Chapter 8 The Port of Adventure 148

LOOKING OUT THE WINDOW of the green and white Mexican cab I was riding in was very surreal. I felt like I was in a dream or in another person’s body observing their experience. The flight to Mexico was perfect, and all the passengers were in that festive vacation mode. I finally found a cab driver who spoke enough English to understand where I was headed, but not enough to carry on any kind of conversation, by any means. Certainly not enough to answer any of the questions I asked as we pulled out of the mob scene at the Cancun Airport. I had to admit, I was somewhat surprised at the lack of English comprehension. I know Cancun is a huge American tourist destination, and I guess I just assumed that the language barrier would not be an issue. I had listened to a number of Spanish language tapes over the past weeks, and Chris had been helping me with the basics, like donde esta los baños por favor. Knowing where to find the bathroom, after all, is critical in a foreign country. One of my intentions was to make every effort to become more fluent in Spanish during my three-month stay. Right now, I felt like I had landed on Mars, and an alien was driving me through a strange landscape.

After we turned onto the main strip down the Yucatan’s eastern coastline, the confusion of the airport gave way to less congestion and a more relaxed