Hi! I know, it's been awhile. Turns out that having a baby puts a serious crimp in blogging time. :) But - here I am now! And I've been composing this post in my head for days.
My little brother got married last week. One week ago today, in fact. That in itself is so wonderful and deserves an entire post. He and Tara chose to do a destination wedding...and the destination was Isla Mujeres, Mexico...located about seven miles off the coast of Cancun in the Mexican Caribbean.
I've never really been out of the country. Well, I guess that isn't technically true. I spent one weekend in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada when I was very young. I don't remember too well. I also spent one insane night in Tijuana during the summer of 1997. I also don't remember much of that, but for entirely different reasons. :) I took a cruise to the Bahamas in 2003 as well...but a cruise is really a very controlled environment. I didn't see much of anything while on that trip.
This time was to be very different! One week in Mexico, woo hoo! I had my passport, my swimsuit, my pasty white Minnesotan skin, and plenty of SPF 30. I was set. The journey to Isla was pretty uneventful; the flight was about equivalent to my flights to southern California. The shuttle from the airport to the ferry was only slightly crazy. The ferry from Cancun to Isla was kind of fun, even though it was raining.
I didn't really notice anything around me until I set foot off the ferry. Isla looked so...so poor! There were many damaged and abandoned houses and properties. The streets were cobbled and very narrow. Entire families were piled on mopeds. All the signs were in Spanish. People made their homes in tiny spaces between buildings or on second floors. Natives with leathery skin and dirty shirts sat on ratty lawnchairs outside ramshackle shops or houses. On our way to our hotel, what I saw wasn't paradise; it was poverty. I felt a bit depressed. I'm not sure what I expected, but this wasn't it. I'd never seen anything like this before.
Then we got to the hotel. No five-star resort this; Cabanas Maria Del Mar had a tiny little lobby, but a beautiful garden around which most of the rooms were situated. In two of the sections of the hotel, the rooms themselves were dated in decoration, and many systems, such as electrical and hot water, were rather suspect. The floors were tile. There was a small TV that broadcast pretty much exclusively Mexican programming - in Spanish. Did you know ESPN broadcasts in Spanish? I didn't.
Our room had air conditioning, which was a bonus in such a hot and humid climate. But the shower leaked all over the floor, and -- get this -- we were not allowed to flush used toilet paper down the toilet. That had to go into the wastebasket, regardless if you went Number One or Number Two. This utterly horrified me. I managed to accept and get used to the idea as the week progressed; but I never really liked it. On a high note, the forced change in habit did something to my brain to ensure that I stayed nice and regular all week. ~sigh~ Anyway, this was the rule because on Isla, they flush their waste -- including human waste -- directly into the ocean. This depressed me a bit more.
The turning point for me -- when I started seeing the beauty of the island rather than the poverty -- came after our first meal. I had embarked on this trip already afraid of the food and the water. I'd heard some nasty stories about "Montezuma's Revenge." So I wasn't sure if eating at any of the many restaurants on Isla would make me sick...I figured I'd have to find out the hard way. And I was very pleasantly surprised. Not only did I not get sick, but the food was excellent. And so was the beer.
After that, I began noticing how friendly the island natives are. Tourists are their bread and butter, so I suppose they have to be friendly. But they also seemed content with their lot in life. They may stuff seven people into 600 square feet, and everyone may sleep in hammocks, but at least they have a roof over their heads. Such a different mindset than Americans. Here, no matter what you have, it isn't enough. The house isn't big enough, the car isn't prestigious enough, your kid has to go to Harvard. In Mexico (on Isla, anyway), kids attend public schools for about 3 hours a day and only learn the very basics. I doubt many of them end up going to college. Instead, they get into the tourist trade, maybe make their product by hand, and work their asses off. All for that 600 square feet and a moped.
By the end of the week, I was comfortably speaking basic Spanish to the locals, dealing in pesos rather than American dollars, and enjoying every moment on the island. I saw the paradise. The major difference in culture was a big eye-opener for me, and helped me to put my own life into perspective. It's hard to take what you have for granted when you see people who have next to nothing. I imagine this is exactly how Angelina Jolie feels when she does her thing for the United Nations.
I will forever remember my trip to Isla, and I hope to return someday. I have a million pics posted to Facebook if you want to check them out. :)
