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August 26, 2004
And We're Back
It was wonderful.
It was relaxed, sunny, very warm, and nice. A great way to wind down the summer and spend some time with the entire family before Kate becomes a freshman. There’s a lot to be said for all-inclusive resorts.
We stayed near Playa del Carmen at one of the Iberostar chain’s locales. Being a European chain, we shared the beach with people from all around Europe so the plethora or languages and accents were nice. Quite often announcements, already being made in Spanish and English, mixed in Italian, French, and German.
During the day, we eschewed the activities, of which there were many choices, and stayed at the pool or the beach. We did make it into Playa del Carmen for a few hours of souvenir shopping and took a half-day trip to see the Mayan ruins at Tulum – very impressive.
Each night there was a 20-minute pre-show, a five-minute comedy break and then an hour’s main show. And each night was pretty cheesy. Most nights it involved bringing audience members onto the stage and finding fresh ways to embarrass them. Kate and I got selected the first night to participate, without being told what we’d be doing. Well, we were one of six couples asked to dance a sexy Merengue, not something either of us had trained in. I wanted to have some fun; Kate wanted to find a dark corner and hide. Still, we strutted our stuff and after a few minutes, the music ended and an audience member was invited to vote one couple off the stage. We managed to be the third couple voted off, not bad at all.
Anyway, Sunday night, Kate wanted to see their stage version of Aladdin so we agreed. When they got to the Genie’s arrival, it was pretty interesting. Aladdin and Genie sit and talk about the three wishes. Aladdin suddenly began talking about snow…and Christmas and they suddenly began dancing to a cover version of Wham’s “Last Christmas.” For his second wish, Aladdin wanted to see Michael Jackson perform and lo and behold, there was a guy in an MJ mask, moonwalking and everything. Thankfully, for the third wish, he wanted to be a prince and turned, not into the purple-clad sex symbol, but Prince Ali. Very, very odd.
On Monday, it was a salute to the movies in one theatre or a salute to musicals in the other. We were debating and as Robbie was purchasing something from a vendor, we heard the lush theme to the original Star Trek TV series. Sure enough, the chorus came out in Las Vegas style sequins and feathers and did a dance that resembled nothing from the 23rd century. It did, though, help us make a decision. The movie dancing was fun, the selections varied although leaning heavily on contemporary rap and songs from very familiar classics such as Dick Tracy, Wild, Wild West, and Austin Powers. The low point had to be another Michael Jackson number that came from no movie we recognized while the high point was a hysterical send-up of “My Heart Will Go On,” as a guy in Rose drag danced with a Leon-type.
Anyway, we had a ball. Weather screwed up our flights in both directions and we arrived home very early Wednesday morning. The rest of Wednesday was spent unpacking, doing laundry, sorting mail and e-mail, buying groceries and getting our lives back on track. After all, in just a few days, we hit the road again, this time taking Kate to George Washington University.
It was great to be away and it’s nice to be back into the rhythm of things.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at August 26, 2004 12:14 PM
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