Yucatan

On the main Plaza in Valladolid.

While in Valladolid I went with a couple others to Cenotes Xkeken and Samula. We paid at the gate where a young boy took it upon himself to guide us to the cenotes, or underground springs. He didn't ask us to hire him but just led us along, telling us when to turn, which way to go. Other than that, he barely spoke to us and even seemed surprised when I gave him pesos where we stopped to rent snorkels.

Just before the entrance to the spring, I gave him a magnet and he immediately set about trying to find something it would stick to. The man at the ticket booth, his father, I think, asked what I gave him and seemed displeased when the boy showed it to him. He didn't tell about the money and neither did I.

These roots reach a long way for the water in the cenote below.

Cenote Xkeken, or Dzitnup

Cenote Samula

Peru

Peru has got to be one of the big WOW spots on this earth. I went and will never regret it even though it was a little touristy for my taste. During my stay I visited these sites:

Macchu Picchu

Cane island on Lake Titicaca



McCaw clay lick on Rio Tambopata.

This lady resting by a bridge in beside the river that ran below the Salinas salt pans was the first to receive a magnet, a frog, a symbol of luck in some South American countries.

 

This little girl made my acquaintance while I was buying ice cream in Puerto Maldanado's main square before running back to her brother for protection.

 

 

Josephina was out hostess for a homestay on Isla Amantani in Lake Titicaca. She mde the best soup and the tea she served was brewed with plants she picked on her way home.

 

 





Bosnia

On a flight from Paris to Istanbul I found myself sitting next to a girl who lives in the United States but travels to the family homeplace in Bosnia. Her parents moved them to the US to escape the ethnic difficulties and war brewing in Serbia. She was born in Doboj, Serbia but her grandparents an uncles now live in Stanic Rijeka, Bosnia. Both towns were seriously affected by the recent flood.

It is sad, the devastation caused by the flood and landslides. The family homes were surrounded by the water but it did not get inside. Those living below were not so fortunate. A huge herd of cattle was wiped out raising cocerns about health and disease. Another serious problem is that landmines from the war, once marked and barricaded, are now scattered. If there could be anything positive from such an event, it would be that ethnic identity is forgotten as people join in the efforts of recovery. 

After an internship teaching English in Turkey, my seatmate traveled to Bosnia where she left a magnet with her grandmother. Once again, the rain was falling and water rising. So far there is not the devastation of the prior floods but surely people are getting worried. 

Canals overflowing and the rain still coming.

Albania

When I first stepped off my bus in Gjirokastra, Albania, no map in hand, I was immediately assisted by a girl who said she'd been watching me. She spoke English! First she showed me where to exchange money, then pointed out which bus I should get on across the street to get to my hotel. I reached into my pack to get her a magnet and she saw money, actually Turkish lyras. She got upset because she thought I was going to pay her and actually started running away. There I was, holding the magnet up as high as my arm would reach shouting 'wait!' at the top of my lungs. She turned, saw it wasn't cash, and came back. When  I left the bank and crossed the street, my bus was gone, but she came back to put me on the right one, tell the driver where to put me out, and off I went. All I know about her is that she works in radio.

The next magnet also stayed in Gjirokastra with this girl who runs a shop in what is called 'the Neck' of the old market area. The market is long gone. This girl willingly gives directions to anyone coming by and asking, a self-appointed tour guide. When she found me drawing a street scene near her shop, she went inside, then brought out a folder of her own drawings. What a coincidence.

The last went to a vendor of odd things at the street market in the city of Korce. I found one small, square saucer, an old piece with a lily pattern on it. He had sets of other designs but I only wanted that one. When I asked how many lek he wanted for it, he asked me if I was German. When I told him I was American, he put his hand over his heart and told me it was a gift. So I gave him a gift, too. A magnet.

Thessaloniki, Greece

I visited Thessaloniki in late May and, at the hostel they recommended that I eat at "The Prythaneion" in old town if I wanted traditional food. I went in, was seated, my order taken and placed with the wife who cooked down below, then the food arrived in a little dumbwaiter type of lift, hot and tasty. My first dinner was a stuffed chicken breast with a cheese and mushroom sauce, decadent and delicious. The next night I ordered appetizers and drew the street scene outside while I waited. The third night I had grilled sardines with all manner of salads. I began to suspect I was getting special treatment when I got two pieces of cream cake for dessert and was presented with a glass of white wine to go with my fish. I gave a magnet to the owner and his wife, not only because of the great food, but because I liked them.

View from my table.

Mexico, Germany, Argentina

At Alcatraz Hostel in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, I met some interesting people from different places and different walks of life.

Alberta is a young accountant from Morela whose who was taking in the sights of her own country. She was working on her English and I am forever struggling with Spanish so we spent some time practicing on each other. She is more fluent than I by a long shot.



Alberta and I were people watching in the plazq when I took this photo.

Henrik is from Achen, a university town in Germany. He is in Mexico helping to measure the toxicity and its effects in a mining area. I was introduced to him by the woman running our hostel because he had just come from Xilitla, a small town I was planning to visit.

Imelda and her husband own a tiny café in the Mexican town of Xilitla. When I first went to eat there, she met me at the door then seated me at a table with a man I'd never met before. In this café, one doesn't wait for an available table as there are only three and they are very small. Imelda and I had a language problem so she called Soloman, possibly the only American in town, and he came to interpret. I ate breakfast at Imelda's every morning and called Soloman to join me on my last day. I really like the town of Xilitla and think I could easily live there were it not so humid.

Inside Imelda's Café.

Pedro is the owner of the big motorcycle with the sheepskin draped over the seat that was parked in the courtyard of Alcatraz Hostel in San Miguel. He is from Argentina, young, friendly, touring Mexico on his bike. He told me he plays classical guitar in restaurants and bars for tips and does well at it. I didn't see a guitar strapped to his bike so I take it that he does this for a living rather than to finance his trip.

 

 

Belgium

In San Augustin, Columbia, I met two girls from Belgium who were traveling South America together. They told me they were not from Brussels, but a much smaller town. Later I wanted to ask the name of that town but they had already left the hostel to continue their journey and took a magnet along with them.