January 17, 2006
While it snowed in Portland...
I was enjoying a Caribbean vacation with thirty-some-odd members of my immediate family (remember, I have 8 older siblings). It was a real blast. Thanks Mom and Dad!
Here are some photos of my adventuring in Quintana Roo and Yucatan: 1) Evan and I rented a moto in Cozumel and road around the island several times. 2) Here we are standing in front of some Mayan ruins in Southern Cozumel. In 3) and 4) were were eating lunch at a beach-front restaurant and feeling joyously gay. This was on the completely deserted eastern side of the Island that had been completely destroyed by the hurricane. Restaurants and tourist stops were opening back up before they'd even built new roofs. 5) Now in Merida, Yucatan, Evan stands in front of some huge doors. 6) Later, after I bought a pair of shoes, Evan enjoys the "best taco of [his] life". 7) I hired a taxi and a lot of the family went to some Mayan ruins in the center of the Yucatan peninsula. Here you can see me sitting on top of a particularly tall one. Climbing up was not so bad, but going back down was quite scary. I sat on my butt and scooted down the stairs. 8) Evan and my niece Gracie pose in front of a very nice ruin. As we climbed up and around this one, Evan and I taught Gracie about many important topics, including human sacrifice, the heliocentric system, Yucatecan history, and the circle of life. 9) Now wearing Evan's new cowboy hat, Gracie and I pose at the top of the pyramid. 10) Evan, Mayuko, and I looking THRILLED at a tourist market in Progreso. 11) Needing to recover from souvenir shopping, my brother John, Mayuko, Evan, and I went to a bar called el Cerrito. The more we drank, the more food the bar-owner brought us, increasing exponentially in elaborateness. Just before we left, we got two WHOLE grilled fish: heads, eyeballs, tails and all. Here are their skeletons.
But now I have to go to school.