Rainy days at Vidanta's Mayan Palace

It's been raining every day lately, here in beautiful Mexico. That usually includes a torrential downpour, which is kind of cool, except if you're outside when it happens.

Last night the big storm came just as Nancie and I entered the (very overpriced) restaurant we were having dinner at. It was a pretty restaurant, but very hard to hear each other talk over the pounding rain.  It let up enough for us to get back to our rooms without getting totally drenched, but unfortunately, rain was in the forecast again today and every day for the rest of my visit out here.

This morning, we had some fun, though, before we got the afternoon showers.

Yay! Flamingos!

A lot of lemurs roam the premises here

Can you see Mr. Crocodile?

That hammock is too waterlogged to get in!

Up close to an iguana

Fun scheduled activities! (But I missed Texas Hold'em today)

Beach Jenga

Lunch

Nancie and I joined a ping-pong tourney and I won! A free drink was the prize! (Note: We were the only two people in the tournament so we had great odds of one of us winning!) 

I was all excited about a 2pm Texas Hold'em tournament since I've been studying up.  However, at 12:15 we were supposed to go to another "not-a-timeshare" marketing presentation..  another vacation club deal much like the thing I did to get the cheap Xcaret tickets.

We did get a free lunch, but I told them up front, I wasn't interested in a vacation club and that I really wanted to go to the tournament at 2pm.  We'd barely eaten lunch by 2 and the saleswoman had just started her spiel. Nancie said she'd stay and I ran off, but, alas, was too late to join the poker tournament.  They said there'd be another tomorrow, though, so, I'm looking forward to that.

Poor Nancie was stuck for another 2 hours with the sales people. They really don't let you go..

The heavy rains hit again, so the afternoon was pretty much wasted for both of us.  At least we had some morning fun!

Checking into Vidanta Mayan Palace

 Today I moved from the cozy condo in the heart of 5th Avenue to a swanky resort in Playa del Carmen called the Mayan Palace.

I was already maybe an 8 on a scale of 1-10 of being in a touristy location. Now I'm a 10. This is a huge resort and, of course, everyone who is here, is vacationing, so not exactly a "local vibe." Still, it's beautiful and relaxing, and I'm looking forward to the lush surroundings.

About a year and a half ago, my friend, Nancie, asked if I'd want to share a room with her here. She'd found a good deal on VacationClix, so, of course, I accepted. Mexico in winter? Count me in!  We thought for sure Covid would be a thing of the past. Unfortunately, it is not. Fortunately, our trip didn't get cancelled, but there are some restrictions as far as masks indoors, etc. We also have to take a PCR test to get back into the states, but that's fine.  Really, other than wearing masks, I don't notice much of a difference from other vacations. 

I bought myself a pretty purple mask today and a pretty purple sun-dress on 5th Avenue along with a few souvenirs, had a final lunch at the cheap taqueria near my condo along with the daily Haagen-dazs ice  cream that I've been indulging in lately.

After lunch, I caught a taxi and arrived about 25 minutes later to the resort. From there, there was a shuttle to the lobby of the Mayan Palace. The grounds here are full of walking paths, a golf course, several swimming pools, restaurants, and, of course, the beach.  I won't have any trouble getting in 10,000+ steps each day exploring (and inevitably getting lost).

I did a quick little tour of the grounds and now waiting for Nancie to arrive. The days have been overcast and rainy lately, but still warm (at least compared to Colorado!)

I've gotten caught in two massive downpours, though, and my shoes are starting to stink! The clothes and bathing suits that have gotten wet never seem to dry..   As wonderful as it is to "live" right by the beach, I guess it does have its downsides.

I'd originally planned to meet with a realtor out here who was going to show me a condo that was walking distance to the beach. I told her I wanted to see what I could get for $200K and this one was $195K.

 However,  I decided to rule out Playa del Carmen as a place to buy property.  The culture really is much more of a younger, party crowd.  I love that there's a lot of diversity and people from all over the world, but most of them are vacationing, so it would be tough, I think, to foster any long-term friendships or relationships.

Still, I could see continuing a traditional vacation to Mexico every year!

Last night in Quinta Avenida Condo

The inside of my Airbnb

I love listening to the storm tonight as I'm snug and dry in the condo. I can still hear the party sounds from the bar next door, but the storm also is helping deflect the usual loud party that's always in earshot.

Though I'm leaving this Airbnb tomorrow, I'll still be in Playa del Carmen. I'm just moving up to a fancier resort. Nancie found a good deal on TravelZoo and asked if I'd share it with her, so that's what prompted this whole trip.

Even though I've been living in relative comfort, my life is about to get 'upgraded'! I saved the luxury part for the end of the vacation, but I feel like I've already taken part in much more luxury than usual..  I've eaten a lot of delicious food, splurged on ice cream almost daily, and have had more than my share of laying around.  I'm feeling decadent and lazy.  For the past couple of days, I've even taken afternoon siestas!

I think the sleeping pills I've been taking at night have made me sleepier all the time.  Every day, when I've come home from my 10K+ walk, I've felt lethargic and haven't done much of anything.  Here it is 7:30pm and I can barely keep my eyes open!

I know I'll still be able to go to the ocean at the new place, but today I packed a lot in, knowing it would be my last day here.

I feel so lucky to be enjoying this wonderful warm weather in November! I don't know if it will always be Playa del Carmen, but I think Mexico in November is going to become a new tradition for me.

Goddess Connection Games

 

I'm always on the lookout for new experiences, so when I saw an announcement for Goddess Connection Games on the Playa del Carmen Expat Girls Group, I decided to check it out!  Not only would this be an opportunity to do something new, but I'm always interested in meeting people and fostering connection.

Julia, the hostess and facilitator, had been through a transformation of sorts and is interested in helping women discover their talents.  Since I've toyed with the idea of hosting retreats, I was curious about the activities / games.

There were only 5 of us, and Julia admitted to being a little disappointed at the relatively low turnout. I know that feeling! But even with only 5 women, I found the afternoon interesting and enlightening.

The "games" were not really traditional games, but more sharing with one another.  For example, the first exercise was one where you paired up and one person spent three minutes telling the other all the things she loved about herself.  Then the other would reflect back what she heard.  

We all had the chance to partner with one another throughout the afternoon with various exercises that allowed us to open up and be vulnerable about our lives.

I think all the women who came to this event were people who like to try new things, were open-minded, and non-judgmental.  It makes sense because the description of the event would resonate with that personality type.

I felt a little out-of-place being the only "older" woman, a clear generation older than all the rest. However, I don't know if that's just my own insecurity. None of them seemed bothered by my age and they certainly treated me as an equal.  I really have to work on not worrying about age!

Really, overcoming our insecurities was sort of the theme of the whole event. We have to be free to be ourselves without fears.  I think age can help with that.  I have become less worried about what others think as I've gotten older..  but partly that's because I think I've become more invisible as I've gotten older.  There really isn't anyone I'm trying to impress anymore.  It's freeing but in some ways, I feel like I'm not even in the game.

In any case, the afternoon was an interesting exercise of discovery of others and self. 

Meeting People

Love my daily walk on the beach

A lot of police out today

5th Avenue is always lively

My week of private Spanish lessons has come to an end. I'm about half-way through my time here and one of the challenges for myself has been to talk to people every day, preferably in Spanish.

Today, I met 3 people: 1) Alberto, who turned out to be a priest, 2) Jose, a 24-year-old guy who kept trying to convince me to have a beer with him, and 3) Christine, a young woman from the UK who's working out here through January.

I still have mixed feelings about being out here alone, but it does help push me to meet other people.  Christine was eating alone at the restaurant that I went to for dinner, so I asked if I could join her. We had a great conversation and she told me about Yoga on the beach tomorrow.

Meeting strangers is getting easier all the time, especially in a place like this, that just seems like one big party that we're all attending.
 

Going Dancing

 

One of the things on my todo list at all my Snowbird spots is to "Go Dancing." I love to dance, but this is definitely a stretch goal when I'm in a new place and don't know anyone.  I'm also much more comfortable with swing dance than latin dances, but, hey, I can do Zumba, and I've wanted to learn the bachata.

When this ad was posted on a Playa del Carmen group that included dance lessons, I thought.. this is it! I bravely walked to the Palm Hotel ready to shake my latin booty and found out that they had changed the event's time and location due to rain.  

The new location was further away and meant I'd have to risk getting lost at night in Mexico, but I'd already mustered the courage to do this, so I didn't want to back out. 

Once I got to the new location, Buzos, I found one of the dance instructors and she welcomed me.  Many more people showed up, most of them young, attractive and ready to dance. 

The instructors gave us a demo of the dance we would be doing:

Wait. What?

I'm supposed to do that sexy dance? As if it wasn't awkward enough that I was the only old, white lady who was a complete newbie..  and I'm supposed to dance like that with a stranger?

Well, believe it or not, there were more men than women in this dance class (that never happens back home at the Avalon).  Also, no one was paired up, so women rotated every minute or so throughout the class. Despite my awkwardness, each dance partner was very friendly and accepting.  By the end of the lesson, I was dancing just like the woman in this video!  (OK, maybe not exactly like her, but close!) 

Getting to know German

 

My Spanish tutor, German

It's taking me years to learn Spanish, but it only took me a day to get to know German! Yes, as I mentioned yesterday, my new Spanish tutor's name is, "German" (pronounced Hair-maan).  Today was my second day learning from him and I really enjoy the individualized practice with conversations.

I have to admit, it's frustrating that I still have so much trouble understanding German, even when he's speaking slowly. And I'm even worse at speaking. Sometimes I think studying Spanish is a just a futile exercise.  I don't think I'll ever become fluent unless I live in a Spanish-speaking country and really force myself to interact almost exclusively with locals. 

Still, I don't want to give up now.  At this point in life, the thing that matters most about any goal is that I'm having fun and enjoying the journey.  Even if I don't become fluent, I am enjoying getting better.  I just have to try not to be frustrated or impatient or embarrassed by all my mistakes.

Anyway, German is a fun and patient maestro. Even though I don't understand him half the time, I enjoy listening to his stories because he's quite the story-teller with his expressions, voices, and mannerisms.

Here's a little video with us speaking Spanish (unfortunately, it doesn't include the aforementioned funny expressions..  maybe I'll record one of his stories tomorrow.)

Learning Spanish with a Tutor

Today's blog post is going to be a quick one because I'm tired.  But I promised myself I'd write a blog post every day in November, thinking that it should be easy given my time is completely my own.  Here I am with time to do anything I want, yet I'm still having a hard time finding time to write a simple blog post!

Similarly, I wanted to spend time every day speaking Spanish while I was in Mexico. This turned out to be more difficult than expected because..  I'm still really bad at Spanish!  Here in Playa del Carmen just about everyone knows English, so as soon as it's obvious that I don't know Spanish well, people speak in English.  However, I've been telling people that I want to practice Spanish, and they are very accommodating. And even though they usually rattle off some very fast Spanish that I can hardly understand, I usually get the gist. The good news is,  I'm a lot better than I was last year.  The bad news is, I'm not nearly as good as I want to be.

Today, I got a private tutor, German, who I met with from 8-10am this morning. I really liked our session and I could understand everything German was saying.  We spoke only in Spanish and even though I know my grammar was all wrong, it was great just getting the practice of speaking and listening to a native speaker.

Then I got the opportunity, once again, tonight.  My friend, Jack, is getting private Spanish conversation practice with a native speaker, Maria, from Columbia, and he invited me to join along on his session with Maria tonight.

It's a little ironic that while I'm here in Mexico, I'm speaking Spanish over a Zoom call with a friend from the US and his tutor in Columbia.  It goes to show you that in today's world, we are able to learn and practice a language from anywhere!

Both German and Maria spoke very slowly, using easy vocabulary, and enunciating their words clearly... not at all like the "real world." And still, I didn't understand them completely,  but I know the more I practice listening and speaking the easier it will get. 

Reasons to be Happy

I'm still coughing and sneezing, and in the time of Corona, that is not a popular thing to be doing, so tonight is another night of laying low.  

Today, Facebook sent me reminders of memories with two friends..  one with my beautiful and sweet friend, Sherrie from elementary school, who died last year from cancer..  the other was a memory with my friend, Steph, who died from ALS a couple of years ago. 

These reminders that death is imminent, maybe should motivate me to "Seize the Day" but this morning, it just made me more depressed. Will my future just be full of grief, pain, illness, and loneliness? 

Oh dear.

This is NOT the mindset I should be having while I'm on vacation in Playa del Carmen! 

But as the day progressed, there were things that happened that kept me from spiraling too far down that pitiful rabbit hole.

* Calls and texts from Rebecca, Michele, Jim, Michael, and Becky.  Both Michael and Becky had read my whines from yesterday's blog, and wanted to check in.  That really means a lot.  Being single, one of my biggest pity-party mindsets is: "No one will really care or even know if I'm sick or sad."  Getting calls and texts from people I care about is the best anti-depressant I could ask for.

* Getting at least 10,000 steps, every day, sick or not. Getting outside and enjoying this beautiful weather definitely helps improve my mood!

* Searching for things I could take pictures of to 'seize this day.' What would make it memorable and happy?  

How about:

A sign saying "There are so many beautiful reasons to be happy"!

A wishing tree!

A big purple chair wearing my new purple hat

* Taking a Spanish class.  Actually, this Spanish class was a good diversion this morning, but it was too basic. (The majority of the students were brand new to Spanish).  The school offered me either a refund or a private tutor for 2 hours a day for the rest of the week.

My Spanish Class

Becky's sage advice for tonight was to get some good cold drugs and ear plugs to hopefully help me sleep through the night.  I'm going to run out now to get my drugs (after all, buying drugs in Mexico should be on everyone's bucket list, right?).  (Jim suggested tequila.)

Here's to gratitude for friends and family and to sweet, happy dreams!

 

Whine Day

 Most of the stuff we all post on social media is all the pretty 'good' stuff.. who wants to listen to someone whining, especially when they're in beautiful Mexico in November? But even though I'm "living the good life," it's not all good.

The worst part about this Playa del Carmen stay so far is that people are frickin' loud all night! I'm in the midst of an endless party! I'm sure a lot of people would like this, and even I enjoyed it at first.  I mean, how can you help to have your spirits boosted when everyone is happy and energetic and you're surrounded by loud and energetic music?

I'll tell you. You are not happy (or at least I am not happy) at 1:15 am, especially when you're sick with a cold and just want to sleep!

The good news for today is that I don't have Covid, so at least I don't have to worry about that.

But having a cold and not getting sleep definitely has affected my mood. I'm also feeling sad because Matt told me he doesn't want to risk meeting up at Thanksgiving.  He says Covid numbers in Colorado are the worst in the country and he doesn't want to risk the potential of catching it and passing it to Stella's mother, who they're living with.  We may never have a family celebration again because Matt & Stella are talking about moving to North Carolina. All this lack of family around the holidays makes me feel sad and lonely.

It's also lonely being here by myself and even though I'm meeting some people, it's not the same as being around friends and family who you've known for years. Sure, it's nice to be able to do whatever I want, but when I'm sick and tired, I miss my own bed.

Even though I had this cold and was tired and lonely today, I still did my morning sunrise walk on the beach, got in my 10,000 steps, had a lovely dinner, and found a Spanish class that I'm going to start tomorrow..   So, even though a bit moody today, I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

Morning sunrise

Dinner for one