Day Five - Cancun and Valladolid

Day Five – Cancun and Valladolid

I woke up this morning a minute before my alarm went off at 6:45am. About eight of us decided last night that we would take a morning stroll along the white sandy beaches of Cancun. So after meeting up, we walked out the back terrace of our hotel and met the ocean! We walked for about an hour – a half hour to walk away from the hotel, and a half hour back. I took my shoes off for a bit and enjoyed the cool water.

A big thing to stress here is that the part of Mexico I have seen so far is the “touristy” part, and what so many Americans see. Cancun, Cozumel, Puerto Vallarta…these are resort towns with chain hotels and American restaurants (including Outback, KFC, and Starbucks). The Fulbright trip is designed with the opportunity in mind for American teachers to experience the “other” side of Mexico…the one that most people from the United States don’t get to see.

So after walking along the beach for an hour, I returned to the hotel to enjoy a breakfast that included a tortilla dish and some refried beans. Then I went on a walk across the street to see the lagoon. Cancun is lucky in that it was built (only 40 years ago) so that there is beach on one side and a lagoon on the other.  Here's a picture of the lagoon:

Then it was time to check out of the hotel and head to our first school visit. The school we visited is called CEYCTE – Quintana Roo, which stands for Colegio de Estudios Cientificos y Tecnologicos, and is located in downtown Cancun.

On the bus ride to CEYCTE, here are some things I learned from Jacques:

*40 years ago there was nothing in Cancun, now it extends about 100 miles! What we know as the “Mayan Riviera” stretches from Cancun to Belize.

*CEYCTE is a public technical school. Their programs are for kids who do not go to high school or a formal career. CEYCTE has about 1,500 students and is focused towards the tourist industry, like plumbing, cooking, catering, air conditioning, English courses, etc. The school has a good contact (Christina), a former Fulbrighter, who has helped in making the school so accommodating to our group! 

*The Yucatan peninsula consists of the states of Quintana Roo, Yucatan, and Campeche.

Overall, our trip to CEYCTE was very nice. The staff and students were extremely welcoming and excited to meet us. They gave us a tour of their school, cooked and served us some delicious Mexican specialties, and put on a performance of local and global music styles.  I took a video of the students during some of their performances and I'll try to post it when I get home. Once the time at CEYCTE was over, we boarded the bus and began a 2-hour bus drive to the city of Valladolid, in the nearby state of Yucatan.  Here's an updated map:

We arrived at a beautiful hotel – El Mesón del Marqués, with an indoor garden. My private room has a balcony that overlooks the garden too…how wonderful!  The group went for a walk to an old cathedral, walking towards a 16th century cathedral. We took a tour of the inside, taking pictures of the interior, the garden, and the priests’ quarters (while up there, I’m pretty sure I found a ghost…). When we got back to the hotel, I tasted some fresh guacamole, sopa de lima, and a pork dish. So far, Mexican food has been delicious, and the sites have not been disappointing!