Hanal Pixan (Day of the Dead) in the Yucatan!

November 4-6  Ginger has been on a rollercoaster, with decisions being made and changed, and a lot of hurry up and wait going on.  The original plan was for the surgery to be performed in Merida because all the stateside doctors agreed that she shouldn't travel until it was stabilized.  It would havd meant staying in Merida for a month before she could fly home.  It took almost three days for the local surgeon to decide it was going to be a much bigger deal than he had thought. After lots of discussions it was finally agreed that she should have the surgery in Atlanta because it is much to complicated to be done here.  The hospital in Atlanta, Grady, is a level one trauma center and much better equipped to deal with removing her knee replacement and installing a new and larger one as well as a prosthesis to stabilize her femur. Then began the negotiations with the Atlanta hospital and the insurance company and the hospital in Merida.  It took Ginger finally...

 Monday, November 3, 2025 It's breakfast at 7:00 and ready to board at 8:45. Richard takes his responsibilities very seriously.  He has a list of all his charges and we each have to show our passport before we can board the bus! He's missing one, though!  It's Ginger, of course.  Juan had ducked out for a moment to print some forms that Ginger and the hospital have to fill out and send to the insurance company;  but he's back in plenty of time to give each of us a hug and kiss.  He sees us safely on the van, waves good-bye, and heads to the hospital to be with Ginger. Richard checks throughout the trip to see who needs a restroom break.  As we near the airport we each tell Samuel what terminal we need.  It takes a little research to find Ellie's terminal but we do, just as Juan texts with the information!! We begin parting ways as we find our check-in counters and drop our luggage.  Then it's off to security and to find our gates. The Atlanta...

 Sunday, November 2, 2025 I meet Juan downstairs for breakfast with Alex and Karen before going back to the clinic.  Wynne brings me Ginger's hat and red backpack to add to today's luggage and after breakfast Juan goes upstairs to fetch the rest of Ginger's things.  I've also got my computer and Kindle since I'll be camping in Ginger's room all day. Juan orders an Uber for me and loads it up.  I'm on my way hoping that the driver really knows where I'm going.  We get there and I'm not at all sure that we're in the right place!  He is pretty confident and so I get out will all my accoutrements and walk in, still a bit nonplused.  I've only seen the emergency entrance, after all.  I know Ginger is in room 305 so I get into the elevator and push the number 3.  When I get off all I see are doctor's offices.  Even number 305 belongs to a doctor.  Hmmmm Back in the elevator I push the number 2 and explore that floor, even though it makes ...

 Saturday, November 1, 2025 This starts out like the other days, with me typing in the dark while Jan sleeps.  So far so good.  We get ready and go down to breakfast in the lovely dining room with the altar and the lovely wall decorations and the full buffet.  Still going well. We all gather and climb into the van and get settled.  We're going to a cenote this afternoon and they only accept cash, so we stop at a bank which is located inside one of the oldest buildings in Merida.  Ginger and Juan get out and we're just waiting.   The oldest house in Merida, where the bank is located That's when things start to go south.  Because the building is of historical value they cannot remove the large stone that is right in the middle of the wide doorway, where you would never expect a stone to be.  Ginger is looking around for the the ATM and trips over the monster and does a face plant.  I'm all fat, dumb, and happy when Juan comes back to ...