Feliz a Cumpleanos a Hailey!

Well, we made it back and have had a blast! How about we start with the last things and work our way back! We just finished "gutting" poor miss Hello Kitty, the Mexican pinata for Hailey's birthday. We even have some minor war wounds of which Hailey is quite proud!

O.k., rewind now: Yesterday morning we embarked on our adventure to WAY RURAL MEXICO..the Millsaps reserve, Kaxil Kiuic...First we stopped by Ticul, a city known for shoe manufacturing and pottery making. During that stop, Samantha, Hailey, Harvey, and Heather had their experience with the worst Mexican bathroom EVER...but moving along...after a short shopping experience, the van ACCIDENTALLY (on purpose) left Chelsey and Heather in the ceramic store while the rest toured a few blocks of Ticul while it started raining. After a nasty phone from Heather, the group conceded that we should rescue them from the storm.....(under threat of calling Assistant Dean Kim Burke on Harvey)....


Moving along to Oxcutzcab (pron. Osh Coots Cob - often referred to as Osh blah blah..since we really aren't sure how to pronounce it anyway)..... Headed out to the fruit markets in Ox...blah blah...

Oxcutzcab:
1. Wilbur, Katie's new pet (the pig)-what a bargain at $30!
2. The butcher shop smells like puppy breath.
3. We saw Wall-E and Indiana Jones, the new one...on DVD...uh...not legit!
4. Getting heckled by guys in the street ....ladies....
5. We rode taxi bikes (Harvey and Heather's butts wouldn't fit).
6. Harvey tried to "jack" fruit from the China Lima lady!
7. Pig's head on the table....mmmmmmm...dinnner.
8. Mayan babysitter....a hammock with a kid in it...tied at the top!
9. We finally at THE poc chuck and THE guac!
10. Hailey and Katie ACTUALLY asked to go to the bathroom IN SPANISH....and finally used the real words!

Adventures at Kiuic:

1. Finding the hog nosed Yucatecan pit viper (THE most poisonous snake in the region!)
2. She was all....and then we were like ....shut up Adam...and they were like.....all..you know...(describing the fire tower...we think)
3. Toilet full of ants!
4. Harvey took us down an off limits trail.
5. Climbed a 15 meter fire tower (and yes, Katie screamed all the way up.........and down)
6. Samantha fell out of the largest hammock on earth! (seriously....like 6 people could fit in that and she managed to bust it)
7. The loudest thunder clap on EARTH!
8. Hey...there is something in my hammock with me!
9. Wait, I am scared of the windows...move your hammock closer to mine....yea..mine too.....
10. Hailey tries to take out Harvey coming down the hill...but he checked her!
11. We stood on a 6 foot phallus!
12. Heather busted her pirix'! (Mayan for .....something)
13. At some green Mole stuff....AWESOME!

Dinner and Hailey's B'day Celebration:
1. Dinner at Flamingos! Seafood....with some strange giant chicken nugget that Samantha couldn't wait to order (complete with tenticles inside).
2. Homemade strawberry ice cream
3. Embarrasment numero uno: the waiters singing to Hailey!
4. Harvey took us to the mall to buy custom Mayan tshirts...too bad it was the wrong mall! Though we did make it to the correct mall eventually.
5. Embarassment numero dos: Hailey was serenaded by a marriache (we aren't really sure how to spell that one) band in el centro de Merida!
6. Embarassment numero tres: a Hello Kitty pinata for Hailey.... complete with a Mexican cumpleanos cake. FYI: Harvey nearly received a parking ticket at the bakery. Ask for details when we get home.
7. At this point, we are too tired to blog any further...

Tomorrow's agenda: the cenotes in Cuzama. We'll award a bag of Mexican candy to anyone who can find that town on the map :).

Buenas noche!