Tuesday
Today we went to Tulum. We hired an LDS tour guide that Mike had met last year. His name was Mosiah. He told us he was 3rd generation LDS and all of his 8 siblings also had Book of Mormon names. His youngest brother is named Lemuel (tee hee).
He and his family live in Playa del Carmen. He showed us their church building, and next to it is a "Corona" beer factory. He told us there are about 400,000 people in Playa del Carmen, and only 70 members in his branch! He's been the Stake President there 3 times! He also works at the temple in Chetumal (?) I think that's where it is, can't remember. I didn't even know there was a temple there. One more thing he does, is he takes the missionaries on a tour of all the archaeological sites when they first get there. It gives them a better sense of where the people are coming from and they get to see a lot of cool places! It would be totally fun to be called to a mission in Cancun! That part of it would be fun, anyway.
Mike with Mosiah
We learned a lot of interesting things from him. One interesting thing, was that the Mayan people were given that name after the Spaniards invaded. The Spaniards would ask the people questions in spanish, and they would answer "maya" (pronounced 'maja')"- which means "I don't understand you" and so they Spaniards named them them the "Mayan". Of course, we know their original name was the "Lamanites", and later the "Itzas". That's where Chichen Itza gets it's name. It means "at the mouth of the well of the Itza's". The "well" part probably because of all the cenotes there.
We also learned that "chicle" is a Mayan word and not Spanish. In Mayan "chi" means "mouth" and "icle" means "to chew". Mosiah showed us gum trees all over the jungle. The people used the sap to chew and clean their teeth, and also like a "glue"when they made things.
Mosiah gave us hibiscus flowers before we went in. Iguanas eat them. Hallie fed this one hers. The people also used the hibiscus flowers for food. I tasted some hibiscus juice at breakfast one day. It was ok. It kind of tasted like sweet watermelon/chamomille tea.
This thing had stairs that went into the ground. Most tour guides say it was a sort of hot tub the Mayans used for relaxation, but Mosiah told us it is actually a baptismal font.
These are the original handprints of someone. They are called the "powerful hands" and represent the laying on of hands or power of the priesthood.
Over looking the ocean on a scary cliff.
The beach in Tulum. It is much prettier in real life than it looks in this picture.
Tuesday Night
Tonight we ate dinner at a restaurant named "Hacienda Sisal". There was a Mexican buffet, and entertainment. First there were mariachis, then a "Caribbean" show with a bunch of different dance numbers. Everyone loved it! Emily and Dylan were in a trance at the mariachis, but then fell asleep for the dancing.
Here's the whole fam right outside the restaurant.
Dylan LOVED the mariachis, he clapped after every song, and hardly ate his dinner.
Hallie and Spencer clapped and cheered till the end. Spencer was even bouncing and dancing in his chair. It was SO fun! It totally made me want to sign up for Latin dancing. It would be such a good workout!
The outfits were a little PG-13, but that's their culture. Think sparkly bikini tops and thong bottoms with ruffles, and headpieces. When we were leaving, I asked Hallie if she would want to do dancing like that, and she says "Ya, if I didn't have to wear those clothes...they were too 'showy'." It was cute.
And we all had a favorite dancer. He was a little femmy blonde latin boy. He was the best one by far. I mostly only watched him because he was so entertaining. He would totally win Mexico Dancing with Stars, if there was such a thing. We went on stage afterward and got a few pictures with the dancers.
That's our fave next to Hallie.
Femmy boy tried to lift me up, but I quickly shot him down since I was wearing a dress-I didn't want to flash my awesome underwear to the whole audience!!
