Adventures in Cancun

Lynsey was very clear with me that she wanted to utilize our passports before they expire. By God’s grace and the kindness of some friends, we were able to do that by going to Cancun, Mexico this past week. It was a celebration of our anniversary, albeit belated. May 24 makes 16 years for us, but why not celebrate our 15th nine months late? (There are no rules for these things and you all know how I feel about legalism.) 🙂

We are not the kind of people who plan things on vacation. I plan things for church because if I don’t then important things slip through the cracks. But on vacation, the important thing is the person beside me. And since she’s good with making no plans and just taking things as they come, I’m good with it, too.

All that to say we did the following: wake up, go to the beach, get lunch, go to the pool, get dinner, go to bed, repeat. That is literally what we did for five plus days. And it was amazing.

Some funny things happened, of course. The first was when I noticed a man trying to sell “cubanos” on the beach. (That’s short for cigars from Cuba, which is not far at all from Cancun.) That same man on another occasion quickly exchanged something with a guest of the resort in a manner that suggested to me their interaction was . . . less than kosher. I made a mental note and mentioned it to Lynsey. I don’t think she believed me.

The next day we were walking along the shoreline and passed by the same “cigar dealer.” He got my attention and asked if I wanted to buy some cigars. I said no and faced forward, continuing our walk. He immediately called again and when I looked at him, quickly swiped down twice on one nostril with his finger. Rest assured that my reply to his second inquiry was also, “no.” Lynsey finally believed me (I think) that time.

As a baptist pastor’s kid who was homeschooled, you can imagine I have not been offered such substances frequently. Perhaps that’s why Lynsey said, “Does he think you look like the kind of guy who would use cocaine?” Who knows? People say pastoring takes its toll on you!

Another funny moment was when an older couple swindled us. One night, the resort turned a courtyard into a type of open market with vendors stationed around in a big square. We wanted to get our daughters something, and Lynsey was keen on these small stuffed letters. One letter was a “C” for Caroline and the other an “M” for Meredith. They were colorful and had beautiful embroidery.

I asked the vendor, “Cuanto cuesta?” Which means, “How much?” He wanted $40 apiece! I scoffed and said no way. But I had $20 in my wallet and Lynsey wanted them, so I said I’d give them to him for “veinte.” He and his wife tried to tell me how much she worked to make those stuffed letters by hand. “Mucho trabajo!” she said. They did look good and they were ornate. But I wasn’t going to budge. Finally the wife said, in Spanish, “Twenty five!” The husband agreed, and so did I. So we got them both for $25. I had a lot of fun, and Lynsey was terrified the whole time. (Don’t worry she’s okay.)

The next night we were in one of the gift shops in the resort just perusing. Do you want to guess what we found in the gift shop for $8 apiece? That’s right–the exact same stuffed letters that the wife had “mucho trabajo” over. I guess she did exert “mucho trabajo,” but it wasn’t in hand stitching those letters. It was in swindling us! Mi abuelita!?

It was a memorable experience though, so I’m not upset. We were happy to pay $12.50 apiece for them instead of $8. The story is definitely worth the amount of money they got from us.

We are glad to be home, but reentry was tough, let me tell you what. Eighty-five and sunny is so much better than 37 and foggy. But the Lord is here with us, and the people of Lake Hills are here, not to mention our wonderful daughters. And Gigi (Lynsey’s Mom) I’m sure was ready to go home. So we are home, too, grateful to have had that time together, but also grateful to have a new home to return to and a wonderful church family to belong to.