Semana Santa

So, the week we get back from spring break is Semana Santa. Which is a really big deal in the Mexican culture. It's the week before Easter and everyday is a holiday! We came back to our town decked OUT. They are serious when it comes to celebrations. Especially one connected to their religion that is so deeply intigrated into their culture. Our Zocalo was even more crowded than usual. Apparently, Semana Santa is the Meixcan spring break, so they all either go to the beach, or come to Oaxaca. Oaxaca is known for its more indigenous population, and because of this they celebrate more 'authentically'. This really draws a large crowd or tourists, mostly Mexicans from other states. The main walking street to the Zocalo was lined with vendors who were here because of the tourism. People were selling everything from jewelery and shoes to popsicles and Jesus paintings. We had a lot of fun with all the new excitement around our city. [Lucky for us, the Zocalo is just a 30min walk away] The most memorable event that we attended during Semana Santa was a theatrical reinaction of Christ's crucifixtion. We traveled to a small pueblo near Oaxaca to watch this. It happens every good Friday all over Mexico. The men who are picked to play Jesus prepare themselves for a year. They live as Jesus would, meditate often and read the Bible. Though they go through an excruciating amount of pain, it is a great honor to play this role for their community (and they are not paid). When we arrive, the reinactment had already started. I thought I had mentally prepared myself to watch it, but the intial shock still got me. There were boys who played the Roman soldiers whipping "Jesus" forcefully. Thier whips were thankfully only made of leather, but none of them were holding back. I couldn't imagine playing such a role. When they were done with this they took him back to set him up with his cross. "Jesus" carried this through a sectioned off path. The crowd was imense! So, they had to section off parts just for the procession to walk through. "Jesus" and the "ladrones" treaded throughout the town, while people followed to watch them be whipped. Oddly enough, this was paired with a happy-go-lucky market with food and vendors everywhere. Our group chose to explore this while "Jesus" and the "ladrones" walked the streets of town before they were crucified. They were whipped as they walked for over an hour. People began to congregate to the gates that sectioned off the place with the crosses. We made sure to get there early to get a good spot. The crowd eventually packed in around us. Standing in the beating sun, there was no regard for personal space. I had a woman carrying a child pressed up against my back, an embracing couple pressed agaisnt my left arm, a teenage girl on my right, the gate at my front and someone's child had managed to squeeze through and press against my legs. I had other peoples hot sweaty bodies right against my own. This only intensified the throbbing heat. Everyone had to see. "Jesus" and the "ladrones" eventually made their way and their backs were swollen with red thrashes. It took quite a long time to get them up on the crosses. There were many actors, helpers and photographers crowding the space. They thankfully were not actually nailed to the cross (some pueblos still do this). Here they used leather straps instead. They were hooked up with microphones and the reinactment commenced. It proceeded slowly and it was hard to pay attention in the heat. It was obvious that the actors who played "Jesus" and the "ladrones" were struggling with their lines as their beat bodies hung from the crosses in the sun. After the reinactment was done, the crowd dispersed and the actors were let down. That night there was another procession in our city. Along the main walking road, a procession of church altars and banners were carried by people wearing purple and black hoods. It was very solemn. It was mourning the death of christ, and all the people wearing hoods represented sinners. Everyone was silent as this procession troded through the streets. This experience was definately eye opening. This culture put a lot of emphasis on the death of Christ, rather than the resurrection (like I feel we do in the U.S.). It revealed to me how their culture really is a reflection of how they view Christ and religion.

Spring Break! [Snorkeling]

For one of our expeditions; Sam, Heather, Libby and I decided to go snorkeling in the bays around Huatulco. I knew that I would absolutely love going snorkeling. Swimming with fishies sounded like heaven to me, but I don't think I had any idea I would like it this much... We had fun trying out our flippers for size. They are rather hard to walk around in. I dont suggest it. And of course we all looked super cute in our goggles. We had an older couple from Colorado and two guides on our snorkeling tour. One man drove the boat and the other (who was from Wales) got in the water with us to show us where to go. We went to three bays. The first one was near a small off-shore island that had a reef. I couldn't believe all the fish we saw! Our guide was showing us how to properly dive so our ears didn't hurt from the pressure. Once I figured out how to do it, I had a hay-day! I dove down to chase any cool fish I saw, or investigate small crevices in the rocks. I saw a neat zebra stripped eel that slithered through water like a snake. My favorite were probably these really small florescent blue fishies that looked like they came out of the movie Avatar. One time I dove down to get a closer look at one, and when I turned around, I had a school of about 30 pancake-size fish a foot away from me. I then tried swimming with them, but they weren't about to allow me into their gang. There were also little slender rainbow fish that were only about 2-3 inches long. I found out that they enjoy giving divers 'kisses'. So occasionally, I would feel a little peck on my leg and see a little rainbow dash away as I turned to see what it was. There were also schools of long slender silver fish. They were about 2ft long and reminded me of machetes. They waded in shallow pools near the rocks and their scales shimmered with every move they made. The 2nd bay we went to, we were told we might have a chance of seeing manta rays, but instead we encountered other creatures.. At this particular bay, there were schools of probably MILLIONS of little gumdrop jellyfish. They were all no more than 2 inches big and didn't have any significant tenticles to speak of. All of them floated carelessly on the surface in clumps. We had to swim through them! They generally "didn't sting" but occasionally you would feel a little prick. The oddest sensation was swimming through them and feeling them between your fingers. Even though the gumdrop jellies "didn't sting" the other 3 girls were a little freaked out by the idea of jellyfish, so they retreated back to the boat. I continued exploring. I unfortunately didn't get to see any manta rays, but I got to see other neat creatures! Our guide showed me some 'christmas-tree worms' who clung to the rocks. They did look like christmas trees, but they came in a variety of bright colors! (Green, Yellow, Orange and Red) They had layers of tenticle looking things that would significantly retract if you touched them [I had fun with this]. Here I had a couple of large gray and yellow spotted fish who found me interesting. I often found them swimming around me. They allowed me to swim with them as long as I didn't try to pet them. Which, I will admit, I tried to do a couple times.. Our 3rd bay had the largest reef. It also had a neat little cave that we swam into. It wasn't that exciting, but It had a neat view. Here, our guide dove down and captured a 'spider starfish' for us. He was black and had spiny looking limbs. I found its name appropriate as it creeped over our guides hand. It moved quicker than I expected. Later, I saw a puffer fish! He was funny looking. Kinda reminded me of a dog. He was black and had small white dots on him. I tried chasing him, but he retreated into a crevice. He didn't puff-up like I had hoped.. I also saw a dead puffer fish.. he was lying on the ocean floor. Not very cute. After this we unfortunately had to go back.. I felt like I could have spent the whole day snorkeling! and then go out the next day and do it again!! I absolutely loved it. I seriously would consider being a snorkeling instructor if the opportunity ever arose.

Spring Break! [Huatulco]

Our home that we stayed in in Huatulco was absolutely stunning. The owners were a couple (Wayne & Marcy) and their dog (Ace) from Michigan who turned their Mexican home into a bed and breakfast. I shared a room on ground level by the pool with Sam, Heather and Libby. We had a shower that could have fit 7 people comfortably... not that we ever needed/wanted to. Every morning Wayne gets up early and takes Ace on a sunrise beach walk. Our first morning there Heather and I decided to join Wayne and Ace on their walk. He took us to a beach with grand towering granite rocks, and there I saw the most beautiful sunrise. Because of the smog and clouds, the sun's radiance was significantly muted. You could stare directly at it without needing to squint. It was a magnificent vibrant red disc that we watched rise above the horizon line. Various thin purple clouds interupted its symmetry and added to the beauty. I was absolutely awestruck... That day was a lazy day for us. [We had been needing one since arriving in Mexico] We explored the near-by beach and figured out what we were going to do for the week. We scheduled a trip to a coffee plantation and snorkeling. I chose to take advantage of both trips :) [thank you Dad!] ...The next day was the coffee plantation day. We were picked up by a van and driven out to the mountains where it was more jungle-y. We were definately driving on a sketchy, bumpy dirt road.. it took an hour and half to get there [Mostly because we had to go 20mph the majority of the time] We arrive and taste some coffee. I am not a big coffee drinker, but I enjoyed it :) After this, we took a short road to a trail path that would lead us to a waterfall! The hike was beautiful! We followed a river through the forest for about 20min or so and came upon our waterfall. We were the only people there. It was beautiful! It looked like something out of Fern Gully. The water was chilly, but it felt good after our hike. The water cascaded over a smooth round rock that protruded out into a swimming hole. Butterflies flew around as we cooled off in the crystal water. Surrounding our water haven was the jungle with vines drapping from the treetops like in Tarzan! After we spent enough time in our paradise, we returned to the plantation and got lunch. Lunch was a traditional Mexican meal and it was probably one of the best meals I have had here. We then were given a tour of the butterfly habitation on the coffee plantation and encountered a rather cranky goose who was upset at his reflection in the van's bumper. The Next day we went snorkeling. It was definately among one of the top 5 best days of my life, so I think it deserves its own blog...

Spring Break! [Puerto Escondido]

For spring break me and 7 other girls went to Puerto Escondido and Huatulco. We stayed 3 days in a nice hostel in Puerto Escondido. There weren't a lot of people there, which was really nice! The majority of tourism at the beaches is during Semana Santa (which was the next week). We spent a lot of time on the beach and playing in the waves to cool off. My friend Heather and I were the first to jump in the waves. We were So excited to be at the beach that we neglected to take off our sunglasses. So we then lost them in the very first big wave that hit us... A few suffered from pretty intense sunburns, but thankfully I got away without. My birthday was the first whole day we had at the beach. So, in the morning, we went on a boat tour to see turtles, dolphins and visit other beaches. We boat out pretty far and eventually one of our drivers spots a turtle. We sped over next to it, and he then jumped from the boat (Steve Irwin style) to TACKLE the TURTLE! (we had no idea he was going to do this) His partner then pulled him and the turtle in with a rope to put the turtle IN the boat! (We were all rather shocked that this all just happened...) I am pretty sure even TOUCHING a turtle in the states is illegal... But we got our pictures with the turtle and then I got to set him free :) He was heavy. Later that night was our scorpion fiasco. There was a scorpion discovered in one of our rooms, as you can imagine, everyone was squealing and hopping up on the beds. Heather and I had formed a team effort that eventually led to the smashing of the scorpion with a shoe. The scorpion was only about 3 inches long, but that didn't really matter. The next day was a relax day at the beach. We played in the waves and went on a banana boat! which is like a long floatie that people sit on and get towed around by a boat. it was SO fun!! We told the driver that we did NOT want to fall off. He took us over waves out in the bay. (It was kinda like riding a bull) There were a lot of laughs, squeals and Sam praying to God that she doesn't fall off and get eaten by a shark... The boat driver knew where we were camped out on the beach, so he decided to drive the boat right next to the shallow part [turned sharply so no one had a chance to cling on] and then literally DUMPED us off... Later that night we met a group of Seattle medical students who went out with us that night. The Next day we wake up, and while we were getting ready we had another critter visit our room... We had porches with bushes right outside and we always left the door open because it was so hot. I heard Libby yell "OOOOOOH MY GOD!..." from the other room. Naturally, all the girls dash to see whats wrong. Upon entering, we see a large lizard just chillin' on the ground in front of the bathroom. From nose to tail he was probably 2 feet long. This wasnt just like the cute little geckos we had seen numerous times before. Some were shocked, some confused, some were afriad, and others wanted to know if it had teeth. I just wanted to know if I could somehow manage to take it home. After a bit, we figure we should "shoo" it back towards the porch where it must have came from. Our brave Helen shooed him out to the porch and saved the day! Later that day we took our bus to Huatulco. The house/masion we stayed in was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!... to be continued