The Cancun before the storm

In early March the novel coronavirus morphed into COVID-19, and then transformed from an epidemic into a pandemic. Fear and gloom took hold around the world. I’ve been asking myself, how can I capture our family’s experience? So I have decided to tell our tale chronologically. For the Rising Family™, COVID-19 was preceded by a long planned vacation to Cancun, Mexico. We chose to roll the dice and go ahead with our trip knowing there was a viral tornado on the horizon. Viva el familia en ascenso! It was one of the best family vacations we’ve ever had.

Sunday

It doesn’t matter how we got there. On arrival in Cancun, the tropical air was a tonic that shored up our wilted stamina. As we left the customs area we were politely accosted by touts for various tours or taxis. Then we arrived in the Marriott Resort’s vast lobby. First impression: immaculate, wonderful scent, beautiful people walking around.

Monday

We departed the hotel promptly at 0830 and took the 48 peso city bus that hurtles around the hotel zone regularly and at high velocity. It soon dropped us at the ferry terminal wherein we crossed the gangplank to our ferry to the Isla Mujeres. 

Isla Mujeres (The Island of Women) is a picturesque island only 4.5 miles long and 0.4 miles wide in the Caribbean just eight miles from Cancun. I rented a golf cart for 800 pesos to get around, but I forgot to bring my license. No problem! Left our room key as collateral.

I drove out to the Dolphin Discovery aqua park for the in-water dolphin petting experience, which was was the main thing Marina wanted to do during this trip. 

After that, we traversed the island on the golf cart to the shallow Plaza Norte beach for some salt water and sand time. It’s a relaxing, popular beach. Met a blind gentleman who sold us pistachios for one dollar.

I reveled in driving around this gorgeous island and found a stretch where Elena piloted the cart for a few hundred hair-raising meters. 

She also found her namesake hotel. 

We dropped off the golf cart at 1700, and then hopped on the packed ferry back to the hotel zone.

We cleaned up, caffeined up, and then went back on the bus to Cancun’s downtown to visit the Mercado 23 night market. It's an authentic local market with low prices to match. We had a great time; it’s thoroughly family-friendly. Booked our trip to the Chichen-Itza temple with a tour agent we met who is a former reporter. He chortled when I told him I was a flack. Naomi and I had some refreshing drinks to suppress the fiery, but delicious, local eats we ordered. The girls played it safe with soft tacos. 

We boarded the bus back. We all got used to the driving, which I found to be similar to India’s driving proclivities except there was much less traffic, so the drivers can go that much faster.

Tuesday

We went to the Mercado 28 market to shop. 

Arrived at the advertised 10:00 a.m. opening time but many stalls were not open. We wandered around and eventually found a few items we wanted to buy (e.g. trophy beach towels for me.) Naomi tried fried ice cream. These markets are an endless sales pitch-and-parry game but, if you have an easygoing attitude, it can be entertaining and you can learn a bit about local folks. 

I bought some Corona-ironic tequila shots for people back home. My travel mates derided my poor haggling skills.

Afternoon, and the main course for the day: hit the ocean surf, the pool and the jacuzzi. It was an afternoon of amazing aquatic family fun. I had my first of many swim-up beers at the pool bar. That, my friends, is civilization at work. Did some wave surfing with Elena; Marina took a rain check. The hotel itself is terrific with lots to do. 

I also played Giant Jenga with Marina and Big Checkers with Elena. The board is about four meters by four meters, the checkers the size of dinner plates. It felt a little freaky to play this game in the hotel courtyard. The game took an hour; Lady E. is getting very crafty…

- To be continued -

Cloudbusting

Courtesy of Troubled Waters

I was never a fervent fan of English pop singer  Kate Bush. That said, the imagery and lyrics from her 1985 song, “Cloudbusting”, have never left me, even after three-plus decades:

  But every time it rains

  You're here in my head

  Like the sun coming out

  Ooh, I just know that something good is going to happen

Her art’s otherworldly style and eclectic symbolism are a perfect antidote for the prolonged stress and isolation we all feel these days. The COVID-19 pandemic is decimating lives and disrupting routines, but it also offers time to take a head trip and escape from our present grim and boring reality.

Thus, I force my mind to turn to more pleasant, sunnier thoughts to purge darker leanings. I've been thinking about the tornado which ripped through the Nashville area in early March. That catastrophe was followed by the virus sinking its red spikes into society. A one-two punch--ugh.

This week I took a break from self-quarantine to ponder the billowing, swirling clouds above. Bush’s Cloudbusting enveloped my brain, transporting my mind to a tranquil, peaceful place for a few minutes. And that pesky emotion, Hope, enveloped its arms around me.

So...I was in an odd phase last year, when I would occasionally stop during my commute home to snap photos of the Tennessee sky. Those big sky images mixed with Kate Bush song became the cocktail that conjured up these escapist thoughts.

'Nuff said. #BeHippyDippyHappy