arriba!

i spent the last 2 weeks in mexico with nico. most of our time was spent in akumal, a small town south of cancun and playa del carmen. it was founded in 1958 as a diving community and still has some of the best diving in the riviera maya. it was the best vacation ever--snorkeling, collecting shells and coral to make necklaces, building drip castles in the sand, and driving through the jungle in a rickety rental car. monteczuma did not seek revenge upon us and we met some wonderful people in merida, capital of the yucatan. we drank coconut water out of coconuts, saw a cat with one eye, drank pineapple juice out of plastic baggies, and visited the oldest cathedral in the western hemisphere! we also visited a few mayan ruins, swam in a brackish lagoon with parrotfish, and saw a shark and sea turtle! how can it get any better than that? now i am back in chicago visiting my family, but i wish so much to go back south of the border...the colors there are blinding...