Movies

Excursion to Mexico for Connie's Wedding

My friend from high school, Connie Mathews, got hitched in grand tradition in Merida, Mexico on August 15, 1998. Jay and I flew down, stopping off first in Cancun for a brief soak on the beach (yes the ocean really as blue as it looks in the postcards).

After we got to Merida, we managed to find our hotel and meet up with Connie and her family, in spite of the fact that we speak no Spanish. We went with them on a trip to Chichen Itza (accent on the second syllables), which is one of the most well known Mayan ruins in southern Mexico. Very impressive that those rocks have been there that long.

Then came the wedding - an evening event that was still going strong when we left at 4 AM. There were a few traditional Yucatan touches, including the groom's inebriated friends tossing him in the air (and catching him) before carting him off to the bathroom, where they stripped off all his clothes and then brought them back to Connie. I told Jay he wasn't allowed to follow this custom at our wedding!

Cancun

• View of the ocean & beach from our hotel balcony in Cancun.
• Motorboats.
• The pool was incredible as well.

The Trip to the Ruins

• A town cathedral on the way to the ruins.
• Erica & Connie in front of the ring where they hold bullfights.
• The cactus processing plant where they extract the fibers used to make various woven items.
• Erica posing next to a snake in the ball field. The field was used for ceremonial games: two teams tried to hit a ball into small stone hoops attached to the walls (you can see one above and to the right of the snake's eye). The leader of the team that won was ritually executed.
• Closeup of carvings on the wall of the ball field. This one symbolized the execution.
• View of one end of the ball field where the judges sat.
• Another view of the "goal."
• A snake on the back of the ball field bleachers.
• Wall of death (where the actual executing took place).
• Grinning skulls.
• More carvings.
• Hello mutant ant!
• Connie's aunt Donna posing next to the sun god (a reclining figure with a carved image of the sun on his belly).
• Hello mutant iguana!
• Jay stands precariously near to the edge of the cenote, which was another place the Mayans tossed some sacrificial dudes (actually dudettes).
• Another view of the cenote. These wells were formed by erosion in the limestone rock that is prevalent throughout the Yucatan. They are the same structure as what we call sink holes. In the Mayan world, the cenotes were holy places.
• Donna pointing out an interesting stone outcropping.
• View of the top of the main pyramid at Chichen Itza.
• Wide angle view of the pyramid. We just had to climb up all those steep steps.
• Jay stands in front of the snake at the bottom of the pyramid. The pyramid is situated in such a way that on the equinox, the shadows from the tiers on the pyramid form the body of the snake.
• Yeah! Jay made it to the top of the pyramid!
• Looking at the ball field from the top of the pyramid.
• The path behind this structure is the one leading to the cenote.
• View of the "pillar garden," which was probably a marketplace.
• Jay hangs out in the pillar garden. Pretty hot under the reflected heat of all those rocks.
• Closeup of the carvings in the pillar garden.
• "Erica - what's going on behind pillar number 1?"
• A plant trying to grow in the rocks.
• Heading back to the pyramid.

The Wedding

• Connie & Angel
• Everyone gets to dance with the bride.
• Some of our table mates.
• Connie poses with her grandfather while Angel ponders the future.
• Connie & Angel with Connie's family.
• The happy couple with their godparents (Bert & Donna on the left)
• Are they ever going to cut that cake? Or should we just take more pictures?
• Prelude to the bride throwing the bouquet. The tradition is for all the girls to form a line that snakes around the bride (who's standing on a chair) and under her train.
• Erica & Connie