I am starting to compile recommendations for families who would like to travel in this beautiful area of Mexico. This is the main motivation behind this blog, hoping that it might inspire others to give it a try.
I know that this country is not getting good press, and based on all the bad news in the media a lot of people have serious reservations about coming here for a vacation. So my first tip would be to consider that Mexico is a big country, and a lot of areas are very safe for you and your children. I have been coming to the Yucatan peninsula for 25 years, a few times on my own, and I never had a major problem to report.
The Mexico I know is very different from the one depicted in the newscasts. With the exception of Cancun (which I avoid altogether), the Yucatan peninsula is tranquil and safe - and people here are friendly and kind. The people is actually the part I love the most. Sure, it helps to speak Spanish... but even a fairly limited knowledge of the language will go a long way here.
If you are planning to travel in this part of Mexico, don't be scared to rent a car and explore. Driving around Yucatan is a fantastic way to discover it's true spirit, going through pueblos and ranch land. In this 3 month adventure, the driving was certainly one of the highlights for the four of us. So get yourself a good road map - and stick you neck out!
Now that you think that it might be a good idea to come this way with your family, there are 2 basic things I highly recommend to make your traveling more comfortable. The first one is a roof bag for your rental car. It does not require a rack to install it on the roof, it's easy to pack in your luggage when you fly in, it is waterproof, and the price is right for the convenience it provides. We place our clothing luggage on the roof, which leaves a lot of room in the trunk. I ordered ours at www.roofbag.com (the best I found), and they delivered to our Toronto home within 4 days.
The other item is a cooler. A styrofoam cooler is perfect, you can purchase one for about $5 when you get to the grocery store here. Get a pack of garbage bags to double line it, a bag of ice, and you have a mini fridge in your trunk! Cold beverages, bread, cold cuts, cheese and fruit. We traveled this way for 2 weeks around Quintana Roo and Campeche 3 years ago, and it was a very good way to save money, control what we eat, and when to eat. In rural areas, you may not find a restaurant for miles.
So that's pretty much my two cents worth for the traveling part. Next tips will be on accommodations - one of my favorite subjects!
Somewhere between Izamal and Sudzal, Yucatan.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
A Good Day
The North wind blew hard again all last night, and the power lines gave in this morning at around 7:30am. I was up and preparing to go to twon to teach, and I didn’t know if they had power at the school… that little classromm would be pretty dark. I was ready to postpone when Tim convinced me to go anyway. ‘the kids will be waiting for you’ he said. So I went and sure enough, they were thrilled to see me arrive (and they did have power). I introduced another set of activities and we had a great time. Looking forward to next week, we will repeat some activities of the last 2 classes and to end this fun series, we will dance with colorful scarves. I found some fabric in Progreso on Monday, and I was able to cut about 25 light scarves. I also found some maracas in the craft market, and was able to purchase 8 pairs for $25 – pretty good price! I will leave all of that at the school next week, together with the other instruments I brought from Toronto, a cd, and lyrics of a few songs we did (if I can get someone to correct the spelling…).
We are slowly getting ready to move to Villa Kasper on Friday, which is the 3rd house West of where we are right now. It’s a very slick 4 bedroom house, perfect for us and our visitors. We had no choice but to cancel our booking with the other agency, the guy really toyed with my patience and at the last attempt to cut him some slack I accepted to meet ‘his people’ at one of the houses he was offering. To make a long story short – nobody showed-up to meet me. While waiting I was chatting with the caretaker of the house, and he got the owner of the house on the phone to hopefully clarify the situation. She (the owner) told me that it would be hard for him to show me the house since he does not have a key… (by now, he is a ‘sleazy’ business man…) Furthermore, a couple of days before he had told me that to get that beautiful house we would have to pay extra ($325us) because the owner would not lower her price – he explained that she is very tough and unflexible. So since I had her on the phone, I asked her if we could rent directly from her, told her the price we initially wanted to pay, and she was very pleased to make the deal! I inquired about the conversation she had with the agent earlier in the week – well… it never took place (and he graduated to scum bag).
Even if everything was in place for us to have the beautiful Casa Pilar’s, we thought that it would not be a good idea to double cross a scum bag who knows where we live. So we cancelled the booking, and surprisingly I got the refund promptly (well, maybe it had something to do with me signing Julie Martin, Legal Advisor, Foreing Affairs and International Trade Canada : )
So with all that, I did run around a lot to managed the crisis for most of last week. We finally rented a beautiful house through our current agent, and we are looking forward to having fun in Villa Kasper.
It’s now 2:45pm, and the crew has been working all day to fix the wires along the road. The power is supposed to be back by 3pm… crossing our fingers! ...The power came back on at 5:30pm, just in time for sunset. Perfect!
This black out day was great after all, Tim made a little family movie, I painted with the boys, and Dylan started to write a long story. A very good day in Telchac!
We are slowly getting ready to move to Villa Kasper on Friday, which is the 3rd house West of where we are right now. It’s a very slick 4 bedroom house, perfect for us and our visitors. We had no choice but to cancel our booking with the other agency, the guy really toyed with my patience and at the last attempt to cut him some slack I accepted to meet ‘his people’ at one of the houses he was offering. To make a long story short – nobody showed-up to meet me. While waiting I was chatting with the caretaker of the house, and he got the owner of the house on the phone to hopefully clarify the situation. She (the owner) told me that it would be hard for him to show me the house since he does not have a key… (by now, he is a ‘sleazy’ business man…) Furthermore, a couple of days before he had told me that to get that beautiful house we would have to pay extra ($325us) because the owner would not lower her price – he explained that she is very tough and unflexible. So since I had her on the phone, I asked her if we could rent directly from her, told her the price we initially wanted to pay, and she was very pleased to make the deal! I inquired about the conversation she had with the agent earlier in the week – well… it never took place (and he graduated to scum bag).
Even if everything was in place for us to have the beautiful Casa Pilar’s, we thought that it would not be a good idea to double cross a scum bag who knows where we live. So we cancelled the booking, and surprisingly I got the refund promptly (well, maybe it had something to do with me signing Julie Martin, Legal Advisor, Foreing Affairs and International Trade Canada : )
So with all that, I did run around a lot to managed the crisis for most of last week. We finally rented a beautiful house through our current agent, and we are looking forward to having fun in Villa Kasper.
It’s now 2:45pm, and the crew has been working all day to fix the wires along the road. The power is supposed to be back by 3pm… crossing our fingers! ...The power came back on at 5:30pm, just in time for sunset. Perfect!
This black out day was great after all, Tim made a little family movie, I painted with the boys, and Dylan started to write a long story. A very good day in Telchac!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Living in the Moment
Living in the moment is something I have to work at, it doesn't come to me naturally. I tend to live in the future, always planning as far as 3 years ahead. It's not all bad of course, it brought us here for a great three month adventure! And it's very good to have a plan to navigate towards one's goals, no doubt. But it's important to learn to stop once in awhile, and turn off the planning engines. Just enjoy.
Lay down on the hammock... Ahhhh, yeah... how relaxing. And my mind starts to tingle again:
Left brain : 'hmmm, what should I make for lunch today?'
Right brain : 'who cares, let it just happen... someone will take care of it!'
Left brain : 'maybe some quesadillas... do we have flour tortillas? I should check'
Right brain : 'why exactly did you buy this hammock? Just chill you fool!'
Left brain : 'oh yeah, hammocks... I'll have to buy a couple next time we go to town, cheaper here, maybe when I go get those tortillas...'
Right brain : 'la la la la... can't hear you!!!'
Left brain : 'I wonder what colour I should get, I should email Heather and ask what she would prefer...'
Right brain : 'oh no, whatever you do - do not open that computer!'
Left brain : 'oh and I should also email the agent to confirm that we're moving in on Friday...'
Right brain : 'Later, please please!'
Left brain : 'Okay, and I'll send her the PayPal payment too. But first I'll check the bank account to make sure it's all in order...'
Right brain : 'talk to the hand...'
Left brain : yep, yep, I should do that now before I get caught in something else and forget (...)
Right brain : But you've only been laying down for 1 minute and 43 seconds!'
Left brain : Hmmm you're right, I should try to make it to at least 3 minutes this time...'
Right brain : You're hopeless, but I guess it's better than nothing'
Left brain : 'Maybe I am hopeless. I should write about that on my blog today, after the emailing and the banking'
Right brain : 'At least bring the stupid computer to the hammock for crying out loud!'
Left brain : 'Okay!'
Right brain : 'I can't live like this, too demanding. I need to rest and recover my strength, please don't disturb me for awhile'
Left brain : 'Okay : ) '
Lay down on the hammock... Ahhhh, yeah... how relaxing. And my mind starts to tingle again:
Left brain : 'hmmm, what should I make for lunch today?'
Right brain : 'who cares, let it just happen... someone will take care of it!'
Left brain : 'maybe some quesadillas... do we have flour tortillas? I should check'
Right brain : 'why exactly did you buy this hammock? Just chill you fool!'
Left brain : 'oh yeah, hammocks... I'll have to buy a couple next time we go to town, cheaper here, maybe when I go get those tortillas...'
Right brain : 'la la la la... can't hear you!!!'
Left brain : 'I wonder what colour I should get, I should email Heather and ask what she would prefer...'
Right brain : 'oh no, whatever you do - do not open that computer!'
Left brain : 'oh and I should also email the agent to confirm that we're moving in on Friday...'
Right brain : 'Later, please please!'
Left brain : 'Okay, and I'll send her the PayPal payment too. But first I'll check the bank account to make sure it's all in order...'
Right brain : 'talk to the hand...'
Left brain : yep, yep, I should do that now before I get caught in something else and forget (...)
Right brain : But you've only been laying down for 1 minute and 43 seconds!'
Left brain : Hmmm you're right, I should try to make it to at least 3 minutes this time...'
Right brain : You're hopeless, but I guess it's better than nothing'
Left brain : 'Maybe I am hopeless. I should write about that on my blog today, after the emailing and the banking'
Right brain : 'At least bring the stupid computer to the hammock for crying out loud!'
Left brain : 'Okay!'
Right brain : 'I can't live like this, too demanding. I need to rest and recover my strength, please don't disturb me for awhile'
Left brain : 'Okay : ) '
Monday, January 24, 2011
Culinary Daredevil Me!
Okay, I'm ready for more. Ready to venture into the unknown. Take on a challenge that I have been contemplating for quite awhile... venturing deeper into Yucatan cuisine. I shall make a 'pibil' dish.
The better known version of this delicious dish is 'Cochinita Pibil', a piece of pork which is marinated in 'achiote' paste, and wrapped in a banana leave to cook slowly in the oven until the meat falls off the bones. It is very, very tasty. It can also be made with chicken or fish, so I have a whole new set of dishes to explore - fun! Best of all, the children are now excited about trying new dishes, they have widened their palate, and I am delighted.
Although I have not done it yet, I will share this one right away. It's a beautiful dish to bring some warmth in the heart of the winter, and it's perfect for hosting a dinner party. The amount of ingredients may seem a bit intimidating, but I assure you that it's worth it. So here it goes :
1 1/2 kilo of pork meat (shoulder or thigh)
Salt, pepper and 3 cloves of garlic
150 g of achiote paste (see below)
the juice of 3 sour oranges (see alternate juice in previous post entitled 'Tacos 101')
2 banana leaves ( and/or foil paper)
dried oregano leaves
Cut the meat in big pieces and season with salt, pepper and crushed garlic. Dilute the achiote paste in the bitter orange juice, and mix with the meat, coating every piece. Let the beat marinate as long as possible, overnight is great.
Soak the banana leaves in water for about 30 minutes. Unfold and place the banana leaves in a shallow dish so that the bottom of the dish is covered and the leaves stick out all around. Spread the pieces of meat on the bottom of the dish (on the banana leaves), add the oregano leaves, and wrap - folding the same leaves overtop of the dish. Cover the dish with foil to prevent the steam from escaping. Cook in the oven at 300 F for 90 minutes.
This traditional dish is served with white rice, a side of refried beans (home made please!), marinated red onions (see previous post entitled 'The North Wind Blowing'), and a pile of fresh corn tortillas.
If you decide to try making it - let me know how it goes! I will send you my side notes when my plate in empty : )
The better known version of this delicious dish is 'Cochinita Pibil', a piece of pork which is marinated in 'achiote' paste, and wrapped in a banana leave to cook slowly in the oven until the meat falls off the bones. It is very, very tasty. It can also be made with chicken or fish, so I have a whole new set of dishes to explore - fun! Best of all, the children are now excited about trying new dishes, they have widened their palate, and I am delighted.
Although I have not done it yet, I will share this one right away. It's a beautiful dish to bring some warmth in the heart of the winter, and it's perfect for hosting a dinner party. The amount of ingredients may seem a bit intimidating, but I assure you that it's worth it. So here it goes :
1 1/2 kilo of pork meat (shoulder or thigh)
Salt, pepper and 3 cloves of garlic
150 g of achiote paste (see below)
the juice of 3 sour oranges (see alternate juice in previous post entitled 'Tacos 101')
2 banana leaves ( and/or foil paper)
dried oregano leaves
Cut the meat in big pieces and season with salt, pepper and crushed garlic. Dilute the achiote paste in the bitter orange juice, and mix with the meat, coating every piece. Let the beat marinate as long as possible, overnight is great.
Soak the banana leaves in water for about 30 minutes. Unfold and place the banana leaves in a shallow dish so that the bottom of the dish is covered and the leaves stick out all around. Spread the pieces of meat on the bottom of the dish (on the banana leaves), add the oregano leaves, and wrap - folding the same leaves overtop of the dish. Cover the dish with foil to prevent the steam from escaping. Cook in the oven at 300 F for 90 minutes.
This traditional dish is served with white rice, a side of refried beans (home made please!), marinated red onions (see previous post entitled 'The North Wind Blowing'), and a pile of fresh corn tortillas.
If you decide to try making it - let me know how it goes! I will send you my side notes when my plate in empty : )
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Favorite Words
This trip has revived my Spanish, not as much as I would have liked to, but enough to want to pursue it. I learned Spanish before English, and I was once much more fluent. 25 years later my brain is not the thirsty sponge it used to be, but I still love the language. I like to listen to people chatting, and the Yucatan accent is very pleasant. A slower pace, with lots of tonal accents, very musical. And of course there are words that I like particularly. Like 'mariposa' (butterfly), just for it's softness. Or the verb 'esperar' (to wait), which is a relative to the French word 'espérer' (to hope). Because to wait is also to hope for something. I find this very poetic, and suddenly waiting is not so bad anymore.
When I was teaching in Majahual I learned the word 'pañoleta' (kerchief or scarf), when I had the children dancing around with light scarves. It was quite magical and the word inspired a little song in 6/8, which fits the rhythm of this bouncy word (3 eight notes and one dotted quarter note for pa-ño-le-ta..). I will always associate this word with children dancing.
There is also the word 'bodega' (pantry or cellar), a word that I find sounds so grave and serious to designate such a simple thing. Suddenly, it makes the pantry sound like a suspicious place, hiding some dark secret. 'Where is the broom honey?' 'In the BO-DE-GA... wa ha ha!' It make me want to designate one in our house when we go back, just for the kick of having to say it once in awhile.
And then there are the food words. Like 'Poc Chuc' (marinated pork filets), which is said in two very short sounds, almost as if you don't pronounce the vowels. And so many others.
This is a very colourful language, and I love to speak it and exchange with people here. What a real treat!
When I was teaching in Majahual I learned the word 'pañoleta' (kerchief or scarf), when I had the children dancing around with light scarves. It was quite magical and the word inspired a little song in 6/8, which fits the rhythm of this bouncy word (3 eight notes and one dotted quarter note for pa-ño-le-ta..). I will always associate this word with children dancing.
There is also the word 'bodega' (pantry or cellar), a word that I find sounds so grave and serious to designate such a simple thing. Suddenly, it makes the pantry sound like a suspicious place, hiding some dark secret. 'Where is the broom honey?' 'In the BO-DE-GA... wa ha ha!' It make me want to designate one in our house when we go back, just for the kick of having to say it once in awhile.
And then there are the food words. Like 'Poc Chuc' (marinated pork filets), which is said in two very short sounds, almost as if you don't pronounce the vowels. And so many others.
This is a very colourful language, and I love to speak it and exchange with people here. What a real treat!
Saturday, January 22, 2011
The North Wind Blowing!
Oh yeah baby! The North wind has been blowing hard since last night and surprise surprise - the sea has reclaimed most of the sea grass it has left last week. Not sure if it's only here... but it's good to know that we might be able to use the beach and play in the water!
We will be moving out of this house on Friday and we still don't know where we're going. Yesterday I went to see the house we rented in 2008 and it has been empty for quite awhile... Overall it's a great place if you are looking for a simple and spacious property, but that is not what we had in mind when we planned the special week with our friends. We've planned to be in a more upscale vacation home, and we're very close to finding the replacement from our original rental. I went to see the one located 4 houses down the road, now that the beach is clear around here that option has become much more appealing - it has everything we're looking for, for the same price, and with an agent who we know and trust. I have a meeting set at 4pm with the agency who is supposed to provide us with a replacement property, we will visit two houses. It was supposed to happen yesterday, but we were offline for a good part of the day and I was unable to contact him. My preference would be to not give them the business since they did let us down big time, but first I want to see what they have to offer, including the extra fluff for the trouble they caused. Dylan is my assistant, our visitors happen to be his best friend and his parents, so he is very happy to be involved in the choice of the house.
Apart from that ongoing house saga, I went to teach yesterday morning. One jk and one sk class. It was a lot of fun! The little school is very nice, I was impressed with the premisses and the quality of the teaching there. The school is for age 4 to 6 only, a quaint, clean and happy place. Looking forward to teaching there again for the next 2 weeks.
On the food front, I keep exploring and the latest hit for all of us is a condiment served in all market luncherias and taquerias around here : pickled red onions. Great on tacos of course, but also in sandwiches and as a side dish for grilled meats. You simply cut a red onion, fine julienne style (or diced if you prefer that...), soak the cut onion in hot boiled water for a minute or two - note that you want to onion to remain a little crispy. Strain, rinse under cold water a little to cool, and place in a sealable container. Cover the onion with the juice of 2 bitter oranges, and a little salt. You can replace the sour orange by mixing one part orange juice, one part grapefruit juice, and 2 parts lemon juice – and add some finely grated grapefruit zest. Let it marinate for at least one hour - et voilà!
We will be moving out of this house on Friday and we still don't know where we're going. Yesterday I went to see the house we rented in 2008 and it has been empty for quite awhile... Overall it's a great place if you are looking for a simple and spacious property, but that is not what we had in mind when we planned the special week with our friends. We've planned to be in a more upscale vacation home, and we're very close to finding the replacement from our original rental. I went to see the one located 4 houses down the road, now that the beach is clear around here that option has become much more appealing - it has everything we're looking for, for the same price, and with an agent who we know and trust. I have a meeting set at 4pm with the agency who is supposed to provide us with a replacement property, we will visit two houses. It was supposed to happen yesterday, but we were offline for a good part of the day and I was unable to contact him. My preference would be to not give them the business since they did let us down big time, but first I want to see what they have to offer, including the extra fluff for the trouble they caused. Dylan is my assistant, our visitors happen to be his best friend and his parents, so he is very happy to be involved in the choice of the house.
Apart from that ongoing house saga, I went to teach yesterday morning. One jk and one sk class. It was a lot of fun! The little school is very nice, I was impressed with the premisses and the quality of the teaching there. The school is for age 4 to 6 only, a quaint, clean and happy place. Looking forward to teaching there again for the next 2 weeks.
On the food front, I keep exploring and the latest hit for all of us is a condiment served in all market luncherias and taquerias around here : pickled red onions. Great on tacos of course, but also in sandwiches and as a side dish for grilled meats. You simply cut a red onion, fine julienne style (or diced if you prefer that...), soak the cut onion in hot boiled water for a minute or two - note that you want to onion to remain a little crispy. Strain, rinse under cold water a little to cool, and place in a sealable container. Cover the onion with the juice of 2 bitter oranges, and a little salt. You can replace the sour orange by mixing one part orange juice, one part grapefruit juice, and 2 parts lemon juice – and add some finely grated grapefruit zest. Let it marinate for at least one hour - et voilà!
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Finding a house...
Oh my... this house thing has become kind of stressful. That's it. I"m stressed out.
It makes me smile to even say this... because in our misfortune we might have to live in a beautiful open concept, bright see through, slick architecture beach home in Mexico... but the patio and the pool are kind of small. Boo hoo.
In my efforts to find us a good home for when our friends will visit, everything we saw that had a good size pool and patio had other big set backs... and now the one house that the agent has been pushing for is looking pretty good indeed. I will go see 2 more houses tomorrow after I teach, and then I will cast my final vote so that we can settle this once and for all. Bam!
With all this, the boys have missed a few school shifts this week and we are behind on that front. We only have 3 weeks left, and part of me is dying to just let go and make it a carefree loosy goosy time, but for their sake I must keep it up... at least until the last week. They're in for a shock when they will go back to school... hopefully it will only be a couple of weeks to re-adapt.
Oh yeah, I did open my music books... was it on Monday? It lasted about 15 minutes. There are a couple of spanish kids songs germinating in my mind though... one about Ranchero Samuel, going by with his 10 cows, then with his 10 goats, and so on with any other farm animal. Another one is about Don Pichi, the joyful fellow who built the ranch house we rented. In the song, he is hungry and goes to the market to get... one taco, two salbutes, three panuchos, four flautas and five... something else. Counting songs and animal songs are a lot of fun, and they're great to teach a language.
Okay, I have to prepare for my classes now... and eat dinner for crying out loud!
It makes me smile to even say this... because in our misfortune we might have to live in a beautiful open concept, bright see through, slick architecture beach home in Mexico... but the patio and the pool are kind of small. Boo hoo.
In my efforts to find us a good home for when our friends will visit, everything we saw that had a good size pool and patio had other big set backs... and now the one house that the agent has been pushing for is looking pretty good indeed. I will go see 2 more houses tomorrow after I teach, and then I will cast my final vote so that we can settle this once and for all. Bam!
With all this, the boys have missed a few school shifts this week and we are behind on that front. We only have 3 weeks left, and part of me is dying to just let go and make it a carefree loosy goosy time, but for their sake I must keep it up... at least until the last week. They're in for a shock when they will go back to school... hopefully it will only be a couple of weeks to re-adapt.
Oh yeah, I did open my music books... was it on Monday? It lasted about 15 minutes. There are a couple of spanish kids songs germinating in my mind though... one about Ranchero Samuel, going by with his 10 cows, then with his 10 goats, and so on with any other farm animal. Another one is about Don Pichi, the joyful fellow who built the ranch house we rented. In the song, he is hungry and goes to the market to get... one taco, two salbutes, three panuchos, four flautas and five... something else. Counting songs and animal songs are a lot of fun, and they're great to teach a language.
Okay, I have to prepare for my classes now... and eat dinner for crying out loud!
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