Uxmal and ever after

Today I felt for the first time how awesome this semester will be. A few things compounded gave me this feeling. I went to the beach today, for one. While I was there, I realized how I've gone to the beach every weekend since I've been here. Then I realized that it is currently January, and that it's really weird (for me) to be at the beach this time of year. Progreso, the beach we go to, isn't great. It has stuff floating in the water, waves kick up a lot sand making the water not brochure-worthy, and there are lots of shells in the sand. But hey, it's a beach. I can't complain about that.

Also, I realized that I've wanted to write on this blog for a while but haven't been able to do to my business. I went to Uxmal, one of these great sites of Mayan ruins you've heard about. Probably. Anyways, it has a lot of stuff going on: a formidable iguana population, two huge pyramids (note pic of me on top of one with the other far off in the background), a turtle-themed temple, lots of residences, and a ball court. After exploring this stuff all morning, we headed off into the night. I'm really excited to learn more about things Mayan, maybe even learn some of the language? I might buy a book called "Mayan Grammar" for about $5 US and a Mayan-Spanish dictionary for the same price.

Speaking of books, I've been reading a novel called "La ciudad y los perros" ("The City and the Dogs") about a military boarding school in Lima. It's an important piece of literature for a few reasons I don't want to explain here. After reading the first chapter and realizing I didn't understand what actually happened, I read it again and really got it the second time around!

Transport in the city is easier every day. It's an adventure to flag down something - a camión, combi, autobus, or sometimes some other students who are driving to school. It can still be an adventure to go new places, however. Just yesterday I inadvertently zigzagged all over the north side of town all the way out to suburbanish mall-land and back down to the centro. I arrived at my destination about 2.5 hours late. Ouch. Dinner was over, but a few friends were happy to accompany me to another cafe. I was zonked out, and tried to order a stiff drink that turned out sweet.