Monsoooooon

The rain has not abated since we arrived last night in Campeche and I just ducked into an internet cafe to take shelter from the relentless storm. After a long and tiresome bus ride from Xjupil, on which we were subjected to many b-movies from the U.S., we arrived in Campeche last night and immediately took a taxi to our hotel, Hotel Colonia. Lines and cutting people are not the same thing here as in the U.S., people seem a lot more comfortable with pushing and cutting, and I have to remind myself to be a polite guest or my asshole "me first!" New Yorker instincts come roaring out. Such was the case last night while waiting in "line", more like an ambigous mass of people, for a taxi. After trying to unsucessfully steal several people`s taxis I decided to stop being a jerk and chill. That was good because the next taxi I would have tried to steal had crazy graphic anti-abortion propaganda on the back and I certainly would not have wanted to ride in that guy's Jesus mobile.

We are staying in the old city which looks a lot like New Orleans and apparently floods like it too, because we had to stand in ankle deep water to get our bags out of the trunk of the taxi last night. The buildings are all continuous, painted in different bright colors, with large doorways facing out; the streets are cobble stone, and the sidewalks are slippery because the stone is so old. Plus, some of them are a good three feet off the ground. There are stairs, sometimes three at a time, to climb up and down the sidewalks, I kid you not. Our hotel is "presciousa": it has an indoor courtyard that our room looks out on and everything is painted seafoam green. I feel like I am in Europe and we have decided to stay here for three nights, instead of our usual two, because we are weary from the road and not eager to get back on a bus.

Today we explored the city and visited the Botantical Gardens (which we snuck into) and the pirate museum. Apparently Campeche has a long legacy of having to defend itself from pirates and the museum is housed in an old fortress. However, the information provided was scant, so I am not entirely clear what all went on, except that pirates were here and they tortured people and many had British sounding names, while others were immortalized simply as Diego "El Mulato". We ate in a vegetarian restaurant "Nutri Vida" for lunch and had veggie burgers and a salad. That was awesome, let me tell you. I never thought I'd say this but I am so sick of cheese and tortillas, if I have to try to make another meal out of them, I will cry. I am not yet totally disgusted by the thought of beans and rice but I'm sure I'll be close by the time I leave. The rain started to get us as we left the fortress and I ran back to the hotel because I had to pick up my laundry at a lavanderia near by. I am so grateful to be wearing clean clothes, it is quite an occasion.

I thought the rain had passed so I went back out to go to the mercado, but it started raining again when I got a block away. I ran into the mercado and made my way deep into the heart of it, which is an open air building with people selling various wares. It was rather comforting to be surrounded by little girl dresses and all manner of random stuff, while the rain pounded the roof above. However, there is a fish market area and eventually the smell of fish drove me back out into the rain once it had lessened. From growing up on the East Coast, I am well versed in the different types of rain, but after living in San Francisco for all these years, where it always looks like its going to rain but rarely does (until the winter), I had forgotten about the nuances of rain. Here the rain starts slowly by spitting, then begins to drizzle, before it goes all out and pours buckets on your head. People here respect the rain and the hard pounding type is the kind that you wait out silently, in almost a meditating manner, under some public awning with strangers. Once that lets up, the steady rain is fair game and people begin to brave it. I don't know how I'm going to get back to my hotel though, because the water on our street is several feet high.

Tomorrow we expect to go to some ruins, Edzna, which are supposed to be pretty cool, and not too far from the city. The next day we are going back to la playa, because we miss the water, and after that we are heading to Merida. The end of my vacation is in sight, although we still have at least five more days and another city to explore. I am hoping to go dancing and this city might be the place, although I have not seen any obviously excellent discos. Hopefully, we can find some tonight.