May 29, 2010
May 22, 2010
Playing Tour Guide--Srta.Julia esta en casa!
It's Saturday afternoon, and I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of my best and longest-standing friend, Julia! I've known this girl since I was 12 years old, and I think of her as a sister. We've stayed in touch over the years and even took an Alaska Cruise together last summer. Pretty cool that we got to share an adventure involving glaciers and now she's on her way to spend some time with me closer to the equator--definitely no icebergs here. She is my first American friend to come and visit me while I've been living here in Merida, so I'm really excited to play tour guide for her this week. She flew into Cancun and is now taking the ADO bus out here to Merida, and I'm happy to report she's checked in to tell me she's on the "autobus", so just a few more hours now.
My brave friend accepted a position at a new company, so she has a few weeks off in between finishing up her last day at her previous company and when she's scheduled to report for her new job. I was thrilled when she told me she'd be filling a few of those free days by coming visit MOI! I have a trip planned for us tomorrow to the Cenotes of Cuzama along with 12 friends from work. My local friends had taken me to these cenotes last year when I came down on my initial trip, and I'd told Julia about how great they were, so she'd mentioned that they were high on her list as somethings she'd wanted to see/do. Luckily, these cenotes are popular enough that 12 more people from my office decided they'd join us so we were able to reserve a van and driver for transportation. The only downside is we have to be at the pick-up spot at 9am tomorrow, ugh! But I know it'll be worth it, so I'll suck it up. Sometimes I just wish I was a morning person. We'll be taken to the small town of Cuzama (really kind of out in the middle of nowhere) where we'll get on these carts referred to as "trucs" which are pulled by donkeys or mules along an old track that had been laid down for harvesting the local plant called henequen during its boom era in the early 20th century. Each truc has a local man assigned to it who coaxes the animal to pull the cart and is responsibe for hauling it off the tracks and back on when there's a group of people coming back in the opposite direction; not an easy task, let me tell you, those things are heavy! They take us to 3 different cenotes (subterranean water holes): one accessed by a relatively small hole with a rickety ladder built down the side, one a bit more open with a make-shift staircase and a place you have to duck down really low, and the third is the most open and has a long staircase built in (but the openness makes it the least popular because there are more bugs and bats inside). The first two are definitely the highlight, with cool, clean, crystalline water, shafts of light streaming in from holes above, and roots hanging down from the overlying trees. We're given time to swim in all three for about 30 minutes each, and then taken back to the small town. There isn't much in terms of restaurants out there, so we'll be packing a picnic lunch.
My plan for Monday is to take her to the local beach, Progreso, but I did hear it is pretty crowded on Mondays because that is the day that Carnival Cruises has their ship in port. It will likely be swarming in tourists, so I'm going to try to get directions to one of the less established local beaches where we can swim and avoid the throngs of cruise passengers. Maybe I'll even convince a local friend to come a long--let's see what I can make happen.
I really can't take more than a day or even a half day off right now since I have the big China trip coming up this summer and then time planned for a beach vacation out to Playa del Carmen or Cozumel with my friend Stephanie who will be visiting in August. So my thoughts for Tuesday are having Julia book a day trip through my contacts at the office, and she can pick which ruins she'd like to see--my guess is she'll pick Chichen Itza, but I'll leave that up to her. The lady at my office said all of the day trips run about the same price (~600 pesos), so I just need to take her in on Monday to decide what she wants to do while I'm at work on Tuesday and she'll book it for her.
It's just a short visit, so I'll be putting her back on the ADO bus on Wednesday so she can catch her evening flight back from Cancun to Washington, DC. My goal is for her to at least experience some of the local Yucatecan food, hopefully take in a little local culture like the "baile folklorico" in Centro on Monday night, and just relax and enjoy my little corner of the world here. Let me wrap this up so I can get in a quick workout before she arrives, and get started with playing Tour Guide for the next few days. Wish me luck!
My brave friend accepted a position at a new company, so she has a few weeks off in between finishing up her last day at her previous company and when she's scheduled to report for her new job. I was thrilled when she told me she'd be filling a few of those free days by coming visit MOI! I have a trip planned for us tomorrow to the Cenotes of Cuzama along with 12 friends from work. My local friends had taken me to these cenotes last year when I came down on my initial trip, and I'd told Julia about how great they were, so she'd mentioned that they were high on her list as somethings she'd wanted to see/do. Luckily, these cenotes are popular enough that 12 more people from my office decided they'd join us so we were able to reserve a van and driver for transportation. The only downside is we have to be at the pick-up spot at 9am tomorrow, ugh! But I know it'll be worth it, so I'll suck it up. Sometimes I just wish I was a morning person. We'll be taken to the small town of Cuzama (really kind of out in the middle of nowhere) where we'll get on these carts referred to as "trucs" which are pulled by donkeys or mules along an old track that had been laid down for harvesting the local plant called henequen during its boom era in the early 20th century. Each truc has a local man assigned to it who coaxes the animal to pull the cart and is responsibe for hauling it off the tracks and back on when there's a group of people coming back in the opposite direction; not an easy task, let me tell you, those things are heavy! They take us to 3 different cenotes (subterranean water holes): one accessed by a relatively small hole with a rickety ladder built down the side, one a bit more open with a make-shift staircase and a place you have to duck down really low, and the third is the most open and has a long staircase built in (but the openness makes it the least popular because there are more bugs and bats inside). The first two are definitely the highlight, with cool, clean, crystalline water, shafts of light streaming in from holes above, and roots hanging down from the overlying trees. We're given time to swim in all three for about 30 minutes each, and then taken back to the small town. There isn't much in terms of restaurants out there, so we'll be packing a picnic lunch.
My plan for Monday is to take her to the local beach, Progreso, but I did hear it is pretty crowded on Mondays because that is the day that Carnival Cruises has their ship in port. It will likely be swarming in tourists, so I'm going to try to get directions to one of the less established local beaches where we can swim and avoid the throngs of cruise passengers. Maybe I'll even convince a local friend to come a long--let's see what I can make happen.
I really can't take more than a day or even a half day off right now since I have the big China trip coming up this summer and then time planned for a beach vacation out to Playa del Carmen or Cozumel with my friend Stephanie who will be visiting in August. So my thoughts for Tuesday are having Julia book a day trip through my contacts at the office, and she can pick which ruins she'd like to see--my guess is she'll pick Chichen Itza, but I'll leave that up to her. The lady at my office said all of the day trips run about the same price (~600 pesos), so I just need to take her in on Monday to decide what she wants to do while I'm at work on Tuesday and she'll book it for her.
It's just a short visit, so I'll be putting her back on the ADO bus on Wednesday so she can catch her evening flight back from Cancun to Washington, DC. My goal is for her to at least experience some of the local Yucatecan food, hopefully take in a little local culture like the "baile folklorico" in Centro on Monday night, and just relax and enjoy my little corner of the world here. Let me wrap this up so I can get in a quick workout before she arrives, and get started with playing Tour Guide for the next few days. Wish me luck!
May 12, 2010
An exercise in learning the art of EDITING!
Sooooo, as a long-time Oprah fan, I was looking around her site today and since it's her last season and all, I wanted to see for which topics they were looking for guests and what ideas they were looking for for submissions on. One of the topics was, "Where in the World Should Oprah go Next?". Well I thought that was a perfect a perfect chance for me to suggest Oprah visit Merida and do a piece on Mexico, specifically about how the US media has sensationalized news stories making it seem like the whole country is riddled with violence when in fact it's only small regions. So I started writing my submission, felt really good about it and then hit "submit" only to get a message reminding me that my submission must be kept to 2000 characters or less. I copied and pasted it into a word document only to discover my original draft was over 3000 characters and more than that with spaces. So I started the difficult task of editing my submission down to 2000 characters. Check out the original version and then the final submission to see how I had to quickly learn the art of editing in order to get my submission down to size. I learned through the process that some ideas work better when stated with fewer words and that it's best to let the location speak for itself. My own personal background on how I ended up here was really fluff, especially since the purpose of the submission was about why to visit Merida, not why to visit Cara in Merida. My hope is that the final version remained persuasive and relavent in the shorter format.
Original Version:
I am a 27-old single American female living in MERIDA, Mexico. After all of the negative press the entire country of Mexico has been getting in the US media about drug-related violence the last couple of years, my friends and family were definitely wondering if I'd lost it and asking if "I was really sure that I wanted to do this" when I announced that I'd be giving up my apartment in Boston and moving to Mexico last August. I work for an American educational student tour company based out of Boston, which happens to have a satellite location here in the Yucatan. After a 6 week assignment last year where I was given the opportunity to work remotely from this office, I decided this was a city in which I really wanted to live. It took me about 5 months to convince the executive team back in Boston that it was a good idea to let me move here for a more permanent assignment, but they finally grated my request. It is truthfully the safest city I've ever lived in; I feel comfortable as a woman walking alone at night; I don't see drug deals happening in broad daylight on the street corners (like I did in downtown Boston everyday on my way into the office); the local daily news is not riddled with senseless crimes and murders; and while I lock my doors at night, I feel like I could sleep with the doors wide open and I would be perfectly safe...from other people at least. The giant bugs are another story, and even the doors being shut doesn't keep them out. I have started an album on my facebook page called "unwelcome guest" to show my friends back home the creepy crawly creatures that have found their way in to my house. 1000 legs nor pinchers are appendages that I like to find on things occupying the same space in which I have to sleep, but I've accepted that that's all part of the adventure of living in Mexico. Viva la cucaracha!
Oprah really must do a story about this city and Mexico in general! The Oprah Show has a unique opportunity, and obligation I believe, to demonstrate to the American public, that the news stories about violence are related to isolated areas, and that Mexico as a whole is an amazing place to live, vacation to, and/or retire. Mexico's tourism industry has taken a huge hit due to the sensationalized news stories that dipict the whole country "under seige" when that is far from the case. There is even a website set up called www.thetruthaboutmexico.com which is written by Americans and Canadians living or spending extended stays in Mexico to give more first-hand point-of-view stories about the conditions within the country. Americans need to get a chance to see what is really going on in their neighbor to the south's backyard.
Merida is a great jumping off point to start the piece about Mexico from because it has everything! It's the capital of the state of Yucutan and has beautiful colonial and European-influenced architecture in the city-center (evoking the city's rich history) as well as an every-expanding area of modern suburban sprawl with strong American influences (TGIFridays, Home Depot, and mall after mall after mall). Here we're just 4 hours by bus from Cancun, 30 minutes from Progreso beach, and within easy day-trip distance from the most famous Mayan archaeological sites such as Chichen Itza and Uxmal. The eco-tourist is also in heaven here with easy access to coastal nature preserves providing the opportunity to see crocodiles and exotic birds of many varieties, including flamingos, in their native habitats.
I'd love to function as Oprah's "local correspondent" giving the inside scoop on living in Mexico from the point-of-view of a young SINGLE American woman. I'd certainly love to discuss Mexico's overall statistics on crime and safety for foreign travelers, due to my interest in helping reinvigorate Mexico's tourism industry. I also think an interesting perspective for a show could be on how in many ways a single woman living on her own is a bit of an enigma here because most women do not live on their own; they stay with their families until they are married and few leave Merida, which creates an amazing web of interconnected familial circles and groups of friends that have known each other since primary school. It's been a fascinating to society to learn to live in, and coming from an Anthropology background in college, it's been a dream-come true to become immersed in another culture. I want to share this culture, the people, and the truth about Mexico with Oprah's viewers. Please give me that chance, you will not be sorry!
FINAL UNDER-2000 CHARACTER SUBMISSION:
Oprah needs to visit MERIDA, Mexico! Having now lived here close to a year, I can say that this is the safest city I've ever lived in; as a woman, I feel safe walking alone at night; I don't see drug deals happening in broad daylight; the local daily news is not riddled with gang violence; and while I lock my doors at night, I feel I could sleep with the doors wide open and I would be perfectly safe—from other people at least. The giant bugs are another story, and even the doors don’t keep them out. But that's all part of the adventure of living in Mexico. Viva la cucaracha! The show has a unique opportunity to demonstrate to the American public, that the news stories about violence in Mexico are related to isolated areas, and that the country as a whole is a safe place to live, vacation, and retire. Mexico's tourism industry has seen a marked decline in visitors from the US due to news stories like “Mexico Under Seige” and “The War Next Door.” A website has even been set up called www.thetruthaboutmexico.com to give an insider perspective on the conditions within Mexico from those of us living here. Merida is a great starting point for any piece about Mexico because it has everything! It's the capital of the state of Yucatán; you have the colonial and European-influenced architecture in the city-center and an ever-expanding area of modern suburban sprawl littered with American chains (and malls galore). We're just 4 hours by bus from Cancun, 30 minutes from the gulf coast, and within easy day-trip distance from the most famous Mayan archaeological sites. The eco-tourist also enjoys access to nature preserves nearby with crocodiles and flamingos in their native habitats. I'd love to function as Oprah's "local correspondent" giving the insider scoop on living in Mexico as a young SINGLE American woman on her own (a unique perspective considering I’m far from the norm here). Please give me that chance, you will not be sorry!
Original Version:
I am a 27-old single American female living in MERIDA, Mexico. After all of the negative press the entire country of Mexico has been getting in the US media about drug-related violence the last couple of years, my friends and family were definitely wondering if I'd lost it and asking if "I was really sure that I wanted to do this" when I announced that I'd be giving up my apartment in Boston and moving to Mexico last August. I work for an American educational student tour company based out of Boston, which happens to have a satellite location here in the Yucatan. After a 6 week assignment last year where I was given the opportunity to work remotely from this office, I decided this was a city in which I really wanted to live. It took me about 5 months to convince the executive team back in Boston that it was a good idea to let me move here for a more permanent assignment, but they finally grated my request. It is truthfully the safest city I've ever lived in; I feel comfortable as a woman walking alone at night; I don't see drug deals happening in broad daylight on the street corners (like I did in downtown Boston everyday on my way into the office); the local daily news is not riddled with senseless crimes and murders; and while I lock my doors at night, I feel like I could sleep with the doors wide open and I would be perfectly safe...from other people at least. The giant bugs are another story, and even the doors being shut doesn't keep them out. I have started an album on my facebook page called "unwelcome guest" to show my friends back home the creepy crawly creatures that have found their way in to my house. 1000 legs nor pinchers are appendages that I like to find on things occupying the same space in which I have to sleep, but I've accepted that that's all part of the adventure of living in Mexico. Viva la cucaracha!
Oprah really must do a story about this city and Mexico in general! The Oprah Show has a unique opportunity, and obligation I believe, to demonstrate to the American public, that the news stories about violence are related to isolated areas, and that Mexico as a whole is an amazing place to live, vacation to, and/or retire. Mexico's tourism industry has taken a huge hit due to the sensationalized news stories that dipict the whole country "under seige" when that is far from the case. There is even a website set up called www.thetruthaboutmexico.com which is written by Americans and Canadians living or spending extended stays in Mexico to give more first-hand point-of-view stories about the conditions within the country. Americans need to get a chance to see what is really going on in their neighbor to the south's backyard.
Merida is a great jumping off point to start the piece about Mexico from because it has everything! It's the capital of the state of Yucutan and has beautiful colonial and European-influenced architecture in the city-center (evoking the city's rich history) as well as an every-expanding area of modern suburban sprawl with strong American influences (TGIFridays, Home Depot, and mall after mall after mall). Here we're just 4 hours by bus from Cancun, 30 minutes from Progreso beach, and within easy day-trip distance from the most famous Mayan archaeological sites such as Chichen Itza and Uxmal. The eco-tourist is also in heaven here with easy access to coastal nature preserves providing the opportunity to see crocodiles and exotic birds of many varieties, including flamingos, in their native habitats.
I'd love to function as Oprah's "local correspondent" giving the inside scoop on living in Mexico from the point-of-view of a young SINGLE American woman. I'd certainly love to discuss Mexico's overall statistics on crime and safety for foreign travelers, due to my interest in helping reinvigorate Mexico's tourism industry. I also think an interesting perspective for a show could be on how in many ways a single woman living on her own is a bit of an enigma here because most women do not live on their own; they stay with their families until they are married and few leave Merida, which creates an amazing web of interconnected familial circles and groups of friends that have known each other since primary school. It's been a fascinating to society to learn to live in, and coming from an Anthropology background in college, it's been a dream-come true to become immersed in another culture. I want to share this culture, the people, and the truth about Mexico with Oprah's viewers. Please give me that chance, you will not be sorry!
FINAL UNDER-2000 CHARACTER SUBMISSION:
Oprah needs to visit MERIDA, Mexico! Having now lived here close to a year, I can say that this is the safest city I've ever lived in; as a woman, I feel safe walking alone at night; I don't see drug deals happening in broad daylight; the local daily news is not riddled with gang violence; and while I lock my doors at night, I feel I could sleep with the doors wide open and I would be perfectly safe—from other people at least. The giant bugs are another story, and even the doors don’t keep them out. But that's all part of the adventure of living in Mexico. Viva la cucaracha! The show has a unique opportunity to demonstrate to the American public, that the news stories about violence in Mexico are related to isolated areas, and that the country as a whole is a safe place to live, vacation, and retire. Mexico's tourism industry has seen a marked decline in visitors from the US due to news stories like “Mexico Under Seige” and “The War Next Door.” A website has even been set up called www.thetruthaboutmexico.com to give an insider perspective on the conditions within Mexico from those of us living here. Merida is a great starting point for any piece about Mexico because it has everything! It's the capital of the state of Yucatán; you have the colonial and European-influenced architecture in the city-center and an ever-expanding area of modern suburban sprawl littered with American chains (and malls galore). We're just 4 hours by bus from Cancun, 30 minutes from the gulf coast, and within easy day-trip distance from the most famous Mayan archaeological sites. The eco-tourist also enjoys access to nature preserves nearby with crocodiles and flamingos in their native habitats. I'd love to function as Oprah's "local correspondent" giving the insider scoop on living in Mexico as a young SINGLE American woman on her own (a unique perspective considering I’m far from the norm here). Please give me that chance, you will not be sorry!
May 2, 2010
May 1, 2010
Announcement: It's official...I'm going to China!
Holy Moly, Caratheglobetrotter is going to China this summer! My company just approved allowing me and my coworker, Grace, to go on our Beijing, Xian, and Shanghai tour.
Check out our itinerary:
Tour Center - Beijing, Xian & Shanghai
To do list:
+ Decide if we're doing a stay behind (a few extra days in Shanghai sounds cool--there are some villages built on waterways like Venice that are day-trip accessible from Shanghai that we'd like to check out)
+ Get flights booked
+ Get passport picture taken for visa application
+ Get to work on getting the Visa processed (decide whether to use a visa handling agency or hire one of the company's tour directors based out of Mexico City to drop-off, pick-up, and mail our passports back to us)
+ Start reading up on Chinese history--already took a quick look and, man, that country's really old, better get crackin'!
+ Learn Chinese...who am I kidding?? not going to happen, but a phrase book is probably a good idea.
+ Count down...88 days and counting.
Check out our itinerary:
Tour Center - Beijing, Xian & Shanghai
To do list:
+ Decide if we're doing a stay behind (a few extra days in Shanghai sounds cool--there are some villages built on waterways like Venice that are day-trip accessible from Shanghai that we'd like to check out)
+ Get flights booked
+ Get passport picture taken for visa application
+ Get to work on getting the Visa processed (decide whether to use a visa handling agency or hire one of the company's tour directors based out of Mexico City to drop-off, pick-up, and mail our passports back to us)
+ Start reading up on Chinese history--already took a quick look and, man, that country's really old, better get crackin'!
+ Learn Chinese...who am I kidding?? not going to happen, but a phrase book is probably a good idea.
+ Count down...88 days and counting.
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