Hola and Buenos Dias!!

Ok so that's about the best spanish I have but it is still a lot better than what Mike has in his arsenal!! The trip to Mexico was fun, relaxing, interesting, different, and rainy. I realized very late in the planning process for this trip that October-December is the rainy season in Mexico - and they don't lie. It rained at certain points every day and there were some pretty severe storms during the nights. But the sun still managed to come out from behind the clouds and burn our midwestern skin. Mike suffered the most our first day there while I got the brunt of the burn the last day there. So we had 1 long week of whining :)

I was most surprised by the beauty of the resort and its surroundings as well as how incredibly friendly everyone was. We made our sad attempts at speaking the language when we could and basically tried not to embarrass ourselves. (Good thing I know my numbers in spanish because ordering from the McDonald's near the airport could have been much worse!) Mike made friends with some of the guys working the pool bar (a swim up pool bar mind you! - Mike was in heaven). He seems to make friends everywhere he goes while I like to curl up and avoid any eye contact whatsoever. The pool was amazing. It has the distinction of the 2nd largest pool in the world and I can see why. We spent every day there in a different portion. And because it was the off season, we had prime choice of any chair in the place. The food left a lot to be desired but what we determined is not that it was bad food but definitely a lot of things taste different and it's about how you adapt to the different flavors. We had a couple of really good meals at the resort restaurants though - Mike even says he had the best meal of his life one night. Portion size was not even comparable to here in the States - and we wonder why we are considered such a fat country!! We had some interesting conversations with some of the employees who talked about how they had family who were American citizens but they themselves would never want to move there - they wouldn't want to give up the tropical paradise that they get to enjoy every day. It is definitely a different side of the whole immigration topic that we hear and see in the States every day.

I wish we would have ventured out more into Playa del Carmen or even Cancun but I was really glad to be able to relax and not have anywhere to be. I had people tell me yesterday that I actually looked more relaxed (which has changed today with work being chaotic!). I am glad that my experience in Mexico has expanded beyond just Tijuana - there are not too many good things to see or say about that place. I enjoyed my time there but was glad to be home - out of the fantasy world and back to reality.