Mérida, México: Campeche

Today was jammed full of activity!! Left the house at 6:30 to go to Central, pile in the van, and head out! Throughout the day I was really carsick because we dealt with a LOT of sharp curves and turns, and a multitude of speed bumps (to the point we all had to laugh, because our back tires would barely be off one and the front tires would be on another!). That was a bit of a bummer, but still we had a really nice day! Our entire day was spent in the state of Campeche. Our first stop was Bécal, a small hat weaving city. The entire city for the most part works by weaving and producing straw hats. They are beautiful hats, of all different shapes, sizes, and colors! We got to observe the whole process and I'm not sure how they do as good of work as they do! To do the actual weaving, they have constructed a cave in their backyard, probably 20 feet underground, where they complete their work because it is more humid so it's easier to work with the reeds. We have been so lucky to watch different trades throughout our various excursions - from bread, hammocks, tortillas, basket and hat weaving, huipils, the milpa, and so much more! It's been fascinating to learn about everyone's ways of life! Next we drove a bit farther to the ruins at Edzná. These were really unique. It's a pretty large site, with hardly any visitors (sort of sad), barely touched yet extremely well preserved, you're able to climb on the ruins, and the design is much more unique than other ruins we've visited. Rather than a bunch of plain pyramid structures, Edzná was full of more creative styles! Next we went into the city of Campeche (the state's capital), where we made our first stop at a large fort with a museum of ancient Mayan artifacts. I must admit, at this point we were all feeling a little sick from the driving and extreme heat, so we didn't appreciate things as we maybe should have - but the view was definitely worth the stop. The fort had breathtaking views of both the Gulf of Mexico, and the city - full of little houses built close together on hills (very Greece like!). It was amazing! Finally we moved more into the city and went to downtown Campeche. I fell in love. It was so cute!! All of the bright bursting colors lined the streets, with the beautiful windows and doors - I felt like I was in a postcard. We went through a beautiful cathedral, and then a smaller group went with Val to look around town a bit more, see some pirate artifacts, and she treated us to something sweet at the Panadería (always a crowd favorite)! Campeche was discovered after Mérida, but no one is really sure why - when it's now an important coastal city with major industries in oil and fishing. It's so much more peaceful than downtown Mérida, so we took time to just sit and take in the scene at a park in the town square! We had a very busy day, but it was a great way to see so many new and different places! We all slept as we made our voyage back home, and were very pleased to see the Central House when we pulled in!

I went home to shower (I heard Hallelujah begin to play as I turned on the water), ate dinner, caught up with my mom about our days, and then went to watch a movie with some friends! I am dead tired. Seems like that's been the theme the last few days!