twodoebs

The last post I wrote was right after our excursion to Chichen Itza. Immediately AFTER I wrote that message, Sweet Kati and I went BACK into Playa del Carmen and ate at a "local" restaurant. We felt we had so much exposure to the Mexican culture that day that we didn't want to let it go by dining in one of the resort restaurants. So we went to this place that came highly recommended by the staff of the Royal Hideaway. And it was AWESOME. Touristy?--yes; "authentic" Mexican food?--probably not (unless, that is, you ALSO consider Chi-Chi's to be authentic Mexican food) . . . but yum-yum delic'?--oh YEAH!

Yesterday, we didn't do a damn thing but sit by the poo'. Our SCUBA trip was canceled 'cause they had a big, unexpected group come through, so we were kinda caught off handed with nothing to do. But it was great. We ate, we drank, we played in to pool like honeymooners do (Abby, that means we KISSED a lot and had lots of ROMANCE!) . . . "we laughed, we cried, it was better than 'Cats.'"

We DID, however, have a super, romantic, special, magical dinner on the beach last night. It was one of the things that Sweet Kati was most excited about on this trip, and I gotta say, it was pretty freakin' unbelievable. Four feet away from our table, the surf was crashing. The the sand was carefully dragged to make a path out to our table, which was surrounded by torches. Excellent food, despite being served in possibly the most romantic setting possible, and all the same wonderful service that we've come to be so accustomed to from the staff here at the Royal Hideaway. Truly, we danced our way back from the beach to our rooms, accompanied by music that seemed to come from nowhere at all and, yet--somehow--be all around us.

Today, we got up and had what will PROBABLY turn out to be our BIGGEST exposure to the Mexican culture that we'll have on this trip--we went to church in Playa del Carmen. I would write the name of the church, but I honestly don't even know what it is. I, in fact, didn't even recognize ANY of the words uttered during that mass. Granted, I've been to masses in Brooklyn before that were entirely in Spanish, but THIS one was something different, all together. I think I was distracted by the generally milling about and discombobulation of the whole thing. Unlike masses in the US, where there's a beginning, middle, and end, here, people just kinda come and go as they please. And even when they ARE there, they're bouncing around from one place to another. You go up to communion and when you get back, there's someone sitting in your seat. So you find another. As Father Lou would have made me say on our old Youth Group trip to Italy, it's not *weird,* it's just DIFFERENT.

BUT, we did something else that was TOTALLY awesome today (and, no, I'm NOT talking about another trip to Wal-Mart, which we also did). We--at long last--had our SCUBA excursion. SO, so, so COOL. Kati was like a fish in water and made it look EASY for a first-timer. I tried to keep my eyes open to identify the kindsa fishes and aquatic life that we saw, but it's just so hard to remember ANYTHING when you're so awe-struck. I do know we saw a few trumpet fish. And we saw a REALLY big rock fish. That's about it--the rest was just a blur of bright colors and crisp, vivid seascape.