Beach Bums

We didn’t find the church Sunday, so we spent the day being bums. I think that’s the day we walked a million miles on the beach. For all of you Playa del Carmen addicts, I have sad news for you… two landmark restaurant/bars have gone out of business; Bad Boys (completely torn down), and Cannibals (they were carrying off the tables and chairs as we stood mourning our loss).

The beach erosion is incredible. I don’t know what they are going to do about it. In the past they’ve pumped sand on the shore. If they’re going to do that again, they need to do it soon. It’s amazing how much work is put into the maintenance of the beaches. Every single day men are out there raking up the seaweed and debris into piles. A tractor follows with a crew who carefully scoops up the debris, not the sand, and sets it in the scoop. I don’t know what they do next?

Monday we changed views, slightly. We took the colectivo van (a small cheep form of travel for locals) to Akumal. Akumal is the next beach town south of Playa del Carmen. I wasn’t as impressed with it as I expected to be. I thought it would be a beach town. As far as I could tell, it’s just another collection of hotels, condos, and restaurants. I think Playa del Carmen is more interesting.

The colectivos are fun in a scary, wow-i-can’t-believe-20-people-can-fit-in-here sort of way. In the morning the van was quiet. All business people reading newspapers or computers. The return was sunburned, tired tourists speaking a mile-a-minute. The driver told us he was actually a cowboy and pointed to his small whip hanging from the rearview mirror. It’s amazing the things people are inspired to tell us because of Joe’s cowboy hat!

Tuesday was our lazy day. I got some more writing done on my current novel about modern day pirates. I’ve been complaining that this book seems to be a straight-forward organized crime story. You know how I love conspiracy! Well yesterday the conspiracy reared its ugly head. Yay! I had to re-write several passages to adapt to the new character, ( and to kill off another character) but it was well worth it.

Joe decided to gift me with two massages from El Faro. I think they are the best and most trained of the hundreds of people along the beach giving massages for half the price. As I was scheduling my massages, I asked the young lady who appeared to be in charge, if she knew Vicki’s daughter, Gaby, from Oaxaca. I suspected it was her, and I was right. We were so excited to finally meet each other! We’d stayed with her mother while at language school in the city of Oaxaca. It was great to catch up and to see Gaby’s wedding photos. Vicki looked great!

Today the schedule is walking, swimming, and eating… oh wait, that’s our schedule everyday :)