Playa Del Carmen is said to be the fastest growing city in Mexico. It's about an hour south of Cancun, in the coast known as Riviera Maya. While Cancun is totally taken over by American vacationers and spring-breakers during this time of the year, it is a good compromise between being touristy and too rusty, with the same beautiful beach and less pretentious atmosphere. It also has world class diving sites, which prompts Pascal to take his diving certificate here. While he's working on his certificate, I work on my much-needed Spanish. I walked in a school yesterday just in time to sign up for a week-long beginner's class. I wonder how much I'll accomplish in a week though, and also wonder if my spanish will not be completely messed up at the end of this trip by all the bits and pieces i learn from different countries. I already had to de-learn the very little vocabulary i know. When the teacher asked us to list 3 kinda of fruit in spanish today, I proudly yelled out pomelo! only to see his confused face. The word pomelo means grapefruit in Argentine Spanish but it doesn't even exist in Mexican Spanish!
I enjoy the slow pace here, and strangely sometimes I forgot about our backpacking status. Yesterday I had thai food for lunch and walked in Starbucks to order a tall latte (in English!), then walked by a sports bar to check if they have NHL on! I am a little bit ashamed, but hey, that cup of tall latte and the thai curry are the little things that connect me to the world i know, and just as Stacy says, it comforts my travelling mind. :)
Here everything evolves around the beach. I love the beach at dusk, when most of the tourists are gone and activities subside. Local people come out after work to enjoy the beach that really should belong to them, or play ball games. Not a bad way to end a work day, isn't it? I am envious! :)
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