), rice, potatoes, and vegetables! VERY tasty, very fresh, seems to be the theme here :) We then voyaged out to the beach, but it was a little overcast and breezy by the water so we mainly just walked the shoreline, picked up shells, and took a nap on the beach chairs! It was so relaxing! Long and bumpy trip back - spending time around the house now!