Feliz Navidad!

I just wanted to wish all my readers a merry christmas!
I hope you will all have nice celebrations, nice presents, and happy times! :)
More updates to come soon! :)

We made the apartment feel a little more "christmassy"

We bought a piñata for christmas! :D

Aaaw.. look at the cute widdle jaguar and christmas tree! :D

Here is how we celebrated Christmas 2007
I just have to say this is one of my nicest christmasses ever! :)
MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Want a sip?

Hot christmasbabe!

OhYEAH!
This guy will soon face a hard stick!

Christmas at Casa Isla Mujeres! :)

We found some seashells on the beach..

Penguins in Isla Mujeres!
Nice eeeh.. Christmastree! :p

Snorkelling, Cancùn, Cenotes & Chichen Itza

After staying on Isla Mujeres a couple of days, we met a nice couple from Estados Unidos (Usa) and have been hanging out with them the last couple of days here..

We went snorkelling on Saturday, but it was a little windy, and the currents were a little edgy, so the trip was cut short because of that, but the 2 or so hours we were in the water we saw some cool colourful fish, lots of corals, and I even caught a glimpse of some Barracudas lurking about..

We have «one time» underwater camera, but we`re saving those pictures for later, so stop by, and they may be out! :)

On sunday we thought it would be a good idea to see what the mainland had to offer, and took the ferry to Cancùn to go sightseeing..

My first impression of Cancùn was not the best, as we have become a little more adjusted to the laidback island of Isla Mujeres.. Cancùn is made for tourists, and people who want to spend a years salary in a couple of weeks! There are shops everywhere, Gucci, Rolex, fancy jewelry, expensive food, drinks and even the cabs are expensive compared to any other place in Mexico..

It`s crazyprices everywhere, and in they eyes of a backpacker, it`s terrible! But on the other hand, the people that usually stay in Cancùn are the people that don`t mind spending a lot on vacation, visiting with their yachts, living in ritzy hotels with all inclusive, and paying extra for VIP entrance to discos and bars.. It`s not my thing as I feel I miss out a lot on what is really happening around. I prefer walking around looking at how the locals make their living or relaxing in a hammock at the beach, buying directly from the locals help contribute to their wellbeing.. Buying rolexes at the gigantic malls in Cancùn is probably just helping some big company give more money to their stockholders..

Anyway.. Cancùn is a crazy place, with flashy lights, lots of people everywhere, huge shops, huge restaurants, and people offering trips to this and that on every corner.. We even fell for one of their packages at the end of the day.. We wanted to go visit Chichen Itza, and were thinking about renting a car for a day, drive up to the pyramids, and maybe spend the night close by, that way we could see the sound/light show..

But as we walked around in Cancùn, we found a guy offering a full day trip with a guide to Chichen Itza, the Cenotes, and showing Valladolid, including buffèt and a dance show.. He charged 440 pesos (220,- NOK) per person for this.. To rent a car would cost 440,- for a day too, but this would not be including food, highway tolls, gas, or a guide, so we went for the easy alternative... Relaxing on a airconditioned bus..

I would recommend this to anyone not known in the area, as it is a much easier and cheaper alternative to doing stuff yourself.. :)

We were picked up early the next morning and the busride took about 2.5 hours.. after 1.5 hours we stopped by the Cenote, and this was an incredible sight..

It was a huge hole in the ground, and stairs had been made for easy access to the gigantic underground well..

Roots hanging down from the top of it all the way down to the water, and the water was several hundred meters deep, connecting with other cenotes several miles away.. Looks like something from a paradise movie, and absolutely a sight!

It was a little bit crowded, as this was a very popular place to go with the tourbuses..

But people were jumping in the Cenote all the time! Just look at the pictures and you`ll see what I mean..

After the Cenotes, it was off to get some grub, and we drove for 10min before arriving at the buffèt..

Here they had great food, and the locals showed us some of their dances, they balanced bottles and serving trays on their heads while dancing, and showed some real skill balancing this.. Must have had a lot of practice!

Then it was off to the main attraction, the pyramid and ruins of Chichen Itza:

The guide brought us around to all the attractions and told us a lot of how things were done here back in the days of the Maya and the Toltecs.

He told us how the real human offerings were done, not by cutting open the chest to see the beating hearts, but by cutting open the stomachs of the poor victims, then reaching in under the ribs to grab the heart and pull it out, still beating and pumping out blood while they had it in their hands.. Terrible stuff! He also told us about how the pyramids were built using a mix of rubber, clay and water to make the cement water resistant and last until our days..

He showed us how that if you stood directly in front of the stairs to the pyramid and clapped your hands, the echo sounded like an eagle screeching, and as eagles were a big deal for the mayans, they had calculated exactly how to get this effect.

The same with the ball park.. Here there were 7 players on each team, dressed in heavy armour, beautiful feathers, and trying to get a heavy compact rubber ball through the «hoops» which was an almost impossible achievement, as throwing the ball directly through the hoop was not possible.. It was not allowed touching the ball with your hands, they had wooden sticks.

They had to use geometry to find the perfect spot for the ball to bounce off the wall, then through the hoop. If you stand in front of the hoops, and clap, the clap will echo 7 times back an forth, symbolizing the 7 players on each team.

In the game, one goal and the game was over. The captain of the winning team was honoured by decapitation, this giving him direct access to the heavens and the gods. This was a great honour for the Mayan people.

Death was not seen as a punishment or a bad thing, it was a way to the next life and to glory.

Human sacrifice was done daily to send «messengers» to the gods asking for rain or sun.

The priests were astrologers, and using the stars calculated exactly when the sun would get blocked by other planets, down to the minute/second. The huge pyramid is actually a mayan calendar, and is incredibly complex.

According to the Mayan calendar, december 2012 is going to be the end of a 26 000 year circle, where the earth`s «wobble» will come full circle. There are many theories about what will happen, some say the poles of the earth will turn upside down, others the world will end, and some that there will be huge changes to climate and the way we live. I guess the only way to find out is by waiting for it.. :)

People also said the world would end in 2000, but we`re still here, messing it up!

When you are at the site, you will be guaranteed to be asked a couple hundred times if you want to buy stuff, there is lots and lots of beautiful artwork for sale, and the locals make their living of the tourists buying stuff.. Some give you good prices, others have found out that some «gringos» pay whatever they say so they charge higher.. I would recommend asking around the different places for prices, and haggle as much as you want.. you can find many similar works around so don`t worry if one guy is expensive.

I bought a ceremonial offering knife for 150 pesos (75,- NOK) but they charged a lot more other places for this.. Just use your head when buying.. If you are happy with the price, and they are happy with the price, buy it! Remember you are helping the locals in most of the cases here.. And these are not rich people..

The guide told us how the Mayan people still live in the areas, living off the forests, hunting meat, fishing, and growing what they need. We were told that the Mayans today aren`t even registered in the «system» as they have to pay to get a birth certificate, and if they pay for this they have to pay taxes.. And as most of their system is built up around them living of their own natural land, not the commercialized world «we» live in they do not want this..

Even the women who give birth, do not go to hospitals or anything. Giving birth is done by sitting on the knees tying a sheet around their belly, and as the first retractions come they tie the sheet harder and harder, helping the baby out.. They have no social aid, no benefits and noone else than their families to help them if anything goes wrong.

I gotta say I am impressed.. But this is they way they have done it since 1000`s of years ago..

After a long day walking around the area, we were happy to get back on the bus again, getting a little shut-eye before coming back to Cancùn doing some last minute shopping and then taking the ferry back to laidback and quiet Isla Mujeres..

Life is good on Isla Mujeres... and we`re not leaving here until the end of January..

Aah! Paradise!

Entertainment for you all! (First part)

We were looking around in Isla Mujeres, and stumbled upon a little cute Italian Icecream store, and inside they sold these funky books called "Cabo Bob's definitive Mexican Slang 101" and as it says on the first page, "This book is pirated, ripped off, printed and distributed in Mexico. Illegal and possibly even immoral in your more normal type of country." So I thought I could use it for your entertainment. I found a website promoting this book at Slang 101 if you are interested in more of the same..

Well.. to start off:

1. Hasta la bye-bye
(Hi/bye and basic boogy-woogy)

HELLO
Just as nobody actually says , "How do you do?" anymore, nobody uses phraseboook greetings like Como està Usted? At least say Como Estamos (COE moe aist AH mose) -- "How are we?" or simply Buenas (BWAY nahs) to be a little folksier (and avoid confusion about tense). But since you bought this book you'll want to say Què Onda? (kay OHN dah), the standard greeting for the youthful, with-it, and disaffected.
The expression means something like, "Whats the vibes?" and has survived the sixties to become a close equivalent to "What up?" in the States. Tack on buey and you`ve got Mexico's answer to "Happening homeboy?"
Que transas? (kay TRAHN sahs) is an even hipper, streetwise way to ask what`s up or to imply "What`s the deal?" Bien transa, on the other hand, means a cheat.

Goodbye
There are also parting words more with it than just adios. The popular way to say "See you around" is nos vemos (noce VAY moce) -- literally, "We`ll see each other"
"Later" is simply luego (loo EY goe) and Al rato (ahl RAH toe) means "back in a minute"
More formally, one hears Que te vaya bien (kay tay VIE yah byain), which means "Fare you well". Plain old "bye bye" works too -- it`s considered fairly hip in Mexico, just as we (and they) use "Ciao"

Yes
In the street people say Simòn (see MONE) instead of Si, especially to emphasize the affirmative, like if you`re really hot and somebody asks you if you want a beer.
Come down hard on the last syllable.
Hipsters also use other owrds instead of si, usually those that start with the syllable, like cilindros (cylinders) or cigarros (cigarettes).
The coolest is simply "ìs"
Claro means "of course", but slangster often express "sure", "you bet", etc. as clarìn or even clarìnete (clar een AYT ay)

No Way, Jose
Nel (nayl) is a popular word for "no" especially sassy street responses like "nope" or "nah", you also hear Nel pastel, and nones cantones.
Nada (nothing) and No hay (noe EYE)-- there isn`t any are big concepts in Mexico -- No hay, no hay is a tv catch phrase seen on bumper stickers and decals (calcomanias in Spanish) and often good for a laugh.
A response of ni marta means "not a bit", "not a word", etc. And ni sueños (nee SWAIN yoes) is a comeback to remember-- it mean "not in your wildest dreams".

You and me
Even simple words like Yo for "I" and mi for "me" get slanged. Frequently heard are:
Yolanda, melin, menta, me manta.
Instead of tù or ti, slangsters often use words like tunas, tiburcio for "you"
A lot of Mexican slang is based on improvising synonyms by using words that start with the same syllable -- it can be fun to try rolling your own.

More to come later! I have lots more of this later!
Like it?

Finally at Isla Mujeres!

Allright! We are finally here!
After taking the cab from Guanajuato to Leon (cost 300 Pesos) we had to wait there for 4 hours until the plane left for Mexico City, cold and boring at the airport, but we managed fine! :)
Then it was off to Mexico City and we only had time to run past the McDonalds and Burger King at the airport, to Merethes regret.. :D She was hungry!
After running to catch the plane, and after a couple of hours on it, we arrive in Cancùn! But our bags did not! Everyone else got theirs, and we did not! :(
After waiting some more, we got to talk to a supervisor, and he found the bags on another plane, so we had to wait 15 minutes more for the bags to arrive.
We thought some breakfast would be nice, so we ordered 2 cheeseburgers and something to drink, and were shocked when we had to pay 290 Pesos for both.. We can tell we are not in Guanajuato anymore, this here is the tourist area! If you wanna play, you gotta pay!

Anyway.. After getting our bags (woohoow!) we took a cab from the airport (560 pesos !!!!) to Puerta Norte, where the ferry was just about to leave.. 35 pesos (cheap!) to take the ferry from Cancùn to Isla Mujeres, and it's only a 30 minute ride with the express ferry!
When we got there, we found a suitcase carrying guy who helped us with our bags so we could get to Poc-na, our hostal. I talked to the guy and asked him if he knew of any apartments around here for rent for a month or two, he said yes, and we arranged to meet him wednesday to go look for one..

Playa Norte @ Isla Mujeres

Oooh.. guess what, we have wireless internet at the hostal! Sweet!

Check out the view from our room at the Hostal!

It only took us about 30 min before we ran into some friends we met in Guanajuato! We just missed Mirit, as she left Isla on monday.. too bad!

Ooh.. We thought the hostal was a little expensive, so we went out looking for another place to stay, since we are staying for a couple of months, at the first apartment we saw, they wanted 10000 Pesos/ 1000 USD / 5000,- NOK which we thought was reeeeeally expensive!
But after a little looking around we found a place where they had a nice one for only 4000 Pesos/400 USD /2000,- NOK! Sweet!
So tomorrow we are moving from Pocna!
Will post pictures of the new place as soon as I have them!

Me relaxing in our hammock at the Hostal

"Sorry we are open" :D

Penguins @ Isla Mujeres
Merethe packing and looking like she has a lot of work to do!

Sundown @ Playa Norte!
Abandoned car in the streets of Isla Mujeres

Is this some new rule? First we have to put all liquids in small plastic bags, and now it's illegal with lighters as well? Looking forward to when everybody has to go naked because of "the terrorists"

This sign was by our boarding gate.. A little late to tell us no guns or knives, no?


More to come! Keep checking in! :)