The Other Mexico

So my first thought as I sat down to write this was that it would be fun to write this blog all in Spanish. But then it hit me. Wait a minute, I don’t know Spanish. Then it hit me again (this time a little harder). That sucks! Yes, Spanish would certainly come in handy considering Brooke and I have finally left the gringo friendly confines of Mexico’s Caribbean Coast and have just recently spent the last four days traveling through Central Yucatan and Chiapas on our way to Guatemala.

Actually though, for as little (poco) Spanish as we speak (hablamos) we have done quite well for ourselves. Of course we owe part, if not all, of the credit to our incredible CouchSurfing hosts, Pedro, Rolando, and the rest of the San Christobal crew, as they made us feel right at home in our new surroundings and helped us see their cities better than any guide book could ever do.

We certainly would have experienced the wonderful tastes of the Yucatan without Pedro’s love of his city and the local flavors that his favorite restaurants have been serving him since his childhood. He would lead us into this sometimes fancy looking, sometimes no more than a little hole in the wall, where we would order from a menu that could have been Greek as easily as it was Spanish. But without fail, we always ended up with an incredible meal that left us eager to dash off to the next thing that we must see or eat. Sometimes we even got to try items without Pedro’s suggestions. You see, Brooke loves to call new Spanish words when she recognizes them. Unfortunately when these words happen to be menu items and you are dealing with the fastest waiters and cooks in the world (yes, even faster than your local El Rancho), it meant that we would soon have a new piping hot meal or cool drink delivered to our already crowded table. But oh well, what can you do? We just had to bare it and force down more fantastic, mouthwatering, Yucatan cuisine. It is a tough life.

After eating our way around Merida with Pedro (along with the times spent at cenotes and Mayan ruins) we were compelled to keep moving, this time on to San Cristobal de las Casas in Chiapas. San Cristobal is one of the most beautiful cities we have traveled to, although all of a sudden we found ourselves needing jackets. The city has a lively produce market where you can find absolutely everything and craft markets as well (too bad we can’t get anything as our packs already weigh too much!). Coming into the home of Rolando and Mark and Hugo, it was more like entering a wonderful hostel- all sorts of people, some full timers, some long-timers, some not quite sure, and some just there a few days like ourselves. These three are CouchSurfer’s extraordinaire. We were first welcomed with a delicious vegetarian breakfast and such warmth from everyone. Mostly there we just enjoyed walking around the beautiful city, sitting on the steps of the cathedral and taking in the sights and sounds of our surroundings, or hanging out in their inner courtyard lined with hammocks. Definitely a Mexican treasure that needs to be revisited.

So muchas gracias to all our amigos nuevos. Your generosity has made our trip and this world a better place.