LIVEdigitally

Mexico Vacaciones - Wednesday - Beach

Wednesday, January 31st, 2007.
Dear diary, today was a very nice day. I made new friends. I played outside in the sun. I ate good food. I am a happy boy. Now we see why I don’t keep a diary, right?

Today was back to normal vacation mode. Woke up a bit late so we had a bite at the snack bar, where we enjoyed a slightly smaller, but not in any way unsatisfying, breakfast buffet. Then, off to the beach. I spent a sizable chunk of the morning (and afternoon, now that I think about it) playing beach volleyball. I also managed to pick up a mild sunburn during the day, but hopefully it’ll be nothing more than a minor annoyance through the rest of the week. Note: it wasn’t bad at all.

We originally had plans to go snorkeling at a nearby reef, but the winds were fairly strong in the afternoon and the outing was unfortunately cancelled. Instead, more volleyball with an interesting medley of people including a pair of Torontonian women here for a beach wedding later in the week (and for those who know what I mean when I say this, they were very Toronto), two couples from Slovakia, a Ukrainian living in Jersey, some Germans, and an American teenage girl wearing an alarmingly skimpy bathing suit.

Our little “melting pot” played through quite a few games, and it was my first time all week really meeting other guests at the resort. Ariella made a good observation when she noted that the Iberostar Paraiso didn’t have very many activities designed to get people mingling. Of course, that could well be by design, and something intentionally left to the experts over at camp Club Med.

A fun moment of the afternoon involved a little transaction we had on the beach. All day long, lone Mexican men walked the length of the beach trying to sell a variety of wares. Typically this was a handful of silver necklaces, small ornaments, or other little items. But Edna made the find of the day when a man with boxes of cigars approached. From Habana. The cigars, not the man. Well, possibly the man, but I’m not sure really.

However, his arrival coincided with the then-planned snorkeling excursion, so I asked him to either return later in the day or the next. As I stood up to leave, prices dropped by 50% instantly. I’m quite the negotiator, eh? I did pick up two 5-pack boxes of Cohibas and Montecristos, and at cheaper prices than the tourist trap cigar stores in Playa Del Carmen. Now I don’t know if these fell off the back of a truck or if his uncle rolled them himself then cleverly adorned them with the essential band, but it doesn’t matter. What matters is this: I couldn’t care less. It was fun enough just to get them, and I’m sure they won’t be the worst cigars I’ll smoke in my life. After all, they’re part of el vacaciones.

The evening was another great one in my mind. We had dinner at La Hacienda, the Mexican specialty restaurant (Mexican? In Mexico? Crazy!) which had scored the worst in the online reviews. Turns out the Internet isn’t always right after all, as it was one of the better meals we had on the trip (although Eric didn’t enjoy it, but it could be, just maybe, partially, slightly due to the fact that he doesn’t like Mexican food). The dishes had some similarities to Americanized Mexican dining, but there were quite a few departures from those flavors as well. All that said, I must disclose that I had drunk four mojitos just prior to dinner, but since everyone else enjoyed the meal as well, I guess my judgment wasn’t too severely impaired.

When we were done eating (always a fun moment since we never need to wait for the check), we headed over to check out the nightly show. The day’s agenda listed “Cyber Latin” as the performance, and I pictured Ricky Martin songs lip-synched, maybe with some choreographed lasers and smoke effects. Instead, we were delighted to see a live band doing covers of popular latino music (which did include a Ricky Martin number, but that was a-ok). Great stuff, my favorite performance so far. Even at the end of the arranged numbers, the band played on, and had fun covering INXS, Lynrd Skynrd, and a little Elvis too. It was a great show to watch while slowly puffing away at my Montecristo #2.