The journey continues... ¡Viajamos a Mexico!

After 4 months of bicycle touring this summer, Scott explored the eastern and southern US by motorcycle while I spent some time working in St Louis and taking some college courses. Ready for a new adventure, we recently began a southward journey which will take us through the Yucatan Peninsula and Central and South America. The bike trip accomplished several of our life goals, yet also served as preparation for foreign travel. Traveling months on end may easily be romanticized but life on the road is hard and takes some savy know-how, especially when all is foreign. However, we are slowly becoming seasoned and hardy travel buddies and are learning how to enjoy the times together with and without each other (for those much needed sanity breaks).

On February 8th, we planned to catch a flight destined for Cancun, Mexico. Unfortunately, Scott was stopped by the fanatical US border patrol due to a "damaged" passport (okay, I accidentally washed it, but in my defense he declined my offer to replace it weeks ago). So I boarded the plane solo to intercept our luggage destined for Mexico with or without us. Luckily, Houston has a national passport agency so Scott was able to receive a new passport the next day and flew southward that night. What a way to start a new adventure... Reunited, we spent a week in Puerto Aventuras visiting Scott's uncle and aunt who viven en Mexico.

Cozumel

A trip to the Riviera Maya would not be complete without scuba diving in Cozumel. My dad flew in for a week to dive the "gin & tonic" waters of the 2nd largest reef system in the world. Diving was spectacular: eels, parrotfish, rays, turtles, lobsters. Despite my anxiety to dive in waters larger than a rock quarry in MO, we even conquered the infamous Santa Rosa Wall, delving 110ft to swim through gigantic coral reef tunnels.Honestly, there wasn't too much to experience on the island besides diving, shopping (w/ hordes of cruise boat traffic), and practicing our crummy Spanish on tolerant vendors. On a windy non-diving day, we rented a dumpy compact Chevy to cruise around and see the different sights. This provided much comic relief since the distinction between 1st and reverse was miniscule, which is not so good when you're turning a quick U on the main highway and misjudge the distance... Luckily, it was Mexican Mardi Gras time, otherwise known as Carnival week, which was celebrated with parades, music, and all-night parties. All the paraders wore magnificently colored costumes and could seriously shake it on the streets. In true Carnival spirit, we even tried a fried green banana (which honestly looks like a big piece of poo) and limes dipped in chili powder - an enhancement to the flavor of local wheat beer.

Next on the gringo-tour-de-mexico was visiting Chichen Itza, the most famous Mayan ruins. Built over 1500 years ago, the giant pyramid El Castillo (pic at the top) was designed to represent the Mayan calendar and creates an illusion of a sacred dancing snake during the spring and autumn equinoxes. The ball court also had some interesting accoustics that produced 7 distinct echos while standing in the middle clapping your hands. Walking through such old structures imagining life as a Mayan many years ago was a spiritual experience, even with the loads of touristas. The mystical aura was tainted a bit by all the local Mayans selling souvenirs around every corner within the sacred site. The tireless pitch was "Almost free, lady... take it?".

All has been good in Mexico besides a few mishaps (empty backpack stolen on the beach, perpetual churning stomachs, and Scott puking his brains out during his first scuba attempt) but tomorrow begins the next leg of the journey. We will board a bus for Belize to soak up another week of the gorgeous Carribbean before heading to Guatemala for Spanish immersion. We hear internet access is dial-up throughout much of Central America so our posts may be a bit sporadic. 'till later...