Vacation Stresses

It seems downright wrong to complain when on a vacation so luxe. I mean, how can we scowl at anything when we're so fortunate to be on vacation in the first place? But scowl we did, when we arrived at our new lodgings this morning. The dwelling in question isn't terrible, by any means. In fact, in comparison to the neighboring homes, it's downright palatial. And yet, it's a dingy house and the pool isn't so much a pool as a pond. Oh, and there's no hot water, which isn't the worst thing, but is further fodder for grumpy scowling. Steve was really upset, so I immediately turned into a weird cross between a protective Mama Bear and Mr. T. "Nobody messes with my man's vacation."

We immediately fired off an irate e-mail to the owner of the house, and then set out about investigating other options. Imagine our surprise that we could have much better lodging for half the cost! Ugh. So, in the bright sun of paradise we've spent a day trying to figure out what to do, how to get our money back, how to be content.

Really, that last part is the most crucial: we really should be able to be happy with anything. Oh, and I want my honey to get exactly what he wants. Those two don't jibe. I had this notion that we're travelers, not tourists, and that if you're a true traveler, these things happen and you accept and move on. It sounded good at the moment.

In other, really wonderful news, I've fallen in love with Gabriel Garcia Marquez yet again. I'm halfway through "Love in the Time of Cholera," which is fantastic. I want to crawl into the pages and just live this story. I love that feeling.

We went to a bustling town in the Yucatan interior called Valladolid on Monday. A colonial town center was the focus, but really, all of the streets branching off from the cobblestone nucleus were charming. We stayed in a great hotel across from the town square. At lunch we learned that we arrived on Saint Cecelia day, she the patron saint of music. Of course, Mexicans love a good, loud party, so we were hardly surprised when three big stages were erected about ten feet from each other. It was great. We sat in the town square and just watched the town go by. I coulda sat there for days - such great peoplewatching.

What else? I've been thinking a lot about our American ways of looking at the world. I mean, our media depicts Mexicans as being desperate to leave, to storm our borders in search of a better life. Of course that exists, but it isn't all of Mexico, as I tend to think we are lead to believe. There is so much national pride here, so much community. It's great to recognize that there are so many people here happy to be here... I wish we had more balanced images.

I'm full of sandwich and french fries, and am getting sleepy in this awesome, air-conditioned Internet cafe. Time for my nap!