There are more worthy Yucatan Beaches than just Cancun & Playa del Carmen!

While Cancun and Playa del Carmen may have the prettiest blue water beaches on the Yucutan Peninsula, there is still loads of fun to be had and interesting things to see at many of the Yucutan's other beaches. I spent this weekend exploring two of my favorites! Saturday, I went on a day-trip tour with a group of friends from work out to Celestun on the West Coast (gulf side) of the peninsula. This wasn't my first time visiting this beach, as I went with my friend Tony when I first visited Merida for my first assignment last year. We'd taken a local bus and figured out everything on our own once we got there, which made it a real adventure that first time around. But since I hadn't been in a year, and the tour was free (hurray for the small perks of working for a travel company), I am never one to pass up a free travel opportunity! Celestun, like Dzilam de Bravo(my last vlog post), is another "eco-tourism" locale famous for its wildlife. Celestun is particularly well-known for the number of flamingos that can be viewed there. Sunday, I was then invited by my friend Grace to go with her family out to Progreso beach to visit her aunt's new house and to try out their waverunner. It was a wonderful beach-filled weekend to say the least!

Saturday: The tour bus/van picked us up from the Holiday Inn in Merida at 9am Mexican Standard Time (so it showed up around 9:30). This was actually lucky for me since we were told to meet at the hotel at 8:30am, and that's the time I woke up since I slept through my alarm clock. I was rushing like a bat out of hell to get over there before 9am, which I knew was the actual pick-up time, but in the end, I made it with time to spare! My friends told me showing up late is actually one of the signs that I'm fully acclimating to life in Merida, so I'll take that as a compliment. We drove west from the city making a short stop in the town of Uman along the way so we could buy water and take a closer look at the picturesque church there. I was psyched because I was able to take a few of my "famous flower-in-the-foreground" photos of the church thanks to a few bright red flowers in bloom right out front. That continued a tradition I started back in Paris a few years ago when I was on tour with a friend from work who taught me the photographic flower trick using Notre Dame as our subject. While Uman's church was not as grand as Notre Dame, it was still quite dramatic with its gothic arches around the main entrance and structure built from the stones of the Mayan pyramid that once stood there. Our guide was a friendly young local guy named Angel who conducted his commentary in Spanish and English since the tour was made up of a group of Mexicans, Americans, and Australians. Once we arrived into the outskirts of the town of Celestun we were taken to get into boats to go down a "brazo del mar" or estuary, I believe is the word in English. The water comes directy from the ocean, so it is saline and not a river, the guide explained. Six of us loaded into one boat and three joined a family on another boat. Our boat driver's name was Omar, and he did a great job of navigating the "brazo del mar" and getting us up close to the flamingos without scaring them away. We asked if we could get out of the boat and walk even closer to the birds, and he said "sure, the water's shallow" in Spanish. I saw the flamingos were all standing well out of the water, so I hopped right out of the boat with all of my clothes on. I failed to take into account that I weigh more than a flamingo, so I immediately sank to my knees in the smelly mud and my shorts and bottom-half of my shirt were soaked! I quickly realized that "walking" towards the flamingos was going to be next to impossible. I tried my darndest, but I got stuck and had to ask Omar to drive the boat over to me so I could hold on to the front and pull my legs out. Somehow I think he knew that was going to happen, a warning sure would have been nice! After snapping loads of photos of the flamingos, both in and out of the water, Omar drove us into a canal cut through a mangrove (or "mangle") where the roots of the trees made impressive cage-like structures at the base of all of the trees. We were also given an opportunity to get out for 15 minutes and check out an "ojo de agua" or water hole with crystal blue water, which we were able to walk to on a wooden boardwalk. I'd swam there last year, so I played photographer for everyone else as they swam and ventured a bit further past the water hole on the guide's advice. Lo and behold, I discovered a small crocodile chilling out in a shallow section of water about 20 meters down from the water hole. After that discovery, I was really happy I'd decided to sit out from swimming! Got some awesome photos of Mr. Croc and possibly saved a limb or two, which in my book is a win-win situation. The only down-side of sitting out was that I had longer to chat with the local vendors who'd set up trays of Mexican candies along the boardwalk, and they talked me into buying some for me and my friends. I purchased a variety of candies that you can't find easily in the US: tamarindo con chile (Liliana's favorite), merengues (Gabriel & Grace's preference), and un dulce de coco (my pick), all for less than $3US. We snacked on these on the way back to the boat's launching site, so I guess is wasn't all bad :) Next, the tour took us to a large restaurant called La Palapa right on the beach where we had a delicious lunch of ceviche mixto (shrimp, crab, and octopus "cooked" in lime and salt and then mixed with tomatoes and onion) and grilled fish with lots of garlic! I also had a local drink called michilada, which I usually explain to people as being beer (tecate light in this case) mixed with ice and all of the spices you find in a bloody mary, and the rim of the glass is coated in salt. It took me a while to get used to all the spices, but now I really enjoy this drink paired with seafood especially. We had an hour to relax on the beach after lunch, which gave us time to digest. We piled back in to the bus/van around 3:30pm and headed back to Merida. I promptly fell asleep on the ride back, which my friends all know happens everytime I'm in in a moving vehicle, and it's become a running joke to see how fast it will happen. I wonder if anyone placed bets. We got back to Merida around 5:30pm, just in time to go back to my house and continue the nap from the bus in the form of a 2 hour siesta in my hammock at home! I have to admit that for the second time, I found Celestun to be a worthy day-trip from Merida and the sight of the bright pink horizon as we approached the flamingo nesting ground still took my breath away!!

Sunday: My friend Grace called me around 10:00am to tell me that her family had decided to go out to her aunt's house at Progreso beach and that I was welcome to join to try out their waverunner. While I've been to Progreso several times, since it is just 30 minutes to the north of Merida, I have never been on a waverunner. I'm not one to pass up a new opportunity, so I quickly agreed and hurried to get ready and over to her house by the time her parents got back from church. I arrived at the exact same time they did, which was impeccable timing! I can't thank Grace's family enough for including me in family gatherings such as this trip to their beach house and even New Year's which I found out most people celebrate with a big meal with family and then meet up with friends LATE in the night...they've been really kind to include me. (Note to self: must find someway to really thank them!) Grace's mom offered me cochinita, slow cooked pork, with tortillas, which is a very common weekend breakfast here in Merida, and since I haven't had any in months, I happily accepted. Its the kind of food that is easier to buy for a family by the kilo, and not something I get for myself on a regular basis, so it was a real treat. After eating, we piled into the car and her dad drove us to her aunt's house at Progreso. We greeted all of the family at the house, and even got to see one of their dogs nursing her day-old litter of puppies (5)! Seriously, the cutest thing I've ever seen. Her aunt's house was a just a few blocks from the beach, but since we were taking the waverunner, Grace, me, her brother, cousin-in-law, and dad got back in the car and drove about 15 minutes to a small beach near the a bridge. They explained to me that this beach was easier to launch the waverunner from because they could back the trailer right into the water. The little beach was pretty littered with trash and had quite a few dead fish, including a blow fish, which I found interesting despite being dead, but they were right about it being the best place to launch and use the waverunner. The water was actually a bay (I think) so it was really calm. The boys handled the heavy lifting of getting the waverunner into the water, and her brother, the mechanical engineer (in about 10 years when he's out of high school and college), took care of tinkering with the motor and getting it gassed up. Everyone took turns going out on the waverunner by themselves or paired up. Grace and I tried to go together, but we couldn't get the darn thing to work no matter if I was sitting in the front or the back. In the end, I went out with her younger brother and got my whirl on the jet ski as a passenger hanging on for dear life to her brother's shirt and praying he wouldn't turn too fast and flip me off (she talked to him beforehand and got him to promise he wouldn't). While it certainly wasn't going the fastest with the too of us on there, I still enjoyed the rush. I just don't know how anyone sees anything on those things, the salt water was splashing all over my face! I'm a bit of whimp so I declined going out again on my own even though they offered. I was too nervous that #1 I couldn't see that well without my glasses or #2 that it was possible that I'd flip off of it far away from shore and not be able to get back on. I promised myself that I'll try a solo-run next time (pep-talk might be needed). I spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying watching her brother and father go out, and when her brother took their cousin-in-law a couple of times he'd be trying to throw him off the back with a fast turn. The cousin finally caught on and succeeded in bringing her brother down with him everytime he'd fall. It was really quite amusing to watch; boys being boys! Grace made a really good showing herself and seemed very impressed that she did a couple solo-runs without falling off. We headed back to her aunt's house and they served up conch ceviche for lunch as a wonderful breeze flowed through the house...natural beach airconditioning at its best! I've come to love the fact that a day at the beach here in Yucatan includes some form of ceviche, which is one of my favorite dishes, so I don't mind one bit! I got to nap for a little while in a hammock upstairs while Grace took her shower, and then we were headed back to Merida. Though clouds had been rolling in all day, we left just in time as it started to rain (drizzle) a little bit on the way home. All in all, a relaxing and exhilarating day at the beach!
Check out my photos from the weekend in my facebook album:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2513640&id=908832&l=0c0b180a58

Exploring Dzilam de Bravo!

How to eat at a Mexican "Chilanga" Restaurant daily and stay healthy!

"Comida Chilanga" is food popular in the center of the country, Mexico City (D.F.) to be exact. I have become a regular at the "Chilanga" cocina economica around the corner from our office here in Merida, "Platos Rotos" (Broken Plates), because when it comes to lunch, I fully admit I am too lazy to prepare food for myself at home to bring to work. I love that the food there always tastes so "home-made", is served on chipped/hand-painted ceramic plates, and I can tell it's made from fresh ingrediants. With most full dishes ranging in price from 40-55 pesos ($3-4), it is also super affordable compared to my lunch options back in Boston, where it was hard to get a sub and drink for less than $10, and if you wanted chips or some fruit with that, $13 was the typical daily price tag for a full lunch. Another reason I like eating out for lunch is that I at least have OPTIONS; I find it a bit depressing cooking for just myself because it means I have to eat the same thing for days. Any single person out there can tell you, it's next to impossible to cook ONE serving of anything. Sooooo, with my whole healthy kick lately, I've come up with some rules for myself on how to eat healthy while eating at a restaurant serving cuisine that is notorious for it's delicious oil-soaked, fried specialties and fattening cheese & cream toppings. Here are my rules:
1) Say "no gracias" to the chips and frijoles put on the table when you sit down and ask to have salad with the main dish instead (the local avocado is super healthy!)
2) Choose soup with noodles, pasta, OR rice--only one source of carbs at the meal.
3) Forego the tortillas placed on the table; use the knife and fork provided even though the local custom is to use the tortillas to pick up the food--you don't always have to follow the local custom. Your knife and fork still do the job!
4) Choose items cooked in salsa verde, which is low in fat and calories compared to cream-based and mole sauces.
5) If all of the daily menu items are fried, request "pechuga a la plancha" (grilled chicken breast), which is always available but not always on the daily list.
6) Ask a day in advance when you know they'll be serving fried fish for them to set aside one fillet to be grilled instead of fried. (This time a year a fish dish is always served on Fridays because Catholics observing Lent do not eat other meats that day of the week; so that means ask on THURSDAY for the piece of fish to be set aside.)
7) Opt for water instead of high-calorie, sugar-loaded fruit juices and horchata. "Un vaso de agua" is always free, so it's healthy and economical. (And much contrary to the American traveler superstition, water served in a glass WILL NOT KILL YOU in Mexico. I drink water WITH ICE daily, and my stomach is juuuuuust fine. They pour the water into a glass from a big bottle of water, NOT the TAP. Restaurant owners in Mexico are not out to kill American tourists, promise!)

And there you have it, the rules to healthy "Chilanga" dining!

The Chinese: Feeding the Non-Christians of the world on Christian Holidays!

So it's Good Friday, I'm told, and with 90% of the Mexican population registered as Catholic, that means most people do not work in Merida today because with the Catholics making up the majority, today is recognized as a national holiday. Perhaps, the title of this post gives it away, but I was not raised Christian, so I am bit clueless when it comes to Christian holidays. Ok, I'm a bit clueless in general, my mother had to call and remind me it was Passover the other day and I still have not called my grandparents...shoot! (Must remember to do that this weekend.) My dad was raised Christian but always told me he just recognized himself as a "Christmas-tarian". He encouraged my mother to raise us Jewish because she was more religiously inclined. I was that lucky kid, envied by all her friends, because I got Hannukah and Christmas--double the presents! But back to Good Friday, I didn't even know it was a special day until my friends from work told me that most businesses would be closed today (except for our office of course because the American company that we work for does not recognize Mexican national holidays). I'm still confused why this holiday is called "Good Friday" though. I asked my Catholic friends what was being celebrated and they said this holiday is observed to remember Jesus being nailed to the cross, so I scratched my head and said "what's so good about that?"...I didn't really get a response to that one. I did quite enjoy when one of them went on to say, "and Easter Sunday celebrates Jesus miraculously coming back to life and exiting the cave he was buried in with a basket of chocolate eggs and a bunny hopping behind him." Now it all makes sense! I decided since most of Merida had the day off, I'd take today off from work as well as a planned "mental health day", something I think everyone needs to do once in while, especially after a stressful month at work!

I started the day by first going to check out a new gym and trainer that I heard about in a Yucatan Today facebook post. The gym itself is located in this brand new boutique hotel, called Rosa y Xocolate, on Paseo Montejo, which is a really uniquely refurbished bright pink mansion. I really liked the small gym facility (brand new machines) and the fact that the 1500 pesos (a little over $100) per month rate would include 24-hour access to the gym, the full services of the personal trainer during his scheduled hours, and 1 massage per month from the spa (even though the spa probably won't open until next month). A personal trainer who you can see everyday and a gym membership to a small exclusive club in the US would run HUNDREDs if not THOUSANDs of dollars a month, so I'm definitely giving it some thought even though it's more than double what I've been paying for my current gym. I'm thinking that having a trainer would help accelerate my weightloss efforts by giving me a more effective routine and discipline. My current work-out routine is 50 minutes on an elliptical machine 5 times per week, which definitely burns calories, but I'll fully admit that I make a b-line for the locker room and avoid the weights and resistance machines after I'm done with my cardio because I'm intimidated by all the cables and doohickies that have to be clicked into place. I'm guessing the trainer could help me with that.

After checking out the new gym, I wanted to get in a full work-out, so I headed over to my current gym at the Fiesta Americana, one of the big hotels in town, and did the elliptical for close to an hour. I then indulged myself by having an 80 minute massage at their spa (20% discount with my membership)...pure bliss! By the time I was leaving, I was beyond relaxed, but HUNGRY because my refrigerator was empty this morning. I had planned on going over to my favorite salad joint, GoGreen (an American chain) on Prolongacion Montejo, for a hearty & healthy late-afternoon lunch, but when I got there, I realized they'd closed for the holiday much to the dismay of my grumbling stomach. I quickly scanned my brain for other places I could try, but I knew my normal lunch joints, which include the "Chilanga" cocina economica (Mexico City style food) around the corner from my office, called Platos Rotos, where they know me so well that they're willing to make me a grilled chicken breast with salad and soup (not on the menu) any day I can't find something healthy in the daily specials and Pollo Brujo, a delicious local grilled chicken chain restaurant a block and half down the road from my office, would both definitely be closed for Good Friday.

So I did what any person raised in a good Jewish American household would do...I tried a Chinese restaurant! And sure enough, it was open. Thankfully, Chinese food is one of the few foreign foods popular enough in Mexico to have restaurants scattered around Merida. I had the thought to look for a Chinese restaurant because my Jewish family often went out for Chinese on Christmas (the one Christian holiday given as a day off to all Americans) when I was growing up. It is a tradition for a lot of American Jewish families, in fact. With nothing to celebrate other than a free day off from school/work/etc. for us (not a holiday that we feel we need to be at home with family for), and the Chinese restaurants being the only ones that open for business that day--it's a natural fit. If you don't believe me, walk into an American Chinese restaurant on Christmas and I bet you'll find the majority of tables will be occupied by Rosenblums, Steins, Goldbergs, and Silvermans! I am grateful that I had that American Jewish "survival knowledge" for where to eat on a Christian holiday to tap into; it meant that I did not go hungry in Mexico today. I was even able to make a relatively healthy meal out of wonton soup and mooshoo gai pan chicken with steamed white rice. The little extra container of Chile included for the Mexican palette was a pleasant addition as well. I am starting to appreciate the Yucatecan concept of if your mouth isn't burning after a meal, it really can't be classified as "rico". I'd like to tell Chinese restaurants owners that they're doing a great MITZVAH (good deed) for the hungry, cooking-resistant non-Christian populations of the US and Mexico by being open on all holidays! Gracias Chinos!