Yucatan trip!

I'm going to begin writing about our recent trip to the Yucatan Peninsula in February 2013.  I'll write about it in multiple entries, partly because my spare time is limited, and because we fit so much into our trip that I want to cover, it would be overwhelming to put it all into one document.

We flew overnight from Seattle to Denver to Cancun, arriving at 5:25am.  We had scheduled a rental car and they were supposed to pick us up at 7am.  When we arrived at the airport, the sun was just beginning to rise, and the taxi drivers told us that our rental company didn't actually open until 8am.  Luckily, a few other people had made the same arrangement with the same company, so we all waited together until the shuttle came.  While we waited, we soaked in the warm air, watched the sun come up, heard increasing and unfamiliar birdsong, and watched an animal that looked something like a capybara, but smaller, running around in the bushes.

We had paid for the rental car online, or so we thought.  It had been remarkably cheap, which was a deciding factor in choosing to rent a car rather than use public transportation.  However, the fee we had paid did not include insurance, as it turned out, which is vital.  (Do not rely on your car insurance or that provided by your credit card!)  But, the insurance cost was more than triple the cost of renting the car, and the total we paid came out closer to $600.  This was a shock, but by the time we got this news, we were in Mexico, at a rental car counter, and utterly exhausted after traveling for over 12 hours overnight.  Also, they gave us an SUV instead of a compact, which added significant gas cost on top of the rental.

Despite all of that initial disappointment and sticker shock, once we were on the road, it was smooth sailing and we were grateful for a vehicle that could contain our luggage and allow Anouk to sleep comfortably during the 3 hour drive to Merida.  Had we taken a bus, the trip would have taken much longer, and we would not have had the opportunity to see all that we did over the next 2 weeks.

*Note: We paid about $40 in tolls.  It would have been less if we'd had pesos, and we could have taken a smaller road without a toll.

When we arrived in Merida, around noon, it was not exactly what we expected.  Coming from the relative affluence of the U.S., our expectations of the capital of the State of Yucatan were very different from the actuality.  Buildings are run-down, half built, dirty, and with walls or rooftops that sometimes look like they were blown off in a tornado and just left that way for years.  Streets are crowded with people, cars and motorcycles shifting lanes and honking unpredictably, and all of the architecture and streets are very old.  The directions I printed from google maps proved useless.  Streets were numbered, but we couldn't make sense of it because we would see 14th and expect the next street to be 15th, but there would be no 15th, yet we would cross 63rd and think that would lead us to 72nd, which didn't work out either.  Later, we learned that all even numbers go one direction and all odds go the other.  When you know this, it makes getting around supremely easy, but that first day, we were sleep deprived and very lost.  We finally just followed traffic to the City Center and found our hotel almost by accident.  The exterior matched the rest of the city, but when we stepped inside, we were pleasantly surprised to find beautiful courtyards, a pool, and and a nice, clean room.

It was lunchtime, we were hungry, and we didn't want to fall asleep early in the day.  So, we headed out onto the streets to find food.  We ate at a chain restaurant called Los Trompos, which was very satisfying.  I was surprised how hard it was to make sense of the menu items, despite plenty of experience ordering and eating Mexican food and Mike's half-Mexican background.  I know the names of meats and veggies, but had to guess at the way the food would be cooked.  I don't think I ever ordered something I really didn't like, though.

After our late lunch, we hired a man with a very emaciated horse and carriage to take us around the city.  We were so tired, this worked out well.  We could just relax and look around, making note of things to go back to later.  After a long and circuitous walk back to the hotel, interrupted by hawkers insisting that we look at their wares or directing us to follow them to one of the Mayan cooperatives, I literally passed out in the hotel room and slept for about 12 hours.  That was our first day, and I've already written a much longer entry than I intended.

This is the oldest cathedral in the Western hemisphere.  Spanish colonizers tore down Mayan temples and used the stones to build this structure.

*Our hotel was the Dolores Alba, and I would recommend it for budget travelers like us.  However, the food at the hotel restaurant was absolutely awful.  Mike and Anouk ended up going to a nearby Dominoes for dinner while I was unconscious.  The continental breakfast was fine, however.

Representin'

For a few years, I've been asked to participate in Arts Day at the WA State Capitol. On Feb. 2nd each year, arts advocates gather at the capitol to meet with legislators and make a case for including the arts in the State budget. In the past, I felt too shy and busy to join in, so I politely declined. This year, I recognized that I have been trying to get in on some of that funding, and that it is valuable for our community, and that the arts are seriously in jeopardy during these difficult financial times. So, I agreed to go.

Getting there was not easy. I had to get up extra early to be ready, take care of the homestead, and get Anouk to school, and I knew it wasn't possible to make it there for the 8:30am orientation. I made it to Olympia at about 8:40, but there was not a parking spot to be found. When I did find one, there was a meter that required change. I dropped in all of my change, and stole all of Anouk's change, and I was still a nickel short. While I desperately searched for one, the machine ate my money.

I had to pee so bad I was nearly in tears. But I continued to drive in search of a spot. I found one with a meter that accepted credit cards, only to realize that I had left my wallet on the counter at home! So, I would not be able to run errands or get food after the meeting, and I was already hungry. And my bladder was about to burst.

I kept driving around, until I found 2-hour parking quite a long walk from the Capitol. And I made it to the orientation before it was over, and there were donuts to appease my hunger.

There were 4 of us presenting to Kathy Haige,a legislator for my district. Stephanie Johnson, Arts organizer for the City of Olympia, introduced us, making the whole process feel easy and comfortable. She began by acknowledging how crappy a position the legislators are in right now, having to cut EVERYTHING, and that it is difficult to make a case for arts funding right now.

I spoke about how thriving arts contribute to a healthy local economy, using the example of cities like Port Townsend. People will drive there from far away because it is a fun, interesting place to visit. Those people stay in hotels, eat out, and buy stuff. If planning for Grays Harbor County incorporated more focus on the arts, I think we could harness the tourist factor to bring more money to the cities along the route to Ocean Shores, and a big part of that is art. I also talked about art in schools, using examples from Mike's glass arts program to make my point.

Sara Utter, a printmaker from Shelton, also talked about how artists are valid members of the work force, adding funds to the local economy through studio rental and sales of their work.

Luckily for us, Kathy Haige turns out to be a strong advocate for the arts, with ideas of her own for integrating art into school curriculum. So, we left with a spring in our step, stopping to admire a painting that Ms. Haige did in the stairwell of her building, turning a gash in the plaster into a mountain range.

I drove home regretting that I had not agreed to participate in this effort before, and feeling committed to being a more active citizen from now on. Getting there may have been hard, but sharing my experience with a legislator was easy. I thought about how much opportunity we all have to influence government by calling and writing to our officials, but most of us (me included) spend our energy complaining to our friends instead. I am grateful to the Arts Commission and to Stephanie for organizing this event and holding our hands through the process. I feel more proactive and more aware of how government works, on a practical level. And I encourage everyone to find ways to engage with government, rather than simply railing against it.

Right-brained ramblings about our economy

One day, Anouk asked me why everything can't just be free? I said that people can't give their labor away because they need the money to live. She wisely pointed out that, if everything was free, people wouldn't need money at all. "What if some people took more than their share?" I asked. I tried to explain that we need currency to establish value for our time and our products to make sure our trades are fair. In six-year-old terms, of course.

But I was left wondering...
Because people DO take more than their share. CEOs of large companies often earn 300 times more than low-wage earners at said companies. Banks charge us 23% to loan money, but only pay us 2% to borrow it. So many people live in poverty while a few are unfathomably rich.

Every day, I hear reports on the recession. Today the Dow is up, tomorrow it is down. Sales are up. Employment is down. Occasionally, I hear a report that manufacturing is on the rise. I know this is supposed to make us happy, but I can't help imagining trees being felled for wood and paper, rocky slopes being mined for metals, more oil being used to make plastics, more PVC, more dioxins, and more for everyone to unwrap, use, and throw away.

We were not always a production-based economy. There has to be a way to flourish economically without always producing and growing. Granted, our populations continue to increase while resources decrease, so providing clothing and necessities for everyone seems to require manufacturing. But that simply isn't sustainable.
I keep hearing people complain that they don't care about healthcare and climate change right now. It's all about jobs. And I understand that when people are desperate they get tunnel vision. But without resources, the economy fails. I believe we are seeing this in action right now, and everyone is in denial. It just doesn't seem possible that we can have an economic recovery unless we shift our dependence away from manufacturing.

But what does that look like? I have grown up in a world that relies on houses being built, malls filled with shoppers, sweat shops, Walmarts, and growing cities to stimulate the economy. What if no one was trying to be a millionaire (or billionaire, as is so often the case now)? Maybe we could find a way to earn our money without building more and more cars, roads and skyscrapers. And there has to be a way to reduce environmental impact. We always need services: medical professionals, electricians, plumbers, mechanics, farmers, remodelers, artists, etc. It’s not that I wish job loss on all of the contractors and retailers out there. I don't know what the answer is, and I'm pretty sure our president doesn't know either.

That’s probably enough rambling about a subject about which I know very little. I am desperate to see other people begin to recognize that healthcare, environment, agriculture, trade policies, war; it’s all inherently tied to the health of our economy. The only way out is to make huge changes in our social structures, and I’m afraid the general population will not accept this until it is too late. Maybe Anouk and her generation will figure out how to return to a barter system.