Playa Del Carmen Part 1

I'm still here. I'm sorry it's been so long but with both kids out of school I am very busy. I wake up early to try and get a little time for myself. Sometimes it works, but lately Louis has not been napping, meaning he goes to bed at like 7 o'clock and wakes up at 8 in the morning. This severely limits my time to myself, because by the end of the day I just want to go to my room and sleep (the end usually comes near 10). So here's what's been happening.
We went to Playa del Carmen. I had a great time, although sometimes it was difficult to be with them all ALL the time. However, over this trip I really started to leave behind my fear and laziness and try and speak Spanish more. It's paid off. I had some great conversations with Amelia about the family and the children. I was afraid to say something about the family in the beginning, of course, because she's been with them so long. But I'm glad someone else sees how lax they are with the children. I also met Louise, the old au pair, and she was lovely, as was her sister. It was nice to have someone my age around.
We flew in on Sunday and after picking up the car we arrived at the hotel, the Mayan Suites, which was huge. After this we headed to the beach but the mosquitos were really nasty so we returned to the room and went to bed. Monday we went to see Louise and her sister, Laura, and all of us went to Xcaret, a large park where they have animals to see and many things to do. Clemence and Louis swam with the dolphins. Well, Louis mostly cried with them until finally Nadine took him out of the water. He said that they were scary because they were ugly and very big. Then we walked around and looked at the various animal. The turtles were my favorite because they had little baby ones in some of the pools. We ate a lunch together on a rock and then we seperated so that Louis could nap and with Juan Carlos and the rest of us went to swim in the cenote. Clemence threw a fit and wouldn't go in the water, so Laura, Amelia and I went in. We had a nice relaxing swim and found out at the end that Clemence had calmed down and the rest of them had come in a few yards behind us. At night we went to the show they have which shows the history of Mexico and gives a taste of the cultures in different parts of Mexico now. It was very nice, although I always have reservations about these types of things and how they teach the general population as well as tourists, especially foreign tourists, about the culture. However, I feel it was well done and included a lot of the things I have found fascinating while learning about Mexico, such as how the churches were all placed in previous religious places of the indians, the Mayan ball game, etc.
Tuesday we drove to Merida early in the morning. Nadine met with a client while we all stayed in the car a little down the road and ate a little something. After the meeting we picked up Nadine and went to Merida center. We looked at some murals that were painted about the history of Mexico. It was interesting because it was a tourist attraction but was placed in the functioning offices of the state. We did a little window shopping and then found a place to eat. Nadine asked our horse cab driver to take us to a authentic Yucatan place to eat, but the place eh left us was horribly noisy and looked like a cafeteria, so we left and ate in a little Italian restaurant with great food. Amelia wanted a new dress, so we went in search of one and saw some very pretty but expensive things. We also went looking for a dress for Nadine for the wedding she is attending, and though she found nothing I bought a beautiful 100% cotton shirt.
We had a great day in Merida and were all tired so we headed to the car. WE got lost on our way out of town, and as we were coming to a place that we might not be lost in anymore we got in an accident. Besides the fact that it was an accident and we had to keep the kids quiet and in the car for 2 hours while the police and Juan Carlos and the driver of the other car tried to figure out things, it was very interesting. I say that because I got to learn a little about the Mexicans as well as about their police, who really are as corrupt as everyone thinks. We didn't get back until 3 o'clock in the morning, though, so Juan Carlos did not take his flight home that Wednesday and instead stayed until Friday morning.
Wednesday we went to Holbox. Holbox is the picture perfect Caribbean island. It has white sand beaches and little cabanas on the beach. The hotelitos are precious and the water is that perfect shade of Caribbean blue. We took a small boat to the island, stopping on the way to view an island where some birds nested. We were far enough away from the birds for me to enjoy the scene. Then we arrived on the island and took a taxi to the beach on the other side of the island. The taxis, and all transport there, are golf carts. It's cute. When we got ot the beach the taxi let us off and we walked to this little hotel, Casa de las Tortugas. WE sat on the porch and had guacamole and chips and a few beers. I really could get too used to that kind of thing. I think I might move tehre and open a hotel and never leave again. It's so beautiful and relaxed. It's such a small island it doesn't have a bank.
You'd think an island so small would not get so much tourism, and I'm sure compared to most places it doesn't have too much, but it is an attraction because it is a take off place to view the whale sharks. These are sharks with the shape and size of a whale. However, we did not get to see them, or swim with them, because they are far off shore and it takes 6 hours in a boat, something that could not be done or enjoyed with Louis and Clemence at this age. You also have to leave much earlier in the morning to beat the heat and the sun. I still had a great time. Clemence and I rode horses on the beach and we went to a beautiful spot. We returned to the hotel and took a dip in the ocean in front of their beach chairs. The hotel staff was nice enough to let us use their showers and bathrooms. Eventually, we got dressed, returned to the boat and left paradise.