Episode 37: May & June 2008
Highlights of the month:
· Vacation in Mexico;
· Our clay mask project;
· Long weekend in San Diego;
· Kayaking in Michigan.
After a relatively quiet April, we fit in a few adventures over May and June. The first highlight of May came in the second full week of the month when we headed off to Mexico for a five-day vacation in celebration of our second wedding anniversary. The resort we stayed at was half-way between Cancun and Playa del Carmen and was on the Mayan Riviera. The closest village to us was a tiny fisherman’s village called Puerto Morelos, which we ventured into a few times for lunch, coffee, and to take in a snorkeling trip at what is supposedly the second largest reef in the world (second to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, which we have both been to).
The only other adventure we took during our time in Mexico was to see Chichen Itza, a Mayan ruins site that is over 2000 years old and is considered one of the remaining wonders of the world. For those of our readers who have traveled in Mexico, you may not find it surprising that our travel to the ruins was an adventure unto itself! After waiting more than 30 minutes after our scheduled pick up time of 6.30am (!!), our minivan arrived at our hotel. We were the first tourists to be picked up which worked out great because we could choose our seats in the van. This small point became evidently important after the tour company piled another 12 people into the van over the course of the three-hour (!!) pick up. After a brief stop for coffee and another stop at a local handicraft store, we arrived at the site around midday and walked around the ruins with a tour guide who explained to us the purpose of all the structures. The most impressive building by far was El Castillo (the Castle), formally known as the Temple of Kukulkan. This square-based, stepped pyramid stood about 75 feet (~25 meters) tall. It was originally built for astronomical purposes and during the vernal equinox (March 20) and the autumnal equinox (September 21) at about 3 pm the sunlight creates seven isosceles triangle shadows to form along the pyramid steps, imitating the body of a serpent that creeps downwards until it joins a huge serpent's head carved into the stone at the bottom of the stairway. Flocks of visitors turn up to see this happen twice a year. Even without the equinox, we were in awe of the structure, a true masterpiece of mathematics and very well-preserved. It definitely reignited our interest to see the Egyptian pyramids sometime soon.
We continued to walk through the ruins where we saw more temples – each one very impressive in its own right – and an enormous ball court that measures 166 meters by 68 meters (545 feet by 232 feet). The walls of the court were 12 meters high and in the center, high up on each of the long walls, were rings jutting out from the wall. The tour guide explained to us that the premise of the game in those times was to scoop a ball from the ground through the ring. The captain of the winning team was awarded with…his own beheading! Apparently, this was considered an honor. The tour guide pointed out hyrogliphics along the ball court that depicted the typical scene of a winning team’s captain getting beheaded at the end of the game. Now that is what I call a bittersweet victory!
Following the tour of the site, we headed off to lunch with our group before our final stop: a much-needed cool down in a freshwater pool inside a cave, known as a cenote. Revived, we boarded the van for the long trip home. Of course, because we were the first to be picked up, we were also the last to be dropped off. We returned back to the hotel at 10.30 pm. Tired, yes, but glad we went on the adventure.
The remainder of our time in Mexico was spent relaxing. The hotel was situated right on the beach and so we spent a lot of time sitting by the pool or the ocean, reading our books, and working on our tan (well, I was working on my tan…Neal was born with one). We took an evening trip to Playa del Carmen. We decided that this was our favorite city of the trip as it had a more laid-back feel to it and was not horrendously overrun with tourists. We also took a day trip to Cancun, which we did not enjoy very much. Cancun is nice, but the main areas have become overrun with tourists and have lost much of their Mexican feel and ambiance.
The weekend after we returned from Mexico, we decided to do a craft project. One of my friends, Stephanie, was leading a workshop in clay mask making. Actually, Stephanie helped us make the plaster molds for the masks. After that, the molds were passed to an artist would filled the molds with clay and fire-hardened them. In our session, we made masks of our faces and one hand. The process begins by smearing Vasoline (a lot of it) on our face and hand to prevent the plaster from ripping any skin and hair off when removed (not a pretty scenario from what we hear). After that, we soaked strips of plaster in water and then applied them to each other, let them harden for a few minutes, and then removed the mask and set it aside to let it harden a bit. It was like paper maché-ing each other. It was a really neat experience and we cannot wait to see the final products.
The following weekend was Memorial Day weekend in the U.S. (similar to Anzac day in Australia) and was a three-day weekend. In a last-minute idea, we decided to fly to San Diego that weekend to visit my friend, Natalie, who has worked for almost 10 years there as a camp director for YMCA’s camp surf. We had a great time hanging out with Nat, seeing the camp where she works, eating some great Mexican food, and touring the city. Besides seeing Nat and living her life for a few days, one of the highlights was visiting the famous San Diego zoo, which has a lot of animals that we never knew existed. Those that know me well know I am mad for a zoo trip – so this was my idea of a perfect outing. The trip was a very quick one, but we are glad we got a chance to visit our very gracious host Nat, if only for a long weekend.
After all these travels, we decided to spend the next few weeks in Michigan, especially because our big summer vacation (to Alaska) was going to start near the end of June. Over the next three weeks, we spent a lot of time working (as usual) and snuck in a few social events as well. I watched the Sex and the City movie with my girlfriends (loved the movie, by the way), and Neal and I went to a couple of summertime parties at friends’ houses. The summer days in Michigan are beautiful – perfect temperatures and an average of 15 hours sunlight each day making it perfect for outdoor parties.
One weekend, Neal and I spent the afternoon having a leisurely kayak along the Cass River, about an hour away from Midland. We even managed to catch a game of our local minor league baseball team – my chapter of Big Brothers Big Sisters was given box seats for our board, management team, families, and our volunteers and their “littles.”
Big Brothers Big Sisters held one of their major fundraisers through the month – our annual Golf outing – which kept me busy leading up to and during the day. The event was a great success, raising more than $30,000 for the agency, so the effort was well worthwhile.
We had a surprise visit through the month from our friend, Eveline. She came to Midland from Switzerland on a work trip and was able to come over for dinner to catch us up on all that’s been happening with our friends back in Zurich as well as her adventures as a (relatively) new mother. Truth be told, her husband, Peter Paul, visited in April and was also able to come for dinner – but he didn’t make the blog….so this entry is for the Van De Wijs/Kooiman family unit. It was great to see them both while they were in town.
In the final week before we left for our big summer vacation we spent a lot of time at work. I was invited to attend our two day Senior Leaders meeting, a face-to-face gathering of the top 300 executives in our company. It was a chance to network with colleagues and also hear several presentations from our top executives and functional leaders. It was a busy few days, but I really enjoyed the chance to catch-up with my colleagues from around the world and get some insights into the future of our company.
That leaves us at the last week of June, which is when we began our Alaska trip. There is so much that happened in Alaska that the trip deserves a blog of its own, so we will stop here for now and post a special Alaska blog soon. In the meantime, take care!
