Day 3

One of the things that always strikes me when I'm here is the huge gap between poverty and wealth. As we drove through (or rather, OVER Playa del Carmen on the big bridge) on our way down here on Sunday as well as our shopping trip through Playa yesterday, there are so many people living in shacks, huts, or "home-made" shelters on the side of the highway or in town. Then within several feet you have an entrance to a grand resort with impressive fountains, statues, and manicured lawns. I wonder what the Mayan employees of these resorts think about this huge gap? I wonder where they live when they're not serving us with a smile and a cheerful attitude? I wonder about their families and the quality of life they have? I guess one of the ways I can be okay with all this is to know that the money we spend to come here and relax is helping employ so many people who might otherwise not have that work and paycheque. The world is a very interesting place.

Our shopping trip was fairly successful. Emily decided that if she had to barter for everything in her life she would probably die!! We left all the "wheelin' and dealin'" to Kent. If the girls found something they wanted, they'd whisper it to Kent or give him a 'look' and he'd go to work... chattin' up the shop owner and getting us the best bargains he could. It was fun to watch him kabitz with the guys. It was really hot yesterday so we didn't shop for too long and took a short break to wade in the aqua blue water of the nearby beach before devouring a couple Blizzards from Dairy Queen.

Riding the collectivos to and from Playa were both adventurous. As we prepared to walk to the highway and flag one down, a driver who was already on the property beckoned us to get into his van. We negotiated a price of $15.00 for all 5 of us then we hopped into the air conditioned vehicle. Just before he closed the van door, he informed us he'd like to wait a few minutes in case other passengers wanted a ride, too. That was fine with us so we waited. And waited. About 15 minutes later there were no other people but he wouldn't drive us unless we paid $25.00!! Not a chance... Kent unbuckled his seatbelt and said, "No problem, we'll just go to the highway and flag down another van.". The guy was freaked that we might leave so he said okay, 5 more minutes then we'll leave while muttering under his breath (for $20.00). We finally pulled out of the parking lot then he swung through the main entrance and picked up 4 more people. Satisfied with this number of passengers (the van seats 14) we rode the 30 minutes up to Playa. On the way back (different collectivo) we left Playa with a full van but somehow managed to pick up several more people along the highway. I told Laura it was like playing, "How many Mexicans can you squeeze into a van?" LOL  People were standing and leaning over other people and it was hot... AC definitely wasn't working at full capacity. We were very thankful to finally arrive at our hotel and get some fresh air! We think it's funny now and it's all part of experiencing life in another culture.

The girls and I went snorkelling in the afternoon while Kent enjoyed a long siesta in our cool hotel room. We walked by a beach wedding taking place and saw the biggest hermit crab we've ever seen.

Dinner last night was at the Pescador restaurant where we enjoyed such delicacies as swordfish, grilled shrimp, blue crab, octopus and squid. Laura ordered a martini and when the waiter asked what KIND of martini would you like we all had a blank look on our face... who knew there were so many kinds of martinis? LOL

In the evening we went to the big "show" in the amphitheatre and it was fairly lame (I think we've been spoiled with all the theatre events we've attended!) so we left early and retired for the night.

Overall we are enjoying each other's company and LOVING the weather... hot, humid, sunny, and breezy. This truly is paradise.

Lisa


PPS  We counted how many shoes we brought with us... 19 pairs (not including flippers!). LOL