Feb 10: Na Bolom

The We managed to get an 8 o'clock appointment for Dahlia this morning at the Volkswagen dealership. 

Amazingly modern dealership. 

Yesterday I downloaded the Google version of Spanish translation. It proved to be invaluable and talking with their service people. I cannot believe how this little app makes life so much easier. All I have to do is tell the telephone exactly what I want and then it is translated into Spanish text. I show this to the service technician, he reads it and all is good. You can even touch a button and it speaks IN SPANISH!!

He thought we had to replace one of the hoses that we had trouble with in Guatemala. He actually did not have the hose but sent me to the AutoZone just down the road and they had the diameter hose we needed. 

I took the old hose off and replaced it with a new one. Adrienne and I noticed that the old hose had something solid in it. We cut out what we thought was an obstruction. It was actually a ball bearing right in the middle of the hose that prevented air from moving through. We thought this must be the problem. I put the new hose on and started up the vehicle. It ran terribly. I could hardly keep it going. We decided that once again we would head back to the dealership which was only a few hundred yards down the road. It was quite a rough ride as the car kept going and installing for the complete distance. It felt like riding slowly on a lame horse! Finally we limped into the dealership again. I showed the technician the ball bearing and the new hose we had put in place.

Since this was a German made vehicle, they had no experience with it. He was thinking as I was. Perhaps we should just put the ball bearing back in the new hose. We did this and as amazing as it sounds, Dahlia ran beautifully. The technician just shook  his head and wished us the best as we left the service bay. 

With our 2 visits and the numerous employees that tried to analyze our problem, I am sure they spent a couple of man-hours on our situation. However they did not think they solved the situation so they refused my attempts to pay them for their time!

We decided a good test to see if the car would truly idle at lower speeds was to drive the slow and narrow streets right to the middle of town and head to Na Bolom, at the opposite side of the old town. Dahlia made it without a single hiccup--try to figure that one out. 

Na Bolom is now a cultural and historical landmark of Mexico and San Cristobal .

The atmosphere within the confines of Na Bolom alone is definitely educational, cultural, and almost spiritual. 

Time seems like it is almost standing still. In front of me is a group of students and an educator with a stack of books on the table. In one of the other rooms which is actually a church is a pianist playing like you might hear in the concert hall of a big city. 

A number of rooms  radiate from the main courtyard. Several of these rooms are set aside for local artists to display their work. Other rooms have the collections of artifacts related to the Lacandon indigenous people of the region. Also a couple of rooms are set aside with a personal effects of Frans Blem and his wife Trudy who founded the place.

The basic structure was built in the late 1500's but the Blems purchased it in the early 1900s and renovated it into a biological, Historical, and cultural center. Their goal was to fight development and retain as much of the natural beauty of the area as possible, and help the local indigenous people retain as much of their culture as possible. 

I am sitting in the middle of a courtyard surrounded by dozens of archways and columns with green plants beside every second one. With the sun shining through the open roof of the courtyard it truly feels like a special place to just lay back and reflect. 

One sad event just happened. Our camera died. Only the iPhone left to catch pictures on--very sad. 

...now it is back through town, pick up our 12 pound bag of laundry (at a cost of $2.00!), and find our Mansion del Vallé. 

Sent from Tom's iPhone