Windy Excursions

Posted in | at 3:55 AM

Wednesday, June 30^th

Our last full day here in Cozumel began quite boringly, as we all mostly slept in. Meaning like til about 9 am. When you’ve been getting up at 6 - 7 am, sleeping til 9:30 feels like winter hibernation. The day’s plan? Exploring the island, a strange concept considering it’s the last day.

Car Treking

Since we need transportation to perform said exploration, the fam rents a small car for the day. Since the family is also cheap (I prefer the term adventurous), Mom, John Alex and I decide to hike over to car rental place on foot.

Item of interest number one: we aren’t entirely sure where it is. Item of interest number two: a giant windstorm decides to blow by the island for a spell, making walking somewhat akin to mountain climbing. Item of interest number three: the red squiggly line on Mapquest made the trip seem a lot shorter than it was. Who knew it would take 45 minutes to transverse those 2 and a half inches??

However, we made it to Thrifty safe and sound, though my hair resembled a bird’s nest at this point. Another family was also there, one from Mees-ah-seep-pee. Poor rentalman, that woman was like the queen B of bitchiness. I started providing commentary quietly to my brother while sitting on the floor of the office. Unfortunately, right during one of those awkward lulls in conversations, with the air rife with tension, I let out a loud and dramatic “Uh Ohhh!” Not quite what I intended. Awkwardness ensued.

Nevertheless, we managed to successfully secure a car for the day, bonding with the rental people over headshaking and laughter.

Island Ventures

We gathered our things and other family members and set off on our island explorations. Since my computer is about to die, here is a summary:

1. We suspect that cruise ships purposefully dock far from civilization. Gives the cab drivers business. Clever, clever.

2. There is only one main road on the island, outside of town. Yet we still manage to get lost and miss places of interest.

3. All the trees are short, due to them being wiped out five years ago in a hurricane.

4. Did I mention we are in a windstorm? Once calm waters begin to resemble California’s surfing capitals.

5. If I lived on this island, I would totally have a moped. Yes they may be whiny and annoying, but there is nothing like weaving in and out cars, thumbing your nose at the drivers.

We also are beach/bar hopping during our travels, where we basically are trying the local drinks, observing the rough waters, and commenting on the vast number of signed tacky t-shirts that every bar seems to collect.

The Quest Para La Bandera

Around late afternoon, early evening, we make it back to the town, where Mom and Dad drop off John Alex and me so that we can do some last minute shopping. The goals: John Alex is finishing up some birthday shopping, and I am on the hunt for a Mexican flag to add to my flag collection (which is at a pitiful *one* flag right now).

We decide to venture a little bit off of the water, hoping to find some better deals. I begin my quest, inquiring of every shop if they had una bandera de mexico? The cool thing was, if you inquired about something specific, people stopped pestering you to buy things and instead turned very helpful, yelling down to nearby shops to see if someone, anyone had a Mexican flag.

What I thought would be a simple request actually turned into an epic quest. People had several reactions to my inquiry. They either:

1. Shouted quickly in Spanish to one another before shaking their heads sadly

2. Gave me directions to other, obscure shops (in the middle of nowhere usually) that might have one

3. Reacted in shock and commented on how no one had ever asked them that before, or

4. Offered to run home and grab their own personal flag to sell me

Hmmm, I couldn’t believe it. Here in tourist junk central, we couldn’t find a single Mexican flag?! Not one?! Come on, people! SHOW SOME NATIONAL PRIDE! Hell, we even found an Argentine flag, AND THEY FREAKIN’ BEAT MEXICO IN THE WORLD CUP! Shame. Shame, shame, shame.

Needless to say, I was disheartened. Several hours of my life spent in fruitless pursuit of an imaginary ideal. But hey, that’s life, right? John Alex had a little more success than I, after we bargained with every jeweler on the island. Believe me, there was not a better deal to be found. We checked.

HOWEVER, on the disheartened walk home, I glance at a passing store and lo and behold, there is an awesome hanging tapestry with the Mexican eagle upon it. So I got it. AND IT’S WAY BETTER THAN ANY OLD STINKIN’ FLAG, YOU HEAR?

All in all, a relatively successful end to an epic quest throughout what felt like every street corner of Mexico. We ended the evening with a viewing of a informational movie on Chichen Itza, which sucked, and Apollo 13, which didn’t. Even though Dad had me convinced the whole time that the astronauts were going to blow up at the end.

Tomorrow, we leave Cozumel. Sadness. One more blog post until this blog closes forevaaaa! Hasta luego, compadres.