Emails while in Mexico! part 2

Sent January 3rd, 2010. 2:07pm

Hola!!  Como Estas!?  Estoy muy bien!

Instead of staying in Tulum Pueblo on Saturday, I headed to the beach and stopped by the spot we stayed in last year (El Mar Caribe).  Reyes, who we met last year, is still running the place.  It was a lot more mellow last year, but this time around it´s packed with tenters.  Its like a tent farm.  Must be 50 tents.  Anyway, there was no place to stay, so I paid 80 pesos to camp.  I set my hammock up between two trees in this sweet little canapy type cove.  There´s a mexican family there that has been staying for a month and a half already!!  They are super nice.  They call me James. I don´t remember all their names, but one guy´s named Bajaro (he´s a funny dude... keeps making sounds like a bird, so people started calling him the birdman), another woman is named Dulce, and there are two twin girls that are probably about 3 years old... one named Melodia, and I don´t think I was ever told the other one´s name.  In fact, I just figured out today that there were two of them!!  haha.  They´re twins, so it´s understandable I guess :)  They are so freaking cute!  They basically just romp around and make friends with anyone.  They took a liking to me when I gave them a some wafer crackers.  They then proceeded to climb all over me and hang out with me on my hammock while the family sat around playing music and laughing at the birdman. 

Anyway, I got ahead of myself.  last night, after I set my hammock up, I noticed that everyone around me had a nicer (bigger) hammock.  Mine was ok, but apparently mine was not meant for sleeping in... it was supposed to be the type of hammock you hang out in for a while and then sleep in something much more comfortable.  The family was explaining this to me, and then mentioned that Reyes has some larger ones for sale.  So, I brought my old hammock to Reyes, mentioned to him that I bought this one last year from him, and that I´d like to make some sort of deal trading mine plus some money for a much larger hammock.  He had no problem with it, and took the whole price of my old hammock (450 pesos... roughly $40) off the price of the new one.  The new one is freaking amazing!!!!!!!!!  Not all hammocks are created equal, and this new one rocks!!  My old one had 135 strings... my new one has 214.  135 strings feels like you´re sleeping on a G-string compared to this new one... which makes me feel like i´m in a cradle.  It started to get cold early in the evening last night, so I went to town and purchased a blanket for $9.  I cut a hole in it, and turned it into a jacket of sorts.  Later that night I used that blaket/jacket thingy, along with my wool blanket I brought with me... and a winter hat... and still froze last night!!  It wasn´t the best sleep at all.... But don´t worry... Frozen in Mexico is nothing like Frozen in MA. 

When I bought the blanket in town, I also purchased a case of Sol (local beer), and brought it back to the camp site to share with everyone.  The birdman gave me a nickname camillo (which he said means camel??), and then introduced me to a bunch of travelers that he had met, and we partied for hours while sitting in boats on the shore.  I met this really funny drunk guy named Hermando (who calls me his brother)... which is kinda funny because brother is Hermano... so mi hermano, hermando! haha.  Also met a crazy group of girls from all over the USA and canada.  A motley crew of sorts.  One girl was named Geddy... like eddie.  She was a tough girl that kept wanting to arm wrestle everyone.  Another was named Cali... from Cali.  There was this trashed and loud girl named Hannah, and her friend Andrea who was looking out for the whole crew in a motherly sorta way (and I think they really needed the looking out).  I met an american guy named Andy who lives in Tulum, has this schnauzer dog named travis, and works with Reyes´family in Merida.  And finally, my new buddy Pepe.. who is friends with Andy.

This morning was a little rough... my head didn´t hurt, but my body did.  Even though my hammock is super comfy... hammock sleeping is a tough life :)  I woke up... put my bathing suit on, wandered to the water, and layed in a boat on the shore for a while.  That helped. 

After a while, I went back to my hammock and made some guac from some ingredients I got a market the day before.  It was delish!  ... But now i have to poop (hahah)... and that´s no fun in mexico!!  So, instead of poopin´at the campgrounds, I took a taxi to town (which is where i´m at now).  The taxi driver was helping me with my spanish, and was really a cool guy.  He said he is learning english from a teacher, and wants to move to New York to live someday.  I told him that I wanted to move to Mexico to live someday, and we both laughed.  He gave me the slow tour around town, showing me all the sites just for the hell of it.  It was nice of him... but I still had to poop, so I was kinda hurrying him up a bit.  I don´t know what happened to the poop, but I don´t have to go as bad as I did before... so i´m emailing all of you now.  lol. 

From here, i´m gonna find some place with a bathroom and a beer.  Then i´ll probably head back to the beach.  I´m staying at the beach again tonight, and then will probably head to town on monday for the next night.  Hammock life is for the birds!... or the birdman!!  :)  SQUAAAAAK!!!...SQUAAK SQUAAK!! (as he flaps his elbows like a bird).

haha.  

later gang!
Love you tons!!!

Shamus (or James...or Camillo.. lol)