Whoa. Seriously whoa.

So I have, like, so much to talk about.

This past Friday I was eating the midday meal (which occurs at around 3:30 pm) with my family, quietly preparing myself for an uneventful weekend, when I received a phone call from my host sister Rebeca. "Hola Sara, Quieres ir a la playa conmigo?" Do you want to go to the beach with me?

Today? Yeah, we'll leave around 6 this evening. Sure, why not? I envisioned us piling into her boyfriend Roy's car with a few friends, driving a few hours to a nearby beach, spending the evening, and driving back late but at some fairly reasonable hour.

Then she tells me "pack your suitcase and make sure you tell your program director, because we'll be going in an airplane. Okay, bye!" WHAT? Wait, details please?!?

So turns out (and honestly many of the details were only revealed to me as they happened; I was definitely along for the ride) we had been invited by a friend of Roy to a full weekend in Playa del Carmen, very close to Cancun and considered by many to be the prettiest beach in the world. We were flown there in a private jet (complete with sushi and champagne) and stayed for two nights in a very nice, very big house with the parents of one of the friends and a group of about 15 young people (all very nice!). We wined, we dined, we danced, we spent hours on the beach and hours at the pool, we watched the sun set and rise again, and generally just tired ourselves out. I have been in some very luxurious surroundings in my life (thanks Uncle Joe) but this was really rather outlandish.


Rebeca and me with the Lear Jet that flew us to and from Cancun


Actually, turns out that the airplane belongs to the government and much of our trip was funded by the governor of Puebla because it was his son who invited us. This was all revealed to me through the course of the weekend, but no one was too explicit about it. Now that I'm back within reach of Google I feel a little uncomfortable about it, but at least I know that if I get in trouble in Mexico I can call on some powerful friends.

But aside from political nuances, the trip was AMAZING. Friday when we arrived we went out dancing in the town of Playa del Carmen then watched the sun rise over the beach. Saturday we went to the beach just after brunch. The beaches are nothing but fine white sand and water that's about five different shades of blue. And of course tiny swimsuits, coconut tanning oil, and free-flowing Corona. We also drove into Cancun Saturday night and after dining at an incredible restaurant (I had the grilled octopus- oh yeah!) we went to the CoCo Bongo, a famous club and danced until closing time. Sunday we recovered floating in the pool and doing some light wandering around the town. Needless to say, the flight back was considerably more subdued than the the flight there.



Giovanna, myself, and Rebeca at the beach!!

I was sad to leave, but trying to keep up that pace for more than a weekend would kill me. Sigh.