One day in Isla Mujeres (Cancún, México)
l wrote this to Alia on Sep 8th 2010, after her departure from Cancún, México. Alia had some days between the end of her summer job with the US Forrest Service and beginning of school. As I was still in México, we had decided one month earlier, she could come to Cancún and be together for one week. Later, I would have to continue my way back to Spain, hoping to fix my US immigration status, and Alia would have to be back in school for the fall semester. We had not had much opportunity to be together until then and clearly would not have much opportunity either after Cancún. So, we decided that week in the Yucatán would make for our Honeymoon. The message that follows, was written after her departure...
September 8th 2010
Hola Alia,
It was difficult to see you leave Cancun. It was
difficult to see you disappear among the people in Cancun’s airport.
It was difficult to see you take with you, at least, part of all the love you
had brought with you one week earlier.
The other day I was able to take a look to the
pictures you took. At night my eyes get a little better and I can better enjoy
the pictures. In your absence, the pictures at least allow me to remember all
the love you brought to Cancun. I was
still able to enjoy the love you put in those pictures: your happiness in those
pictures, your expressions of love, the
anal setup and preparation that preceeded each picture, your smile, your shining
eyes.
I remained in the airport for still a couple of hours
after you left. I was a little confused, disoriented, like after something hits
your head. I was feeling a little lost, still wondering where that love had
gone. It’s true not everything had been perfect. There had been beautiful
times, there had been stressful times and there had been passionate times. But,
in the end, you always keep and remember the best. After all, nobody can say
that things have been easy for us. The road we found has certainly not been
smooth.
I went to one of the cafes, trying to get some
internet connection. I wanted to check my email, and maybe write a few more
messages. I wanted to wait a little while, in case anything happened. I didn’t
feel like going back to Cancun and start
figuring out what to do with the rest of the day, the rest of the week and the
rest of the month. However, it became soon clear that I was not going to get
any internet connection at the airport, and nothing out of normal was going to
happen with your flight, so I started my way back to Cancun.
I started walking towards the hostel, hoping to find a
hotspot. I could not find any until I finally reached the hostel. So I sat
there for a couple of hours, across the street, sending emails and trying to
figure out what to do next. Finally, I ran out of battery and went back to the
bus station to find out about the bus schedules to the west. I hoped I could
find as well some power plug to recharge my batteries.
There were buses day and night and I preferred a night
bus, so I decided to stay a little longer and keep working on my plan for the
next days. Then I thought I could also go to Isla Mujeres and, that way, win
some time to get some replies.
Eventually, I decided that was the best option. So, I
started doing research on how to get there. Unfortunately, I found out too late
that the cheapest ferry was not the one running until late in the night. It
was, however, too late as well for another change of plan, so I took the 10:30pm ferry to Isla Mujeres.
I was out of luck that night, I made it to the hostel
in Isla Mujeres at 11:15, to find
out the office closes at 11:00pm. I had
thought the hostel, being a party hostel with lots of life until late in the
night, would not give any problem accepting people arriving late. I was
obviously wrong.
It was a bad end for a bad day. I really didn’t feel
like struggling with that day much longer, so I decided I would go to the
beach, look for some quiet place and sleep there. I kept telling myself that it
would probably be much hotter in the hostel’s room, than at the beach anyway.
It did not take long to find out, I was actually not that wrong about that.
In the middle of the night I woke up. Some couple was
passing by on their romantic late-night beach walk and the girl freaked out
when she saw a body laid down on the beach. The guy went to inspect my bags, so
I rose my head to let them know I was doing well and only sleeping. She thought I was dead and I clarify I was
not. He told me to be careful that I don’t get attacked. I explained I could
not get into the hostel and just wanted to have some place to sleep and start
some better day tomorrow.
Other than that, the night was not that bad. I enjoyed
throughout my sleep the fresh breeze of the sea and was already laying down on
the beach when I woke up. I was starving though… and, even worse, probably
getting dehydrated. Nothing to be surprised about, since I had not had any
food, since the day before, when I had breakfast with you. That afternoon in Cancun I did not
feel like doing any work, not even going for some food.
In fact, I was still feeling that way. I did not feel
like eating, I didn’t have the energy to start digging in my backpack for some
food. I wished I had some juice and I could just drink as much as I needed.
Everything else was just too much work and not even what I really wanted. But I
was starving, probably dehydrated and it was nothing but going to get worse.
So, I decided I would do what I had to do and spent
the next hour eating something; as little as I was enjoying it. I started feeling a little
better, but I was still very thirsty. I just didn’t feel like packing
everything again and carry all my bags back to town, just to get some drink and
then go back to the beach. It was starting to get hot as well, so I thought
getting into the water would make me feel better. I didn’t want to expose my
white skin too much to that mid-day sun, but those clothes were killing me
under that heat. I really needed something to cool off the temperature of my
body and the water in fact felt very good.
Surprisingly, while I was in the water, something hit
my hand. It was some big, round thing. I turned around to find a huge
watermelon swimming in the ocean. As soon as it had gotten my attention, it
started waving at me: “Youhoo…!!”, while moving its leg up and down in the air.
I was really very thirsty and that watermelon looked really 'freaking' juicy. I
just could not find the way to tell that watermelon to stop screaming at me:
“eat me!, eat me!”. But the watermelon had a big crack running through its
entire length and, obviously, did not seem very safe to eat. I felt like Adam
in the Garden of Eden, being tempted with the evil apple.
I decided I would take the watermelon out and study
the situation very carefully. I thought
I would call Rationalman and have him assist me taking a good, rational
decision on the matter. Suddenly I noticed somebody was trying to get my
attention. A few people had gathered next to me. Some Mexican woman was making
weird gestures to this American, to make him understand he should through that
watermelon away. Rationalman, however, interceded and asked the woman in
perfect Spanish, what would be the reasons to through away the watermelon. She
explained it could be bad. I had, however, already worked with that hypothesis.
She did not have much more to offer. I thought I would cut off the surface and
try a little bit deeper inside. I was really thirsty, probably dehydrated and
that watermelon was really sexy. In fact, if I was thirsty, that watermelon was
pretty much the best I could have possibly wished for. Besides, it would not
stop screaming at me, no matter what. Rationalman gave his thumb up to have a
bite and see if I feel good or bad. The watermelon was actually 'freaking' good! I
waited a bit and since it became obvious I was not getting any reaction, I
decided to go ahead and eat some more. It was at times a bit salty, but I could
always spit it out, and overall, it made me feel much better.
It even had some very positive secondary effects. The
people around me was in complete shock, as they watched me dissecting and
eating that street watermelon. It became clear I should be really desperate and
in very deep hardship, if I did not mind to eat such thing and put my health in
risk. So, some man came and offered me a can of soda! I told him I truly
appreciated. I explained I was feeling dehydrated and that is why I gave it a
try to that watermelon. Shortly after he came with a plate of food. Some
seafood with some vegetables and potatoes. It was freaking good! After that, I
was still able to enjoy the beach a while longer, but could not stay much more,
as I was fearing I would get burned. So, I packed all my stuff and got ready to
leave the island. That watermelon had saved my life that day, so I did not want
to abandon it and leave it alone in the beach, so I took it with me. It became,
however, a real pain to carry that huge thing, that monster, around. It was not
long before it got bad anyway and that I finally had to discard it. That watermelon
will always have a space in my heart and will always have visions of it
swimming in the ocean, waving at me: “Youhoo!!”, while moving its leg up and
down in the air.
Javier
