Musings on life, parenting, Jesus, and more...

The skinny road leading in and out of Tulum is busy with tour vans and people on bicycles (without helmets of course). The combination seems dangerous, especially with the way our driver has been driving, but maybe the danger and the thrill of things like that in Mexico is partly what makes it a fun and different place for people to visit. The ancient ruins of Tulum are an incredible site! I love wandering through thousand year old architecture for some reason. I always have, ever since I spent the summer in Italy during my senior year of college.  These here in Quintana Roo are the most beautiful I’ve ever seen, probably largely due to the amazing scenic backdrop of the Carribean Sea.  After a 30 minute educational tour we were set lose to wander on our own for another hour. Here’s the two minute time lapse version if you want a taste of what it’s like here: This was our guide for the day. He gave the tour in English and French but also spoke fluent Spanish of course, and 2 o...

Today was such an awesome day! I got up early to take the 45 minute ferry ride over to Cozumel for a 4 hour snorkeling tour.  The snorkeling honestly wasn’t even that great. The first reef we stopped at had some pretty Dori and Nemo fish… that’s what the kids like to call them, but after that it was pretty boring. Maybe I have watched one too many documentaries, but I really feel like the ocean here is polluted and dying, not at all how it is advertised. Not how it probably use to be 15 or 20 years ago.  Anyway though… back to my amazing day. Despite the lame snorkeling, the boat ride was exciting and I met a really nice girl from France, who is currently living and working in Northern Mexico teaching French. And she was on the tour with two nice young Mexican gentleman, brothers on vacation together from Monterrey, that she had just met that morning.  After the tour was over the four of us spent the afternoon together. We walked around Cozumel, stopped for drinks and shr...

Day 3 in Playa and I’m back at Starbucks. Not the same one, and I actually set out specifically not to go to Starbucks, yet here I’ve ended up again.  I wandered down the busy 5th Avenue district for quite sometime, trying to find the perfect restaurant to stop at, but the thing is, even though I’m craving Mexican food, the thought of having a Mexican man wait on me right now is not appealing.  More on that topic later, it might warrant its own post. For now, let me tell you about the perfect Starbucks. It’s right on the corner of 5th Ave and Calle 10 Nte. (Is it just me or is it a little confusing that there is 10 Avenida Nte and a Calle 10 Nte that intersect) I have a great view of the Sur Steak House across the street, with their giant awesome outdoor bar and floor to ceiling wall of lighted liquor bottles.  I can people watch from the comforts of my chair, with mellow Starbucks music playing in the background, air conditioning, and no worries of being harassed by an o...

Starbucks is so much more than just a place to get a good cup of coffee. They have created a place where people can feel at home all over the world. You see, traveling is great. I’ll be the first to say how much I love visiting new places, and while I like to “go where the locals go” sometimes, other times I just want to relax in the comfort of something I know, something that is familiar.  I think that a lot of times we tend to look down on businesses that have “gone global.” I know I personally use to hate seeing McDonalds all over the world, because I associated them with unhealthy food.  It might be hard to argue that nutritionally speaking Starbucks is any better than McDonalds, but again, I don’t think it’s the product that they are selling necessarily that makes them appealing... its the feeling you get when you go there.  Everything is familiar, you can order the same drinks you order at home and be pretty confident that it will taste the same...