Yesterday, I went to an institute class and then La Serenata again. The Serenata was surprisingly different this time…I mean, they still had the traditional dancing, but not nearly as much. Instead, they had a group of four men perform traditional songs from Yucatán with a slightly modern twist. It was super fun! And there were some dignities from the Cuban and Mexican governments in attendance. When they came, tons of cameras followed them. The guy who began the event acknowledged each of the rich, important dignities. Also, I tried something called a "marquesita." I bought one from a street vendor in the park. It’s basically a hard crepe. They use a batter similar to waffle cone batter and cook it on an iron that flattens it. Then, while still hot, they add fillings and then roll it up! I had one with cheese and nutella. Kind of a weird combination but I really liked it!
I live in a part of the city where the more wealthy people live. Some of the more expensive houses here are SUPER NICE! I took a picture of my street and my house:
Also, the entire city is waaaaaaay different than anything I’ve ever seen in the USA, so I took a few pictures of streets…just to give an idea of what it’s like:
Today, 21 of us went to Hacienda Yaxcopoil. An hacienda is basically a huge estate. Many years ago, big land grants were given to the conquistadores. Owning an hacienda indicated status, power, and wealth. Houses were constructed and often, there was some type of revenue obtained from something on the hacienda such as a factory or plantation. The hacienda we visited was located outside of Uman, a pueblo (town) south-west of Mérida. We took a bus to El Centro, then another bus to Uman, and then a “cambi” from Uman to the Hacienda. A cambi is a sort-of van that is a part of the bus system. When we were returning to Mérida, we took a cambi instead of a bus…I sat in the front with Brianne and the driver. His name is Juan, he has two kids, and really bad body odor.
Anyway, the hacienda was really cool…here are a few pictures from it:
This used to be a pool:
I'm not really sure what this is but I believe it was the form of revenue for the Hacienda:
Roaming around, we saw some cows. I don't know if these cows are never fed, have parasites, or some nasty combination of the two, but they were SICKLY skinny...
So we went across the street and bought “Marchadas de Platano.” It’s a slushy/smoothie-like refresco. First, the guy put a banana in a cup, smashed it with a metal tool, shaved some ice by hand, put it in the cup, added horchata, sweetened condensed milk, and then finally a little vanilla. It was super good!
While in Uman, we ran into some elders, which was cool. We talked to them for a few minutes before they went on their way. So anyway, that's what's new with me!
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