J Tallman EquiFoundations

Taking a little southern vacation, I spent a week in the Yucatan with my brother and we are now sitting in Pelenque, having cruised in on a somewhat delayed and overpriced night bus.  We are camping nearby at a place called Pan Chan hoping to meet up with some friends from home very soon.  Rumour has it there is a festival going on around here someplace - the rainbow festival - but we have not found it yet.

Now we are in the jungle and the coastal bug bites on my ankles are beginning to irritate.  My boots are broken soled - nice timing, boots - so  I am going to have to resole them or break in a new pair, neither particularly favourable options.  Things are generally cheaper in the state of Chiapas, though I have not been entirely convinced of this yet.  We have not been here long, however, so we will see.  There are lots of little shops selling equine equippage and general farm items that are hard to resist looking at, but three more weeks of backpacking tells me no, you will not buy a bunch of leather here! 

The food is great, for the most part fresh as it comes.  That is necessary in such a warm climate, if you want to buy chicken you go out  in the morning because everyone is sold of out of (freshly butchered that morning) chicken by noon.  The eggs are delightfully fresh, blum intact and bright yolked as they come.  Eating avacados guilt free is one of my greatest pleasures, and I am developing quite a taste for lime (coming from the notorious lemon girl...)  We have been doing a lot of buying groceries and preparing our own food, though it is almost as cheap to eat at restaurants a lot of the time.  It is pretty neat to buy groceries in a place where most every shop specializes - you buy meat from the carniceria y pollieria, fruit and veggies from the fruterias, fresh cheese, fresh cream and chorizo from the cremerias... so delightful.

I miss my critters.  I met a very skinny horse tethered on a side street in the city of Bacalar where we spent two nights before coming to Pelenque.  He was not terribly interested in human affection.  The place where we stayed the last night there was home to a very beautiful, affectionate, all but dead starved tick ridden german shepherd who was tied eternally to a short chain on a brick dog house.  I fed her chicken bits and watered her which she came alive for.  We have met many, many dogs, many of them well fed and beautiful, mostly on the loose.  There were some well cared for horses in Cuba and a few in Mazatlan and I am determined to find some in these southern states of Mexico because I want to go riding. 

I have pared down my pack considerably, giving away  clothing and my carry on back pack to the family we stayed with in Bacalar who recorded some music for me.  The pack was too heavy anyway and they were in need of a case for their lap top and accesories, so accepted the gift as gratefully as I was to unload it.  We stayed with them and played music for 2 nights, which has fueled my desire to find a guitar, which I have not done yet.  Now I need new boots...