Snorkeling

Going out on a sailboat to swim with the fishes today. Hopefully my camera turns up...

Ruins and Agua Azual

The ruins lay just a few miles from our hostel, the Jungle Palace. It actually was in the jungle! the birds there are crazy, screaming all the time. But they are not nearly as loud as the monkeys. We didn´t get to see one but we heard them howling all night long. Two days ago we visited the ruins, which were quite cheap to get in. We climbed up many stair cases and the veiws were all unbeatable. The heat was also unbeatable, and luckily we could venture deep into the heart of the buildings were the dungeons were, a nice relief from the hot sun. I couldn´t belive how picture perfect the jungle backdrop was to the ruins. Vines and trees everywhere, it reminded me so much of the settings in the movie Jungle Book (which I probably watched over 50 times at grandma and grandpas house). I know that sounds cheesey, but it´s true. Yesterday we were so excited to visit the river and waterfalls known as Agua Azual. Unfortunatly the heat decided to hide, we went anyways. It was worth it for the scenery. The falls were clear and breath taking. There were so many of them. I took a little dip in the water but only lasted for about 10 minuets. I sat on a bench and sketched and before to long this little mexican boy came up and we had some broken conversations. I couldn´t help giving him a pen and some paper on our departure because he said he wanted to draw. Today we are headed back to the coast after a long day of waiting for the bus. In Palenque none of the buses leave till like 8 p.m. Will write soon, miss you all much.

Spring Arts Walk

Well, it was kind of sad to have missed spring arts walk lastnight. Sarah was saying that it was the most crowded she had ever seen downtown Olympia. I can't wait to hear all about it. I know that my friend Jefferson organized some make-shift outdoor spots for him and some other friends to be able to hang their work. It's a pitty that Ghost Town Gallery won't be a part of it this year! But we will be sure to up and running by next fall, if Sarah and I are still in Olympia. This morning I have been reading about this film that just came out entitled "Exit through the Gift Shop". It's a film about this artist named Banksey and his rise to fame as well as the financial workings of the 'art world'. I hear that it is one of the better films that has come out in a while and I can't wait to get a chance to see it once I get back to the states.
Today we are taking off from San Cristobal and heading on a bumpy 6 hour bus to Palenque. We hear that there are beautiful waterfalls and scenery outside of the city. Yesterday we ate some of the best Pizza I have ever had at a place called "the point". The resturant had this olive oil to but on the pizza that was really spicy and good. We also got a wonderful salad there with all kinds of veggies. It made me realize how much I miss produce. There is not a whole lot to be had here. Besides as much Mango as you can eat. Well I need to go wake Logan up.

School Days

well, language school has come to an end. I feel like I would need another few months to really understand what the heck I am saying but at least I got a little bit of a language launch pad. I really got along with my teacher and wish that the school wasn't so pricey so I could stay a bit longer. oh well! Lastnight we saw this french band preform in this little cafe and it lifted my spirits ten fold. I didn't realize how much I missed hearing live music until there was this explosion of it infront of me. The band had an acordian, claranet, two guitars, and this box drum. The players spend through some rapid european sounding gypsy jazz and had the whole of the cafe clapping and shouting along. There are many cafes in San Cristobal, it's kind of a big culture here. It made me miss the days sitting outside D&M coffee. I realized that I hardly ever go to coffee shops anymore. It's a great time to start again.
We have meet quite a few intersting characters here. One refers to himself as "pollo loco" (crazy chicken). He is rather crazy and fun to talk with as he knows a bit of english. Another called "homie" started his own buisness in las vegas at 18. A store selling vitage levis from the 40s and 50s and expesive (fake) watches and stuff. The store started doing well and his buisness partner got greedy and informed the police that he was in the US illegally. He was deported. But it seems like he is doing okay back in mexico. We are heading back to the beaches in the morning.
a big shout out to my friend alex johnson. his dad just died a few days ago, randomly.

mural painting

After class yesterday we headed over to Amilie´s hostel to get started on a mural. We each had a few ideas sketched out and a big wall infront of us, time to get to work. We have a limited selection of house paint colors, whic is perfect beause I only like using about four colors per painting. I worked on a big cactus character which I need to finish up today. We worked straight until midnight with no break. It felt really good to have a paint brush in my hand again and I can´t wait to strat working on it today after classes.

School

so Language school felt like highschool. i was so nervous for the first day. Our teacher was so nice though and I calmed down quickly. Logan is a lot better at speaking, due to his numerous travels, so we are taking seperate classes today. I hope that I get the same teacher. Lastnight we hung out with some of the other people at our hostel. They were really nice actually, all from different parts of europe. Someone else is waiting for the the computer so I will talk to you all laster!

San Cristobal

We arrived in San Cristobal yesterday after an amazing bus ride through very very tall hills with jungle like growth. It was a seven hour ride but it breezed by pretty fast because the scenery was so beautiful, like no other drive I have seen. In random places in the jungle growth there was a bunch of corn growing. The vegitation here is so much different, as is the way people farm. San Cristobal is pretty big and a little more touristy then the other cities we have been in. Yesterday we were walking down one of the main streets and guess what? we hear a familure voice saying Scott and Logan! it was our good friend Ameilie from Olympia. She has been living down in Mexico for the past four and a half months making art and friends. She knows the language well and introduced us to some funny characters lastnight. Today we start a language school. It is located right by our hostel which is nice. I´m not that jazzed about our hostel as there are a lot of people from europe that seem to get a little to loud and drunk around the campfire and keep me awake at night. Oh well, it´s just one of those things. The hostel is pretty packed but their is a nice outdoor space were I drew for hours today. I finally got into an art grove, just in time because Amelie and us are going to start a mural in the hostel she is staying in soon. Pictures don´t really upload as Logan's computer is to slow. Should have brought the mac book! but hopefully I can figure out a way to share them, there´s some goodies!

Campeche

We made it to Campeche after another bus ride full of to many stops and to much air condition, I don´t know why the drivers feel like they have to blast it so much. Our new hostel is called the monkey and the roof has a very amazing veiw of the city center, there is an awesome cathederal right acrossed the street that looks super illuminating at night. we went in and their were beautiful paintings, mainly of jesus. none of the virgin mary at this cathederal which is kind of strange. The veiw from our roof is super european and dose not look like the rest of Mexico that I´ve seen. There are cafe tables on the roof, we spent a large portion of the day and night yesterday just sitting up there. Back in Merida we went this free art museum that I don´t think I wrote about yet. It was really amazing for free enterance, very modern. There was a lot of historical artifacts paired with contemporary art exhibits. One artist, Juan Carlos Bravio stood out. He paints large canvases textured with geso to mimic the cement wall that traditional murals are painted on. On the canvases Juan delicatly paints portraits in monocromatic color schemes. The faces all seem to be women but it is hard to tell on a few. The texture of the canvas makes the skin look very realistic in a strange way that i haven´t seen before. Well, I´ve been looking at art for a while on the computer here, time to go make some of my own!

Maya Ruins

Today we went on a tour bus to go see some mayan ruins. They were located about two hours outside of the city we are staying in. At the ruins we encountered our first sights of other tourists, and there were quite a few. Our guide was young and helpful and had lots of interesting things to point out about the twelve or so ruins that were at the sight. They were huge and breath taking and unfortunatly we couldn´t climb to the top as they were recently roped off. Most of the temples had sacrifical platforms which was kind of morbid. The main temple was built in such a way that it captured sun on all four different sides to cast shadows of snakes, indicating the change of season and the need for human sacrifice. A portion that I found a little more up-beat was the handball quart. It was huge! no one really knows the rules to the game but the hoops where the players shot the ball in where extremly high up and small, so I´m guessing it was really hard.
The city we are staying in is called Merida and it is really big. The hotel we are staying in is in pretty bad shape, we got bed bugs and spider bites. But it´s no biggie there not that bothersome. The food here is pretty cheap, Logan got a hot dog wraped in baccon yesterday for 50 cents. We will probably stay here for at least one more night then head off to a language school. I really need to pick up more Spanish as I want to talk to more people!
hopefully more pictures soon.

Us on a tilt-a-whirl in isla holbox

A peir going out into the water on isla holbox

Sunset

Isle De Holbox part 2

So we are little more sunburned. We transfered to a different Hostel today. It has hammocks and beach huts. It will probably be our lastnight on the island, due to how expensive it is. Well, compared to US it{s not that expensive. A guy that was staying in our room at the old hostel made us the best pancakes we had ever had this morning. They were rolled up and had bannas, walnuts, goat cheese, apples, and this really good sweet sauce that I had not tried before. After Breakfast we went for a swim. Lastnight we rode the tilt-a-whirl in the town center. It is really fast, old, and out of control. There are some pretty big lizards here, I hope I get a chance to snap a photo of one.

Le Isle De Holbox

So we are staying in a hostel that is currently under construction. It is being built and is owned by some young guys from Italy who seem pretty nice. It is painted bright red (most of the buildings down here are bright) and has traditional style construction. We are right by the Caribean ocean and have been having a blast swimming in it. It is such a pretty color. Lastnight we went out on a dock and looked at the stars. it is nice to see the night sky from a different part of the world. The people that live here zoom around on golf carts all day. There lots of pelicans here. We ate some fish tacos today that were not to good...
Pictures up soon hopefully!
The scenery here really is like a Windows computer background!