Dear Meatloafing readers,

Although this website focuses mostly on food, self-empowerment, and breaking Midtown news, sometimes we like to hit the open road and explore new places. Here are journal excerpts from my recent trip to the Yucatan down through Guatemala City. —ML

Saturday, August 2: Cancun & Mérida

Yesterday we flew into Cancun (”Nueva Orlando”) and it was a little weird. Ate some delicious fast food—little soft corn pockets filled with assorted meats, cactus, etc.—and then walked around town. After awhile it was too hot and we boarded a bus to Mérida, an old city with the oldest (?) [maybe not, just read the link I guess] cathedral in Yucatán. [It is also the capital of the state of Yucatan.]

The bus ride was charming. We went through all these little towns where we saw folks enjoying their Friday night. Fond memories of a girl on a tire swing and three dudes just chilling under a stop sign. Each home was full of life, bright and welcoming. Our 2nd-class bus stopped a lot so the ride was long, but we (I) slept so oh well. Todd peed in a soda bottle and partially missed and then washed his clothes and blanket in the hotel bathroom. Our room is simple—three single beds [this was common; I think we only had a room with one regular bed less than half the time. Most rooms had 2 or 3 beds. We almost got a room with 4 beds but decided to look elsewhere.] but there is AC and a speedy fan.

I’m tall.

Sunday, August 3: Mérida

Ate an early lunch at a hole-in-the-wall place [El Cangrejito] where the pope ate during his visit in 1984. We had mini tacos with camarones, langousta y papas y lentils (?) or something brown. Heavily doused with lime, these were beautiful and colourful little pieces of art. So fresh and tasty! Fresca!

After that we walked through the zocalo and cathedral and onto the big market where you buy produce and spices and chicken feet. All the fruits and vegetables looked so pretty and juicy and fresh. If I lived here I would hang out in the market all day. Also there was street food that looked delish. I got a bag of cut-up ears of corn, a lime half, and a bag of spices to rub on it. Ate it outside while we figured out where to go next. At one point we saw a dude selling cockroaches decorated with stuff [jewels and shit]—not sure what you’re supposed to do with them and I didn’t buy one. Also: lots of disfigured folks but everyone is smiling and people are still an active part of society and not sitting in some hospital. If a guy has no feet then he’ll sit on the floor and make baskets. It’s heartwarming. [although I do appreciate my feet] We ate dinner at an ok place, then both sorta had poo issues and went back to hotel. Took a dip in the pool before dinner. Tomorrow up early and onto a bus to Chichen Itza (”Chicken Pizza,” as the Mexico customs guy auto-joked to us, providing some insight into what it’s probably like to be a customs dude at the Cancun airport and be dealing with people who spend entire vacations in just the immediate Cancun area.) for a full day then off to Tulum! P.S. Spirit Airlines can suck my balls. Oh also we went to the Museo de la Ciudad de Mérida [in the old Correos (post office) building since 2007 offers information about the city from the prehispanic times Tho' or Ichcaanzihó to current days.] and basically Yucatan means “I don’t know what you’re saying.” Hee. Spanish reaction to Mayan people. [After some wikipediaing, I've found that this may be false.]

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 19th, 2008 at 10:27 pm and is filed under food, travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.