It was a pretty quiet day, no "partying like you live in Cancun," as a friend aptly advised me to do yesterday. I had classes all day, and there's always the weekend for that sort of thing! I did have a lovely dinner at a friend's house, and I got a few presents from my very sweet students, since we had class yesterday.
The following card was a gift from one of my Kinder students, who I think has strikingly captured my essence: bright clothing, humidity-bush hair, and long legs.
These earrings were made by an adult student of mine. Absolutely perfectly made and really unique and beautiful. I mentioned in class a few days before that I had spent my weekend with a family that works with the school. They taught Ray and I how to do some basic beadworking, and we made some earrings and necklaces--I can tell you that while I'm proud of mine, they don't look anything like this!
Finally, there's a dangerously-close pasteleria (pastry shop--seriously about 2 houses away) that makes fabulous cakes. I took my birthday-merited mocha cake up on the roof on my lunch break--that was a satisfying gift in and of itself! All told, a cumpleaños muy feliz indeed.
I guess it was the birthday cake, along with over-indulgence in several other food groups yesterday, that compelled me to go out walking this evening. Living above your work is nice when running late or when you forget something, but it has not been good for my motivation to eat healthily or exercise frequently. I mean, my fridge is more or less literally in my classroom. I can easily grab a snack, especially in those awkward time breaks between some of my classes. When I first moved down, the climate was so intense that it sapped up a lot of my appetite (eating means your body has to "burn" the calories--I wanted nothing to do with heat!). Since, my body has acclimated (mostly) and I now know all the good little cheap places around the house--danger! danger!
Anyway, regardless the reason, I left the house for awhile this evening and went out for a walk. For as much of the island is developed (or overdeveloped) there are still large areas with no lighting or heavy building. This, and the fact that we're surrounded by the water, means we have brilliantly clear stars most nights. It's so astonishing to walk along the sidewalk at night with the bright stars and the sound of the surf crashing so close to you. I started on the Caribbean side of the island tonight, and then cut across eventually to the Bahia side. There's a free public beach that I've gone to several nights to watch sunsets or just be away from the school for awhile. I headed there again this evening, partially to investigate whether they left the hammocks out at night (and if so, if anyone would yell at me if I took a nice break in one of them).
Sadly, they put away the hammocks at night (and don't offer them to you during the day unless you're paying). They can't move the dock overnight, however, so I ambled down the dock, overlooking Cancun about 8 miles away. The tranquil water on this side of the island doesn't so much crash as lap gently against any obstacles. Therefore, it can be almost eerily quiet when you are out in the dark off a nearly deserted beach. The most unsettling thing, however, was not the tranquility, but the little pens on the sides of the dock. They keep some harmless nurse sharks in inhumanely-small water pens for tourists to "go swimming with sharks." As I walked along , I was able to lean over a few of the pens, and could just make out the silhouettes of a few undulating shark bodies as they swam right under me--talk about sending little shivers up your spine.
I went out to the end of the dock, thinking I would take some time to meditate and just be aware of how unbelievably cool my current locale is. I sat down at the end of the dock and started to relax. I was amazed when I heard some club-esque music echoing off the water. "Wow," thought silly me,"Cancun's so close I can hear their music!" Rather, it was not Cancun itself, but one of those lovely cultural monuments of Cancun: a party boat ("The Caribbean Cabaret"). It came closer and closer with those powerful speakers, and I was concerned for a moment that it was going to commander my pier. Instead, it docked at the pier about 100 yards from mine, and commenced in one of the more shamelessly hokey tourists-and-tequila plots I've ever witnessed.
The hyperactive boat captain/d.j. began to talk rapidly in English and Spanish, reeling off a story about strangers on the shore. He sent a crew member to investigate, and, "AH! An ambush! They're pirates!" I watched, cracking up as this ridiculous contrived theater happened just across the way. "Pirates" started running for the party boat, and began boarding it, all the while "Pirates of the Caribbean" soundtrack blasting from boat speakers. These bloody pirates then absconded with the tequila, even with the mixers, and left the poor partiers marooned, and tequila-less (a fate surely worse than walking the plank). What were they to do? The captain rallied their spirits and they decided to mount an attack on the pirates to regain their stolen booty. With the "Jaws" theme pumping ominously from the speakers, the already-inebriated crew was reminded to use the handrails as they descended to attack the pirates. As the first of them exited the boat, the boat shot off "cannons" and found a heroic track from "Pirates of the Caribbean" to crescendo at just the right time. As I'm sure you'll be relieved to know, the valiant crew did quickly repossess their booty (while potentially losing a great share of their dignity).
The great drama over, and it starting to get late, I decided to head back home, all the while marveling at the fact that such events happen in the place I call home. My walk back proved to be a further exercise in marveling. Compared to the melodrama of moments before, the little dramas of life on the street were equally or more amazing. The kids out playing with their makeshift soccer balls on the street, slowing down the taxis and mopeds trying to squeeze past them; the bacon-wrapped hot dog stands (hot dog + wrapped in bacon=Mexican-style hot dog), the live chickens stalking around the hot dog stands; watching neighbors chat together and meeting a couple of my students out on their bikes.
Those tourists out on the party boat may have met some swashbuckling pirates in Isla Mujeres, but they didn't meet my amazing neighborhood. And they may have had their fill of tequila, but their inebriation probably couldn't match the feeling of heady happiness I felt on the last leg of my walk home. Any day, I would once again choose to be standing on the dock I was on this evening. Between participating in the party on the other dock, or participating in the life I'm living here now, there's no contest. I am content with where I am, in a lot of senses right now, and that is probably the best 23rd birthday gift of all.
1 comment:
I love the picture your student drew... it really does capture your essence! haha
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