Meeting new people

Transportation around Cancun, for those of us with no automobile, consists of buses and taxis. The bus costs $6.5 MN (like $.61 US) (less actually if you are truly a Cancunense which really I am not), and the taxis around centro, for the most part, are $15 MN (or $1.40 US). Plus things around my neighborhood and that fit my need are mostly walkable. I used to walk two blocks (good sized blocks, mind you) to the bus stop on Xcaret on the other side of Plaza las Palmas, and catch the bus to the beach, when I went to Playa Langosta (no matter where you go on that bus it's $6.5 MN). Every now and again if I felt like getting home faster or if there were 90 people at the bus stop I would hail a cab back to my apartment (even the bus stop dropping you off on Coba and La Costa is like 3 buildings from my building, ridiculously close, practically curbside). It would cost either $40 MN or $50 MN, depending on the taxista - one told me one day that it would be $50 and I said, "Pero ayer era $40!" And he said to me, in English, "Yes, but you are white." So I sat back in my seat and said, "Well, okay, since you're honest."

I don't think I have taken a bus now since like March. After mid-March I had had so much beach and sun that I was actually getting sick of laying out. I was tan - oh my hell I was tan! Which is a huge deal to me because my entire life I have wanted to be tan and seriously never was until I met the tropical sun - Ft Lauderdale for Spring Break in 1985 (who can forget the classic Lovey Howell fainting episode at the Wendy's?). I went to Playa del Carmen for two nights with Laura and her mom who was in town visiting, and we would just get up each morning and go to the beach, and lay there all day. One day I was half and half under an umbrella, but for the most part, direct intense tropical sun from 9:30am to 4:30pm. By the time we got home from that, I was sort of sunned-out and needed a break. Turns out that break lasted until like last week.

I met Nancy on April 1 and a couple days later she phoned me and asked if I wanted to drive around with her on Fashion Show business - I did and we had fun and I agreed to be Raffle Girl and the rest is history. Anyway we were out and about nearly every day. Now and again I would spend an afternoon at Carisma with Liz or some time with Nancy at Marbella, but I so did not have the dedication that I had had since December (not to mention the month of power-tanning at Bally's in Aloha, five days a week, which is the standard pre-vacations prep work). So my tan slowly faded away and I really didn't care that much until the one afternoon about a week before the show when I looked down at my ringless middle finger on my left hand and realized I no longer had a tan line there.

Since the show I have been a bit more dedicated. My arms are tan, the ring lines are coming back, people go "Oh did you go to the beach today?" again. So that makes me feel better.

MY POINT WAS, I don't take the bus anymore. Instead I have started taking a taxi to the beach. How lazy is this? Well, it's between $80-100 MN lazy per day. I guess I can justify it because I don't really go out that much, and also it offers me a great opportunity to practice my Spanish. The ride to the beach is much longer, and I generally get a good conversation going about any number of topics, and plus there is the whole trying to explain to the taxista where exactly to turn right after the retorno by Playa Langosta and VCI... so I am learning my directions and stuff.

Taxis to Janet's and Nancy's, though much shorter trips, and dramatically less expensive, ALWAYS yield the same conversation. I get in and let them know I am going to SM 17, Xpu-Hil y Contoy (sometimes they argue that Xpu-Hil isn't in SM 17 but it is). Then they say Where are you from and I always joke, Cancun, and then they laugh and say No where are you FROM? And I say Estados Unidos, Oregon, and they say Oh Oregon. And then they ask Do you live here now? And I say Yes, and they say How many years have you lived here? And I say 7 months and they say Oh well your Spanish is not bad and I laugh and say It's not good at all (and of course throw in my famous "Lo entiendo pero no puedo hablar lo!") and they tell me Well my English isn't very good and I say I'm sure it's fine but it is more important for me to have Spanish than it is for you to have English and they say True, but I need it for my job and I say True but I need it because I live here, and then we all laugh and by this time we are usually on Avenida Contoy by Janet's condos or on Calle Pedernal in front of Nancy's gate, and they say What is your name and I say Joyce, and they try that on for a while (it's never been easy) and then I ask What is your name and they tell me and I say Well ____________, mil gracias, hasta proximo y que tenga un buen dia, and I give them my $15 MN.

I have had taxistas ask for my telephone number, ask me if I want to go to the beach, ask me if I want to be their girlfriend (because of the Where do you work question that is often thrown in there too, and my answer of I don't, I'm writing a book - they think I am rich), ask me if we can teach each others' respective languages, ask me if I am going to need a cab the same time the next day. I enjoy the chit chat. So many people give the taxistas shit and on some message boards you read people saying Don't get in a taxi, they will rip you off (okay, maybe that is the case in the ZH but even when I have had to take a taxi home from Over 30 to the tune of $150 MN - reprehensible! - I have had great drivers - one guy even waited with me in the parking lot while my neighbor threw up in the bushes - we sort of lost track of her though and turned to find her passed out on the pavement beside us - woops - and then helped carry her up the three flights of stairs, into her apartment, into her bedroom, and then into MY apartment for a quick bug check as I had had some problems recently and what the heck, he was right there and happy and gentlemanly enough to do it - I see him sometimes at the taxi stand by Over 30, nice guy). For my money, and up to this point, I have had pleasant experiences and will continue to utilize them for my transportation and educational needs. It's all a part of the experience.