angel on my shoulder

The broad strokes of this trip can wait until I get back to Melaque.  But certain events require contemporary reporting.

On Monday night we decided to take a breather in our "If-this-is-Tuesday-it must-be-Oxkutzcab" tour of the Yucatan.

It wasn't Monday.  And it wasn't Oxkutzcab -- though I do love writing the word.

We were in Tikul -- an equally fun word -- deep into conversation and our tortas cubanas in the town plaza.  Watching a bat hunt insects among the trees.  When we experienced a Clement Clarke Moore moment. 

No Saint Nicholas.  No lawn.  No sash to be thrown up.

But there was a clatter.  Almost like a child banging on a pot lid.  But just once.  From the top of the neighboring metal table.

Fox Mulder would have identified it as an alien.  I took a bit more moderate approach.

It was a katydid.  But unlike any katydid I have ever seen.  This one was the size of my hand.  And looked every bit as if it had been dressed for mardi gras as a leaf.

No insect is going to cow Islagringo and me.  Instead, we crept up on it with our cameras and started snapping away like a bus of Sapporo tourists.

The waitress kept her distance.  But she egged us on to pick it up.  And pick it up I did.

Rather, I let it walk up my hand -- and arm -- and shoulder.  The feel of its small clawed feet was interesting.  Almost a tickle. 

In the excitement, I forgot a basic fact about katydids.  They are hoppers.  And big katydids can hop big.

We had to retrieve it twice to continue our paparazzi routine. 


When we boys were done playing with our toy, I let it free in a shrubbery.

It was a small thing.  The moment, not the katydid.  But it will be one of my fond memories of this excursion through the remnants of the Mayan empire.

jottings from the front

I would make a lousy war correspondent.


Unless I have my chair, my desk, and a reliable internet connection, I start falling off on my posts.


That has been the case on this trip.  Writing from Isla Mujeres was easy.  I had the guest room with a good internet connection.  Merida was the same.  Hotel chair and table.  Good connection.


Since then, I have not been so lucky. 

Theoretically, there was a connection in Progresso -- on the Gulf coast, but no one on the desk knew the code.  Tonight we are in Ticul.  The connection is all right.  But I am balancing my computer on my lap while a television blares in the background.


Here is my deal.  I may need to wait until I get back to Melaque to put together some essays.  What I have seen is fascinating.  Islagringo purposely put together a survey trip of Yucatan -- great stops with just enough time to get a feel for each area.


Here are a few tidbits.  We have seen Dzibichaltun -- a small Mayan administrative center, Progresso -- a sea town on the Gulf coast, Uxmal -- a major Mayan political center, Santa Elena -- and its odd child mummies, and Ticul -- where I am now being entertained with the sounds of Revolution Day Eve. 


All that in two days.


For now, I will enjoy the experiences -- and share them with you in just a week or so.


Until then, I will be on the road.


See you soon.

life on the half shell

The playwright formerly known as Mr. Marilyn Monroe once said: "The theater is so endlessly fascinating because it's so accidental.  It's so much like life."


Just like photography.

Some shots are framed.  Some just happen.  The photograph above is one of the latter.

I was on my way back to the hotel after the bloggers' conference sessions on Saturday.  In front of one of the local churches stood a bride.  All alone.  Waiting for her cue to start changing her name.

In attempting to capture a candid shot of her, I instead caught a shot of a young man walking by -- whose eyes were caught by the beauty in the plaza.  The irony, of course, is that we chuckle at him for doing exactly what I am doing by taking her photograph.

It is such slices of life that brought the Latin America bloggers together for this weekend's conference.  To discuss why we do what we do.  And to learn better ways of doing it.

We are a social lot -- a lesson we have learned in our adventures in Mexico.  So, we met at 9; not for business, but for coffee and treats.

Mexican at heart, we may be, but we have enough American and Canadian training to know that other people's time is precious.  We were scheduled to start at 10, and start we did.

Three bloggers volunteered to lecture (with audience participation) on: "Keeping Your Blog's Focus," "Internet Ethics and Copyright Law," and "Supporting Your Blog With Photographs."


Our mistress of focus was none other than Theresa of ¿What do I do all day?  We all know the problem.  Blogs that seem to have no purpose.  And, because they don't, they tend to run amok -- losing the interest of most readers.


To prove her point, she asked each of us to describe why we blogged.  And then asked whether we really focused on that purpose when we write.  It was a particularly valuable exercise.  Especially for me, whose focus has wandered during the past seven months.


We then heard from some self-important overweight retired attorney who no longer looks like his blog photograph -- on copyright law.  Not as an expert, which he is not.  But as a consciousness-raising exercise.  The bottom line: Keep your hands off other people's property -- unless they let you use it.


Marc Olson of An Alaskan in Yucatan was a new name (and new blog) for me.  A former photojournalist, he has a great eye for spotting narrative in photographs.  He shared a few tips with us to help us have a positive impact with the photographs we use. 


I have been working on improving my photography skills for the past year, and his advice rang true -- even though the photograph at the top of this post violates at least seven of his tips.


After lunch, Johanna of Writing from Merida gave us some extremely interesting writing tips.  Most we knew.  But knowing and doing is two separate things.  And it is always good to double check old habits.


We then split into two discussions groups: Blogger users (led by Debi of Debi in Merida) and WordPress users (led by Jonna of blah...blah...blah... Ginger!).  This turned out to be one of the highlights of the conference.  We have all struggled with our blogger software.  But we were able to find some solutions merely by sharing with one another.


To top the evening off, Islagringo and I joined several fellow bloggers at the premier of the Merida Theater Group.  As they style themselves: English-speakers "who enjoy the theater and miss the opportunity and pleasure of experiencing English language theater."


They did well.  Putting together a series of costumed readings under the umbrella "Life is --," they played to a sold out audience.


It was a full day.  Informative.  Social.  Entertaining.


But a day full of life.

news from the front

The conference has just been called to order.


But I could not avoid the temptation of using the wireless connection in the room to give you the news as it happens.


And we are off.

my kind of town

I am in Mexico.  No doubt about it.

Geckos chirping to attract mates.  Clear skies.  Pleasant temperatures.

But everything else today was new to me.

We were up early to catch the ferry to the mainland to pick up our rental car.  And pick it up we probably could.  It was small enough.  The tires seem to have been borrowed from a grocery trolley.

But it is just the right size for squeezing through urban traffic in Merida -- and into tight parking spaces.

The urban experience, however, was four hours in our future.  Between Cancun and Merida was a long stretch of road through the Yucatan scrub jungle.  I think I now know how a mole feels tunneling through a lawn.

Islagringo and I laughingly tried my new GPS.  Laughingly, because we could have used a ruler and a sheet of paper to draw our route.  The road is that flat and straight.

Anyone who has made the trip knows there is not much to report outside of the car.  Inside, we had a great conversation about the type of things two guys discuss on a road trip.

We are staying at La Reforma Hotel.  The hotel reminds me a lot of Venice.  Aging, but with grace.  If it came to life, it would probably be a dowager duchess.

The rooms are hardly luxurious.  But four rooms open onto a lovely terrace living space.  You can see it at the top of this post.

After checking in, we headed over to the English Library for the bloggers' conference meet and greet.  And we did exactly that. 


I met new people who write blogs I have not yet read.  I met a couple of people who have commented on my blog over the years.  And, of course, I met some people, like Jonna and Mimi, who are directly responsible for my adventure in Mexico.

For me, the most interesting aspect of these gatherings, is that we may not have met before in person, but we know each other well enough we can launch into conversations as if we had been friends for years.  Which, of course, we have.

After the meet and greet, Jonna and Mimi invited me to attend an art gallery exhibition.  Even though we have some differing views on art, it was great simply to have that type of conversation.  That, in itself, was a new Mexican experience.

I am now back in the hotel.  The hotel lobby, actually.  There is no internet in the rooms.

As soon as I finish this post, I will complete my speaker notes for tomorrow.  And head to bed.

It is going to be a full day of blogomania.

through a mirror -- not so darkly

Today is one of those days I need to remember when my friends ask: "Why do you live in Mexico?"

Isla Mujeres is one of those places where it is difficult not to enjoy yourself.  If Walt Disney and Frank Zappa got together, they would probably think up something like this island.  Tourist fun with a nice layer of Mexican spontaneity.

The weather has been perfect.  For this Oregon boy that means not too hot, not too humid.  Clear skies.  Beautiful water.  White sand.  This is the stuff that vacations are made of.

We had a late breakfast at Ballyhoo's on the water this morning.  Good food with an obvious nod of the head to visitors.  But a favorite of my resident tour guides.

Then we were off to tour the island from north beach to south point.  Five miles of island.  And an amazing amount of diversity for such a small area.

Islagringo has covered all of this in his blog over the years.  My attempts to repeat it would be a pale copy.

But tonight my hosts outdid themselves.  We joined a Mexican friend, who is answering the call of love in Scandinavia, and two Canadians at a restaurant that easily ranks among the best in my experience.  Mediterranean food.  Run by two Israelis with an emphasis on Moroccan cuisine. Not exactly the usual mix I have found in Mexico.


If you come to the island, don't miss Olivia.  It is not just for special occasions.

We then stopped by one of the clubs that islagringo has featured in his blog: Adelita's -- with its fractured mirror bar.  I could not resist temptation.  To take a photograph of me taking a photograph, that is.  Evidence attached.

Good music.  Good friends.  Good food.

A perfect start to my return.

Tomorrow we are on our way to Merida.  And the conference.

More on that tomorrow.  I hope.

mexico redux

Every good play deserves a revival.


I think of my return to Mexico a bit like that.  Or maybe it is simply act two -- with a long interval in The States.


Either way -- I am back.  And to an area I have never visited before.


I have long wanted to visit the Yucatan.  In the early 60s, the television critic for The Oregonian, Francis Murphy, would put down his pen and head south to the Yucatan to indulge in his other passion -- archaeology.  I suspect he is somewhat responsible for planting that bug in my head.


Until yesterday I had not set foot in this part of Mexico.  Sure, I had visited Cozumel on cruise ships.  But that is like saying you have visited Japan because you had a layover at Narita.


That changed yesterday.  I flew into Cancun and taxied my way over to the ferry terminal -- where I was met by one of my favorite bloggers: islagringo.


And there he was --waiting for me.


I felt as if I had known him for years, but this was our first meeting in person.  We were able to jump right into the middle of our conversation -- as if we had been having coffee with each other for years.  It is one of the amazing attributes of blogs.  Turning strangers into friends.  The alchemy of social networks.


 And, so, the adventure in Mexico begins again.  This time with a guide who not only knows the area, but knows me.


I am ready.