During Bachelor Night with girls, Sam was looking at flight deals and saw Alaskan and a 2 for 1 for Mexico during our spring break. I haven't actually ever been to Mexico before so I was looking forward to connecting with my Mexican Heritage. We flew into Cancun where Aysia met us so we could fly to Mexico City! We flew Viva Aerobus to Mexico City and they are a cheap airline and a reason. They don't let you do self-check-in online so you have to do it at the airport. Except they purposely don't open their counter till 2 hours before their flight. At this point, the line is soooo long. If you don't get to the check-in counter to check in an hour before your flight they refuse to check you in. Even if you are in line long before that. Poor Aysia had to catch the next flight over. There were some angry Mexican's inline. We made it to Mexico City and got the best tacos one could ever ask for that night on the street. We couldn't believe how cheap they were. 5 tacos for 1 dollar. I mean come on? Gavin and I ate 30 Tacos between the two of us. We were so hungry after our day of traveling.
Our next morning started bright and early with a hot air balloon over the Aztec Pyramids at Teotihuacan. We were sprinting down the dark alleyways of the city to find the bus stop that morning. We met Tupu, Vanessa, and Tatum at the bus stop. We all signed up for the tour together. We were all put into a really big balloon basket. I think it held 14 people. We were next to a group from Brazil and they were hilarious. They were filming the whole thing and kept saying first-time balloon over and over again. We loved them. Flying over the Pyramids was incredible. There are three of them that represent the Sun, Moon, and Stars. They are some of the biggest in the world. We were able to fly over them and dip down a little bit to see them up closer. We had so many hot air balloons around us with a beautiful sunrise. It was awesome being so high up. Riding in a hot air balloon is a very relaxing time. The landing was not so relaxing. As we got lower there were a bunch of tiny Mexican men pulling us to the ground with a rope they threw over the side. We were rocking back and forth. Jansen started getting sick as we hit a few trees and almost a person. We weren't even on the ground yet and hagglers ran up to us and started throwing their for-sell items at us.
That afternoon we split up. Sam and Jan wanted to see the pyramids on foot and we headed to the city for some sightseeing and shopping. While in the city we came across the temple. Of course, it was closed for COVID-19 but Aysyai knowing Spanish asked the guard through the gate if we could come in anyway. I am so glad we did because the Mexico City temple is amazing. We had some missionaries give us a tour of the grounds and the visitors. Because the site of Mexico City was once a lake, the ground did not provide a firm foundation; tests revealed that the soil at the temple site was 86 percent water. Many buildings in the city had actually tilted as they settled. To prevent the temple from doing so, a floating foundation system needed to be provided; 221 pilings would be capped by a control head connected to the foundation by steel straps which would adjust “over the years to keep the building level. Every month the temple's foundation is checked by workers and to keep the temple from falling they sometimes have to level up the temple slowly. These slow movements keep the temple standing. We saw a rod in the ground that used to be all the way in the ground but as the ground sunk the temple rose. We can tell the ground has sunk around 5 feet because of where the rod in the ground is. I thought that was pretty cool. I am so glad we stopped at the temple. Gave me a lot to think about in my life. Making sure that I am checking my own foundation and making the adjustments that are needed so that I don't fall.
That evening we shopped at a huge market and saw some catherdals in the city center. I got myself so many fun things. A colorful dress, colorful shoes, pottery, and chocolate! We met up with Sammer Jammer (a nickname Ava gave them) that evening. They had a horrid day at the ruins. They were dragging around their sweatshirts all day in the heat. the grounds were so much bigger than they thought and they were being scorched by the sun. They didn't have any water or sunscreen. Once they were done walking around they couldn't find a taxi that was going to take them back into the city. They wandered around pleasing with someone for a ride. Once they got a ride they realized their phones were dead and they had no addresses. They were in search of an ATM to get money so they could get a charger so they could pay their taxi guy. They were sure not having it that day. I'm glad I stuck to my gut and did what I wanted in Mexico City.
The next morning we flew to Cancun to spend a couple of nights in Playa Del Carmen. We had a wonderful hotel that had a rooftop pool kitchen and 4 beds! We loved the party vibes that were happening on the street. So much yummy Mexican food. I loved the colorful umbrellas, music, and flags. I was feeling so alive. A man was holding a cute monkey his name was Bieber and I asked if I could hold it. He charged me 15 dollars for 1 minute of holding it. And then it jumped onto Gavin and the guy was trying to get Gavin to give him 15$. Uh, no sir you need to control your monkey.
The next morning Gavin, Aysia, and I drove further north to see ruins and swim in Cenotes. We were the first ones and we got the first swimming hole to ourselves. We also ran into a photographer and she took our pictures for us for a FREE double whammy!
We spent the afternoon walking are Chichen Itza a world wonder. It was smoldering hot by the time we arrived. There were also so many hagglers in our faces the whole time. Even when we were driving they were doing sidewalk concerts and stopping at our window offering us all sorts of merch. It was a little much. The hagglers also all sold the same thing so if I didn't have it by now then I probably didn't want it. All of them kept saying "Practically free one dollar" We weren't buying it. The cool thing about Chichen Itza is the church history here. They say this might be where Christ came from when he visited the Nephites. The ruin is so stunning I could have looked at it all day. Sam and Jansen went on a Church history tour and learned all sorts of cool things. Sam came back that night with a huge bowl outlined with the 12 apostles.
The next morning we hung around our hotel. We swam in the pool and took a boat to the Cozumel. We were looking forward to seeing starfish but I am afraid we fell for the tourist trick. The sweet Mexican man who sold us the tour said we would get to be in a glass bottom boat and we would snorkel at 3 different spots and see starfish. We thought that sounded perfect. We brought our own snorkel gear and we were ready to go! We were disappointed when we saw the boat was an old beat-up one with the words glass bottom spray painted on the side. We also went to one snorkel spot and each side of the boat we saw counted as a new spot. We didn't see anything and the whole time the aunty was shaking a paper cup saying tips. We couldn't believe we fell for it. We didn't tip her because she didn't do anything for us. That's a Mexican experience for you.
On our last day, we drove around the bougie town of Tulum ate acaci, and had the most amazing burritos at Burrito Amar. We had to find a COVID test to get back into the USA. The man who gave us our test was shoving the stick so far up our nose. We went one at a time and as each of us came back we exaggerated about how awful it was right before the next person went it. It wasn't that bad but it was fun pretending it was for those who hadn't gone. And just like that our week our week in Mexico was over. I would love to go back and see more parts of this beautiful country. Mexico so so underrated but it's honestly the coolest place! And they have the best food of all time!
