Canadian Nomad

It is harder then it seems to drag yourself away from hammocks, ancient temples and crazy hitchhiking trips on the back of pickup trucks in South Eastern Mexico, so bear with me as I try to catch you up on my adventures.

Having lost my wallet at the Tijuana Airport was and continues to be quite the hassle as I finally just had to head to the Merida airport and it had arrived for me that day.  What luck… But as fate would have it, none of the pin codes worked.  (The bank had no reason why) so I am now having to wait for a new code to be sent to me… Still waiting.  In the meantime my Visa works for most non-pin requiring actions and a combination of eChecks and Western Union is taking care of my cash needs.  Besides that, I think the wallet and cash problems are merely stressful and time consuming for me, but otherwise relatively uninteresting.  Needless to say it is all working out, albeit slower then I would like.

So where to start…. Merida is a small city in the heart of the Yucatan Peninsula a few hours away from Cancun and about an hour from Chichen Itza.  It is quiet, safe, festive, and has lots to do.  Not a bad place to be stuck for a while.  The hostel that I am staying at is close to the Historical Center and has a pool and hammocks all over the place.

With El Día de los Muertos coming up the city was in full festive gear.  Alters to deceased loved ones were erected all over the city and in the main square.  Dance, buskers, and generally lots of local involvement in making it a fun time for all.

I visited several Mayan Ruins and pyramidal sites which were all fascinating in their own ways.  Some, like in Izamal were part of the towns themselves, incorporated into buildings and used as structures to hang their clothing from.

In Uxmal it was quite separate from the nearest town and as me and a few other traveling companions arrived fairly late so we had to run through the site and take photos as it started to rain.  At 5pm the park closed and we went to catch the bus that was set to arrive at 5:30.  By this time the rain had turned into a downpour and we were informed that the bus usually came between 5 and 5:30… We may be too late.  At 5:45 it was beginning to get dark out, along with the rain at the side of a highway.  At about 5:55 a truck rolled up and talked with a local woman who was sitting at the bus stop with us.  She hopped in and told us that we could come too for 10 pesos — same price as the bus.  Given the scenario we decided that it was better for the four of us to take the truck ride into the nearest town and wait for another bus there.

About half an hour later, standing under a tree in a small town at an intersection where a different buses might be caught heading to Merida, the bus we were supposed to originally catch pulled up to the curb.

Almost every night there is a local busker/clown show.  I have made it a point to go every night and do my best to understand what he is saying and with any luck pick up some Spanish.  He has a set of shows that he usually does, including getting volunteers/victims from the crowd and making them do silly things.  One is an intelligence contest, one pictured above where he gets some girls to essentially hold each other up, and then wait till they all fall down, and another where he selects a girl and a couple guys to compete to kiss the girl, and vice versa, and a few others.

There is a huge market nearby where all the locals go.  It’s like the Granville Island market only bigger, more hectic, fewer sanitation rules, and way more stuff.  I usually will buy my produce from here and cook it up at the hostel.

Beyond waiting for my stuff, enjoying the local culture and nearby activities I have of course been enjoying the food for which there as been no lacking in good quality 🙂

I’m sure there will be more to come, so I’ll sign off for now.

Tags: Buskers, Chichen Itza, Chocolate Cake, Dia de los Muertos, Found Wallet, Hammocks, Hitch Hiking, Izamal, Language Learning, Local Market, Lost Wallet, Mayan Pyramids, Mayan Ruins, Merida, Mexican Truck Ride, Mexico, Travel, Uxmal, Western Union, Writing, Yucatan
Posted in Travel | 5 Comments »

Arg.  First lost post.  I’ll have to write it again.

5PM Friday: I’ve had it, I need to get away.  I’m done with the week and I’m grateful for a chance to be free for a glimpse at liberty.  The day isn’t quite over yet, but still I make a few calls to make sure my cat is taken care of and that nobody will expect me for dinner.

You know you can only work in front of a computer in the same office doing the same things for so long.  It isn’t natural.  Natural. Yes, get away, go to nature.

5:30PM: I hit the road heading east.  No real plan yet, I get the vague idea that I’ll just stop wherever I land around 9.  I didn’t pack, I didn’t plan.  What was the urgency?  Exhaustion I think, and the vague feeling that it will never end.

Driving though the mountains of British Columbia is somewhat cathartic.  The majesty  of the land and the beauty of the lakes and rivers calms the nerves and reminds you of what you want to be and do.

9:10PM: Check in to the Kelowna International Hostel and talk with a few of the regulars.  I decide I’m hungry and take their suggestion of going to the Doc Willoughby’s Downtown Grill.  The food is good, but the people were great.  I got invited to join a large and eclectic group for a birthday party.  How fun!  It’s a great idea too.  Next time I’m out and I see someone alone, I’m totally going to invite them to join us.

As I was talking with the group I asked them were I should head next, to get away from the city and get a little R&R.  Suggestions included Beaver Lake and Big White.  Now Beaver Lake sounded good, but Big White was having an end-of-season sale.  Cheap stay and out of the way.  Perfect.

At the crack of dawn I am off to Big White.  They can’t check me in for an hour so I have breakfast of a coffee and a bagel.  While I am waiting I start brainstorming ideas for a new blog.  I really like mind-mapping with a normal pen and paper.  Besides eating at places with great views and lounging in the hot tub, that is mostly what I did.  Lots of thinking and brain vomiting.

After a particularly nice chat with some Americans in the hot tub at night I went out to watch the end-of-season fireworks and then headed to the local nightclub/lounge and had a blast.

Because it was the last day they were kicking everybody out early and so rather then stick around much longer I headed home.  A short 5 hour drive later I did some blog reading and made my first post.

Tags: Beaver Lake, Big White, Brain Vomiting, British Columbia, Canadian Mountains, Doc Willoughby's Downtown Grill, Exhaustion, Getting Away, Kelowna International Hostel, Mind-Mapping, Travel, Writing
Posted in Travel | No Comments »

I’ve been delaying the inevitable. Writing my first entry.

I’ve been looking up blogs about blogging, really just procrastinating.

The thing that really just made me stop to write right now instead of in the all too illusive “future” was an article “How to get in the Mood to Write” by William McCamment.  It talks about how just the act of writing can get you into the mood of writing. I’d never really thought about it, but as I type away, I have to agree that I am now in the mood to write, even though I wasn’t before.

It is interesting that since leaving high school I believe my writing abilities have dropped.  Likely it just comes down to that small thing called practice.  Kinda like learning the piano or French.  I know I haven’t really lost them to lack of use, but they are rusty and would need some solid polishing off to get back to where I was before.

Before, before what?  I’d have to say moving out on my own and accumulating debt.  Debt is somewhat like chains that force you to work long after your initial need to purchase is gone.  Like a gift that keeps on giving.  I’ll be writing about that topic too as it is one that has been close to my heart for the past several years.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog.   I hope I can deliver when it comes to giving you interesting articles about my life, travels, thoughts, and personal development.  Talk to you soon!

Tags: Accumulating Debt, Money, Mood Of Writing, Personal Development, Writing
Posted in Personal Development | 4 Comments »