Cancun, Mexico

I’m halfway through my trip to Cancun. It’s my first time staying in Mexico, and overall, we’re having a good time.

Having a kid with me is definitely a different vacation experience. Even now, while I’m typing this, I have her constant monologue in my ear and she’s climbing all over me. Add to that a broken thermostat, a funky smell, an all-night dance club outside my window, and a shower that oscillates between freezing and scalding, and I can’t say it’s a very relaxing vacation. Still, the view is amazing, the beach is perfect, and the crowds are light.

I realize a blog is a weird place to complain about social media, but I’d like to make a side note here. More and more on this trip I’ve noticed the propensity for self-recording. As I sat and ate lunch on the beach today, I saw a woman walk out into the waves with her phone on a selfie stick. She proceeded to pose and frolic with the camera for about fifteen minutes. She never looked away from the device. Then she walked back up the beach and handed the selfie stick to her companion, and he proceeded to walk into the waves alone and pose for the camera for another ten or so minutes. So, these two people who came to the beach together each spent their time alone posing for a camera. Neither of them actually swam in the water except as necessary to get a picture that made it look like they were swimming in the ocean. To my mind their vacation is a lie. A thin veneer of picture perfect moments with no depth. I know people sometimes get annoyed at me for not taking more pictures, or not posting the pictures I do take, but for me, pictures are an after thought. Experiences are made to be *experienced*.

All right, enough with my soap box. Other than swimming every day, we also went to visit the ancient Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza. Apparently the name translates to something like “the mouth of the well of the wizards of the water.” The main temple wasn’t as big as I was imagining, but it was really cool. There are 91 steps per side, so 364 steps total, to match the days of the year (except 1) It seems the Mayan calendar is nearly as accurate as the atomic calendar we now use, only a few seconds off over the course of years. In general, this was my least favorite of the Mayan ruins I’ve visited, but that was entirely due to the vendors. I’ve never seen so many people trying to force my to buy things, not even in the bazaar of Turkey. I feel like the whole country is trying to sell me something. It was so noisy and annoying that it kind of ruined the experience for me.

We also visited a big sink hole just outside of Chichen Itza that is filled with water over 150 feet deep. The upper class of ancient Mayans were tossed into it on their way to Shebalba. Divers have found lots of bones, skulls, gems, and jewelry at the bottom of the water.

Okay, that’s as long as I can hold the munchkin off. Time to go find dinner. I hope you’re all enjoying your week!


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