Thanksgiving dinner, poutine and pumpkin pie parties

One of the reasons we had to leave Merida early on Sunday was because we all needed to get back to Campeche in order to cook our contribution to the Thanksgiving dinner we would be having in school. Each year one of the teachers buys a chicken for class and the students are responsible to bring in other additions to make a Thanksgiving dinner. After we realised it was not going to be exactly like our mothers delicous dinners we stopped freaking out about what to bring. I made some garlic bread, Andrea made mashed potatos, Amber made a salad, Alysse made a garlic dip for the chicken and Madeline made pumkin pie. It wasn't as good as what we could have been enjoying back at home, but it was our Mexican Thanksgiving, to which we were all thankful for!

Later that day we went to meet two friends we had met at the hostel in Merida who had made their way to Campeche. The hostel they were staying in is right in the Parque Principal, and has an incredible roof top view of the park and the cathedral. We were hanging out up there and met a couple from Texas who were staying at the hostel as well. We got talking with them and before we knew it the topic of poutine came up and within minutes we had decided we were going to make poutine the next night. So sure enough the next day we all showed up at the hostel with potatos and cheese, and Matt (one of the Texans) was ready with the ingredients to make gravy. It was quiet the production, and we had so much fun through so much chaos. But in the end, the poutine was amazing and was exactly what some of us needed - comfort food from home!

Thursday class was canceled because of heavy rain, so we had a free day. The rain was pouring down hard all day, so we couldn't really go out and do anything. Most of us had 'poutine hangovers' anyway - we at so many potatos between all of us! That night though after the rain had stopped Madeline and Alysse came over to my house to make pumpkin pies from the left over pumpkin Maddy had bought for the Thanksgiving dinner. After some struggles and changes of recipes we ended up making 4 delicous pumpkin pies, and shared them with the whole family. In two of the pies we added creamcheese which was delicious! And the other two were just normal pumpkin pies, equally as delicious.

We had a great week filled with amazing food! But I think we're done cooking for a little while...

Merida

This past weekend Andrea, Amber, Alysse and I traveled to Merida, which is a city two hours away in the province of Yucatan. We left Thursday afternoon and arrived in the evening to our hostel in the centre of the city called Nomadas. After we got settled in we went to meet a family friend of mine living in Merida for dinner. We met Dermot in the central park of the city and he quickly told us we would be going out for 2 for 1 drinks at a bar called Ponchos close by before getting food. After Ponchos we went just next door to one of Dermot's favorite restaurants to get some delicious food. I had heard a lot of stories about a Irish bar Dermot had found in Merida. The girls and I wanted to check it out, so Dermot took us to Hennessy's Irish Bar for some more drinks. Hennessy's is owned by two Irish men living in Merida, speaking perfect Spanish - while also maintaining their Irish accents. We had a great rest of the night there listening to an 80's rock band, and enjoying the company of many other Americans - the most English speaking people we've seen in one place in a long time!

Friday we woke up early to make the trip 2 hours outside Merida to Cozuma; a small town that has three cenotes, popular for tourists to visit. When we arrived in the town and got off the bus, two men on bike carts approached us offering their taxi service to take us to the cenotes. It was 5km away so we couldn't walk so we agreed and enojoyed the ride. After a 10 minute ride we were droped off in another part of the town and were guided toward two other guys with a cart on old railroad tracks attached to a horse. Alysse's guidebook said this was the way to see the cenotes, so we got on the cart and started to get pulled along by the horse. The three cenotes were so beautiful! The water was so blue, and the caves around them were so amazing. The second cenote we had to climb down this ladder that went so far down you couldn't see the bottom from the top; it took a great leap of faith to trust it would be ok - and sure enough it ended up being the most beautiful of them all. We had such an amazing afternoon swimming, jumping into the water, exploring cenotes, and riding around on a horse pulled cart!

That night we met some people at the hostel and were hanging out around the pool they have in the back. Friday nights the hostel offers free salsa lessons so we went to have a few laughs and learned the basic steps in salsa - which turned out to be useful when we ventured out to a salsa bar that night to partice our moves. Watching the other couples at the bar was so amazing, they knew exactly what moves to do when - they were so unbelievable to watch.

Saturday we had another early morning to go to a different town 2 hours away called Celestun to see flamingos. It's not flamingo season so we didn't see as many as we would have liked to, but we saw one flock in our 2 hour boat ride. We were a little dissapointed by the day and we all got eaten alive by the mosquitos there (I counted over 100 bites on both my legs!). When we got back to Merida that night we did a bit of shopping and walking around the centro and had a much needed sub from Subway for dinner! When we got back to the hostel we went for a swim and relaxed in the hamocks over the pool. Alysse and I checked out a fiesta going on in a square close by and met up with some friends from the hostel for some drinks at a local blues bar. We had a lot of fun this weekend, and plan to go back since it's so close to Campeche!

Day to Day Life in Campeche

The past two weeks we have spent here in Campeche have been very 'tranquilo' as a Spanish word best describes it. Very quiet and relaxing, with just the right amount of fun. I have gotten into a daily routine (Monday to Thursday) of going to school, coming home and eating, having a siesta, going for a sunset run along the Malecon, watching a movie or TV and doing some homework before bed. It works great for me; a nice and relaxed semester!

Two weekends ago, we decided to stay in Campeche becuase it was too expensive to travel every weekend. Thursday night I went out with Ave who introduced me to 5 of her closest friends. It was so nice to meet some more people around my age, and they were so nice! We started the night at a restaurant called Cafe Nautico, which is a beautiful, not well known restuarant that sells beer and alcohol from all around the world (not Canada though). Then we went to a bar called Bar Rio, which reminded me of some dance clubs in Halifax! Saturday we met some more friends and spent the night at Applebees!

Sunday I went with Ave, Enrique to a small town called VillaMadero to watch a baseball game. It was so hot, but the game was fun to watch and we had a great afternoon! That night I had been craving cheesecake so badly, so Ave and I went out to a small cafe called Cafe Frapisimo and got some much needed cheesecake!

The following week, and weekend was much of the same. Relaxing and quiet during the week with some fun Thursday and Saturday night. Thursday was very similar to last Thursday; Cafe Nautico and Bar Rio. This time Alysse and Maddy joined Ave and I, and Ave's friend Pablo. We all danced the night away. Saturday we met up with some friends and went to the only dance club in Campeche called Chupis. No one really danced though, it was more of a hanging-out feel with music and lights blasting. But it was fun! Sunday Ave, Enrique and I went to another baseball game, but this time in a town called Hecelchakán. After a couple innings Ave and I went to explore the city in what they use as taxi's: tricycles with a passenger seat in the front. It was really fun and relaxing. When we got back to the house Addy had prepared a very tradition dish called 'pipipollo' which is usually made for Dia de Muertos.

And so concludes a very tranquilo two weeks in Campeche.