Cancún!
My first time visiting our neighbors to the South! I remember a nana of mine (mom’s brother’s wife’s dad) used to think that we had the border wall in our backyard and should visit Mexico more often. Spoiler alert, we don’t and it’s a solid 10-12 hour drive to get to the border from the burbs of Dallas. Anyways, back to business.
This trip was a family adventure from my mom’s side, including her brother (+ family), parents, and 2 uncles (+family). We mostly stayed at the resort, Rivera Maya, the whole time.
On the first day, I went swimming in the hotel pool (in case you’re new here, me + water = <3) and ate a lot from the buffet. As fate would have it, that landed me an upset stomach and flu-like symptoms for a couple of days. I wasn’t contagious and after the worst had passed, I still enjoyed the pools (with my mouth closed this time), swim-up bars (virgin Piña Coladas for the win), and the tennis courts (me and my nana, mom’s dad, had a love for the game that crossed international borders). I also had some fresh, delicious coconuts.
We also had some fancy dinners where our big group (or a subset of it) ate together. I was sick (see above) for most of it and couldn’t eat much, so I played a TON of Pokemon Platinum on my DSi. Unfortunately, I did not know gym leaders were a thing and so I walked around with a fully evolved Infernape and 0 gym badges. Back to the dinners, I remember having gazpacho and it blew my mind how soup could be served cold. It felt like juice and was an overall weird experience.
We also visited the beach, which was right next to the resort. Playing in the sand and the water was a lot of fun. I had given my glasses to my dad, who put them in the pocket of his swim trunks. When he waded in the water and came out ~30 minutes later, the unthinkable had happened. Pockets? Empty! My mom berated him for a loonngggg time and I had to use my (ugly) backup glasses for a day. The next morning, which was our last morning at the resort, a young woman came around asking our table if someone had lost a pair of glasses because she had found them on the beach. They were mine. Jaws? Dropped. It was just one of those moments straight out of a movie. After talking with her, we realized that she must have been on the beach ~1 hour after us and the waves had brought the glasses back to shore during that timeframe. I still think about that coincidence (or maybe not?) at least once every couple months.
We took a lot of pictures before leaving and headed to the airport, where our bus proceeded to s,ow down and eventually stop. Stranded on the side of the road, we had to wait in the August heat for another bus for the 2-hour ride to the airport, where we jussstttttt made our flight at the last second.
All in all, a pretty mid trip on all fronts (my parents were super busy with my 9-month-old-sister in addition to dealing with my mess). But, learned a lot! See below
Takeaways
- DO NOT DRINK POOL WATER IN MEXICO
- Resorts are a lot of fun, but definitely get out and explore if you’re staying more than 3-4 days
- Gazpacho is probably really good, but if you’re a sick 8-year-old, maybe skip on this one
- The single greatest piece of evidence I have of a God is a kind woman saving me from wearing my ugly backup glasses by finding something lost in the sea
Rohan Chhaya 