Travels in the Yucatan and Belize

2009-03-24T12:02:00.000-07:00

The big ole final wrap-up. Uh... Part 1

2009-03-23T12:45:00.000-07:00

I do apologize, first off, for having been so faithful in updating this while in Mexico, and then dropping off the dang Earth when I got to Belize. However, for any of you that have ever been ga-ga over that special lady or terrific dude, you understand how unappealing it is to step "outta the moment" and write all about it.
My last few days in Belize seemed to zip by me at breakneck speed. All of a sudden it was Saturday, then Sunday, and before I could drag my heels to slow it all down, BAM! Monday morning exploded out of nowhere and I was packed up, standing by the side of the now-familiar Northern Highway, praying that my Chetumal-bound bus would come later rather than sooner. Jake was headed South to Belmopan, and I was headed North. We both had bags packed and looks of utter unhappiness on our faces. Luckily, my bus came first, and Jake and I said goodbye quickly, with lots of huffs and puffs and puppy dog eyes. Then, I was on board, bags stowed, and barreling down the road once more.

Let me back up a little, though. Sunday afternoon, before I left, Jake and I went to the soccer field in the village, which is right in the heart of 'the court' - a two-store, one-restaurant strip on one side, facing a volleyball net, a pavilion, and the Carmelita Government School. The afternoon was hot and dusty, and the sidelines of the field were crammed with onlookers, most of whom were clutching umbrellas to ward off the heat while keeping half an eye on their sweaty, energetic little kids. We watched two games and laughed and joked around with the Conorquies - the big Kriol family that has taken Jake (and now, me) under their wing. It was a wonderful way to spend the last evening, and as the game finished up and the setting sun blazed low on the horizon, I was in surprisingly high spirits. I gazed at the people around me, watching Ms. Linda Conorquie suck her teeth and shake her head over everything... I watched Jake give piggy-back rides to a group of pink-clad four year old girls.. I watched teenaged boys pedal wide circles around crowds of people, scanning for pretty girls in short-shorts, and cracking jokes with uncles and brothers alike.
I love Carmelita. I love Belize on the whole, too, despite the numerous times I wanted to yell and complain about not being able to buy decent toothpaste, or a regular burger..... But Carmelita became my home in just a few short weeks and I am still astounded at the warmth and hospitality of its residents.
Here's a fine example...
After the futbol game on Sunday, Jake and I headed home so I could finish packing and so that we could play the whole 'don't go - i have to! - why? - you know why.- this sucks. - you're tellin' me" game. Maybe not the most fun thing in the world.
At about ten o'clock that night, Jake gets a text message. He reads it and calls me into the room. "Hey... Jeanine says she didn't get a chance to say goodbye to you earlier at the game... she wants us to come over really quick so she can hug you and all that."
Jeanine is the twenty three year old daughter of Ms. Linda Conorquie - the big mama matriarch over the whole family compound at the front of the village. Jeanine became a fast friend of Jake's and when I came to visit, she and I bonded quickly as well. Jeanine is loud, sassy, hilarious, and never apologetic about her behavior. She is always generous, and despite being a mama herself, knows how to party.
So... Jake and I walk out the door into the pitch black night with a huge twinkling net of starts overhead, and walk the four streets to the Conorquie house. The whole yard is dark when we arrive, and Jake and I are careful to be quiet as we walk up to the front door. Edward, Jeanine's sister, greets us and tells us most of the family is asleep, so he's just going to slip inside quietly and turn on some lights. Jake and I wait, paused at the door, for Edward to find the light.
All of a sudden, the room is bright as day, and the ENTIRE Conorquie family is not only awake, but is crowded into the living room. One collective breath is taken, and then "SUUUUUURRRRPRIIIIIISEEE!!!!!"
I nearly jump out of my skin, then dissolve into laughter and look over at Jake, who was clearly in on the whole thing, and who is now giving me the "what? what was i supposed to do, tell you?" face.
The Conorquies had gone to the Free Zone between the Mexico and Belize boarders, and purchased a table full of liquor, in addition to mixers, and Ms. Linda had cooked up nachos and tortillas with chicken for everyone. We ate, danced, drank and laughed our way long into the night. As Jake and I walked home much later, it sunk in with me that the Conorquies didn't really have money to spare on a big party for some white girl. But I was no longer some white girl... As Ms. Linda put it, when I left and when Jake finally leaves, she'll be losing 'two ah her pikni'. Ms. Linda treats us like family, and in her mind.... one of her adopted daughters was going away. Of course she'd throw a party. Ms. Linda loves her kids and loves her rum - so any chance to celebrate both is welcomed. :)

More about my travels after Carmelita back up the Mexican coast later... Lots of fun stories involved in that.. including a bartending gig for a Welsh hotel owner, a stolen passport, and the sunrise from Playa del Carmen.

2009-02-12T07:50:00.000-08:00

So, I apologize for pulling the old "girl meets boy and forgets all about everyone else" thing. It's annoying. I know. I'm back. :)
The past few weeks (or days? I've lost track) have been wonderful - full up with adventures at the Lamanai ruins, multiple run-ins with melon-sized spiders, speed reading, lots of experimental cooking, arts & crafts-ing, and good quality time with pooch, kitty, and boyfriend.
A couple fun stories:
On Saturday, Jake and I accompanied Betty and Tom (the kind of Peace Corps mom-n-dad in the Orange Walk area) and four other volunteers to San Estevan, a mostly Mestizo village about six miles from town. Betty had arranged an entire "fun day" for the village kids, complete with friendship bracelets, face painting, popsicle stick animals, Valentine card making, and a futbol game. We had tons of fun, and I spent three hours straight teaching a very capable group of pretty Mestizo girls how to braid, twist and tie the multicolored threads. Betty did a great job painting faces, and Coy and Jake had a blast tossing the football around with the kids. All in all, it was a productive and fun day - and I got my first real taste of what Peace Corps life is like. So much of it involves simply paying attention to these kids, letting them know that they're creative, bright, and worthy of one-on-one time. Easy enough, right? Especially for the bunch of kid-lovers that we are.
We also got the chance to catch the Super Bowl last Sunday... Jake and I went up to Corozal and stayed at the Sea Breeze - the same hotel that put me up when my initial attempt to get to Jake around New Years' failed. We had a really good time hanging out with Peace Corps volunteers - all of us reveling in the ultra-American combination of eating too much, drinking, shouting and watching football.
There are many more little stories I could write about, but I encourage you all, instead, to check out Jake's blog for a nice balance. He tends to write about all the wee details, while I just delve into a paragraph-long description of the sunset over the New River. :)
More later... We're headed to Caye Caulker tomorrow for a two-day Valentine's Day getaway. I must admit, I've missed the option of "taking a beach day", and I'll be delighted to wiggle my toes in pearly white sand again.
Love to friends and family alike.

2009-01-28T10:18:00.000-08:00

Just a quick update, family and friends... I made it down to Belize safely, on Thursday of last week.. Wednesday night I left the ranch around five, and got to Tulum about an hour later. I checked to see if the famous Weary Traveler Hostel had any space (no), and instead opted for the quiet, air-conditioned and spotlessly clean room at the Hotel Maya, on Tulum's main drag. I had a wonderful dinner at Charlie's, a Mexican-owned Tulum institution, and wandered the streets for a bit before turning in early. I arose at dawn (my body is programmed to wake at 6:20 now) and had a surprisingly good cup of coffee before hopping on a Chetumal bus. I've been through the Chetumal terminal three times now.. enough to befriend Miguel, a fifty-something janitor at the bus station with a crooked smile and twinkling eyes. He put down his broom and gave me a big hug, rattling on and on in Spanish about how excited he was that I was going to see my boyfriend in Belize, and I promised to bring him back a souvenir upon my return back up the Yucatan coast in February.
The past week in Carmelita has been absolutely wonderful. Jacob has established such a community here, and there is nothing more wonderful than taking Moses the dog on an evening walk and hearing the shrill little voices of Carmelita's kids yelling out "mistah jekob!" from the houses and yards we pass. I got to meet Miss Linda and Jeneane, Emerson and Edward, and all of the good people that Jacob has gotten to know here. We watched two soccer games this week, had dinner served to us three times by Miss Linda (whose plate portions would kill a man if he ate every last bean and grain of rice), and went by the Carmelita school to see Jacob's garden. The kids at the school have done an incredible job of planting seeds and making sure they stay watered, and we're heading back to the village in just a bit to work on an art project for the garden. Each bed was planted by a group of kids, and we though it'd be a nice idea for them to paint signs for each row to take some ownership of their hard work.
All in all, life is wonderful here, and I can't wait to continue to get to know the multitude of people that have opened their houses and their hearts to Jake in the three months he's been here.
More to come later... Hope all is well in the States! Stay warm!

2009-01-17T11:19:00.000-08:00

so, jacob gets a glamour shot in his blog, and so do i.
here's a portrait that i hope will adequately showcase how i feel every morning, waking up in a beautiful tangled jungle full of tropical birds and venomous snakes, knowing that i'll be greeted by the yips and bays of eighteen attention-lovng dogs while I make my coffee and slowly stretch myself awake..most days preoccupied with thoughts about gardens and herbs and the handsome man anticipating my arrival in a little Belizean village hugged by sugar cane fields.

2009-01-16T13:16:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah, this was Christmas dinner, by the way. Look familiar, Jacob? :)
Sooooosheeee.

2009-01-16T12:53:00.000-08:00

The infrequency with which this country provides internet for everyone's use is borderline comical.
I stopped at the internet cafe in the pueblo, the cheaper one, to use their Skype in the fan-cooled white tile room.... however, the smiling woman who works there politely informed me that they were "out of internet." Bummer. I went across the highway to the pricier, tourist-riddled Internet Cafe, prepared to spend the astronomical 6 US dollars for an hour of internet, only to find it closed, with a For Sale / Se Vende sign duct-taped to its window. Double bummer. So I dug out my iPod, which can receive wireless internet where available, and was just in the middle of checking things on Facebook when the power died. My frustration level is rising.
So I'm here, at the Papeleria-cum-Internet Cafe, on a yellowing old IBM computer, having just endured two unexpected power outtages waiting for my gMail account to load.
Again, at this point, it's almost comical.

The past few days have nearly drowned the ranch - dogs, chickens, cats and all - in a torrential downpour of biblical proportions. I've been working mostly inside, doing some spring cleaning with Lucy (which involves me pulling down plastic cups and Pyrex dishes from high shelves, hoping that roaches don't land on my head)... and occasionally, when the rain tapers off to a sprinkle, running out to plant papayas and banana trees out by the WWOOF house.
The dogs are frustrated, too, cooped up due to the rain, sleeping on damp blankets that refuse to dry completely in the humid air, and we've had two terrifying dog fights in the past week. As I said to Lucy this morning, the strength of the 'pack mentality' is something one doesn't really understand fully until one witnesses an out-and-out brawl between the dogs. Pulling a Rottweiler off of a hardened jungle pup with teeth flying everywhere and primal snarls and growls from all sides is enough to make anybody a believer in the wild wolf origins of these seemingly domestic animals.
Thankfully, none of the dogs were wounded seriously, and Lucy and I were shaken up, but neither of us sustained any kind of injury, which is good. Just shaky knees and hoarse voices from screaming at them to stop.

I'm winding down here at the ranch, not so much losing steam or motivation... just becoming preoccupied with dreams about Belize. I love working here, and I love Mexico on the whole, but the old itch is nagging at me and I'm ready to move along. Working at Lucy's has been an enriching, exciting, and thoroughly enjoyable experience, but ultimately the property belongs to her, and for all of the work I've done, I won't reap any of the benefits. I'm not upset about this fact in the least... on the contrary, I know that the ranch runs more smoothly with the help of volunteers and I care about Lucy's stress level enough to feel satisfied in just helping things along here, for her sake. I'm excited, though, to get my hands in the dirt of Belize and plant herbs and veggies and flowers that Jake can enjoy for the next two years. Even if it's not me using the homegrown cilantro for salsa, it's someone I care about... and it'll be fun to hear about the progression of the garden once I'm back Stateside.

Que mas.... Thank yous are in order for both my wonderful Nana and my extremely generous Papa, without whose help I probably wouldn't be able to do this whole soul-searching, solo-traveling shebang. Thank you, thank you. :)
More to come as I move on down the coast. Until then,
abrazos
Suzy

2009-01-10T16:45:00.000-08:00

They say that the passing of time in Mexico is akin to watching honey drip off of a spoon. It's slow and sticky and sweet, and you get really good at waiting, watching and savouring. However, there are moments interspersed that seem more akin to a fast-flowing river, and if you're not paying attention, you'll look up and see that two weeks have gone by.
I suppose I'm at that latter stage, completely baffled as to how it got to be January 10th, two thousand and nine. And in addition, I keep having these out of body experiences ... I'll look up from my book or my coffee or my plate of huevos rancheros and wonder how in the world I got here and what in the world I'm doing. If I were still in the States, these questions would probably unnerve me, but I'm becoming more content with not knowing the answers. Life is slow and easy here, and there is something wonderful about working your body in the heat of the day, cycling into town, walking the three miles to the beach, cooking your dinner from scratch - it's exhausting in the satisfying way that life ought to be exhausting - and I sleep like a baby at night.

Anyhow. I'm in Playa del Carmen at the moment - the most cosmopolitan, vibrant, European, crowded, goodlooking, good smelling, overstimulating place I've ever been. I made the trip up here with Elaine and Simon and their friend Cormac who recently flew from Ireland to travel with them for a few months. We're staying at a rundown, quirky place called Urban Hostel that seems to be populated entirely by disarmingly good looking Argentinean women and a pack of shirtless Italian men. Everyone is beautiful in that haughty, off-putting kind of way, but we four gringos are thankfully secure enough to just shake our heads and smile at them all.
Playa is nice in the way that I'm sure Miami is nice.... it is probably the most luxurious of places if you have money (there are spas and cafes and stores selling Gucci sunglasses on every corner) ... but if you're on a budget, it's a bit overwhelming. We went to a posh club last night on the beach with white leather square couches and a ton of beautiful people, but I found myself standing around a crowded bar, trying to seem taller, thinner, and prettier in order to get the barman's attention. Everything seems to be a competition here, and after a while that kind of environment starts to mess with your head. Like I said, though, it's an outrageously entertaining place.... I'm just ready to head back to my sleepy ranch now. :)

More to come... Jake and I have decided that February is not only the shortest month we could've picked for a visit, but he'll also be gone for the last week to Belmopan for Peace Corps things.. So I think I'll be heading down to Carmelita early - in about ten days - to lock in as much time as possible before I head out again. I hope everyone is happy and healthy and safe and warm - I miss and love you all!
Suzy

2009-01-05T14:35:00.000-08:00

2009-01-05T14:13:00.000-08:00

More to come about the absolutely wonderful trip to see Jacob in Sarteneja (and then Carmelita, because who can say goodbye after only two and a half days?).... for now, here are a few photos to sum up the experience.. and judging by the grins on our faces, I'm sure you can figure out how delighted and relieved we were to be reunited again. :)
I'm safe and sound back in Akumal and missing Jacob something fierce, but it's just a few more weeks of doggies and gardening before I head back to Belize for more doggies and gardening (although, it'll be a nice treat to have mango juice brought to be by Jake when I'm sweltering in the heat!) I hope everyone's New Year was safe and enjoyable.. Family, I miss you all and think of you all the time, and wish I could squeeze Brennan and make hot chocolate with Kaya and eat festive sweet potato casserole and show off all the pictures from this trip, but alas. Soon enough!
Love to all.
Suzy

2008-12-29T08:30:00.000-08:00

It. is. hot.
It's currently about ten thirty in the morning, and I am covered in dirt, sweat, bleach water, dog hair, soap, more sweat, and more dirt. It's also a blistering eighty degrees in the sun. At ten thirty in the morning. In December - nearly January. I am more and more convinced that I picked the perfect timing for this trip - I don't even want to know what July feels like here.

Yesterday was a lovely day - we were all lethargic and dizzy from the heat and deserving of a day off, so Elaine and I went to the beach in the morning. The water is bathtub warm and I finished my book in about an hour. Feeling quite accomplished, I figured a nap was in order. We dozed and woke, dozed and woke, stirring only to take the occasional sip of water, and spent three sun-drenched hours doing absolutely nothing.

We made our way back to the ranch around mid-afternoon and decided to cook a bit. Elaine made a really yummy banana bread with raisins, and I called up Mom to refresh my memory on her outta-this-world quiche recipe. I handmade the dough for the pie crust, rolled it out, and then chopped up peppers, tomatoes, onions, garlic and brocolli. Stir-fried the veggies with some spicy chorizo sausage, then mixed in the sharp cheddar cheese, eggs, and milk. We put both pans in the oven to bake and went for a nice long sit on the rooftop balcony, tanned and sleepy and covered in handprints of all-purpose flour.

This morning, elaine and I have been beating/washing/bleaching/wringing/drying the dog blankets and doing a bit of clothes washing too. This is my first load of laundry since I've been here. :) Hopefully that gives you some olfactory insight into what my aroma is like these days.
I suppose 'healthy' is a good term. Although 'smelly', 'stinky', 'ripe', 'sour' and 'hippy' are also all applicable.

What else...
I planted jalapeno, habanero, and serrano peppers a while back, along with a full packet of cilantro seeds, and they're shooting up like weeds. Hopefully I'll get to reap the rewards of my efforts before I leave here. Nothing like saying, "I think I'll put some basil in this pasta primavera", and then stepping outside to snip a fresh bunch from the basil plant!

I'm heading to Belize tomorrow for four days (!!!) ... Happy New Year to all - be safe and be merry!
Love,
Suzy

2008-12-27T07:13:00.001-08:00

Hello again!
I hope the holidays were wonderful for all of you - filled with comfort foods and families together and wee ones and old ones and all that. Christmas here was my first away from home, and apart from seeming just like any other Thursday in Mexico, it was a good time. Christmas Eve, Simon and Elaine and I all went out to La Cueva - a bar/restaurant just off the beach that's tucked in a little shady grove of palm trees. We had drinks and took a few photos and played a few games of pool with the grown kids of the families who had stayed on for Christmas. It was funny, because the guys we played pool with were from New Jersey and New York, respectively, I figured that most of the folks who didn't go home for Christmas were probably either renting houses for a few months here or were Jewish.... and these lads seemed to be the latter. But they were sauced enough on daquiris and margaritas that when I bid them a Happy Hanukkah, they just blinked at me and managed to say quite thickly, "hows'at you knew?" Nevermind that they'd been drunkenly singing Hava Nagila just a few minutes earlier. :)

We ended the night back at Lucy's ranch on her rooftop deck. The sky here is absolutely unreal. I've never seen so many stars in my life - so many that the sky looks more like a shimmery net of lights, with just patches of black here and there. Gorgeous.

Christmas morning, Elaine let us sleep in until 10 am - although the dogs woke me at 7 anyhow.. just like they always do. The pups don't quite get the concept of days off. She walked the dogs and did all the morning duties and made coffee and breakfast to boot! After that, we headed down to the crowded beach and spent nearly three hours just lazing about, reading our books, and soaking up the sun. We arrived back at the ranch around 4 and set about making sushi! The last time I made sushi was in Mexico, which I thought was quite funny...
I made a tempura batter to fry up the white fish and the shrimp that we had, and Elaine cut long slices of avocado, cucumber and carrot. We ended up with about five fat rolls of sushi (the rice was PERFECTLY sweet and sticky) and yes, I did take photos of it all cut and arranged on the square plates and garnished with hibiscus flowers. We ate until we couldn't move. :)

Lucy returns from the States on Tuesday, which is coincidentally the very same day that I leave for Belize! I'm so excited and giddy and nervous and glad to see Jacob again after four and a half months.. I can't even believe it's only three days away!

Hope everyone is doing well. Family - send me pictures of Brennan's first Christmas, would you? I know Kiley probably took a billion... :)

xox

2008-12-22T18:59:00.000-08:00

Just a quick update before I settle down for Movie Night with the other WWOOFers...
I'm using Lucy's internet upstairs in her loft this week while she's away in Seattle visiting her parents. We also get to take hot showers and watch movies on a proper telly, so life feels pretty privileged right now.
Work at the kitchen is good, however it can be pretty frustrating trying to communicate with the women who work for Lucy.. they're all really, really nice, but they speak so damn fast and in such heavily accented Spanish that I spent most of my time just shrugging and saying "no entiendo" or struggling to decipher what they want from me by repeating the words "mas, mas, mas despacio. por dios! mas despacio!" All in all, I managed to make two batches of ice cream and serve fifteen tables their lunches without getting scolded too much, but I'm just frustrated by the fact that I can't make small talk with these women. I don't have enough words under my belt to say what I want to say, so I end up either remaining silent or phrasing things like a child. I come across as dull and unintelligent, two things that I know I'm not. Oh well. We're all novices at some point, and this is my time to just sit back and try to learn.

On a totally different topic, I'm becoming quite the master of on-the-fly meals. With limited groceries here, I've had to get a bit creative when it's my turn to make dinner, and tonight I managed to put together a pretty good meal... Roasted tomatoes cut in half, and stuffed with curried mashed potatoes, cilantro, onion, garlic and the insides of the scooped-out tomatoes. Baked for a few minutes in the oven with sharp cheddar cheese on top. Yum. Simon also threw together some hummus and we warmed pita bread and then cut it into triangles for our Mediterranean/Indian dinner. I'm going to be quite the thrifty cook when I come back.
For dessert tonight during our movie, it's fried plaintains with dark rum, brown sugar, butter, cinnamon and nutmeg.
(side note: Jacob, you can no longer accuse me of 'never cooking'. :)

Alright! that's all for now. more to come this week before Christmas festivites begin!
Abrazos y besas,
Suzy

2008-12-20T13:42:00.000-08:00

Hello again! I've had the good fortune of being in town during the day for the past few days, and in addition have had time to spare at the internet cafe! Que bueno.
Little update... Misty, the new WWOOFer, ended up leaving today after she figured out that the ranch life wasn't really suited to her tastes... which is totally fine. The living accommodations are more rustic than other places, the work is hard and sweaty, and it's an incredibly communal arrangement. You work, eat, drink, talk to and sleep alongside these people and if you really like being alone, it's not the best of situations. C'est la vie.
In other news, I woke up a few mornings ago with what I thought was a weird sunburn on my lower back. It was raised and red in a large spot, with fingers of blistered skin reaching all the way around to my navel. I asked Lucy about it and she thought maybe I'd had lime juice on my hands at the beach the day before (entirely possible, as limes come with everything here) and maybe I'd just wiped my skin with my hand and then laid in the sun for too long. Thinking she was probably right, I decided to let it go, but keep an eye on it. However, yesterday morning it looked worse and was spreading, and the skin started to blister really painfully. I showed Lucy, and our resident nurse/horse trainer/wwoofer Elaine, and both of them agreed that I'd brushed up against a chechen plant. It's essentially the jungle version of poison ivy, times 10, and takes a couple of weeks to heal. Interestingly enough, however, there's another plant that is almost always found growing right next to chechen, called chaca... Chaca is the antidote to chichen's poisonous sting, and so we mashed up the leaves with some salt (ouch) and water, and spread it over the area. It's a little better today, but still not so fun. Lucy says I just have to let it run its course, but it makes sleeping and sitting and bending and generally moving in any way pretty painful. Yikes.
Que mas... I worked at Lucy's kitchen in the puebla today, waitressing and chatting up all the Canadians and Americans that come for caribbean rum raisin or nutella or fresh coconut ice cream, and it was nice to be back in the service industry for a day. I'll be working there all this week while Lucy's away in Seattle, and with the sheer number of people in Akumal that have come for the holidays, it promises to be pretty dang busy.
Lucy and I picked up another dog last night (that makes 18 at the ranch now!) who had been run over and then chained to a tree since the accident last week. The dog's name is Estrella (star), and she's the tiniest, shiniest, glossy black puppy ever. Her leg gets fixed tomorrow and she ate two entire bowls of puppy chow last night. Lucy sighed heavily when we picked up the dog and muttered something about going broke because of dog food, but when I asked her if she wanted to try and give it away, she just said, "Nope. We'll just cut back on bacon and booze. The perritos come first." :)

I hope everybody's doing well, and family.. I'll be a little late with the Christmas presents, but y'know. That's the Ayliffe way. :)
Love and abrazos,
Suzy

2008-12-18T14:25:00.001-08:00

It's hard to explain what it feels like to want personal space from mosquitos. People generally understand the idea...even dogs can sense when you're not up for playing, but mosquitos are the newest annoying tagalong species in my daily life. First thing in the morning, they swarm and chomp down on my sleepy sweaty skin on the way up to Lucy's house, then gorge themselves throughout the day while I work in the sun or shade or even indoors, and at night, when I am tired, fed, and retired to the porch with my book and a glass of vino, they sense their opportunity to feast upon a vulnerable walking buffet, and after ten minutes of frantic slapping and swatting and scratching, I finally concede defeat, breathless and covered in welts.

I do not like the buggers.

Moving on. Hello from Akumal! Ranch life is picking up a bit, and I've got a nice rhythm and routine to my days now. I spent most of yesterday deconstructing Lucy's compost bin...which had been shoddily erected by a previous WWOOFer using rotted wooden planks and rusty wire. I built two new ones with concrete and cinder blocks and moved the compost to them, then mixed it with the manure from the horse corral. Sweaty work, but ultimately rewarding, since now Lucy has a rich and nutrient-laden mound of dirt to pull from when she wants to plant new seeds.

Simon, my fellow WWOOFer from Ireland, has been my main company for the last ten days while his sister Elaine (also a worker) went back to Europe for a few meetings. However, life got really interesting yesterday when Lucy announced she'd forgotten that we were getting a new worker that very same day. Misty arrived, covered in tattoos and scars with tattooed raised eyebrows and a tongue ring. She's from Seattle and has a lot of experience with forestry and horses, and despite our first physical impression of her, she's turned out to be really down to earth. It's nice to have another girl here from the States, especially one that is as young, transient, and stick-out-like-a-sore-thumb looking as me. Hey, if I'm not going to "blend" in Mexico, at least there's safety in numbers, right? :)

Que mas... Tomorrow I'm working in Lucy's restaurant across the highway on the beach in Akumal proper.... which we've dubbed Gringostan, as it is populated mostly by vacationers from Canada and the States that all walk around scratching their pale, pasty heads and saying things like "Boy, that beach was sandy."

This weekend I'm heading to Tulum with Misty and Simon and Elaine to stay at a super cheap hostel and go salsa dancing... Finally! After all the contra and waltz I'd been doing in Asheville for the last few months, this two week hiatus feels like a million years. At least I'm still using my legs to bike the 2.5 miles into town and 2.5 miles back every day.

Okie doke. I think that's all I have to report for now. More to come as things unfold. Love to you all and an early Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Winter Solstice, and Feliz Navidad tambien!

2008-12-09T14:29:00.000-08:00

Hello again from Akumal! I can't stay long, as just about everything I do is dictacted by the hours of daylight I have left...and the bikeride back to the ranch would not be fun in the dark. The road stretches for two miles and looks as though a meteor decided to crash into it every ten feet. Even more fun after last night's rain! things are good, hot, sweaty, drippy, buggy and blissfully quiet. I worked in the garden early this morning, groomed dogs (there is nothing less fun than pulling a tick the size of a cashew off of a poor pup and watching it leak out. I'm sorry if that's graphic, but thats how it goes.) Afterwards, Simon and I groomed the horses, let them out to run, walked the dogs, and planted a few chaya trees. All in all, a good day... made even better by the frequent, brief rainshowers that cooled everything off. I'm settling in well, and looking forward to more and more time with the dogs, the horses, and with my hands in the dirt. :)
I miss you all and love you all.
More soon.. I'm getting to the internet about twice a week, maybe less. and Jacob and Dad and Kiley, I'll find a way to call you three soon!
xo

soy aqui!

2008-12-08T12:57:00.000-08:00

Hello!! Sorry it's taken me a bit to find internet and find time to update..
I'm alive here in Akumal. I have only a limited amount of time, as this internet cafe es MUY expensive. However... quick run-down... Got to Lucy's place after a hellish day on Thursday and a very comfy, unexpectedly expensive night's sleep in Akumal.. I arrived at her Ranch late Friday afternoon.
Lucy lives on 35 acres in the thick of the jungle. I swear. It's about a twenty minute bike ride to the highway, cross the highway, and just a short jaunt to the beach.. So. Lucy looks like our old family friend Dana McClintock but a little more high strung, and the ranch is just beautiful. Really rustic accommodations - roomy palapa-roofed one-room structure with a bed and mosquito net, table, water jug, dresser, and nada mas. Her house, up the driveway, is where I spend most of my day... Or at least, have so far. I am up at 6:30, go make coffee in her kitchen, say hello to the pups, and then read for a while until 8, when my workday starts. I've finished two books already. Yeah. Then I feed the dogs, feed the horses, feed the chickens, water the avacado/lime/banana/papaya trees, take the dogs on a short hike through the jungle, and then come back to the house to do whatever Lucy needs me to do. Yesterday I spent two hours rebuilding her compost area and turning it with a pitchfork to aerate it. Afterwards, I weeded and piled rocks, then cleaned out the horses' little lean-to, played with the pups some more, and settled down with my book. I am relatively tan already, which surprises Lucy (and me, actually..) When I first got here, her employee Rudolfo jumped up and exclaimed "she looks like she's been kept in a box all her life! so white!" and in some ways, I guess that's kind of true. Not that I was sheltered, but this ain't Kansas anymore if you know what I mean.
Anyhow. Things are really good, the days are full of rewarding work, and I have two other WWOOFers here to keep me company! On my first day, I was picked up by an Israeli volunteer and his English girlfriend and brought back to the ranch, but they left that same day to go to Guatemala... so the two left are Simon and Elaine, a brother and sister duo from Ireland. Simon is younger and works mostly with the land... Elaine is thirty and works for the Irish equivalent of Doctors Without Borders, but is on leave right now to flex her veterinary skills with Lucy's 17 dogs.
Que mas.... I had my first visit to a cenote today (bushwhacking through the jungle with a machete. Very Lara Croft) and then helped Lucy out with her shopping for the restaurant and the ranch.
Ay yi yi.. So much more to tell but I have to hop off or I'm gonig to break the bank with this session.
Love to you all. :)

2008-12-01T16:27:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

So, I depart from Charlotte at 7pm on Wednesday, just two short days from now, and I'll be flying in to Dallas, where I'll be picked up by my always entertaining and incredibly wonderful Uncle Scott! We'll have a nice little reunion that night before I fly out at 9AM the next morning and land in sunny, expensive Cancun! From there I'll take a bus to Playa del Carmen, and from Playa, yet another bus to Akumal. Once I'm in Akumal, I'll make the short walk to Lucy's restaurant, and wait for her to get off work... at which point we'll head to Rancho Mariposa! She's still got four other workers staying with her at the moment, which I'm really excited about. It'll be nice to have some company in the first few days/weeks... folks that can give me an idea of what life consists of at Lucy's ranch. At this point, I'm just packing, repacking, wandering aimlessly around for lack of anything better to do, and continuing to have my sleep interrupted each night by a whole mess of anxiety, stress, apprehension and excitement. :)

More to come! I hope everyone is doing well.

Love,

Suzy

2008-11-10T12:33:00.000-08:00

Hello all! For those that aren't already aware, I am headed out of the country! I'll be departing Asheville, NC on December 3rd to fly into Cancun, where I'll then travel south to Akumal (about halfway between Playa del Carmen and Tulum). In Akumal, I'll be working on a ranch/farm for a woman named Lucy James. I found Lucy through the Willing Workers On Organic Farms website and contacted her about work availability. The WWOOF program is merely a networking tool to put hardworking travelers in contact with farms and families all over the world. Most farms operate on a work-trade basis, meaning that your meals and lodging are free in exchange for manual labor 5 days a week. Some farms also pay a weekly stipend on top of that, but mostly it's just barter.

After my time in Akumal, I'll be traveling further south for a month or so, where I'll be staying with my disarmingly handsome and incredibly smart significant other, Jacob, who is currently serving in the Peace Corps in Belize.

These are big plans and big events and big places, so I thought I'd make the whole thing a little more digestible by keeping you up to date with the daily adventures of life abroad, via blog. :)

Happy reading and thanks to all of you who have given me such incredible support throughout this whole planning process!

Best,

Susannah