Cozumel

5.30.08

It was yet another early morning for us. WE drove to Playa del Carmen and attempted to catch a Ferry to Cozumel. After wandering the streets of Playa del Carmen for quite some time, we found our Pier for the Ferry and caught it just in the nick of time.
Justin placed a motion sickness patch behind his ear well in advance for our Ferry Trip, so he was very eager to board the Ferry. Justin and his dad had planned to snorkel in Cozumel when we first arrived, but with the grey skies, Justin wasn’t too sure he was ready for the adventure. We sat next to some scuba divers on the Ferry and they informed us the colors of the reef may be jeopardized due to the murky waters, so Justin was pretty disappointed. After a rainy ride (we purposely sat in the open air at the back of the Ferry to hopefully rid us of motion sickness and seemed to do the trick. It was still very warm; there was quite the breeze and some precipitation which I enjoyed. Trey enjoyed watching the waters behind the Ferry, and one time he pointed to the “wake” the Ferry was making and said, “Nasty water!” He knows at such a young age, Mexican water is NASTY!) we arrived in Cozumel and the men were off making plans for their snorkel adventure. Before their departure, we went to a little restaurant and had breakfast! Mine was a banana flavored pancake with caramel topping instead of syrup. Trey and I shared a VERY watered down “pineapple” drink which Trey LOVED! As we sat and ate, two older gentlemen came and serenaded us, for a small fortune of course!
As the men went snorkeling, Marie and I were left to go shopping! We found a really nice woman who sold very inexpensive jewelry. We were told she was the cheapest in the town, and it was the truth! This was my first experience bartering, it kind of made me nervous, but then I figured, “What do I have to lose?!”
We pasted a man that made personalized “friendship” bracelets with your loved-one’s names woven into the threads of the bracelet. I had him make some for Miss Michelle’s kids (Trey helped me pick out the colors of the bracelets), for Trey, and for Justin.

Trey standing in the streets of Cozumel, wearing his friendship bracelet

We also passed a temporary tattoo stand where Marie tried her hardest to talk me into getting a tattoo to cover my growing belly. First of all, I was in a dress and I wasn’t about to hike it up for all of Cozumel to see. Secondly, I really don’t think I would have liked it. So, I told her I wasn’t too interested. THEN, we passed a woman who swore she could braid your hair in 10 minutes for $20. I just passed her and said, “No thank you,” but Marie stopped and started to talk to the lady. She got the sweet lady to cut her price in half and handed me her book to look at all the different designs and styles she could do on my hair. To be honest, I have a bit of anxiety when it comes to my hair. I love cutting it, coloring it, but when it comes to braids and different styles, I get a little nervous! (Ask my friend Abbey! She saw me freak first hand at our first football game for Cheerleading. We were told to have French braids in our hair for the game and I just about died. I know, weird.) So, I wasn’t about to let Marie see me get nervous, so I said, “What the heck.” So, instead of a tattoo to cover my belly, I had some serious braids put in my hair. After it was done, I ended up really liking it. Trey was so good watching me get it done, and she WAS done in 10 minutes!


Notice Trey behind me and off to the left, he was taking the marketplace apart! Just kidding!


You can see by the looks of my face that this was a little uncomfortable, but I had to add this picture. The backdrop was so beautiful with the palm trees!


We then found a covered mall, which was a good thing because it began to rain. Trey and I found a wildlife exhibit which contained monkeys, snakes, “Iggy’s,” spiders, scorpions, birds, and lizards. I knew Trey would LOVE to see these animals, but little did I know how brave he was! He let a monkey sit on his shoulders and he touched a snake.


I love the look on Trey's face in this picture. Isn't he brave? I am so proud of him!


You can see this was NOT his favorite animal to touch, but he still did it!

Of course the only thing he REALLY wanted to see up close, but they were never able to CATCH was the “Iggy!” He is so brave. I took a picture of him with the monkey on his shoulder and then him touching the snake, I was so proud. THEN I hear the animal trainers say to another spectator that it would be $10 for any pictures taken. At that point, whether it was dishonest or not, I snagged Trey and ran! Ten dollars for two pictures? You have GOT to be kidding me! I couldn’t believe it!
I was on a mission to buy an authentic Mexican dress shirt for Trey and one matching for the baby. I asked an older salesman how much he would take for the shirts. He told me $35 a piece and I about croaked. Just as I was about to walk away, Justin and his dad found us and I turned the Bartering King, Justin, over to this man. He was able to talk the man down to $10 a piece. I am so proud of my man, and I can’t WAIT to put our two little guys in their matching shirts!


Trey, after enlightening us with his Spanish Skills

As we were walking the market streets, we let Trey out of his stroller to run a bit. Justin and I were looking at some jewelry and Trey was up ahead of us with Larry and Marie. I guess he had gotten tired of waiting for us, so he turned around and said, “Hey, come on Amigos, let’s go!” I couldn’t believe my ears. I had to ask Marie if I heard him right, and she was too busy laughing to answer. I then knew I had heard correctly. Our little guy picking up Spanish? Who’d ever thought?


Sculpture in the heart of Cozumel

After a bit more shopping and some picture taking, we headed back on the ferry to Playa del Carmen. This trip back was much more sunny and warm! (We still sat in the back on the top in the open air JUST IN CASE it was a rocky trip!)

On our Ferry Ride back to Playa del Carmen

Playa del Carmen ended up being one of Marie and Larry’s favorite spots! They found a really quaint but beautiful hotel that they took a business card from. If they ever venture back to Mexico, they said they would love to stay in that hotel.
We had an authentic dinner complete with guacamole (which I had been wanting for 5 days now!) and the nicest waiter EVER! He was so sweet and great with Trey. Trey was LOVING the guacamole AND the shrimp kabob I had ordered, and I think it was thanks to this waiter. The waiter kept telling Trey how big and strong he was going to get from eating all of that healthy food. I said to Trey, “I bet the waiter ate shrimp when he was young like you, and look how big he is now!” And the waiter corrected me by saying, “I grew up on Iggy’s.” Thankfully, I don’t think Trey understood the waiter’s statement because I think he would have been a little sad for his friends, the Iggy’s. To this day, Trey asks regularly, “Is this food going to make me big and strong” when we are at a meal! Trey also ordered a “Pineapple” drink all by himself. We decided that was the nicest service and the greatest food we had had yet!
We called it a day in the late afternoon as we drove back to Cancun to pack up our belongings. We were leaving very early the next morning and were hoping to get everything organized that night!


View from our hotel balcony