The "Where in the World is Zilla?" Tulum Addition

My last entry left off after my appearance on the podcast "It's New Orleans" with my car loaded up, the rest of my possessions in storage and the intention of creating space in my life in order to let events and personal development unfold organically.  To learn to loosen my iron grip on the self-sabotaging concept of what I should be or should be doing. That was only two months ago but so much has happened since then that I find myself at a loss as to how to encapsulate that time in a few paragraphs or even several pages, especially since I want to focus specifically on where I am now.  And so, I will simply mention factually some of the major happenings that have taken place.

I did indeed drive up North.  I made it to Tennessee where I was staying with a friend before continuing to DC when I received a call for some stunt work in a movie filming in New Orleans the next week.  I continued to DC where I booked a flight back to NOLA.  I filmed for a few days, flew back to DC, got another call, flew back to NOLA and so on.  It was a fantastic experience.  I am now SAG certified.  I eventually managed to spend time with family on the Northeast, staying with my aunt and uncle on their new beautiful property, took horseback riding lessons, saw museums, got a tick bite and a subsequent cycle of antibiotics, spent a week with my mom and a week with a very good friend in Virginia.  And then finally, it was time to go to Mexico.

I am now based in Quintana Roo.  Specifically, I live in Tulum.  If you've heard anything about Tulum, it is probably in reference to its celebrity visitors, its pristine beaches and coral reef, and general status as an exclusive tropical paradise.  And you would have heard correct.  This place is awesome and I feel comfortable here.  Comfortable in the same way as I do in Cambodia, and Southeast Asia in general.  Comfortable in the same way as I do in New Orleans.  What draws me into these specific areas, what vibrational frequency attracts me to these similarly humid, wild, swamp/jungle, off-beat and often partially off-grid hybrids of first and third world?  Just that.  The razor thin edge separating developing and developed, the intermingling of Western amenities and technology, with the preservation (hopefully) and immediacy of indigenous cultures and ways of life.  It's the option of how to live; the option of living well but simply.  You can stick out your tongue and taste the potential along with the moisture and heat; a chance to set things right with the world, or at least a part of it.  Rebalance and harmonize industrial advances with the environment.  Reshape the collective consciousness in a blending of ethics, cultural and environmental preservation, and technological advancement.  Without the rigidity of cemented regulations and cultural preconditions, the power to effect change is permeable.  There's the haunting and pressing urge not to let this precious piece of earth gather the momentum of going down an increasingly steep path to which other parts of society have succumbed, oblivious.

Much of the Yucatan is collectively owned by the Mayans.  The land, and the beach front in particular, is largely off grid and cannot support extensive power usage.  These are both good things, as it sets natural limits on potential development and exploitation.  This area will never be able to support the crowded high rise hotels of Cancun or Miami.  Thank God.  Still relatively exclusive, there is already much that needs to be addressed; the bleaching and inevitable pollution of the reef, blatant corruption, increasing taxes and a backwards incentive system that gives rise to an underground economy that functions particularly ineffectively (yes, some underground economies function well enough, having been created in response to a system that doesn't...not optimally though, obviously), and--this is the part that interests/concerns me most--terrible waste water management.

The land in this area of the Yucatan--and certainly elsewhere though as of this moment I am not familiar enough to address other geographical regions outside of my immediate area--is particularly vulnerable to bad environmental practices.  The top soil is very thin and there isn't much underneath it; any natural filtration system provided by that layer is nonexistent.  Sewage, bleach, pharmaceutical refuse, are dumped and all sink straight into the aquifer, untreated.  It's not just hotels and restaurants who are culpable but local residences without viable alternatives.  Quintana Roo also has the largest underground river system in the world that remains an essential source fresh water and ecological support.  While I hold to the fundamental economical, environmental and spiritual principle that everything is interconnected, this basic tenet has never been so obvious or immediate as it is in the ecological system dynamics that make the Yucatan so unique and beautiful.





I came down here with no real agenda other than to get better at Spanish and put my professional SCUBA diving license to good use.  I was hooked up through a mutual friend to the two premier cave divers in the world who have been discovering and mapping the underground river system here for over a decade and who I now work with.  I am leading eco park tours, learning Spanish and Mayan, and getting my cave diving certification.  I am also watching, waiting and gathering as much information as possible.  As it must be obvious to anyone who knows me or reads any material I write (mom!), I like to get my hands dirty and keep busy.  And I see something on the horizon, right now, telling me to get ready because when I zip around town and back roads on my scooter, explore Cenotes, and visit with the small business owners trying to proactively impact and contain the development of Tulum, I stick out my tongue and I can taste the opportunity.