I had treatment on Tuesday. It all went fine. There is a cold front here and its been in the 70s. Its been heaven for us, but my nurse told me she hates the cold.
I told her it snowed in Chicago but either I said it wrong or she couldn’t image or she was busy hooking me up to the IV because she didn’t have much of a reaction.
This morning, dare I say it was almost too cold for me. But not really.
Everyone else we’ve asked likes the cooler weather except our front desk guy. He hates the cold. This is the guy who stands in our unairconditioned lobby 12 hours a day. But, he said its because he has joint pain.
We relaxed all weekend. The most exciting thing we did was order in burgers and fries. Its finally cooling off a bit so can stop and look at things without melting.
I’m sure if someone saw me trake a, photo of their mailbox they would have been confused. But I really loved the orange wall.
I had treatment on Monday and it went fine. Nothing new to report or take photos of. One funny thing is when they put in and take out the needle that goes into my port they always tell me to take a deep breath. It doesn’t hurt at all. I don’t feel anything.
This time when the nurse took it out she told me to take a deep breath. I did and wasn’t paying attention. She said something I didn’t understand. Turns out I forgot the words for breath out so I was just sitting there holding my breath for no reason. She pantomimed breathing out which I did and we both cracked up. We were laughing so hard She had to stop putting the bandage on my port.
The weather has started to cool a bit so I’m able to sit on our balcony and the rooftop deck to rest.
We’re seeing more birds lately. I think they might have migrated here from the north for the winter.
On Saturday we celebrated by making an “ofrenda” in our apartment. We gathered the items that are traditional and added a few of our own.
The idea of El dia de muerto is that one day a year you welcome the spirits of your loved ones back and hang out with them. It’s a happy festive day in Mexico. There are specific things to welcome your loved ones back.
A photo
Marigolds – these are supposed to guide them.
Incense -the round thing in front of Jan’s photo had special insense burning. This is to also guide them back
Candles- the pink one is specific for mothers. This is also to help them find their way back.
The bowl like things are special Mayan gourds used to hold liquids. These are for the spirits to drink. We had water in one and coffee in the other. Jan loved coffee.
Salt- this was in the blue and white shot glass. This is to purify them. The shot glass is also from her grandson Brian’s wedding which we thought was a nice touch.
Food – we didn’t want to put out real food because we were afraid of ants and our table was small so we had mini versions. Pan de muerto, a special type of bread. A mini plate of pastries, mini tacos. A mini plate of veggies that are important to the Mayans specifically corn. We wished we had a mini slice of deep dish pizza or a Portellos Italian Beef.
Chocolate- this is a Mayan thing but also something Jan loved. We had two pieces of chocolate with the mini foods.
Drinks – we had a dry gin martini with olives, Jan’s favorite. You are not supposed to use glass because the reflection could scare away the spirits. But Jan was fearless. We knew she would not be scared, especially of a martini.
Favorite things – Jan loved doing puzzles so we had some puzzle pieces. She also loved to read. I looked for a mini representation of a book but couldn’t find one.
This is a closeup of the mini food.
The market was a mad house the day before. It was like the grocery store on Thanksgiving morning with people getting everything they needed.
Marigolds were everywhere.
Lots of corn.
This is a real Pan de Muerto. The things on top represent bones. It was really good.
There were piles and piles of banana leaves at the market and the supermarket. This was for a special type of Mayan tamale they cook for the day that is cooked in banana leaves.
Also a lot of insence holders and the gourds.
It’s such a beautiful traditional and nice how in Merida they add Mayan traditions.
On Friday night we attended the Paseo de Ánimas. Or the walk of the souls.
There were 500 people walking and about ten times that watching. There are strict rules for what the walkers could wear which is why it was a photographer’s dream.
At the beginning of the walk there was a purple light shining on the walkers. I think they were told to look solemn. A few times I snapped a picture, nodded my thanks and the person would break into a smile.
I love this little boy in the background of the above photo.
Before the parade there were girls and women in costume sitting or standing to welcome the souls.
After they passed by, we walked around and saw some of the altars set up to honor loved ones.
There were a lot of people, but everyone was respectful, sober and mellow. Merida does a great job at keeping everything family friendly. As the people in the parade walked by there was a group of people walking with them holding a rope sort of like a crowd control corral. It was to keep spectators or photographers from joining or getting in the way. At the end people could join and there was at least another 500 people not all dressed up or in Halloween costumes walking with the parade.
It was a big crowd and a bit hard to get there by Uber, but I’m glad we got to see it.
On Wednesday, Jeff and I flew to Mexico City. I needed a scan that they have in Merida but they have better machines in Mex City.
The scan came with a free night in the hotel attached to the hospital.
It came in very handy for my 7:00am test which was just down the hall.
On Wednesday night we checked out the Day of the Dead decorations in the neighborhood of Tlapan near the hospital.
Jeff and this skeleton got along especially well.
These skulls reminded me of the cows in Chicago and Pigs in Seattle years ago where different artists would paint them.
Mexico City has massive parades and decorations for Day of the Dead. We thought about staying the weekend for then but decided it would be too many crowds. 22 million people dressed up as skeletons sounds overwhelming.
We are flying back to Merida Thur night. One million skeletons and a Mayan themed celebration sounds more doable.
On Saturday we went to the town of Dzibilchaltún to see the temple of the 7 dolls. The name was so long we couldn’t get it all in the photo.
We started by going out for a great breakfast. Our waitress was super friendly and spoke great English. When she asked my name I said “Soy Sher” which in Spanish means I am Sher. I shorten my name since they never can pronounce it. For whatever reason she thought my name was Soysher and no matter how much I tried could not explain it.
There was the temple and a bunch of other ruins.
It was “cooler” than it’s been but still 99 degrees, a little too hot for walking around in the sun.
This was steep. Jeff ran up it. I went up on my hands sort of crawling. I wish I had potholders. The stones were hot.
The view was great from the top.
I went down on my butt. Could have used a butt pot holder.
Jeff went up ahead while I enjoyed the bench with a palapa
There was even a cenote. Unfortunately it was not open for swimming anymore.
The temple is named after the seven clay dolls they found in the temple. The website said the dolls were on display in the museum. I dreamed of that air conditioned museum the entire time wec were out there.
Turns out the museum isn’t built yet. Not sure where those dolls are. Where are those seven dolls? They are probably in someone’s living room.
It was a hot day, but fun and only a 20 minute Uber ride from our apartment. Looking forward to going back when it’s twenty degrees cooler.
