Early in the morning today, we docked at the shore of an island along Mexico called Cozumel. The kids didn't have to get up so early because we weren't going to get off the ship as early as yesterday. So, we all had some extra to sleep and to enjoy our breakfast,an entire hour! Woohoo~
The beautiful scenery at the port of Cozumel really took our breaths away! First of all, the water was sparkling blue; one could see crystal clear all the way to the bottom of the ocean abyss! Secondly, the architecture reminds me of Greek architecture for the two styles share the same white walls. Greek architecture's white is accompanied by rich ocean blue, but Cozumel's white is complimented by the warm earthy brown. Thirdly, the stores, the ornate decorations, and the overall warmth of Cozumel port overwhelm the visitors with a genuine sense of welcome!
We literally had to rope all the kids together because all the stores were calling out to them,luring them into spending! After we blinded all the kids with threats and run them off to the meeting place, we were greeted by Remundo and his family with two vans. There are no buses allowed on the island of Cozumel, how interesting! When we piled the kids up into the vans, we found out that the first van couldn't start. That gave the kids about 15 minutes of free time. The kids exhibited their potential as Asian shoppers,picking up random stuff. The counselors were on task and got everybody water! Once we were on our, the second van died, twice! I, unfortunately, was in the second van. The first it died on me, I managed to perform my miracle of the day and brought it back to life,hahaha! But when it died again for the second time, even I couldn't bring it back to life. So, we waited on the side of road for the first van to come back to pick us up. When we saw the first van, we screamed in disbelief because everybody was still on the bus! What good was that? I just burst out laughing! Dr. Barnhart instructed the bus driver to drop off the people and come back for us because there was no way we were doing the human pancakes,no matter how close we have become as a group! That took another 20 minutes before we finally all made it to the site. We quickly entered the ruin site and tried to make up for the lost time.
The second ruin site was different than the first site in two different ways. First, the site is situated in a midst of a jungle instead of an opened area. Second, the site's architectural style was different, including the texture of the limestone used. Dr. Barnhart continued to dazzle us with his detailed explanations and anecdotal stories. While checking out the different buildings, I discovered that there was a whole clan of iguanas! Once I pointed it out, I think that was the end of it! Everybody exclaimed and left Dr. Barnhart,nearly trampled over the two of us! I think Dr. Barnhart wanted to throw one in my face! Just kidding! He and I just laughed it off and explained to the kids that we were actually intruding in their territory and we need to show respect.
Dr. Barnhart told us a cool folklore about respecting nature. He explained that there is a spirit in the jungle that reads our mind. It will appear in the form of a person we love the most and try to envelope us through hugging or giving us kisses. Once we adhere to its request, then it will show its true hideous form and take our spirit! The only ways to prevent this from happening are to examine its feet because they are always in its original form and to remember that it is impossible to have your mother or significant other suddenly appear in the middle of a Mayan jungle,Dr. Barnhart obviously doesn't know the power of my mother or all mothers! Hahaha! The kids didn't really get the point, so one of the counselors had to have a "heart to heart" with the kids. I simply resorted to ignoring them because I enjoy the walk through the jungle myself.
When we got to a set of old Mayan structures, Dr. Barnhart let each group of students help him do the measurements and record them on a data sheet. The kids were exhausted and hot by then, but when it was their group's turn, the kids were relatively cooperative and efficient. Dr. Barnhart and I used our iPhones to confirm the mathematical proportion of these structures, and amazingly, the ancient Mayans were very accurate considering the fact that they just had sticks and rope for measurement.
When we finished the tour, there were three functioning vans waiting for us to make up for the morning! Dr. Barnhart drove the third bus, and off we returned to the port. Once we got there, the kids were given about an hour for shopping. I bought some American snacks that I have been craving, and the kids went on a souvenir hunt! Everybody made it back to the meeting point on time and we boarded the ship again!
The kids had earned their free time that afternoon, so some went to the pool, some walked around, and others were into games. I had a leisure lunch with Dr. Barnhart, and then I joined the kids at the ping pong table for a friendly tournament. It was a beautiful sunny and breezy afternoon, and our game area had the perfect view of the sunset. So, there were three teachers and about ten students on the tournament, and slowly the number went down. In the end, a student from KCBS named William stayed in the round the longest,beating everybody. Just fort the record?Kthe teachers all let him win! Heehee~
That's pretty much it...the Carnival Ecstasy sailed off at around 4pm, heading back to Galveston, Texas. We are scheduled to dock on the morning of February 5th. Yeah,we are finally going to go home!
Frankie
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