[May 19, 2012, 8:13PM: As darkness finally slides over the tin and clay-shingled Cobán rooftops, drips make a soft, then louder piddle-paddle on our roof.
"Here it comes.." I say nonchalantly to Justin, as I head out to the deck for my favorite writing spot. After almost a month of constant, non-blogging travel, I finally have a chance to unwind and rehash on what I've been experiencing. It's perfect timing, too. The rain starts pouring harder, and I am once again filled with that peaceful feeling I get when watching a rainforest downpour on the elegant mountains from the interior of the monastery's grounds, still dry and safe in the confines of Bernie's old rocking chair. I open up "Jan 2012 Blog" on my computer, chuckling to myself that I haven't bothered to change document titles or open a new document.
"It must be psychologically easier to write on a document that already has work done on it already," I think to myself. I turn on Enya's "Caribbean Blue" on iTunes to maximize the ambiance of my situation, and dive into the days of the recent past...]
Finally, after almost a month of continuous traveling, Justin and I were landed at Resurrection Priory for a good three weeks. This couldn't have been at a better time. At one of Bernie's Semi-Biannual Schedule meetings, we determined that these three weeks were perfect for preparing San Basilio, two of the monastery's newest buildings, for a visit in May by another group from Saint Patrick's Parish. We painted several walls and cleaned up the place. On days we were waiting on more material for the San Basilio restoration, we worked on drafting several more elements to the monastery's website. While I'm very satisfied with our progress, I am starting to realize that I will need to pass on the website to the next volunteers before the site comes to true fruition. Regardless, I am prepared to make their transition as smooth as possible.
Before we knew it, April passed, and we faced a long but exciting journey to Playa del Carmen (close to Cancun). Fellow Johnnie David Forster's family has a place in Playa Del Carmen and he, along with several other legendary men, johnnie and non-johnnie alike, were coming down to Playa for a spring break of sorts from work. Justin and I were invited, as was Evan Forsycthe, our new friend from Tela. We began our journey by meeting Evan in Flores, a beautiful city located on an island in the middle of Lake Itza. Evan had been in Guatemala for the last month, and ended up getting his return flight out of Cancún.
Anyway, This lake is located in Peten, Guatemala's most northern, more touristy and most risky department. Unlike Flores neighboring mainland city, Santa Elena, Flores gave out a very relaxed vibe. The island is mapped with a series of semi-organized gridlocks, enveloped by major road that circumnavigates the island's shore. The highest point of the island apexes at basketball court, which is also in the center of the island. Lots of restaurants line the west side of the island, offering great drink specials and, if you're lucky, a breathtaking sunset. We did a bit of both. After buying a quick meal and a few happy hour specials, we visited the local supermarket to fashion our own kind of happy hour as the sun dipped underneath the western trees over Itza.
An early 4:30a.m. bus ride brought our heavy heads awake. We reached the Guatemalan-Beliziean Border around 9:00.a.m with no complications. We were in Belize City by noon, and on a bus to Chetumal, Mexico by 2:00p.m. We settled into our ice-cold air-conditioned hotel room in Chetumal by around 6:30p.m., and it was only then that I realized I had been in three different countries in one day.
When a group of 3 independent travelers are using taxis, buses, paying for meals, etc., the laundry list for expenses can get long. Taxi cab rides are often easier if one person pays, as are some bus tickets. This is made even more complicated when four different currencies are involved (Guatemalan Quetzal, Belizean Dollar, Mexican Peso, American Dollar). While it took a bit a of time, a few spreadsheets and a few green-tinted visor hats, we did finally figure out who owed what. Check out our final product (see left).
Thursday finally brought us to Playa del Carmen. After an over-expensive bus ride and a reasonable taxi, we arrived at Marreazul Resort and Condominiums. We were greeted warmly by our fellow Johnnie brethren, and promptly handed an ice-cold, lime-topped Coronita.
The resort was gorgeous, quiet, and serene. We had use of two condos; David's family's condo, as well as another rented condo that we split evenly amongst the guests staying. Both condos were equipped with everything you could want; an excellent kitchen, several flat screen TV's, laundry room, massive king-sized beds and a spacious deck which gave a great view of both the pool and ocean.
The trip to Playa Del Carmen meant the world to me, not because of where it was, but who I shared the experiences with. Playa Del Carmen's town is very touristy, and very little authentic Mexican culture is shown in the streets of these neon-flashing shops. Bars were packed and overpriced, and there were plenty of scams and places to lose money. This doesn't mean, however, that it isn't the perfect playground for a group of 12 "young-professionals." We spent most of our days drinking Corona by the ocean, playing volleyball, soaking in the rays, tossing a football around the pool, and even found ourselves playing a big game of basketball at a nearby park. At night, we explored the bar life and went night swimming. A young guy named Zach, who was staying for a month at his family's condo across the pool, joined us for the "Case Opening" on Friday. Zach was in Playa for a month hoping to brush up on his Spanish by taking classes in town. Zach ended up being an invaluable addition to our crew, especially to Evan, Justin, and I. When the whole Johnnie crew left for the airport on Monday, Zach let Evan, Justin, and me crash at his condo suite (see below) until we departed on Wednesday.
Staying at the Marreazul Resort was pleasant except for the fact that we didn't necessarily feel very welcomed by their staff. You see, Playa had just survived the last month of "Spring Break 2012." Because Marreazul hasn't been able to fill their expansive 800-some condos with residents, the company had ended up renting out many of the flats to college-age spring break kids. This turned into quite a fiasco for the residents that DID live there during this time, as many of the college kids did not behave according to the usual quiet setting dictated by Marreazul's location (northern most resort on the beach). This left us with some pretty wired security crew controlling the grounds. Whenever we left, arrived, or even when we were relaxing by the pool, some white-collared, short-sleeve security officer (there were several) would be watching us like hawks. We weren't allowed to throw a football in the middle courtyard or run on the grass; jumping into the deep end of the pool was also strictly forbidden. Still, we were able to walk anywhere with a cold beer in our hand, and to us, that was all that mattered. |
| The Playa Crew |
