Day 13 - April 20, 2007

"The essence of living is discovering. Indeed, it is the joy of discovery that makes life worth the effort."
---Vijay Krishna

Last Day of School
Sadly, today is my last day of school. It has been a great experience.

Mark and Andrea didn´t show up for class this morning and we got a lot more accomplished. After break, Andrea did join us.

El Maestro applauded me at the end of our class.

Uli wanted to take shirtless photos of our class. Probably because he was the only guy there besides el maestro.

Hotel Eclipse
I got a tour of the hotel because I stopped to see if Matias was there again, but he was working on photography for their new Web site. The hotel is very nice. The rooms are not fancy, and they are decorated in authentic Mexican style, which is what I expected. There is really a cute rooftop terrace (unlike the one at my condo). It´s really a cute place. The German owner gave me a tour. You also get free breakfast at Shlongo´s Deli or at the Tequila Barrel.

Club Nautica Tarraya
I ate lunch at a very local place called Club Nautica Tarraya, on the beach with my feet in the sand. It was very nice, but the waiters were extremely unfriendly. I was going to order the Empanadas, but they only had fish one´s, which I´m allergic to. Then, I was going to order the burrito, but the burrito was ham and cheese? Have you ever heard of a ham and cheese burrito? So, I asked the two men behind me what they would recommend and the one told me that most dishes were very spicy, so they recommend the Yucatan chicken, which was $4.00. I also had a grande Limonado. They brought me chips with salsa verde, which was extremely hot, so I couldn´t imagine how hot their other dishes could be. I would definitely recommend this place for the ambiance though.

Centro Maya
I took the collectivo to Centro Maya with a couple from England who were staying at the Gran Bahia Principe Coba. Centro Maya is the new shopping mall that they put up off the main highway.

On the way to the collectivo, a man was sitting in a restaurant at the front table sleeping and his head was falling forward and drool was pouring out of his mouth....so disgusting!

Woolworth's
Boy, does that bring back memories of shopping for make-up or having lunch at the snack bar with Sheila when we were in grammar school. They don´t even have Woolworth's in the U.S. anymore.

I was shopping in the children´s section (against Mandy´s advice) and found a cute metallic silver bathing suit. (I really wouldn´t want my daughter wearing it though.) I tried on a size 14, but the top was too small, so I went to find a size 16 and actually found an 18 (we don´t have too many 18´s in the U.S.). So, I bought it and it was only $12.00 or $120 pesos.

I also bought a very cute bra and underwear set. (That´s important to remember.)

Puerto Aventuras
I waited a long time for a collectivo that was heading South. I went to Puerto Aventuras and shopped around. On the walk into the marina, some guy was taking a leak in the bushes...Disgusting! Women don´t do that. Why do men have to?

The dolphins were swimming around and I got some pictures.

Gringo Dave´s
I met another couple walking there who were staying at the Bahia Principe Akumal. They said that they liked Gringo Dave´s, so I thought I´d give it a try. They had a live band playing, but they stopped right after I ordered and didn´t start up again till I was leaving. The band was better than the American music that they were playing though. The place is very Americanized.

They have a lot of seafood on their menu, so I opted for a cheeseburger. I wish I had gone for pasta somewhere instead because the cheeseburger made me very sick. I have eaten so many things since I´ve been here and that´s the one thing that made me sick. LOL Later, Annemarie told me that her friend works there and doesn't recommend the place.

Bourbon Street
I met a Bell Boy from Dreams Tulum, named David on the collectivo. He asked me if I wanted to get a drink, and I said, ¨Si, porque´No!¨ I had a Diet Coke and he had dos Cervezas and a shot of Tequila. He paid because he said that he invited me. David likes to work hard and travel a lot, especially to Italy. He knew the band that was playing there. The one guitarist was multi-talented. He could play guitar and drink and smoke at the same time. LOL

I Am a Dork
On the way out of Bourbon Street, something went clinking to the floor and at first, I thought it was my camera, but it was my botellas. Fortunately, they did not break. Everything in my bags fell out and onto the floor (including my new bathing suit and underwear from Woolworth's!). If I was younger, I probably would have been mortified, but everyone just helped me pick it up and I said, ¨Hope you liked my underwear!¨ Some things will never change! Let's just pretend that Woolworth's is the equivalent of Victoria's Secret in the U.S.!