isla files: days 1, 2, and 3

January 9, 2008
Isla Files, Day 1:
It’s 5:15 AM and Sonata the Bosnian cab driver is waiting in the drive way. Her Prius is packed with our beongings, 4 suitcases full of the things we think we will need for 11 weeks in Mexico. Leaving Boise is always such a rush. Is this turned on? That off? Have we stopped this or started that? No matter. Our plane leaves in 90 minutes and we will have to be on it. Thank goodness we have such great back-up. Diana will be coming in tomorrow, my parents and the girls will be stopping by, and the neighbors are instructed to be on the look-out!
It’s cold and dark. The snow crunches underfoot as we make our way carefully to the car. We’re off.
Funny how it all just slips away the minute you step outside the airport in Cancun. The air is soft, the light bright. Our shuttle driver is waiting, a little apart from the other drivers. At first we didn’t see him and there was that tingle of panic. “No problem, senora!” We loaded into a van and waited for other patrons. I am concerned about the van and taxi drivers’ habit of idling at the curb. God forbid that any gringo should get too hot or start to sweat!! Finally, the last 2 people are aboard and we are off.
We have opted for the $9.00 each ride to Puerto Juarez as opposed to the more expensive private car. This takes us through the hotel zone along the coast of Cancun. It looks pretty prosperous here. Lot’s of franchises and big hotels. I notice that there seems to be less trash than when we were here 2 years ago. Our cab-partners include a chicken farmer from Missouri. He entertains us with his tale of 19 million chickens,, what to do with the chicken manure, and how to extract calcium from that many chicken eggs! Who knew?? Finally we are alone in the van with the driver and on our way to Puerto Juarez. No high rises here but still the mark of NAFTA. Our driver tries to drop us at “UltraMar” ferry dock but we hold out and are soon at the old puerto. This is coming home: the smell of the ocean and the sound of the waves mixed with faint notes of Spanish music. The ferry is just pulling away from the dock and so we wait.
No problems securing a cab when we reach the island. It would have been nice to stay at Nabalam, if only so that we could have walked through town with our luggage piled on a tricycle cab.
It only takes about 5 minutes to get from the dock to our condominium at La Loma Bonita. Jose Luis was waiting for us and showed us to what will be home for the next 11 weeks. We are in Cuarto 1 on the ground floor. It is very basic and I think Steve was a little disappointed. We have been talking about how we want to embrace a minimalist lifestyle though and this will be fine. We have 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a living room/dining room/ kitchen combo, and a great balcony with beautiful views to the south and west. We can see Cancun, Puerto Juarez, and Punta Sam. I am so glad that we brought the binoculars!
We took stock of our surroundings, unpacked, and discussed going into town. Casa O’s is just 300 meters up the road though so we opted for a more expensive dinner there. It is an amazing restaurant complex built on the edge of the sea. The restaurant kitchen and main seating area are on one circular level and then there area additional terraces down to the beach. We had a great table facing the chanel. The lights of Cancun make an interesting sky line and then midway through dinner a boat to the north treated us to fireworks. Welcome to paradise!
Isla Files, Day 2:
Waking to a soft Carribean breeze and barking gekkos. Where are we? Oh yes, I remember now! We have coffee on the balcony and decide to wander into town to round up some provisions. Our condo is pretty sparsely furnished. For example: we have a gas stove but no grates in the oven. We have a good-sized refrigerator but no food. A 20 liter jug of bottle water but no pitcher.
We make a list and then go habla with Jose Luis. We mention that we would like to get some bikes to ride back and forth into town. He initially suggests Costco or Sam’s Club in Cancun but then as if by magic says “I have some bikes. Maybe we can work something out” and produces 2 bikes that look like the will do the trick. He is a magician! He is going to put some air in the tires and get them cleaned up so that we can take possession of them tomorrow.
I am looking forward to the mobility bikes will give us. We are about 4 miles south of town and the bus stop is about a mile from here. We wandered down there to wait this morning but no bus came. After about 40 minutes a taxi came by and offered us a ride to town for 20 pesos. The taxi driver said the bus is not reliable and doesn’t really have a firm schedule.
The taxi drops us across from the ferry dock and we walk up through “el centro” to the Manana Café. They have fantastic iced coffee and vegetarian sandwiches. This café is just down the street from the local youth hostel and is filled with traveling young people. I love sitting there, watching the street, and listening to the many different languages. We watched a Gringo from the states hit on 2 Sabras from Israel and listened to some French girls giggling over coffee. The streets here are very brightly colored. It is nothing to see a lavender wall bisected by a bright orange door and windows trimmed in turquoise.
After lunch we went to the Mercado, a large open structure housing many small shops. We picked up limes, bananas, melons, and tortillas then walked down to a more formal market for wine, rice, cleaning supplies, and beer. I finally got to buy an island broom but they didn’t have any dustpans, butter, or tea. Funny things to be out of but it didn’t seem to rattle anyone.
They municipality has completely redone the square across from the church and made it more pedestrian friendly. We were sorry to see that they have razed the gazebo and replaced it with a fountain. The fountain was not operating and I am afraid that it may be a high maintenance attraction! Also, it seems odd to have a fountain when you can here the crashing of the waves on the West side of the island. I look forward to Mardi Gras and the activities in the square.
We finished our shopping at the small store across the square. We were able to get tea, butter, tonic water, a dustpan, and some matches. We bought votive candles for our balcony but didn’t have anything to light them with. Steve also bought some tapers. He is excited to use the wine bottle as a candle holder. “Just like in college!” he says.
We now had about 50 pounds of stuff and decided it would be best to take a taxi back to the casa. We really don’t want to take taxis because the bus has more local color and as Jose Luis points out, is a good way to get to know the local people. I couldn’t quite see lugging all that stuff the mile back from the bus stop though. Our cab driver took us through town, past PocNa. I was afraid he had misunderstood our destination but he just wanted to pick up his wife and 15-month-old son, Jonathan, from the Women’s and Children’s Clinic. Jonathan was a complete cutie with huge brown eyes, thick lashes, and chubby little arms and fingers. He got great pleasure out of throwing his shirt and his socks at his father as we buzzed down the road. Oops! There goes his sock out the window! Dad was just going to drive on but we convinced him to go back and pick up the little sock lying in the middle of the road.