Meh... heeee...co

Before the memory of our seriously siesta style vacation drifts away I have to share the bliss. Philippe and I went to Cozumel, Mexico for six days of sun, ceviche, scuba diving and wandering around. The heat, white sand and turquise blue water were an immediate sedative. We stayed at Tamarindo Bed & Breakfast within walking distance of everything; it is owned by a very hospitable French woman. The island is very commercial/touristed but we avoided that as much as possible and ate at the local taco stands. One day we rented a VW bug and drove to the other side of the island where most beaches were empty or full of local Mexican's rather than tourists. We stopped in the middle of the island to walk through the Mayan ruins at San Gervasio which pay tribute to the goddess Ixchel. During one period of history every Mayan woman on the Yucatan Peninsula was expected to make one trip here to pay tribute to this goddess of fertility and the moon.

I took my first scuba diving lesson. I have always been nervous about the thought of relying on a tank of oxygen deep below the surface of the sea... maybe it was my early exposure to the movie Jaws in the late 70's... so basically I convinced myself not to think about it at all until I was on the boat receiving the crash course in underwater sign-language, at which point I grew progressively anxious. Before I had time to change my mind, I was getting the signal to "go" flip backwards into the ocean off the boat. Once I was in the water all fear and uncertainty washed away instantly and I was very relaxed. We took two more dives later in the week and saw every type of sea life that was pictured on the laminated card in the dive shop. Highlights for me were the moree eel, sea turtle and barracudas.