Collage - Mexico

Viva Mexico - 2013

Saturday 12/14/2013

  "Wohoo! We are going to Mexico!" I was all over the place bouncing and dancing uncontrollably. That was all I was thinking about the entire week. It was a long and tiring journey to Mexico from Chicago. Finally, we arrived to our resort "Royal Haciendas" in Playa Del Carmen. I was so tired that I almost fell asleep in the lobby until my sister announced "I Hungry!" we settled down for 2 secs in our villa and headed towards Mexican restaurant "La Palapa Del Sol". The variety of food set out in front of me made me drool and gobble the food down. We were in for a melodious surprise when we found mariachi singers came to sing a happy melody for us. After our hearty meal we enjoyed the sand and warm waves of the Caribbean beach right outside of the resort. 

Sunday 12/15/2013

  "Psst", "Krupa, do you want to come see the sunrise with me?"
"uggh" I moaned.
"Last chance!"   My mom warned.
"Fine! I am coming." I mumbled.
What I didn't realize was that it wouldn't be some boring thing that usually my mom drags me into. While we were waiting for the sun to rise, w
e collected marvelous shells and our hands were filled with them. As if the clouds were curtains, they parted and revealed the glowing orinksh ( orange + pink ) bright sun. The sun's wonderful pink glow lined the clouds around it. Birds started chirping around. It was such a calm feeling!
We got back to the villa and dragged our dad to the pool. I tried to snorkel but it was a flop trial. I could not breathe right with the mask on.
My mom insisted on going to La Quinta Avida an outdoor market place to shop. Cobbled stone street lined with shops and street vendors reminded me streets of India. We bought a big conch, a brown star fish, Mexican sombreros, fans and some silver jewelry.  

Monday 12/16/2013

 "Up, Up, Up". "We need to hurry"! My parents rushed us. We were going to Chichen Itza and our tour started at 7:15 A.M. The bus ride was very boring and long. The guide told us about Mayan ruins and their sacred cenotes. "First stop Cenote IlKil" he announced.
 Wide open space to swim, variety of colorful fishes and salty water connecting to ocean is what I pictured the cenote would be. It was quite the contrary! IlKil is a semi open sink hole. I walked down the steps of the cool, moist, damp cave to swim in the cenote. The cave was dimly lit making a little scary to swim in. It was very deep about 130 ft deep! The water was crystal clear. I could make out every detail of cat fish and other tiny black fishes. I could not wait to take a dip in the cool, fresh water and swam to the center of the cenote where the sun rays met the water making it sparkle. I felt very relaxed and did want to get out....

 Next we went to Chichen Itza, a site with Mayan ruins. My favorite structures were El Castillo and the ball court.
El Castillo is like a pyramid except with no top. A special feature of the pyramid is that on every equinox, their serpent god would appear. Did you know that it took 70 yrs to make the side that serpent god would appear on ? Whereas it took 70 yrs to make all the other 3 sides of the pyramid combined.To keep faith on god among their people, The mayan architects planned the construction of the pyramid so that every equinox, it would look like their serpent god is slithering down.
El Castillo is also a Mayan calendar. The 91 steps on all 4 sides represented 364 days of a year. The last step was on the top of the main entrance.Mayan architects used stalagmites and limestone to build a good sound system for their community. Whenever you clap in front of El Castillo it makes the sound of an eagle.
After learning about the pyramid and having experienced the sound effect of Mayan structure, the guide led us to a ball court.
The ball court is a stadium for ball games played by priests. There are two walls parallel to each other with a hoop 7mtrs off the ground and exactly in the middle. The objective of the game is to get the rubber ball into the hoop only with the elbows. The Mayans believed in life after death and the captain of the winner's team had the privilege to get decapitated by the loser's captain.
Mayans had some unusual cultures for example, When a baby was born they would tape a piece wood to its forehead. Therefore structure of the skull would change and the baby would have flat head. Another gross example would be teeth piercing.
After the tour, we had a little more time left to explore the ruin. Me and my friends ran around freely just goofing around. We went around shopping for some souvenirs and bought a couple of masks, quartz dolphins and an owl whistle.

Tuesday 12/17/2013

 Green light! Red light! Pose for the picture. We were playing Red light and Green light on our way to the Tulum ruins. We entered a small tunnel and suddenly I was in a new world filled with small ruins. Butterflies fluttered around me, as if its going to lead us to something. I chuckled at my thought but followed it anyway, only to find huge iguanas basking in the sun everywhere. I ran after a small one, trying to catch it but its small feet carried it far away.
We strolled by the ruins, reading about the culture, religion and community. Suddenly something interesting caught our attention.
"Why are there metal bars in the window?" My dad questioned.
"Is it a jail?" I asked.
"Nope! The ruins are so fragile that they needed to put metal bars for support" he answered.
Tulum ruins are on the cliff next to the ocean. Albino white beach, Turquoise waves crashing against the rocks what beautiful scene!
"Can we go to the beach?" I asked.
"Thats our plan! My parents chirped in unison."
We headed down to jump waves. A huge wave came in, I tried to jump, but it whisked me under the water. After few more wave jumps we decided that I had gulped to much salt water and it was high time we head to Akumal bay.
Akumal bay was a small bay, unlike the ocean it had no rough waves. We went snorkling and saw many fishes and I even saw a Dori fish. Splat! A pelican dove down to catch its food, pointing out where we should go to see fishes. After a tiring swim we came home.

Wednesday 12/18/2013

 What are we going to do in Xcaret? I asked. Well I heard there is an underground river my mom replied. When are we going to do that? It sounds fun. I said.
Colorful macaws and pink flamingos greeted me at the entrance. I got to hold a soft green macaw! I was very excited but at the same time, nervous that it might bite me.
We were looking at a colorful array of fishes when it hit me. "Xcaret is more like a zoo than a park" I exclaimed. I saw many other sea creatures like jelly fish, coral, a conch shell, a sea urchin , a sand dollar, lemon sharks, giant sea turtles and sting rays.
"Will the underground river be scary?" I questioned. Beware of the alligator, it might eat you" the guide joked. We passed many dark caves and a mayan village. Fishes circled my feet. It took about 30 minutes to go around the whole river.
We also saw a Mexican cultural show and it was so rythemic, melodious and colorful.
After a tiring day we went to bed.

Thursday 12/19/2013 

Finally "My dream is about to come true" I cried happily. Tears of joy spilled out of my eyes. I was going to pet a dolphin! I got to go to the swim adventure which meant I would get to RIDE on the dolphin! Her name is Astreya and she is 22 yr old. My favorite activity was to hold a boogie board and swim to the far end of the pool, then she would push my feet and give me a ride to the other end. She also gave me a ride on her stomach. I gave her a kiss, hug and a belly rub. During free time, her sang for us. Did you know that a dolphin can make over 300 sounds with its blowhole? She liked playing "Dolphin see, Dolphin do" a lot! When I turned in the water with my hands up, she did the same. It was such an awesome experience!
I loved the cenote we had gone so much that I wanted to go again! We went to an open cenote called crystello. It had Mayan carvings on the rocks and platform. Black fishes swarmed around my dad's feet munching on dead skin. I had fun swimming in the crystal clear water among the fishes. "Splaaaash!!!" somebody jumped off the cliff into the water. "May be I will try that too" I thought. I climbed up the fossil steps leading to the top of the cliff. I looked down below and felt dizzy. The surface of the water seemed far down. Not wanting to show that I was scared, I jumped! What a terrible experience!

Friday 12/20/2013

Last day was our relaxing day at resort. We went free swimming in the pool and I finally learned to snorkel! After that there was no stopping me. Also, I played Astreya role for kruthi, towing her around the pool. We did a lot of fun things, got our face painted and went for a pinyata party too!!!
We headed back to Chicago the next day!

My Summer Vacation 2013

Summer
Bike rides through the green forests
Splashing in the cool river water
Touching icky sticky moss to
Climbing burning churning dunes...
Hello Summer!

Can you imagine walking on a beach filled with small, smooth gravel offering a free bad foot massage the whole time you were there? 

Small, big, and huge rocks, thrashing waves, a gravely beach and nature trails. That is Zion beach in Illinois. There were so many beautiful rocks all around, inviting us to collect them. Some of the rocks were so huge that we danced on them and jumped from one to another. "How do I skip a rock ?" was one little question that started the rock skipping contest amongst us and we spent a lot of time without realizing it. Skipping rocks isn't as easy as it looks. The rock has to be circular and light, it has to be thrown at a perfect angle, and  with good hand coordination, you could skip rocks. Next to collecting rocks, I loved making a sand castle with my family. Our castle had a parking lot with car and was decorated with black, shiny, polished rocks and gravel. At first I thought the nature walk would be boring, but to my surprise, it was wonderful. There were lots of birds to see but my favorite was the blue wood pecker pecking on a tree.

Hey Ho and Away we go to Mackinac Islands with friends.

It was a long road trip to Mackinac Islands. We took a break at Sleeping bear dunes. Me and my friends had a blast wading in water and collecting rocks with marvelous patterns. The water was cool, nice and clear. It was perfect for hot July day. After our dip, we decided to climb the dunes. Unfortunately,  the sand was so hot that it literally burnt my foot off but still I managed to climb with a few stops. Running down the dunes uncontrollably was the reward for my terrible hike up the dunes. 

Cherry picking was next on our list. Ripe, Red, juicy, delicious cherries were everywhere in the orchard. We picked up bucket loads of cherries and devoured them all.

Before exploring Mackinac island, we stopped at pictured rocks and took a ship wreck cruise to see the ship wrecks and rock formations. The boat had a glass bottom through which we could see the ship wrecks bit by bit.
 Finally, we got on the island by ferry.
Did you know that there are no cars allowed on the island? The only ways to get around is to walk, bike or ride on horse carriage. My favorite activity was to bike the circumference of Mackinac island which was 8 miles and horse carriage tour.
 Before saying goodbye to this beautiful island, we went zip lining and to my surprise it wasn't scary at all.


A rickety bridge, a steep canyon with water pouring off the sides, many waterfalls, huge green trees swaying in the wind and slippery paths. Oh what a great park! My favorite activity at the Mathessian state park was hiking up the canyon, sliding down the water slides. Jumping of a log and falling right into a mud puddle and being laughed at was the last thing I wanted to do. But, after a few more jumps, I started to like it. Getting wet under a waterfall was as fun as swimming in a pool filled with your favorite sea creatures.

My summer vacation wasn't just visiting places. It was also spending time with family and friends. I spent some good time with my grandma making crafts like lotuses made out of spoons and rangoli, celebrating festivals and eating yummy food.
My summer holidays was such a blast!!!!

Fun with my favorite friend

I walked down anxiously on the mossy steps onto the platform to meet my friend, Astreya. Her brown, adorable eyes glared at me and exclaimed "I am glad to see you, lets play!". Astreya wore a cute, wide, brilliant grin that made me very very happy inside. Her wet slippery skin pressed against my cheeks as she gave me a kiss. My arms curled around and I gave her a tight hug, not wanting to pull myself off her. Hand in hand we skimmed the surface of the crystal clear water. My hand tightly gripped the boogie board, I felt Astreya's head gently push me across the pool. My hand flew up and I twirled in the clear water."Monkey see , monkey do" she squealed and with that she graciously twirled in the water.Thank you Astreya for being my cute dolphin friend. I will never forget these moments we spent together doing fun activities.