Arriving in Playa del Carmen -- July 30

For those who don't know, after having taught English in Hungary for two years, I've decided to become a teacher with some sort of qualification. Nothing less than the prestigious Cambridge CELTA. In order to get this certificate I signed up for a course, which I could have taken in Budapest as well. But where's the fun in that? So I picked the place with a more tropical climate, on the shore of the beautiful Caribbean Sea, in Playa del Carmen in Mexico.

Too good to be true? Maybe... Some people have lovingly referred to my description of it as a dump, including someone who happens to live and work on an actual dump. And I have to admit, on a closer look it might appear not so inviting. Especially now after the recent Hurricane "Emily" caused much devastation to the place: trees left naked, or completely blown over, houses set back into their pre-completed states, the streets lined with dead vegetation.. You get the picture. The people, however, appear rather relieved that it was "just wind" that turned their peaceful little town into a disaster-area. It could have been raining too! This is what I call healthy optimism!

But who cares about naked trees if there is a sea... Going out to take a swim at sunrise is the best routine I have developed (if you can call it that after being here for two days only). On the other hand, the early morning is the only time it's worth going to the beach. After nine am it starts getting so awfully hot that even sitting in the shade becomes an ordeal. Well, gotta get used to that. Thankfully my classes don't start until eleven am, lasting until nine pm with a long lunch-break. I still have to write more about school once I get to see it. Right now I still have an hour until my first class.

One more thing about the people, which also relates to the "dump" aspect: The place is almost divided into two parts: the Mexican ghetto part, consisting of shanty-towns of the most horrid kind (I know, this is brutal exaggeration, and there are probably much worse areas than what I have seen, but still...) The other part is a not-quite-finished, small framed Cancun-like tourist trap. The main tourist mile appears friendly and small-town like, but is hopelessly overrun with Americans, Germans, Italians, etc. who come for sun, sand, sea, sex, cerveza. Like my driver from the airport said: in about ten years this place is gonna be just like Cancun. I'd say fifteen, but you get the picture.

So where do I fit into this? Well, I'm staying with a host-family living in the area somewhere in between these two parts. They are Argentinians who, besides selling solar-cells, make a living mostly from renting out places for students who come to study Spanish (or in my case to learn to teach English). There are five of us students living there, and we all go to different schools. So far we haven't had too much contact. Two arrived yesterday from Germany and we went out for a few beers -- and Bratwürste! ;-)

Culture shock… is there such a thing? I didn’t think so, until I got a lecture about proper toilet-etiquettes at my host family. Take everything that you knew about wiping your ass, and ditch it (or flush it down the toilet!) In this part of the world, one must know that no matter how luxurious the facilities are, the pipes beneath them are extremely primitive. So much so, that any non-flushable objects, such as toilet-paper, would clog up the sewage pipes so bad that… well, don’t wanna go there.

For this reason, the paper belongs into the wastepaper basket. How disgusting is that? Well, I’ve read about such a thing in Che Guevara’s Motorcycle Diaries that he had been confronted with the same sort of things while using the baño in Chile. And he is right… it is nobody’s fault, simply lack of proper infrastructure. Fortunately, the more civilized toilets, such as the one at my host family, are equipped with a bidet. There you can wash you ass, so the paper is used to dry it off. That makes the act less repulsive, and in fact even refreshing…

Another aspect of the poor conditions of the water supply is that you can’t drink the tap-water. (Okay, you CAN drink it if you want, but it’s not recommended…) Also, there is no water-tower anywhere near, so people all have large (however limited sized) tanks on their rooftops. So, long showers are to be avoided.

Other than these water issues, which are all just a matter of getting used to, it is rather relaxed here. Okay, I haven’t started school yet. My room glows in a friendly shade of orange, with geckos clinging on the wall. So I don’t have to worry about insects bugging me.