Mi Munaquita in her traditional embroidered Mayan huipil
While we were in Quintana Roo and the Yucatan last month, Georgia turned some heads. Most people love babies, but in Mexico people really love babies. Strangers on the street stopped to coo over her and often reached their arms out to take her from me and cuddle her for a moment before giving her back. They call her mi munequita (my little doll), mi gordita (my little fatso), mi preciosa (my precious), mi princesa (my princess). A policewoman stopped to scold me for not dressing Georgia warmly enough - yes, January on the Yucatan peninsula is technically winter, but it is very relative - then she rocked Georgia for a few moments in her arms. The best was the grandmothers doing a double-take when Christian was carrying her in the "Maya" sling and then they would break into a grin, look him in the eye and pat him on the arm.
Fellow travelers would stop to complement us on our pretty children and say wistfully, "It goes so fast," "Next thing you'll know they'll be teenagers," or "I remember when I carried my daughter everywhere." One woman even came up to apologize to us for staring and said, "It was so long ago my kids were that small." My reaction to this is always: "Thank you for stopping to admire my daughter/son." I feel so proud to be the mother of these children and happy to connect with a stranger for a moment. That is the whole point of travel, isn't it?
And we stare at kids too - Christian commented on this trip that Mexican children may be among the most beautiful in the world. We love to people watch and notice the local kids, make eye contact and smile at them and their parents. Kids have less reservations than adults and are as curious about us as we are about them. A little girl named Lupe, swimming with her little brother, drifted closer and closer to us until I said hello and we had a laughing conversation in my poor Spanish. She introduced me to her siblings, and later her mother, all on holiday from Tabasco.
Santi and Javier
When traveling, the adventures and experiences make up the texture of a trip, but the people give it depth. The personal connections make the memories.
Georgia dozing happily in her Maya sling
With babe-in-arms, the Virgin Mary in Vallodolid
Climbing up a crumbling 1000-year-old temple at Ek-Balem. At the top, I panicked and regretted taking my children up, despite the uninterrupted jungle views in every direction.
Xavier swimming with Christian in Cenote Maya
Evening in Vallodolid's Plaza Mayor
El Castillo at Chitzen-Itza
Playing ball on the ancient ballcourt
Xavier also made friends with a little jaguar
Margarita-time! (virgin for Xavier, regular for mom and dad)
Tulum ruins before a thunderstorm blew in
Akumal Beach
Yul-ka Lagoon
"Our" beach on Akumal Bay, the calm, shallow water was full of sea-turtles
Siesta on the beach
The good life, under Turner-painted skies
