Brenda's Bicycles

After two months of hibernating in Valladolid, I decided it is time to post a few of the photos I have been accumulating since my amazing weekend in Ek Balam.

The final twenty seven photos are of my foot healing progress, beginning with my first huge blister and ending with the small scab that I have today. I hesitated as to whether or not I wanted to post these photos, because many of them are quite gross and graphic. I might have posted them sooner, but I didn’t want to worry anyone back home. But now that I am mostly healed I decided to go ahead and publish them.

If you are squeamish, you might want to skip the remaining photos as soon as my foot photos begin.

As usual, you can click on any photo image to download a high resolution image for more detailed viewing. I hope you enjoy the photo update.

This is the sweet little Mayan lady named Maria Esther. I first met her at the bazaar food court in mid November. Since then we have talked numerous times. She sells embroidered handkerchiefs to buy food for her family.

This parade wound its way all around the downtown streets of Valladolid. It was held on Dec 12, 2009, in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Horns were honking and sirens were wailing as this very long parade explored the city streets. This photo shows some of the runners who were marching in the parade. These runners (and others like them) ran around the streets holding torches for more than a week before this parade.

This is the back of one of the small hometown floats in the parade on Dec 12. There were not many floats–most entries were people walking or taxis with sirens or motorcycles etc…

Toward the end of the parade were a series of horses with riders wearing elaborate costumes. This lady reminds me of the one that entered the bullfight arena just last Sunday.

This is my friend Conny from Germany in a photo taken in the outdoor kitchen area, just one week before Christmas. In her lap are my little Chihuahua friends, Bobby and Kalugin. Kalugin has the darker fur and is closest to the camera.

This little fellow visited the Hostel on Dec 21. Ewout saved it for me in a bottle and showed it to me the next morning. We released it in some rocks at the corner of the park in front of the Hostel.

I didn’t use a ruler (for obvious reasons), but I would estimate that this little scorpion is at least four inches long.

This is another one of many local parades that took place in December. This one was on Dec 28, and involved a local taxi union with taxis driving all over town–again with blaring sirens and flashing lights.  Even though it was a taxi parade, they still had a float and flags containing images of Guadalupe.

Another photo of my friend Conny (from Germany) as she holds Bobby in the outdoor kitchen area of the hostel.

This is a photo of Tania in the outdoor kitchen area of the hostel.

Me relaxing with Kalugin in one of the hamocks. I do a lot of Spanish studying, and sometimes writing while in this hammock.

Conny in another hammock, holding Kalugin. Bobby is playing by her feet.

I had to throw this photo into the mix. This is my dear friend Susan on my laptop screen as I talk to her on Skype. Notice the bottom left corner box where I am holding the camera, taking the photo.

This beautiful “blue moon” (second full moon in December) shined brightly overhead on New Year’s Eve as we ushered in the beginning of the 2010’s.

Tania enjoying a late-night New Year’s Eve dinner.

Ewout at our New Year’s Eve Barbeque.

Tania and I on New Year’s Eve

Me with Tania’s mother on New Year’s Eve

Minutes after midnight.  One of the “Jan’s” from Germany is opening his bottle of Champagne in the street in front of the church in Candelaria Park. The other “Jan” from Germany (the one who has been traveling for two years) is on the far left of the photo.

One of the “Muneco del Ano Viejo” (Old Man of the Old Year dolls) burning in the street.

Another of the Munecos (one of many) burning in the streets.

On January 2, 2010, a parade formed at the church in Candelaria park by the hostel. They loaded “Our Lady of Candelaria” onto the back of a truck and took her to a different church. Interestingly enough, all bell ringing out our local church also stopped while she was gone.

These nuns were riding in a van at the beginning of the parade, talking and singing into a microphone, giving instructions to the marchers behind.

Part of the parade with nuns and alter boys.

“Our Lady of Candelaria” and her baby Jesus, riding in the back of a pickup truck.

Crowds of people following behind the truck carrying “Our Lady of Candelaria.

This huge white bull is one of many on display at the expo which opened on Friday Evening, Jan 22. As I walked by, the bull towered above me in height. The boys standing by his head had a saddle on the bull’s back and asked me if I wanted to ride, but I said no. I now wish I had said yes. He was HUGE.

The bullfight arena. The arena was a large concrete circle–except for this area (top left) that opens into a parking lot. Notice that instead of seats or benches, people sit on one of many wide concrete steps.

This is the old beat-up pickup truck pulling a board to level and smooth the inner arena area.

One of the many break downs where smoothing of the arena temporarily halted while the engine was adjusted.

The water truck making its rounds to moisten the field prior to the ceremonies.

One of the countless vendors. This one got an early start, beginning her rounds before most of the crowds arrived. Her basket is filled with treats that look like something that is a cross between potato chips and cheetos. I have been told that they are made from potatoes. People pour hot picante sauce on them before eating.

Using a homemade compass (ropes and metal rods), this man scratched circles into the arena field.

Putting chalk lines on the circles, using a bucket full of chalk on a stick.

This is Cecelia, the little Mayan lady I conversed with prior to the bullfights.

The same vendor lady winding her way through the crowds.

This man is one of many who walked around selling water, soft drinks, and beer. His bucket is filled with ice water and bottled drinks. If you look closely, you can see to more men carrying buckets around on the upper rows behind him.

More vendors, this one selling a huge stack of cotton candy.

Beginning of the pre-bullfight ceremonies. The band was playing across the way as this woman in her beautiful full dress rode onto the field.

This is the primary attraction – the adult matador riding out onto the field on one of his beautiful white horses.

The field of players. The main matador is on the far left atop his white horse. The two young boy matadors are the two at the front of the parade behind the horses. The four men marching behind them are the matador assistants, the ones that helped out whenever needed. The armored men on the heavily padded horse plays a role in the bullfights with the younger boys.

This is quite the interesting horse and rider. The horse is blindfolded, with his body heavily padded. The man’s legs are covered in metal armor. During the bullfights with the younger matadors, this man rode out to help wear down the bulls.

The bulls attacked the horse, pushing strongly into it’s padded sides. While this is taking place, the man uses a spear to weaken the bull’s neck muscles.

The matador showing off some fancy horsemanship before the bullfights begin.

More showing off before the bullfights begin.

Start of the bullfight with the young first-time matador. In this photo, one of the older men momentarily keeps the bull occupied while the young matador is preparing elsewhere on the field.

The young matador in his very first public bullfight.

Preparing for his first attack on the bull.

Sticking his barbed spears into the back/neck of the bull.

Daring the bull to attack.

Taunting the bull while an assistant stands by in the background, carefully watching.

The second bullfight has begun. This is the more experienced boy fighting a bull that seems to be much more aggressive than the first.

Dodging the bull’s running attack.

A closeup of the more experienced young bullfighter.

The armored man on his padded horse, just after he helped the boy matador.

Preparing to let the third bull race onto the field. The bulls race out of this gate (where the man is perched above the fence). This is the bullfight where the older matador is riding his horse. The sun was down by this point, and the lighting was very difficult for shooting photos. As a result, subsequent photos were dark and blurry.

The bull chasing after the horse. I stopped taking snapshots after this because the lighting was so poor that I could not get a crisp focused shot.

A couple of weeks after they took “Our Lady of Candelaria” away, she returned to the local church with another parade, just in time for the local ten-day Expo to begin. Interestingly enough, the loud bell ringing every morning resumed on the same day that the virgin returned.

On the first Sunday of the Expo (Jan 24) the church paritioners got together and carried “Our Lady of Candelario” to the Expo fair grounds for an 11:00 a.m. mass at the fair. This is the beginning of that parade.

A closeup of the virgin and her baby.

The alter boys leading the parade.

Crowds of church goers following behind.

A beautiful little old lady walking in the parade.

Another beautiful old lady walking in the parade.

The crowd following behind. Notice how the church members decorated the entire street adjacent to the church.

Later that afternoon, Our Lady of Candelaria returned to the church, following which a large outdoor service began in this outdoor church that was erected a few days before the Expo began.

The front of the church while this outdoor service is taking place. Since this day (Jan 24), the church has held several outdoor meetings and mass services every evening. Today (Sunday, Jan 31) the church is holding it’s third mass of the day as noon approaches. They held one at 7:00 am, one at 9:00 am, and the one going on right now began at 11:00 am. The speakers are so loud that whenever they hold their services, we all get to participate, even from our rooms.

This church was built during the 17th century for the Virgin of Candelaria who is the “Patron Saint of Valladolid”.

Another photo of “Our Lady of Candelaria” on her perch outside the church during the outdoor service.

The story of this church goes as follows: A Mayan slave on his way to Valladolid from the forest, carrying palms with the beasts, saw a white lady finely dressed and carrying a baby and a candle. She looked at him and asked him to build a roof for her and her baby. The slave and another man built a house for the so-called “Queen”.

When the slave’s owner asked where he had been, the slave took the owner to see the Virgin. The Slave’s owner was so impressed that he asked the slave to build a new room for the Virgin. That new room is the place behind the alter of this church–the place where the virgin is kept today.

The Catholic priest speaking to the crowd. Even now, as I write this a week later, I hear his voice over the loudspeakers as he conducts his third meeting of the day today.

A common view from the hammocks.

Looking up at the shade tree above the hammocks. The tree is losing its leaves.

Looking back toward the outdoor kitchen area from the hammocks.

Looking from the hammocks through a fence into the neighbor’s lot. They got quite mysterious two weeks ago when they erected tarps to the right of the rock structure and began digging holes behind the tarps. Ewout got extremely curious about what they might be hiding …

A band performing on stage at the Expo on the evening of Jan 27. I rather enjoyed the performance. This young man had a lot of stage presence.

The same young man performing on stage. Notice the scenery behind has been created to look like downtown Valladolid.

The jazz group “Brillo Suave” performing on the same stage an hour later.

Me trying to eat cotton candy in the crowd during the concert. The humidity was so thick that the candy became sticky as soon as it was taken out of the bag. I laughed as I realized the impossibility of trying to eat the cotton candy without it getting stuck to my hands in a big way.

One of many food vendors at the Expo.

The outdoor stage at the Expo — where daily concerts are held.

A row full of outdoor food vendors at the Expo.

One of many, many parades that comes and goes from the local Candelaria Church this week. This one was quite unique with the large poles and beautiful colorful ribbons.

This parade also included a large band. It is one of the largest I have seen in Mexico.

More of the parade as the poles are being wound up prior to sitting for another service.

In November, I posted photos around the town of Valladolid. At that time the main town square was totally torn up with remodeling, and many streets in the area were also under heavy manual construction. Since that time, the streets have been finished, most of the surrounding buildings have been repainted, and the city park was finished (which reopened less than two weeks ago).

This photo is the outside wall surrounding the brand new town square of Valladolid.

One view inside the new town square.

This beautiful new fountain is the center of the new town square. The San Servacio church towers above just southwest of the park.

This image decorates all of the new park benches. The words at the bottom say “Heroic City”

The benches surrounding the fountain at center-square.

Looking toward the northeast corner of the park. The outside of the bazaar food court is the far right building.

A closeup of the new fountain.

The northeast corner of the park. Notice the elaborate sidewalks.

The main east-west street through the city center (Calle 39). Notice how all of the buildings are painted with fresh pastel colors. If the property owners paid for the materials, the city provided the labor to repair and paint the exterior of their building for free.

The street (calle 44) leading to my hostel. My hostel is two blocks down on the right.

The street right before my hostel. This was completely torn up two months ago. My hostel is right behind the large tree which towers above Candelaria park.

Foot Photos

The remaining photos are of the journey I have taken with my foot. Some of these are quite graphic, so if you have a squeemish stomach, you may not want to proceed beyond this point.

Day 1: This is the first photo of my foot after the burn. I posted this two months ago, but thought I would post it again as a starting point. This is the large blister filled with yellowish fluids. This photo was taken about 24 hours after the burn, just after walking around Chichen Itza all day. I was quite swollen and infected as well.

Day 2: This is taken on the day I returned to Valladolid. As you can see, the blilster is thick and opaque. The doctor could not see the serious damage below the blister when I went to see him the next day.

Day 8: By now, I was quite concerned by the white and reddish areas underneath the blister. These areas turned out to be 3rd degree burns.

Day 14: As you can see, not much changed in six days.

Day 17: My blister began tearing, but I was beginning to feel much more optimistic about my wounds. I was feeling much more peaceful about remaining in Valladolid.

Day 21: After ten days of not visiting the doctor, I went back to see him. He turned pale, got on the phone, and almost immediately asked his wife to drive me to go see a specialist.

That specialist, Dr. Gomez, (my present Doctor) immediately removed the blister, revealing this scene. The outer pinkish area was indeed healed second degree burns, but the large inner area was third degree.

Day 24: Three days later, the dead skin had mostly turned black and leathery. It needed to be removed soon.

Day 24: A closer view of the mostly-black leathery dead skin. Immediately after I took this photo, Dr. Gomez removed a small amount of the dead skin at the bottom of the wound. 

Day 26: This is a photo on Wed, Dec 16, taken right before Dr. Gomez decided to remove a little more of the skin. He told me that we would remove the remainder of the skin on Friday.

Day 28: This photo was taken on Friday, Dec 18, right before Dr. Gomez performed a surgical removal of the remaining dead skin. The dead skin was very much like tough beef jerkey. Note, you can see how much skin he removed on Wednesday. The exposed area is where the worst of my burns took place–the center of this area is where the tick originially bit me.

Day 28: Dr. Gomez preparing me for surgery. I really like Dr. Gomez. He is a great doctor, and instills a lot of peace and confidence with his bedside manner.

Day 28: All draped out and ready for surgery.

Day 28: Injecting the local anesthesia. From this point on I stopped taking photos, but I watched the entire procedure while sitting up. It was extremely painful and traumatic as I watched the procedure.

Day 29: The open wound with absolutely no skin remaining. Dr. Gomez treated me on this day and on Day 30. Starting on Day 31 I  cared for this open wound all by myself for eight long days, during which time Dr. Gomez flew to the U.S. for a Christmas Holiday.

Day 33:  The third day of caring for myself. The wound is beginning to show some improvement.

Day 35: Christmas Day, exactly five weeks after my original burn. The would looks very ugly, but is showing slow improvement.

Day 37: I threw this photo in because it shows some depth perspective. The top of the white area at the bottom is about where the tick bit me. As you can see, this area was burned much more severly, and more tissue came off when the skin was removed. It is this area which has been the slowest in building back up to skin level.

Day 38: Camera angles and lighting make the wound look not quite as ominous. If you look closely, you can see how scabby scar tissue is beginning to fill in around the edges.

Day 49: Taken on January 8, 2010, exactly seven weeks after the burn, and exactly three weeks after the surgical removal of the dead skin. You can see that the wound is considerably smaller and already looks much better.

Day 51: You can see progress in just two days. Notice how the bottom portion of the wound is still deeper, and struggling to grow.

Day 54: Continuing to improve. Most of the wound is grown out to skin level, cxcept that pesky little area at the bottom — the area where the tick bit — the same area that received the most intense heat.

Day 65: Taken over nine weeks after the original burn, on Sunday Jan 24. The area with no scabby skin is considerably smaller, but still lagging in the healing process.

Day 65: A closeup of the same day, just one week ago today.

Day 66: Taken just one day later. Notice how much healing took place in a single day. The open wound is now very small. The scabby area is also gradually receding around the outside edges.

Day 66: Another Closeup of last Monday. Were just about there.

Day 71: Taken yesterday (Jan 30, 2010), ten weeks and one day after the burn. As you can see, the wound is almost totally covered. I even took a shower without a plastic bag over my foot for the first time in ten weeks.

Day 71: A closeup taken yesterday (January 30, 2010). This photo makes it easier to see how the healing is almost complete. I’m guessing that the scabs will fall off in less than ten days. I can now wear shoes If I like (which I have only done once), but I still wear bandages, at least for now.