Wednesday, January 9

Wednesday, January 9

After our long day yesterday we convened downtown on the main plaza at 10 a.m. First we took a brief look at the inside of the cathedral, which was completed in 1599 and contains the largest carved wooden Christ figure (a crucifix) in the Americas. Then we walked down to the Paseo de Montejo, which was modeled after the Avenue Champs Elysees in Paris and is lined with beautiful old mansions of the henequen (sisal) barons. One of those contains the Museum of Anthropology, dedicated mostly to Mayan artifacts and information. It is beautifully set up and we were duly impressed. Then we walked back to the Presbiterio and around the corner to a small neighborhood restaurant, where the owners were thrilled but somewhat daunted by the size of our group (36, and yes, we did give them some advance notice). We filled the entire restaurant and enjoyed a generous platter of Yucatecan pork with rice, fried bananas, refried beans, tortillas, and other garnishes. It was delicious and inexpensive. A great find.

This afternoon we spent some time in groups processing some of the plenteous information and experiences we´ve enjoyed thus far. Then we had a lecture on the history of the conquest and colonial times in Mexico, particularly in the Yucatan Peninsula. It was warm, but since the lecture was interesting we managed to concentrate most of the time anyhow. We are looking forward to our trip to various archeological sites tomorrow, including a cave where they found many artifacts used for offerings to the gods of the underworld, and perhaps even a bullfight! More details in the next exciting episode. For now, buenas noches.