Oops...Semana Santa Has Begun

Spring Break/Easter holiday is celebrated down here for up to three weeks of no school, families going to the beach, lots of eating, and just major/general Mexican Family Time. I mean they load up kids, grandkids, grandmother and head to the beaches. It starts three weeks before Easter and continues through Easter. We had never heard of it until we were down here last year.
Well, yesterday we decided to go to Progreso with the idea of then going from Progreso over to Chelem - another little fishing village just to the west of Progreso. So, we headed out to the Progreso bus station. When we got there it was packed. Semana Santa had begun! All the Mexican families were headed to the beach in Progreso. Now, here's where the observations began. The line to buy bus tickets was one line with one cashier working the window. The line was about 50-75 feet long, ie, all the way to the street. We got in line and let me tell you - there is absolutely no pushing, no shoving, no line cutting, and no frustration about the long line...only patience is observed. And because everything is on a cash system down here - the line moved fast as there are no PIN nos. that people can't remember, no credit cards that won't work, no delays in the slow credit card machines --- just the smell of cold hard cash. And everybody knows what the heck their intent is before they get to the window and exactly how much cash they need to buy the ticket(s) to Progreso. We were on the bus in about 10 minutes time from the minute we walked into the station. I had to question it and compare it to, say, a mall in Houston at Christmas time. Is it because we have all developed a feeling of powerlessness, or what? Is it a tiny feeling of power to be the one being waited on and take an inordinate amount of time? What makes us get frustrated at the guys in front of us when we are checking out, but when we get up there, we tend to take our time and dawdle just like the ones before us? Am I exaggerating this? Would we not be mumbling under our breaths? Frustrated? We being Americans. This is just one of the small things that adds to the feeling that you have stepped back in time to the 50s or 60s...a time when everybody seemed to have more time, tolerance, and patience.
Well, anyway -
When we got to Progreso, it was very busy with the Carnival cruise ship from Galveston in port plus the local Mexicans on holiday. I couldn't help but wonder what the cruise ship people thought about being elbow to elbow with all the locals on the beach.

Progreso Malecon During Samana Santa

Crowds at Progreso Beach

Vendor and Pier at Chixulub

We ended up walking about 5 miles down the beach to the east of Progreso to a small town called Chixulub. We walked the beach just looking. When we got there it was filled with Mexican families as well. It is an interesting contrast since there are beautiful houses with large, secluded yards directly in front of the beach but one street over you might see houses not much more than shacks. We ate our packed, picnic lunch and caught a combi back to Progreso. In addition to Terry and me, there were several locals on the combi and this little 3-4 year old boy rolled up the window - and it was hot, really hot. But none of us said anything to him. We just sweated and when we got to Progreso and everybody got off the combi we were all covered in sweat from head to toe. So funny! Damn little kid.  

Whole Liter of Sol --- 21 pesos+6 peso deposit

Got back to Progreso and stooped to a new low ---- Terry bought a liter of Sol for 21 pesos plus a 6 peso deposit---that's CHEAP beer. We shared it on the beach just like a couple of really, true beach bums. When we were done, Terry took the bottle back and got his 6 pesos back...until next time! Headed back to Merida before the crowds.