My Travel Adventures

On my last day in Texas, my dad drove me to the town of Palestine for my friends’ (note the location of the apostrophe) wedding. The ceremony was beautiful, though I am admittedly a poor judge, as this was the first time I stayed for the entire event. Continuing a decades-long tradition, members and alumni of the Yale Russian Chorus sang the medieval Georgian hymn Shen Khar Venakhi as the bride and groom were taking communion. I was told we sounded good, though I am not sure whether that was merely said out of politeness.  

We spent our second day in Texas immersing ourselves in a tourist-friendly version of its culture. After eating breakfast in Fort Worth, we toured the historic centre of the city, which is quite walkable and has some interesting art deco buildings. We also drove down to the Water Gardens.

After our fourteen obligatory days in Mexico, we were deemed purged of all potential diseases by the US government, which permitted us to enter without much ado. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever made it into the country with as much ease, which is ironic considering we are at the height of another pandemic surge.

Anticipating a slightly delayed opening time, we arrived at the gates of Uxmal at 8:10. The early visit was a good idea, as during the hour we spent there, we saw fewer than a dozen people (and half of them were employees of the site). Much of what can be seen at Uxmal today was built throughout the ninth and tenth centuries, during the Late Classic Maya period, but the city was allegedly founded over three hundred years earlier. Legend has it that the main pyramid (or the “Adivino”) was built by the mythical Dwarf King overnight.

Travelling in the era of COVID sometimes feels a lot like a game of “the floor is lava.” Entering the US from the EU is prohibited (except to US citizens and EU holders of several specific types of visas), which means that anyone truly desirous of getting there must spend two weeks in a third country – the rule of the game being that after fourteen days in a different country, the restrictions no longer apply.