Progreso

June 6th, 2009

I made another attempt this morning to take a shower and found once again that the water was still unavailable. I feel absolutely disgusting, an oily blob with an invisible sheath of sticky bug repellant. I made do with what amenities were available, thankful that my spray bottle was full of water to aid in assembling my curls into some order as opposed to the smashed bed head curls a la humidity, which basically translates as “AHHH!” each and every morning. My breakfast was served at a quarter to ten, delicious little rolls called pancito with strawberry preserves and slices of pineapple. Connie and Mark arrived and sat with my host family as I finished my breakfast and off we went to the bus station already feeling the heat of the day.


We began our trip by walking several blocks to catch the San Lucas bus into the city center, which we take to class each morning. Upon arrival in the city we trudged along for what seemed like forever in the already blazing sun to the bus terminal where we boarded the, hallelujah, air conditioned bus to Progreso. It was a forty minute ride north, where upon arrival we had to walk another four or so blocks to the beach. At this point I already felt quite scorched and lathered on the sunscreen. We choose a table at Eladio’s on the beach where I enjoyed a cold drink and panuchos, one of my favorite Yucatecan dishes of shredded pork or chicken atop crispy tortillas with avocado, tomato, and red onions. It took quite some time to navigate the currency since we are all trying to break our larger bills for smaller ones before Santa Elena.

The beach was speckled with thousands of tiny shells, focused predominately along the edge of the blue water, which was a pretty shade of turquoise, though definitely on the cloudier side. It was even more surprising to step into the calm surf, its warmth quite a shock and preferable to colder temperatures since it still felt refreshing in the fiery of the sun. We positioned our bags under a lone palm tree for some shade, and I knew after a short time in the sun that I was getting pretty burnt. As the shade moved with the movement of the sun, I shifted my towel around the perimeter of the palm to keep my nose and forehead shaded for the remainder of the afternoon. It was a wonderful feeling to be at the beach, and surprising to find it so deserted on a Saturday since many families in Merida make the trip to Progreso each weekend. Almost as soon as we arrived the ocean breeze was a welcome change from the stuffy quarters of the city blocks and I felt for the first time this week that breathing came naturally once again.

When I finally returned to my host house I had barely walked into my room before I grabbed my shampoo and body wash and dashed off to the shower, which at last was delivering a chilly flow of water. It felt so good on my burnt skin and sandy body. Afterwards I was extremely thankful for packing aloe and quickly fell into a deep sleep as any day at the beach is bound to provide.