¡¡¡Thanksgiving in Acapulco!!!

Since I couldn´t spend Thanksgiving with my family this year, I decided to crash another family´s Thanksgiving, and Thanksgiving wedding….in Acapulco! AND, as if that wasn´t good enough, I actually had 95% of my trip paid for!!!!

So how did I swing this, you´re asking yourself…well, none of this would have been possible without the collaboration of Kristen Dickens, who did, in fact, invite me to crash the Thanksgiving and the wedding. Kristen, as many of you know, is one of my sorority sisters and good friends from Furman. Kristen´s dad, who I have gotten to know fairly well over during my time at Furman, is a Baptist pastor, and was asked to officiate the couples´ wedding. He was the pastor at the couples´ church for a period of time, and led them on a mission trip to Russia, so he has been very involved in their lives. Kristen didn´t really know too many people going to the wedding, and Acapulco is only 4 hours from Cuernavaca, so she invited me to keep her company, and the couple very kindly agreed to let me come!

Now, just to paint you a picture, I should mention that the couple, Charlie Seely and Joanna (ohhh I can´t remember her maiden name) were both previously married and have grown children and many grandchildren. So the wedding party was about 35 people. Charlie paid for all of his guests´ stays, including mine, and he certainly didn´t skimp on the accommodations! Have of the guests (most of the younger people) stayed in the 5 star Fairmont Acapulco Princess – absolutely the most beautiful hotel that I have ever seen/stayed in (check it out http://www.fairmont.com/Acapulco/). The other half stayed in a rented house that is on the market for $2 million dollars that has the most beautiful view of Acapulco. Luckily, Charlie, who is in the oil business, could afford it. Really, most of the people in the wedding party lived very comfortable lives, but they were mostly very humble and salt of the earth kind of people.

I am getting a little ahead of myself, so let me back up. I left Wed., Nov. 21st on a bus for the 4 hour trip from Cuernavaca to Acapulco (side note: there was a bird´s nest in the luggage compartment above my head and baby birds were chirping the whole way). I was going to sleep, but the views were so beautiful, I couldn´t close my eyes – Mexico is really so breathtaking. After about 3 ½ hours, we arrived in Acapulco. The outskirts of the city are basically slums and Mexico´s equivalent to shantytowns. Generally speaking, in Acapulco, the poorest people live the furthest from the ocean and the big tourist sector of the city. And Acapulco has some of the very poorest people in Mexico. Another generalization that is largely true is that the Mexican poor become even poorer as you head south in Mexico – that is the severity of the destitution is greater in the southern states of Mexico than in the northern states. So again, relatively speaking, Acapulco has a very large poor population that is especially poor – we drove through the shantytowns for a good 20 minutes before reaching houses that were at least made of concrete. And not long after we passed these neighborhoods, we began passing homes worth millions of dollars. It really got me to thinking. I don´t know that I have ever seen poor and rich juxtaposed so poignantly. I kept thinking, Why does God love me so much? – that I have a nice home, nice things, a great education…that I was going to spend the next 4 days on the beach in a 5 star hotel for free? Why does God love me so much? It eventually occurred to me that I was implying that God loved me more than the people I saw walking barefoot alongside the bus. What I really wanted to know was why I was born where I was born, and what I am supposed to do with my privileges. It was a question I had asked many times before, and a question that will stay with me forever, but it had never been so tangible – so in-my-face real. It was at the same time very humbling and very motivating. The question stayed in the forefront of my mind throughout my whole trip – problem is, I don´t think that I got any closer to the answer.

Well back to the story…Around 2:00, I arrived in Acapulco, and took a very expensive taxi to the Acapulco Princess. The taxi driver was great and basically gave me an entire free tour of Acapulco! I found out the city has a population of 2 million people and used to be a retreat and vacation spot reserved for Aztec rulers! The Princess is away from the main tourist area on a private beach and cove. It is shaped like an Aztec pyramid (ironic and sad, but admittedly absolutely stunning) I found the room and Kristen and I were reunited at last! But our salutations were cut short because we were leaving for dinner. All of us staying in the hotel piled in vans, so I quickly got to know many of the people, who were all very welcoming. Dinner was held at a house owned by some friends of Charlie and Joanne´s. Appropriately, the house was named La Mirada (basically, the view). It had the most gorgeous view of Acapulco – all of the mountains and the coves with the lights glittering – amazing!! Waiters walked around with piña coladas and margaritas. And there was also an open bar with anything and everything. The tables each had beautiful flower decorations and pink and white linens – every detail in place. Kristen and I caught up and mingled with the other guests. Close to our age, there was Sarah (Another semi-rando like me, who got a lucky invite), Slava, Ben, Charlie, and Kevin. Kevin is 28ish, and the rest of the people I just mentioned are 16 or 17. We ate chicken enchiladas verdes, chips and guacamole, beans, chimichangas, and then coconut ice cream for dessert – incredible! Then Kristen and I played cards with the rest of the young adult crowd. We had such a great time – it was like we were all actually family! We went back to the hotel and Kristen and I hung at the bar sipping $13 drinks (what a profit!) and catching up.

Thursday, we woke up, got our swimming gear on and went to the hotel´s breakfast (also paid for by Charlie). I had never seen a breakfast like that. They catered to every single possible taste bud – Mexican and otherwise. They had every kind of fruit and bread imaginable, several different kinds of eggs and an omelet bar, pancakes, French toast, all varieties of breakfast meats, and then of course the traditional Mexican breakfast with salsas and beans and enchiladas or orange chicken or fish quesadillas. You might be wondering how anyone could eat that for breakfast, but after being here for over a month, I don´t understand why everyone doesn´t eat like that for breakfast! It´s so much more filling and delicious!!! After breakfast, Kristen and I waddled to the beach, decided it was too hot, and waddled back to the pool/manmade waterfall. The temperature was in the upper 80s,low 90s, so we never laid out for long. Soon the rest of the YAC, I´ll call them (young adult crowd) came and joined us in the pool, and we had dunking wars. We only got out of the pool to eat lunch, and then to get ready for Thanksgiving. We had Thanksgiving dinner in an outdoor side wing of the hotel that was beautifully lit with lanterns. Mariachi bands came and serenaded us and I translated a little, which was good fun because a lot of Mariachi songs are funny and/or have double meaning (usually sexual), and I had never paid that close attention to the words before. Then we had our feast! We didn´t have turkey and stuffing, etc. , but I did have a wonderful corn soup for starters with a Chilean Sea Bass to follow and then cheesecake for dessert. Not too shabby. Then the YAC again stayed up and played cards until bedtime.

Friday, Kristen and I again stuffed ourselves at breakfast, then hit the beach to play in the waves. In the afternoon, Kristen and I went into town, along with her Dad, and two of her Dad´s friends, who were absolutely hilarious! We went to the artisans market, where I got to talk with some of the vendors. I talked with one girl for awhile, Stephanie she called herself, and her family. Stephanie had just studied English in the States for a year, and her father was getting ready to go to the U.S. to try to make some money. I have not met a single Mexican person here that does not have someone in their immediate or close to immediate family who is in the U.S. or Canada, who has been to the U.S. or Canada, or who is going – not one single person. They were a very pleasant, open family, who told me all about the struggles of their business and the rich/poor dichotomy of Acapulco – they considered themselves fairly well off compared to others, but admitted that their life was difficult. After the market, we went to Tres Lobos (Three Wolves), the 2 million dollar house where some of the guests were staying, and, as it turned out, the site of the wedding. There, again, we enjoyed all the piña coladas, margaritas and wine we could drink while gazing at another enchanting view of the city. During the wedding rehearsal, the rest of us also watched a not-so-enchanting High School Musical 2 (nauseating really). Then, we ate pozole (delicious traditional Mexican soup, guacamole chips, and quail!!! I am actually salivating right now thinking about that quail. Not long after dinner, we went to the princess, and Kristen and I went to the bar again. The boys of the YAC came down to join us, and we all sat around yacking for a couple hours about everything and anything. Actually, Kristen and I were mostly just teasing the boys about their girlfriends. It was a great way to end a great day!

Saturday was the big day! The YAC all went to the pool and tried out the hotel slide. Then we went to the market next to the hotel and helped Ben pick out something for his girlfriend, and I got some tamarindos - a fruit that they candy with sugar, salt, or chili; they´re considered a specialty of Acapulco. We stayed too long in the market and had about 20 minutes to get ready for the wedding, but we made it happen. We got to Tres Lobos and I about died when I saw the decorations – you´ll have to see the pictures, I can´t do it justice. The ceremony commenced at sunset – both the bride and the groom looked lovely and very happy. Dr. Dickens, Kristen´s dad, did a wonderful job as the officiate, and even gave a blessing in Spanish! After the ceremony, we ate from a beautiful buffet and a huge Tres Leches cake (tastes like butterscotch). Then I danced with a 70 year old – I was the only one who danced besides my dance partner. He had been taking ballroom dancing and thought he could show me a thing or two. Fortunately for me, we all went back to the hotel not long after we ate. The YAC and a few adults stayed up playing a spades tournament, which Kristen and I actually won! Then we all said our good-byes, which was really hard! I guess I had great success as a wedding crasher because I really felt like part of the family, and they certainly treated me that way! US YACs had a really great time together, and I still miss the rest of them very much! Luckily, we are keeping in contact, and I´m crossing my fingers that we´ll see each other again someday.

Sunday began as a painful day. Not only did I have to say good-bye to the beach and luxury living, but I had to say goodbye to Kristen. It was so nice to have those days with her, with someone that I can talk with about home. Leaving, I began to feel a little homesick again. I had to get up early to catch my bus, and as the taxi drove me back through the city, I saw two enormous Coca-Cola Christmas trees (trees decorated with Coca-Cola caps as ornaments and with a huge blinking star on the top that says Coca-Cola). That made me even more sick – both because Coke was destroying the true meaning of Christmas and especially because I knew I wouldn´t be with my family for Christmas. And that hurt. So basically, reality came crashing down upon me, but luckily I had a peaceful 4 hour bud ride to think things over. I was actually looking forward to getting back to CCIDD. It was very nice to have a break, and I wasn´t sure how I would feel coming back, but I was thrilled to be back! I had really missed my coworkers, who didn´t fail to make fun of me the second I walked through the door. I had told them that I was going to come back “morena” – or tan – but really I just got a lot more freckles. So they started calling me “pecosa”, or “freckly”. Nevertheless, it was good to be back after that once-in-a-lifetime vacation.