Dispatch From LA

58 Degrees Rain

These are the supplies I carry with me when I hit the road.  If it doesn't fit in the box it can't come.  Well, except for that packing tape.  Since I waited until about 12 hours before I left town to pack, I forgot a few things.  It doesn't matter.  With scissors & tape you can pretty much do everything.   Not everything.  I mean you can't make a martini for example. The ziplock bags hold labels, stickers, and a few scraps.

 

Mérida had a serious postcard shortage.  Postcards are what I use in place of photos when I travel.  Since I was short on images, I left spaces in the journal so I could go back and stick my own photos in when I got home.  The photo of the statue above was taken in a cathedral in Mérida. 

 

I printed her on thin semi-gloss paper that's for brochure printing.  (not the usual color photo printing paper)  I've had this paper forever and took it out of the package so I don't have a brand name to share.  It's easy to find in an office supply store.  Anyway, it's also nice because the photos don't add bulk to an already full journal. 

 

Almost every page has at least one flap that opens on the sides or top & bottom.  I do this because I need lots of space for writing.

I fell in love with the birds of the Yucatan.  They really know how to party!  Like a bunch of playful bickering adolescents, they cluster in the trees and speak in secret codes.  Squawking, whistling, and screaming back and forth.

 

The structure of this journal is essentially a REMAINS OF THE DAY concoction.  I made it with a bunch of leftover folios I had from the big class sample that I made.

We're having a fantastic series of storms roaring through town all week.  A year's worth of rain in one week.  So dramatic! 

The Majority Of Me Is Still On The Loose

I waved goodbye to Mérida yesterday morning and began the long journey back to LA.

 

I had no idea before leaving for Mexico that I would once again be so transfixed by tiles!  In Portugal they were covering the buildings, in Mérida the floors.  All of the different patterns and colors set my heart on fire.

 

mmmmm  can't  you just see a kitchen covered in a patchwork of mix and match tiles like the ones in these photos?  Or like THIS?  I'm going to file this idea away and save it for the future of Moss Cottage's kitchen floor...

If I don't move into Hacienda Yaxcopoil (yash-ko-po-eel) first.  I could easily live in these rooms in all of their shabby glory.

 

With weekly outings to Uxmal (oosh-mall) for a little pyramid climbing workout.

 

It's night in Los Angeles and rain is coming, but the majority of me is still on the loose in the Yucatecan tropics.  Listening to eccentric birdsong.  Climbing pyramids at night.  Playing hide and seek with the iguanas.  Riding the Gua Gua  (wa-wa) bus through the dusky streets of Mérida.

 

Izamal

Izamal is bathed in a delicious yellow the color of ripe mango.  Coming here it is easy to see why it is deemed magical by the Mexican government.  We hailed a cab and our quiet gentleman driver whisked us here across miles of  scrubland forest and deposited us in the center of the yellow town.

 

We wandered hither and yonder picking our way over cobblestone streets, drifting in and out of stores, mostly taking photos.  I was lost in a trance.   Like me, my travel partner Suzanne prefers keen observation to talking.   An invisible tether kept us connected even when our roaming took us out of sight of each other.  

 

Once during the day I discovered a vast pyramid structure behind a museum of folk art.  Like a magnet I was pulled alone to the back of the building and out through an open door, across a courtyard, up some crumbling stairs, through dense undergrowth,  obvious ruins, and to a clearing of wild pink flowers and curling vines.  Sometimes storybooks that live only on the inside make their way to the real world.  That's what happened to me.  I could have kept going, but my invisible tether brought me back.

 

Back to Izamal.  Back to the Santo Antonio de Padua Convent, bulit atop an ancient pyramid where  I was set loose again to comb the halls.  This time the pre-columbian story replaced by 16th century Franciscan monks.

 My imagination gallops across either terrain with quiet enthusiasm.  My eyes registering shapes and colors I won't be aware of until months or years from now.

 

I want to stop and bow to each chair, each doorway, each peeling wall.  And in my mind, that is exactly what I do.

 
 Mérida is a lovely place.  I'm so glad I came.  I'm so pleased to have found an alternate travel partner for times when my sister can't tear herself away from her day job.  My vague lackadaisical travel style would annoy most people.  I'm pulled along by an invisible compass, the needle of which does not always point north.    Fortunately Suzanne, doesn't seem to mind.

You knew a video was coming.  Naturally it has nothing to do with my post.  It's of yesterday's adventure.  If I haven't already extolled the simplicity and ease of a Flip, I'd do it again.  If you prefer convenience over quality,  a more perfect travel video may not exist.

 

 

january 12, 2010 from MAM on Vimeo.

The Dancing Star of Mérida!

Want a shot of pure joy? Click below and get your fix.

Love blooms in Mérida from MAM on Vimeo.

A Town Of Yellow Houses

Lovely experiences are happening here that I don't have time to write (blog) about.  Every available word today going directly into the travel journal, which is growing fatter by the day.

 

Yesterday my eye caught and held each aqua and yellow door & wall.  So many luscious textures and colors!  Each one shabbier and more beautiful than the last.  A wall.  A floor.  A door frame.  Locks.  Iron bars.  Handpainted letters and numbers.

 

Only a small bit of dancing in the video below, but I'm working on a longer one with my STAR.  A fabulous hip swinging latin dancer in white pants with  a grin on his face.  See if you can spot him!  Yesterday while walking we turned a corner and right there in front of us a stage of 60-90 year old latin ballroom dancers!  

 

It is late.  Or I would tell you about the magical town of Izamal where all the buildings are yellow.  Every one.  I would tell you about the lovely Mayan woman who came to our home today and cooked dish after dish of Yucatecan food.  I would tell you about the latin ballroom dancers from yesterday that made my heart expand so much it hurt. 

 

I have a lot to say.  But tomorrow we leave early for another adventure after which I will have 2 lovely empty days to sit and write and think.  I need that time to absorb the streets, the people, the things I have seen.  I fall in love with places as though they were people.  And Mérida is no different.  sigh sigh sigh...

Look for my friend in the white pants.  I have a much longer video of him to share!

january 10 from MAM on Vimeo.

This Is Mérida

 

While I am exploring my tropical inner self, my sister, and regular travel partner is alas confined to the snowy hinterland of Kansas.  I have come to Mérida with my friend Suzanne who is on the lam from her own deep freeze in Chicago.

 

I am writing this post on the couch in the muy grande living room with the 25 foot ceilings and the chandelier that is as big as a volkswagon bug.  In fact this living room is about the size of Moss Cottage!  Valgame dios!

 Suzanne has gone tromping off in the rain to explore some museums on this day of soft drizzle and cool gray.  I have chosen to spend the day alone here at the house.  Absorbing all of the stories of its past inhabitants, reclining on the sofa, reading, writing in my journal, napping, being here.  Right here.

 I am only capable of vacations that incorporate long stretches of doing nothing.  Later of course, I will don my hat and rain jacket and go for a stroll with my camera.  See everything under a veil of tropical mist.  

Yesterday my eye caught the gleam of these long strands of sequins.   Spools of sparkle and light.  I made my selections then tucked my bright treasure into my purse.

 

 Last night we enjoyed our trip to the hacienda for dinner & margaritas.  The Yucatecan food is delicious.  LIme infuses many of their dishes which are very different from other parts of Mexico.  But mostly it was wonderful to sit in the night air & candlelight surrounded by gorgeous ironwork, dark wood, and night sounds out on the veranda.   Next door a carnival was in full swing complete with a lit-up train, rides, and fireworks.  This was muffled slightly by the piano and saxaphone drifting out the open door of the hacienda.    A sense of the absurd mixing with quiet gentility.  So many layers of richness!

Of course there is another video of my day, ending with a tiny slice of hacienda which was difficult to capture in the candlelight.

Thanks for the birthday wishes in comments and emails.  There goes my tail thumping again on the floor...

january 8 2010 from MAM on Vimeo.

Another warm bright day in Merida, the highlight of which was taking a leisurely stroll over to Santiago Park.  I walked alone, just me and my little flip.  I like the unobtrusiveness of this tiny camera and the no-duh controls.  

I passed houses the color of  papaya, bubblegum, irises, and sunflowers.  Each falling into slow delicious ruin.  Gardens of tropical flowering shrubs and trees heavy with fruit - oranges, lemons, papayas.  I walked by doors studded with clavos.  Past men in horse-drawn work carts.  A woman carrying a pinata.  Young lovers making out on a bench.

 And when my walk was over I came back to the yellow house and pulled the door closed behind me.   Padded across the pasta tile floors, through the large rooms where breezes constantly circulate, and over to my side of the house where I lay down on my bed and slept.

Tomorrow evening we are going to eat at a hacienda just outside of town.  Under a starry sky I will celebrate my 47th year of life.  And toast to 47 more years of loving the world and exploring all of its cultures and people for as long as I can.

If it should interest you, a video follows of an abbreviated recap of my walk and what I saw along the way.

 

january 7 from MAM on Vimeo.

Under Blazing Skies Of Blue

the house from MAM on Vimeo.

Day 2 in Merida. Our house is divine, once again confirming my idea that renting a house is a much more fabulous idea than staying in a hotel. And hard to believe but true, the price is the same or lower than a hotel of similar quality. We're enjoying doing everything at a snail's pace. Wandering from room to room and grinning. The outdoor rooms are my favorite. You'll see why in a minute. More dispatches from the road tomorrow or later today. Current temperature is 75 degrees under blazing skies of blue.

Pre-travel Piddle

At my appointment today with the ENT, who is now my new BFF, my middle ear was pronounced all clear for take off!  Whew.  That is a relief with a capital R.  Thanks for all the ear love you sent my way!  I've sort of been doing my pre-travel piddle.  Which is where I walk from room to room mumbling to myself.  It's 1900 hours and I STILL haven't packed a single pair of underpants, much less anything else.

 

My Merida travel journal is ready though and my little plastic art box is packed!  I made this  journal with a combination of paper and fabric.  The fabric was kindly sent to me by Teesha so I could see the quality of Spoonflower printing/fabric.  She has her journal pages turned into fabric there.  How cool is that?   I doubt she thought I'd make something out of it.  How rude of me!  I tried to use something else but I couldn't resist.

 

After I left Vladimir's office (we're on a first name basis now), my good fortune continued.  When I went to check in online I saw a little sign that instructed me to upgrade to First Class for a mere $69 buckeroos more.  So I did!  Holy crappoli!  I've never been in a First Class seat in my life.   I hope it comes with an instruction booklet so I'll know What Not To Do.  

To all of the enthusiastic and delightful boys and girls in REMAINS OF THE DAY I'll still be with you.  I'll just be a couple thousand miles southeast in Yucatan where the current humidity is 100%  Have laptop will travel.  Will blog, and travel journal, and consume tropical beverages, and turn 47 while I'm away!    

 

 

Underwire Molded Cups

As an act of good faith I've decided to start packing!   But tomorrow when I go see the ENT armed with my Ear Planes I just picked up from Walgreens I refuse to believe he will not declare me fit for travel.  It simply cannot happen.  We secured this house in Merida 3 months ago.  I've imagined myself cannon balling into that pool, jumping on that bed, and  belly sliding at high speed down that long length of shiny table.  Surely this will not be denied me.  Surely!

So I'm off to pack find my pink tankini with the halter style tie, keyhole cut-out, underwire molded cups, and flared bodice.  Simultaneously, I will be working on sewing in the pages of my latest travel journal,  trying on my new Pouty Mouth lipstick, looking for my red funglasses,  and packing my ultra attractive travel hat which was featured in a post earlier in the week.  I will not be drinking any more espresso martinis.  I won't!