we arrived in Cancun around 10:30 a.m. on Friday. Being here 3 or 4 times, we basically know our way around so we took a cheap bus into downtown and walked several blocks to our favorite hostel. A lady named Edith (pronounced "e-DEETH") cleans the rooms and keeps the kitchen stocked and clean. We visited there several years ago when the children were little. The brightly colored rooms, hammocks, and $20/night bill made for a good stop on the way to our 5-star resort. Mostly, we want to give our children a good look at "real" life in Mexico. Even in Cancun, people live in poverty. As an honest resort host observed, room service and all-inclusive gluttony is not real life, it is "fake." The majority of the world is poor and lives in distress. Our family had our share of real life when the techno bar next door kicked on their all-night party. No lie. ALL. NIGHT. LONG. The drums vibrated the block walls, the strobe light flashed through the glassless windows. Around 1 am (somehow we had fallen asleep), I awoke in fear. The DJ was playing a "song" with a steady heartbeat rhythm, low groans, and screams. I felt like I was listening to a haunted soundtrack. So I prayed and prayed and prayed. I prayed for peace and safety. I prayed for the Lord to surround our room with angels of protection- to give us a miracle of sleep and joy. Gladly, our children were sleeping soundly.
At 3 am, Eric and I awoke at the same time, both of us laughing hysterically from odd, hilarious dreams. I was dreaming about some girl named Peg Pigswith... and something about a flock of geese (for some reason that was hilarious at 1 in the morning). Eric was dreaming about a marching band (I'm guessing the techno beat had something to do with that) and some girl trying to talk to the drum major through her trumpet mute. We shared our dreams and laughed together for a good half hour. At 5 am, the boys woke up frustrated with the loud music (seriously guys, it was like trying to sleep in the same room as someone beating on a full drum set!). We made up ridiculous stories about the music- maybe there was a guy stomping in the room above us. Or maybe Edith's washing machine was banging and she was just singing really loud. They giggled and giggled. It was good to laugh together. So the Lord gave us a miracle. He turned an extremely frustrating experience into fun and joy. We were tired but we were together.
Yesterday we spent the morning hunting for shark's teeth (I think we found around thirty so far) and headed down the beach to Cancun Palace. For sitting through a 90-minute timeshare presentation, they gave us a family all-inclusive pass to their resort (free drinks! free buffet all day!), and passes to 6 other expeditions. Tomorrow we will tour Tulum (ancient ruins), Thursday is Wet 'n Wild water resort, Friday is Isla Mujeres (Woman Island- hmmm...), next week is a speed boat Jungle Tour and Zip Line. It has rained the last few days but only for minutes at a time and then the sun returns. Yesterday a full rainbow stretched over the Caribbean Sea. I have never seen anything so beautiful... the ocean is azure, the sands pure white, the people bronze and kind. We are grateful, so grateful for the blessing of this place. It is good to be in the Lord's beautiful land. It is good to relax. It is good to be family.
