Acapulco, Mexico

Greetings from Acapulco, Mexico, the former playground of the rich and famous and now just the playground of Phyllis and Jerry. Here`s an update on the ship news. Yesterday morning the sewage removal system on deck 2 decided to stop working. Our friends have a cabin on that deck and they flew out of their room as fast as their swollen ankles could carry them. Fortunately, and by some miraculous intervention, the problem was fixed in a short time. That was good because the entire ship was starting to smell like a floating garbage dump. At least I, spoiled brat that I am, could go out on my veranda (which is about 3ft by 3ft) and get a whiff of fresh air every now and then.

We actually docked in Huatulco, Mexico, in the state of Oaxaja at about 11 am and we make a quick beeline for the beach, where we hung out till it was time to get back on the ship. We kept stalling as long as we could, dreading the dinner table. Actually, that turned out well because one couple decided not to show up. I know that is because of Jerry,Sandy, Terry and me. We made it clear on the very first night that we are liberal Democrats and they are beyond conservative Conservatives. So you can just imagine: it was like water and oil. Anyway, the previous night the ultra redneck got into it with my Jerry who, as you know, can be extremely, sarcasticly whitty at times and can make you cower with one of his law enforcement looks of terror. Anyway, the redneck (who is so much beyond that term that I can´t find a word to describe him) was aruging with Jerry, egging him on, and finally, he got "the look" of death and shut up for the rest of the meal, and did not come to dinner last night. Now, mind you, I have nothing against rednecks. In fact, my daughter is one. But this guy is totally over the edge. So, we had a nice peaceful dinner with the toothless artist and her strangely dressed husband artists. At least they are educated. They told us they used to drive a VW van. Now, how did I already know that? Oh yes, the husband wears a large evil-eye on a chain, so I had to stare at that as well as the false teeth, which didn´t exactly fit in her mouth. They sort of hung out one side. Can you imagine, I still managed to finish my entire serving of Chateaubriand. Of course, I was so stuffed I fell asleep during the show, which Jerry and I do almost every night. The other night was 50s and 60s night and we managed to stay up and dance till the wee hours. We were sitting with a couple from Liverpool, England. The wife told me she used to "nip" out of school everyday and go down the The Cavern to watch the Beatles. So, she never went past the 10th grade. But she had a big diamond ring on so I guess she got what she wanted in the long run. She and her hubby were blabbing away in the Queen´s English, Liverpool style and of course Jerry didn´t understand a bloddy word. He kept leaning over and whispering in my ear...what did she say? Anyway, we had to recover from all that dancing and me translating English to English all night so we slept late. I saw it was raining so I went back to sleep. The minute I was finally out Jerry woke me up to tell me it was raining. It didn´t last, the sun came out and the day was glorious.

Yesterday I did something really interesting. I took a class (a real one) in learning about and how to use the sextant to do celestial navigation. There is an expert onboard, who gives talks and lessons on navigation as well as history and culture of the areas where we are. Well, I did extremely well and will receive a graduation certificate, a photo of myself using the instrument, and great satisfaction that my mind still works, because the damn thing was hard to learn, especially the math calculations. Now, I can find my way out of the middle of the pool, off Court Six, and especially important, to the good restaurants! To hell with the GPS!

Right now I am sitting in a very noisy Internet Cafe in the middle of the old city of Acapulco. The car horns are driving me mad. Everyone is talking. It´s very hot. We´ve been here before and it hasn´t really changed that much so we will probably head for the Acapulco Princess to veg out for the rest of the day at their beautiful pool. If we go on the beach we will be attacked by 3000 vendors selling every piece of crap imaginable. I am sure some of it will find it´s way into Jerry´s suitcase. In fact, some of it already has. He took an extra bag of magazines which he hasn´t read, some dating back to the stone age. As he reads them, he tosses them to make room for useless souveniers and crap that we pick up along the way. That does not include jewelry by the way. I am expressly forbidden, upon pain of death, to darken the door of any jewelry store. I will fix him, though. The next port stop is Cabo San Lucas, location of that famous Mexican family´s emporium: Cohen´s Jewelry Store. I kid you not, and I will be the first one off the ship and in there.

There were no ambulances at either the last of this port stop, so I guess the medical staff onboard can handle the rest of the problems. I heard someone say they had food poisoning, but I think she probably got that in Mexico. It was Montezuma rearing his ugly head. Personally, I don´t know how anyone can get sick from the buffet or dining room. They are constantly running around with hand sanitizers and will not let us near anything edible unless they bathe us in the stuff. I will probably expire from hand sanitizer poisoning, if anything.

Well, I guess it´s time to walk the city some more before passing out on the chaise lounge at the hotel, with a Margarita falling out of my grasp and Nachos littering my lap. It is a pretty interesting city and after all, we do speak the language and it´s fun to watch people´s expressions when we start babbling at them in Spanish.

So, adios from the laid-back land of Mexico until next time. By the way, it costs $1 per hour to use the internet on land and 65 cents per minute on the ship. I will post photos when we are able to, since seeing is believing.

We hope all is well with everyone. Love to all, The Travel Nuts