Mexico

We just got back from a fantastic trip to the Yucatan. Kevin served his LDS mission there so we went back with him to see the people he taught, the sights he saw, and of course the beaches of Cancun (ok, fine, Kevin never saw this last one during his mission). Kevin, my parents, and Mike and Catherine went a few days ahead of us (I had Finals) and April and I stayed on a few days after they left. The most notable souvenir that we brought back is April’s tan. Everyone we have seen since the trip has commented on it and with the exact same words in every case; “WOW, you’re SOOO tan!” Anyway here’s our trip journal:
Day 1
I had a final in Real Estate Finance Law in the morning and April had work. We flew out of LAX at 1:00 AM to the tiny town of Zacatecas in the Mexican high dessert.

Sunrise over Zacatecas

We then flew into Mexico City and then Cancun Airport where I was detained for a half hour by the airport police. Once we got that sorted out we headed to our hotel were we met up with the rest of the Fam. Every single one of them had a severe sunburn. I laughed to myself then. Little did I know that I was soon to join them. April never sunburns, though she looks like she came home a different race. We spent the remainder of the day catching up with everyone, chilling on the beach, playing some pool basketball (enter the sunburn), enjoying a variation of virgin cocktails, and some shopping at night. Suffice it to say, we were exhausted by the end. I racked up a couple hours of sleep in about a 36 hour period.
Day 2
We went down to the Ruins of Tulum an ancient Mayan city on the beach.



Afterwards we went to a Cenote for some swimming. Cenotes are fresh water sinkholes/caves that dot the Yucatan.


Here's Kevin who is just about to experience some serious pain.

We finished off the day with five or six games of pool volleyball.
Day 3
We spent the day at Xcaret (pronounced “each-ka-rayt”). It's 50% Polynesian Cultural center, 40% Sea World, and 10% Disneyland.




Day 4
We went to Church at one of Kevin’s old wards and then spent the afternoon visiting some families that he taught.





Day 5
We took the bus into the bus terminal where we got another city bus out to Chichen Itza. It was a three hour one way bus ride but we were treated with School for Scoundrels and Casino Royale, which was in Spanish. Chichen Itza is a large collection of Mayan ruins not far from Merida. It was lots of fun but unbelievably hot. Some of the coolest features were the main pyramid “El Castillo,” the massive ball court, and the observatory





This next photo is of the cenote or well into which the Mayans sacraficed virgins. Archeologists know this because they found human remains in the water. How they were able to determine that the victims were virgins is unclear.
We also found an ancient steam bath which seems odd because the temperature was over 100 degrees with 100% humidity.



Here's the "wall of skulls" I thought it was cool.

After wandering the ruins we caught the bus back to Cancun. We enjoyed some street tacos on the way.
Day 6
We relaxed at the beach until it was time to catch our flight.

Youtube of the Week: I’m starting to come down with a cold. Correction: not just a cold but a “man cold.”