We snagged a cheap airfare to Cancun just in time for New Year's Eve celebrations, and needed to keep the trip a secret. I wanted to surprise my daughter who was going to be on the Island for New Year's Eve herself, and who had tried to rub a little salt into the "cold wound" that I was suffering in Minnesota by calling me from the Dallas airport to report that her flight to Cancun was delayed because the plane had to deice in Minnesota. (Translation: Ha Ha!! It's cold in Minnesota but warm in Mexico.) She WAS surprised when I contacted her from Isla, and the weekend was a success! Since turnabout is fair play, I reminded her (cruelly!) that I was going to be on Isla several days more than she, as an answer to the "cold in Minnesota" thing.
If you have been following my posts you know that we spend a different time on Isla than most. We have immersed ourselves in island life in the Colonias instead of hanging on the beach all day, every day. While we DO get to Playa Norte occasionally, our time is spent in daily activities with our Familia Mexicana. Therefore, our Aņo Nuevo was slightly (OK, VERY) different than the folks on Playa Norte probably experienced.
We were on Playa Norte on the afternoon of 12/31, looking for my daughter to surprise her, and of course we HAD to have a couple of cervezas in order to fit in. What we noticed immediately was the large number of people consuming large quantities of tequila and rum in mixed drinks, punctuated by occasional shots of tequila, early in the afternoon. I wonder how many of those folks even made it to midnight, and how many suffered greatly the next morning! After making contact with my daughter by phone, she was in Cancun shopping, we left the beach and headed back to Caņotal to begin preparations for the evening's events.
We were expecting celebrations to begin early in the evening and culminate at or shortly after midnight, like in the U.S. I kept wondering when things were going to actually start to happen. About 10:30PM we finally went over to the home of friends (Mexicano) who had a large courtyard behind their house where the extended family and friends party was going to be held. In one corner of the yard was a "Superior" cooler with big chunks of ice into which everyone deposited copious amounts of cervezas to keep everyone happy for the evening. There was a long table set with all sorts of trimmings for dinner, which we knew was going to be turkey. After several rounds of cerveza the clock struck midnight and the celebration began. After rounds of hugs, salutes, and toasts the first main event took place. A life sized effigy of 2005, in the shape of a person, was doused with kerosene and lit on fire in the middle of the street. Once the blaze had become intense (and smoky) people started throwing fireworks into the flames. Needless to say, we scrambled when the exploding rockets tossed lit firecrackers our way! This seems to be a customary activity in the Colonias as the next day we noted many "remains" of burned effigies littering the streets of LaGloria and Caņotal. The next event was piņata whacking by all the kids. They were all elated as they took their swings at the piņata, with even the youngest (14 months old - they start young!) swinging like champs. When the piņata finally broke there was customary pandemonium as the kids collected huge piles of candy and other goodies.
Finally, it was time for food! At last! The meal started with passing of a stem of grapes from which each person took one grape. As a toast to family and friends' solidarity we all ate our grapes simultaneously signifying commitment to strength of the group. After a prayer led by the patriarch of the household, dinner was served. And what a dinner it was! Two people had roast turkeys with different recipes. One was covered with fruits and the other was marinated and had a totally different (and Mexicano!) flavor. Both were excellent as were all the trimmings, including stuffing. Forget the yams, mashed potatoes and gravy, and cranberries that we associate with a turkey dinner! Everything was consumed using tortillas as utensils (and yes, everyone ate the tortillas!) and accompanied with more cervezas.
We were told that we were going to all go down to Punta Sur at 4:00 in the morning but we didn't know exactly why, except that there was a large cooler of beverages iced and ready to go. Because of travel fatigue and a remaining touch of "Minnesota Revenge" that I was still suffering from, we passed on the 4:00 event. We DID drive to el Centro about 3:00 AM to see what was going on, and I was disappointed that the celebration in the square was so small. Nothing at all like the Independence Day celebration in September, which was HUGE and still going strong at 4:00 AM. The next morning we were told that huge numbers of people congregate on Punta Sur each year to see the first rays of sunshine hit Mexico in the new year. Now I wish we had endured and gone, but there is always next year!
As a result of the pacing and constraint of New Year's Eve, Sunday was like any other except for extended siestas as a result of the all-night event the night before. When we stirred at about 9:00 AM we found that someone had gone and purchased the cochinita that I so love as breakfast, and that there was a large chunk (and a couple of BEAUTIFUL yellow/orange chilies habaņero) waiting for us for breakfast. What a treat!
Of course a trip to Isla wouldn't be complete without boating/fishing activities. We went with a friend to Manchone's Reef where we all snorkeled, and where I had the opportunity to "bless" my new gold bracelet by diving and rubbing it on the cross. This is a somewhat tricky proposition as there is fire coral on the cross and if you touch it you get a painful sting. I was careful and touched only with the bracelets! If anyone is interested, the cross is under the second tie-off buoy from the south! Saw a ton of fish on this snorkel, but didn't go to the coral areas (the cross is pretty much in the open, away from the coral outcroppings) on this trip. We stopped by the newly "planted" wrecked boat, just off shore from the shipwrecked ferry boat that's decorated the point by the lighthouse for years, and I snorkeled around the new shipwreck and over the shallow grassy area. THOUSANDS, no HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of two-inch long yellow tails swimming in the grass! When Wilma grounded and tipped the new wreck she rocked it in the sand creating a vast "cave" under it. I could see a lot of small fishes in the darkness, and I am willing to bet there are more than a few lobsters there as well. Just off the new wreck there was a school of hundreds of 2-foot barracudas suspended in the water, just watching me. While they were watching me, I was thinking, "Ceviche."
The next day I got my second chance for snorkeling as I accompanied a few "island guys" on a spear fishing expedition. They were "hooking" lobsters and an octopus, and spearing a few fish for family consumption. Also picked up a conch! This combo transitioned into a langosta-caracol-pulpo ceviche that was extraordinary. One of the fish speared was a 'cuda which wasn't hit squarely and led us on a merry chase to recover the spear (and the fish). While I didn't partake in the spearing, I was the "bag man" pulling a stringer of fish as the others harvested fish and other stuff. All very interesting, and tasty!
An interesting note: the stringer I was pulling was homemade of light string and a piece of electrical wire. When we put a 'cuda on it the string cut on the 'cuda's teeth, allowing the harvested fish to drop off in a line along the ocean floor. Of course this got the other 'cudas' attention as they swam in to investigate. As soon as I made a move towards them they ('cudas) scattered, yielding to the larger entity in the water. We recovered all the dropped fish! Upon returning to Minnesota I promptly bought a couple of sturdy stringers and put them into my "to go" bin for the next trip.
Spearing is NOT a tourist sport and would be frowned on by Federales if they caught tourists doing it. You probably would have a hard time finding the equipment or a boat ride out anyhow. Spearing and hooking could be dangerous, not because of the barracudas, but because of the moray eels you can encounter if you are probing around under rocks and in the small caves where the lobsters and octopus hide. The guys are VERY respectful of the eels and will pass on lobsters to avoid conflict with the eels. I've heard that once the eels bite, they don't let go until you cut their heads off and you pry the jaws open. Not a pleasant prospect for a vacationer!
The last event of our trip was a "compleaņo" (birthday) fiesta for the (now) 7-year-old. We made a couple hundred tamales (yes, I, too, helped roll them!) and the star of the celebration was the "tres leches" cake that the birthday girl's mother made for the party. It was a genuine work of art, themed with a "Princessa" motif complete with a castle on it! Of course the street in front of the house was blocked off for the party and the 70 or so people who attended demolished the cake and ate every bite!
The only bright part of the return home to Minnesota was when, once in the air, we opened the ziplock bag that contained our leftover tamales and relived the birthday dinner, complete with an habaņero!
I'm already looking forward to our next trip which will be in February for Carnival, unless I cave in and pick up one of the $99+ RT airfares that have been offered in our market for later in January!
Mark