The Yucatan!

Don´t read this if you are stuck doing office work in a frigid climate somewhere! Unless you are the type that likes to live vicariously through others.
My brother Terry and I flew down to Can Cun 2 days ago and took a bus from the aiport directly to Playa del Carmen. Which despite being the fastest growing city in the world is still a lot less built-up then Can Cun. We got there at night, ate some cheap ¨tacos al pastor¨and then found a cheap (well for the beach in the Yucatan) hostel. Slept in an area that just had mattress on the floor with curtains seperating them. The outside looked like a grass igloo.
In the morning we enjoyed a little beach time. I love the turqoise water of the Carribean!
Then in the early afternoon we took a bus down to Tulum, a nice beach unblemished by modern high-rise hotels, mostly there are just a cabanas on the beach. (and there are nice Mayan ruins nearby, Terry went but I have already seen them so decided to save the money I would have spent on the entrance).
At dusk a mermaid-esque woman with long white hair walked around on the beach playing a violin. We ate at a place on the beach (or rocks really, in that area) that had some intersting English translations on the menu, including ¨girl cake of ham and cheese¨. I think its always a good sign if either the menu is only in the native language of the area or if there are massive spelling mistakes or unintelligable translations. The food will probably be more authentic and cheaper!
We ended up sleeping outside (I tried to sleep in a hammock but ended up sleeping on the sand.) The cabins were either full or too expensive.
It was actually stormy and pretty cold last night, I slept with a stocking cap, scarf, and many layers on. I guess I looked cold because one of the other hammockers put a sarong over me this morning. I woke up to guitar music and a mini ant hill by my face. But I was so covered that they could only bite my hands.
Later today we swam in a cenote, a giant freshwater cavern that is great for diving. The cenotes here were apparently created by a meteor 65 million years ago! They are important in Mayan mythology, I think representing one of the underworlds. I didn´t finish reading that part in the guidebook yet.
Anyhow now we are in Valladolid, a real Mexican town where you can get cheap food and buy blinking Jesuses (not sold ironically). Our hotel room has so much character-there is an old black and white tv, lots of blue-green and yellow tile, a small room with no door and 2 hooks in it and nothing else. If someone set you down in it and asked you what decade you were in you would probably say the 50´s.

Tomorrow we will head to the ancient Mayan city (or whats left of it) Chitzen Itza.

Please accept my belated apology for my horrific grammar and punctuation.

Santacon and Burners without Borders

Saturday was Portland's annual "Santacon" where hundreds and hundreds of drunken santas (and Christmas bunnies, fairies, risque Mrs. Clauses etc) meet up around noon and then bar hop until the wee hours. Some give out special gifts such as pork rinds, I filled a garbage bag full of mini hotel shampoos, soaps, and lotions and mostly gave them to other santas. Apparently sometimes there are pinatas full of obscene objects, fruit cake fights, and reindeer games but I didn't see any of that. Tara and I showed up pretty late but still caught a lot of Santa dancing, pool and video game playing, and mingling. Another santa challenged me to the rigorous "Dance Dance Revolution Extreme" video game at an arcade. Apparently next weekend is Seattle's Santacon and then there is another one here in Portland on the 22nd. There are others scattered around the globe. Just google "Santacon".
Yesterday I went to the first regional (northwest) "Burners without Borders" meeting, we talked about possibly helping out with the flooded areas in Oregon and Washington and about going to Peru to help with earthquake relief. Here is the link for the main Burners without Borders website:
http://www.burnerswithoutborders.org/

The French Alps

At a flea market in Paris

A little village in the French Alps

I got back to Portland Saturday and will head for Canada (for work) tomorrow...ohh the life of a jetsetter.

After India I flew to Paris to meet up with Boris. France seemed extremely clean, orderly, earth-toney, and expensive after India! Luckily the day I arrived the transportation strike ended, before that most of the trains were suspended so I may have not found France so orderly if I had arrived before.
We went to Boris' friend's birthday party the first night and then walked across Paris in the rain. I thought I was going to freeze to death. Although it was winter in India it was still pretty warm most of the time. The next day we walked around a flea market/ farmers market with Boris' friend Rudolphe in the neighborhood we were staying in (Rudolphe generously let us stay in his studio. He is a musician, if you need music for a movie search for him on My Space, his last name is Bologna). That night we took a night train down to L'argentiere (a small town close to Puy Auillaud, the village where Lucienne (Boris' mother) lives. The train was delayed so they upgraded us to "couchettes" (beds) and gave us free food. Although my only real expenses in France were the trains I still spent more than I would in a week in India, where I was paying for hotels, food, and everything else.

From L'argentiere we went up to Puy Auillaud. Puy Auillaud has the most spectacular setting, it is surrounded by huge snow-covered mountains, but is up on a hill above the valley, so you don't get fogged in. There was a small ski area right behind where we were staying and other ski areas all around the valley. We had about 2 feet of snow on the ground. It was sunny and cold most of the time I was there. For some reason we often woke up for the sunrise (so we cheered and danced as if we were at Burning Man!). The last two days I have been awake in time for the sunrise, but of course when when clouds thickly blanket the sky as they do most days in the winter here in Portland you cannot see the sun. It has not stopped raining since I've gotten back. Hmm why did I come back? Oh yes work. I return tomorrow at 5 am. And friends, family, Stumptown coffee. There must be other things.
Back to France. Boris' mother let us stay in an adorable cabin apartment in the village (they rent them out sometimes, let me know if you want to go!) that had an amazing view of the surrounding mountains. Usually we would go and eat lunch and/or dinner with Lucienne. Sometimes on the deck in the sun. We had fun talking together, me in my broken French. Lucienne was very sweet and tried to help me learn more. I think I progressed a bit. I tried some new cheeses and yogurt and enjoyed eating salad for the first time in a very long time (this was forbidden food in Nepal/India!)
Puy Auillaud has some very old stone houses with lots of character. About 20 people live there. There is a cute little chapel. One day we drove to a nearby town (Briancon) and went to a secret village inside an old fort. Then we hiked up to another fort.
Mostly we relaxed. Read and watched French game shows and news. It was nice not to think about where I would sleep and eat. Also nice not to be harrassed constantly. Although I am already planning to go back to India for more harrassment. I wasn't there long enough, there's so much more to see.