Mexico

Our first adventure of the summer was a trip to Mexico this June. For some reason that is still not completely clear to me, we decided to go stay at a resort in Cabo San Lucas. We're not really the "resort" type - that is, I have always sort of looked down on people who stay in resorts as lacking adventurousness. But when you have a four-year-old, resorts start to sound a lot more attractive. And we had friends who recommended this one, so we went.

We flew into Cabo San Lucas (I refuse to call it "Cabo") on a clear, hot day. Almost every day there is clear and hot, so it wasn't unusual. When we deplaned (using a rolling stairway), I was struck by the sudden brightness and heat. We had heard that we would be tackled by timeshare salesmen as soon as we deplaned, but that wasn't the case. Looking back, I think we went out the wrong exit - or perhaps the right one. Anyway, I had practiced saying "we already have one" in Spanish (something like "ya tenemos una") but I didn't need to say it that day.

For some reason, on every single leg of our trip there and back, we were seated in the very first row behind first class. This happy arrangement meant that we were first off the plane and therefore first in line to go through customs, which is a huge time saver. Customs was painless in both directions; both Mexican and U.S. officials were cheerfully matter-of-fact and uninterested in our personal details.

After arriving, we went to pick up our rental at Europcar. Melina and I wandered around looking at the Mexican sodas in the refrigerated case and the ants crawling in the sidewalk. They were very fast ants, much faster than their Oregonian counterparts. Meanwhile, Jeff was exposed to our first (of many) timeshare pitches, and also his first experience handing over a little bit of cash under the table for a reduction in the weekly rental car rate. We ended up with a pretty good deal for our little red hot chili pepper car, although there was some confusion about whether we really had insurance. All the while, I was happy to fall back into that traditional gender role that says that the man makes the car insurance arrangements while the woman takes care of the child. It can be pretty convenient.

We drove into the city - first past mountains and big (saguaro?) cactuses, and then past a jumble of resorts, shacks, construction sites, and chain stores. There is an Applebee's in Cabo San Lucas. And a Home Depot (heaven forbid). And a Costco, which we went to despite my distaste for going to a Costco in Mexico (isn't that like going to a McDonald's in Bali? I mean, what's the point?). But we had a week of groceries to stock up on, and a Costco card, so it made sense. I was relieved to see that the Costco sold large quantities of tortillas.

And then we were at the resort - the Villa del Arco. It is a large, luxurious, brand spanking new place with several pools (one with a pirate ship in the middle, with a snack bar on it). We had to sit though another time share pitch, right off, which was annoying; but the staff were helpful and the place was beautiful. We had a one-bedroom suite, and Jeff's mom (who arrived the next day) had another one-bedroom suite next door. It was clean, spacious, attractive... not terribly soulful, or quaint, but very comfortable.

The next several days were spent mainly by the pool. On Monday we picked Jeff's mom up from the airport, made another trip to a grocery store (and endured another time share pitch from a persistent person working the tourists there), marveled at all the interesting groceries, and bought a bunch of milk products that Melina eventually refused to consume. The milk there is processed differently (like milk in Europe) and has a different flavor that Melina hated. She ended up eating a lot of beans, rice, and watermelon.

Melina absolutely loved the pool, though. It was very hard to get her out. She got very good at swimming underwater, like a seal, for about 10 feet; emerging sputtering, gasping, and flailing (and attracting a lot of attention); and then going back underwater for eight feet or so before finally petering out and needing help. Several times I had to explain to people that she wasn't drowning. By the end of the week she could go all the way around the pirate ship without a parent in the water next to her; she would just grab on to the side of the pool when she needed a rest.

I liked the pool, too, but I preferred the ocean, which was just a few feet away. The water there was so warm and blue compared to the ocean here, and you could float like a jellyfish. Once I swam out about 50 feet (which made Melina nervous) and waited for the tide to wash me gently back to the shore. It took a while. We were in the Sea of Cortez, so there was no undertow and no riptide. No jellyfish or sharks to worry about either - or if there were, I just didn't worry about them.

Jeff and his mom had fun as well. Jeff spent a lot of time in the pool with Melina - alternating between the pool and the hot tub - and Barbara liked to sit by the pool reading a book and sipping a margarita. Thanks to a misunderstanding (having to do with a timeshare presentation Barbara attended for us), we ended up getting about six vouchers for free margaritas. There aren't many things more delightful than sitting by a pool under a hot subtropical sun reading a book about teen vampire love and drinking a margarita.

We took a couple of day trips - one to Todos Santos, one to San Jose del Cabo, and one to Lover's Beach (or Land's End), the point that divides the Pacific from the Sea of Cortez. Todos Santos is known as a cute little artsy village to the north, on the Pacific. It was cute and artsy, and for some reason most of the day was spent going around a single square block. First we had tacos, and then we went to a cafe and had smoothies (tamarind!), and then Melina had to go the bathroom several times (four, I think) - interspersed with window shopping for trinkets, and admiring a white cockatiel - and then we went to a church, and I bought myself a little silver necklace, and then it was time to go to the beach. It was a vast hot white beach with roaring waves and several interesting dead things (including a dead porpoise), as well as little crabs that dug holes in the sand. We stayed there for a while searching out treasures and then headed back down the dangerous narrow highway back to Cabo San Lucas.

Our trip to San Jose del Cabo wasn't quite so pleasant. I think it was my least favorite day, in part because it was extremely windy (the weather was being affected by a distant tropical storm) and I got a migraine. We went to Playa Santa Maria, which is billed as one of the best snorkeling beaches in the area. What we found, unfortunately, was a small, windy, shadeless beach crawling with persistent vendors and dwarfed by a huge, ugly, depressing construction zone - no doubt the future site of some exorbitantly expensive resort. It made me feel guilty for contributing to the development of this beautiful area. And needless to say Melina had to go potty several times, and there was nowhere to go other than the construction site. We did manage to snorkel, and saw some fun fish, but the corals were dull (if not dead). My migraine came on (though not a terrible one), and eventually we left to go to San Jose del Cabo. San Jose del Cabo is supposedly more "authentic" than Cabo San Lucas, and that may be the case, but it seemed just as touristy to us. We did find a good tacqueria where we had "queso fundido" (spicy meat mixed with melted cheese) and jamaica (a hibiscus drink) and tried unsuccessfully to get Melina to eat bean-and-hotdog soup. I'm pretty sure that's when I got the tummy ailment that affected me later.

Our two best days took place right around Cabo San Lucas. On Wednesday we walked down the beach toward town, and through the beach party zone. It was a crazy place, especially that day, when the distant tropical storm was sending up huge waves that would crash and roll right up to the beachside bars. People would scream and laugh and run up the beach whenever a wave came up. Meanwhile, announcers on loudspeakers were inviting people to have drinking contests with the bartenders and offering free tequila. It was probably around noon; we wandered though the crowd of girls in bikinis, vendors in white selling sunglasses and bracelets and fake silver and toys, drunk frat boys, tourists, water taxi operators, surf fishermen and children. Although it wasn't exactly my scene, I thought it was hugely fun. Eventually we wandered past the crowds and found a relatively protected beach where we could swim. We set up next to a local woman whose husband was fishing in the surf. Melina played in the sand with her Ya-Ya; Jeff snorkeled; I pretended I was a jellyfish.

My other favorite day was our last day, when we took a water taxi to Lover's Beach. We had been meaning to do this for days (we got free tickets out of the timeshare presentation), but the surf had been too rough and nobody was landing at the beach. We found that we weren't the only ones who had been waiting to go there, so we ended up going at 3:00 p.m. and only had an hour to spend there. (While we waited, Melina had her hair braided by a woman on the beach. I was astounded that she would sit still for so long. She still has some of the braids). When we finally got into our glass-bottomed water taxi and arrived at Land's End, I was impressed. It really is beautiful. The rough waves (still churned up by the storm) were crashing against the rocks; there were fish for Melina to see down below the boat; there were sea lions (which delighted Melina) - and the beach itself was beautiful, with huge rock formations and cliffs. We explored the beach, and then Jeff and I did some snorkeling. At first it was a little bit scary, because of the rough water, but once we got down below the waves, it was fantastic snorkeling. I saw angelfish, parrotfish, long skinny needle-like fish, a few small rays, schools with hundreds of white and grey fish, and small electric blue fish. We tried to sneak up on a floating pelican (not easy). I could have stayed in the water for much longer, but it was soon time to head back to the beach, and Jeff was cold. (Snorkeling is the only time I feel like I have an advantage over him in the body fat department. He gets cold in about a quarter of the time I do).

That night was our anniversary. First we went out to a favorite tacqueria with Melina and Barbara, and then Jeff and I went out together. We wandered around the tourist stores for a while, doing a little shopping, and went to our favorite restaurant (Mi Casa, which is a veritable museum of folk art with fantastic food to boot) and had the world's largest margaritas in their beautiful, private bar. Then we did more exploring, which was somewhat romantic (it is worth noting that the uneven sidewalks in Mexico, combined with margaritas, make for some interesting walking. I think every home and business must be responsible for its own sidewalk, because none of them line up. There is no coordination whatsoever). A chihuahua almost bit me at a coffee shop, which provided some additional spice to the evening. Eventually we headed home, not too late, because unfortunately we had to leave the next morning.

And just let me say that a hangover, plus a mild tummy bug, plus an airport and luggage and an energetic four-year-old, is not a good combination. I don't think there are many things more miserable than thinking you're going to throw up in the middle of a busy airport - except perhaps actually doing it, which I didn't. But I felt like I was going to all day long.

And finally, we were home. Tan, braided, sandy (just today I found a bunch of sand in the bathtub), queasy, tired, somewhat relaxed, but happy enough to be home. It was a fun time.

Note: I'll post photos when I can - they are on a different computer.