05/27/17
(I have to apologize for the lack of photos. Connection is not great here, I may try to upload more when I return.)
Recently, in the USA, there is a lot of concern about rising racial incidents. In a week, multiple video on racial harassments. Some would say: this is not new. The Irish, Italian, gingers were considered unwelcomed immigrants in the 1920s. Then again, there was not internet, planes,tv and youtubes then. Science have advanced, and we all know all races came from Africa, and we share DNA with chimpanzees (maybe that explains some of our less civilized behaviors). With those in mind, (and white the goal of spending time on a beach under the sun), I decided to travel to Mexico, the land where USA is adjacent to, but seemingly dislike.
I has my usual Friday of work and volunteering. Deciding to maximize my time, I took a red eye to Houston, before transferring to Cozumel. A lovely island off Cancun facing the Caribbean, it is a popular tourist and cruise ship stop. Known for its beautiful reefs for diving (which I cannot do with glasses), it is also a place divided into locals and US. In fact, the beach front downtown use more US dollars than pesos.
Landing in Cozumel, I went through immigration and custom, receiving a stern warning of not taking photos in the immigration area (what can I say, I was bored). Funnily, I was told I had to take the airport shuttle to the hotel for a sum of US$5. While everything was easy, my body seemingly recognized that I am on vacation and decided to shut down too. I was tired and felt under the weather, and had to take a nap. Waking up after a few hours of tossing and turning, I wandered around the town searching for water and food.
Downtown Cozumel is a paradise for tourist with money to spend. It is a beach town full of tours and water sports. However, the prices are also pretty similar , if not higher, than USA. The water is crystal clear, the weather is warm and humid, bars ate everywhere and shopping is aplenty. Being on an island, things also operate on island time. With so many off to diving in the day, dinner and drinks do not seem to start until 8pm, and I was told it last well into the early morning. Unfortunately, I was not feeling that great still, and decided to call it early. Hopefully tomorrow is a better day for me.
One thing I did notice: there are a lot more foreigners here than just USA people. It seems the fame of Cozumel and Mexico extend beyond just North America. With technology. the world is getting smaller by the minute. People who want to stay stagnant and isolate themselves may soon become obsolete, while the rest of humanity moves on. Maybe a good lesson in world history would be useful?
Chen's Travel Blog 