Oops its been a long time since I updated! Finals ended on a high note, I got to dive a couple more times before leaving, and getting off the island went with just a couple hiccups (more on that later).
I am currently in Playa Del Carmen for MARVET for the next two weeks! A short day of traveling yesterday brought me to this beautiful country that really is nothing like Grenada. I feel more like I am in a spanish-speaking part of Florida based on the flora, shops, and infrastructure, than in another country!
I had to go the airport early to catch my flight (eww mornings!) and had the "pleasure" of dealing with a different airport than the one I usually fly through to go Grenada. So much bigger, much more annoying - definitely don't want to take Lucy there! I lucked out because my flight was supposed to be 3.5 hours long, then 3 hours when I got on the plane, and then when we got to cruising altitude, they announced that it would only take 2.5 hours! I was pretty pleased about that! The airport here is pretty much what I would expect a smaller town USA airport to look like. Definitely not Grenadian! I made it through immigration and customs in 45 minutes with just enough time to catch the hourly bus to Playa rather than have to wait around! The bus was super nice - it was like a greyhound bus but better. The trip took just under an hour and they dropped us off at a bus station about a (short) block away from the hotel. As we drove through Playa, I paid extra special attention to road names and street signs so I'd have an idea of what to do with my map when I got off the bus. Unfortunately, I was stupid and didn't really stop to consider whether I should go left or right, and just went right. Took the "scenic" tour to the hotel (aka I got lost). That was an interesting predicament, as I speak 0 spanish and everyone around me looked like the spoke 0 english...A kind man ended up stopping to ask if I needed help and pointed me in the right direction!
It's certainly very hot and humid here. More humid than hot I suppose, but it's been raining on and off the whole time. Today is a day off to explore a little more than yesterday, although I expect more rain in my future. We had originally planned on diving today, but my allergies were really bad at home this past week and my ears and sinuses are still on the mend (I don't think I could equalize the pressure underwater at this point). The time is an hour behind what I'm used to and I beat my roommate awake by a long shot haha.
Our hotel is very pretty - it's called Hotel Cielo and it reminds me of Grenada so much because the structure is built on an outdoors base with rooms that enter from within. In other words, its not some big tall fancy building but rather a quaint, spanish style building with plenty of fresh air and decorative accents. I like it. I wonder how my American school counterparts will find it when they arrive today.
So far we've passes Burger King, McDonalds, Haagan Das, Starbucks, and Subway and the map shows a Dominos Pizza nearby haha. Very Americanized and not *quite* like Grenada haha. As you walk down the street, vendors call out to you to look at their items or eat at their restaurants, you just have to ignore if you're not interested. Kind of difficult for a polite person because I just want to tell them no thank you or not be rude (but then they've got you hooked). We went for a long walk yesterday evening with plans to figure out dinner. No one in our group of three had any real requests, and we ended passing some guy eating pizza and drooling over that. Who would have thought my first meal in Mexico would be at an Italian restaurant! Go figure. I'm not actually a huge Mexican food lover - I like quesadillas and the occasional taco (but I prefer my homemade version with ground turkey meat) but I'm just not huge on beans and rice. Lucky for me, this is a hugely touristy area and I have every choice under the sun! Not at all like Grenada!
No comments:
Post a Comment