deuce

hola!!!

i'm home from mexico :D i don't even know where to start...

basically, the trip was... great beautiful affectionate bonding giggly perfect. i had a really awesome time. i totally love mexico. but not only that, i enjoyed the company of my friends a great deal. i was so thrilled that we all got along so well and our personalities mixed so nicely. i'd never met josh before, he's a long-time friend of david's, but we hit it off and were almost instant friends. although, i pretty much expected that since gay men and i get along like a house on fire. he's super funny and one night he made me laugh so hard that i threw-up.

we stayed at the grand mayan. it's a beautiful and luxurious resort in nuevo villarta. it was right on the ocean with amazing connecting pools. our suite had a kitchen which allowed us to cook most of our meals when we weren't eating out with the raponis (romolo and silvia). i have to admit, it took some time for me to get used to having some grown-ups around, but they're lovely and generous people, and i eventually felt quite comfortable with them. romolo likes to tease me just so he can see me blush. we really didn't spend that much time with them, they were staying at a different resort. we made some nice meals, and everyone was very accommodating to the fact that i gave up meat for lent. which was very kind and considerate of them.

for the first few days we lounged around by the pools, swam in the ocean, played frisbee on the beach, read books, got sunburns and drinks at the poolbar. very chilled.

on tuesday evening david and i ventured into old villarta for some exploring. it was quite handy that italian and spanish are so similar and he was able to communicate with them. i quickly fell in love with that town and was struck by the fact that i equally loved the resort, it made me torn on where i wanted to spend my time. i think i've loved every place that i've travelled to.

on wednesday, cas, matt, david and i got swedish massages, which was incredibly relaxing.

on thursday, we went to a mexican fiesta on the beach, it was a buffet and had mexican entertainment. it was pretty neat.

on friday, cas, matt, david, and i went on an outdoor adventure, while josh stayed at the grand mayan and ended up witnessing a sea-turtle lay eggs. very cool. i'll tell you more about the outdoor adventure later, it was very cool and a real highlight.

on saturday, we went into old villarta for lunch with the raponis at an italian restaurant, then ventured around town quite a bit. in the evening we swam in the pacific at sunset. the waves were super-strong, and the under-tow was equally so. cas and i were a little bit nervous about the boys swimming so far out. when cas and matt went back to the beach, david, josh and i went skinny dipping. the waves got even stronger and i swear skinning dipping in the ocean almost killed me. it was scary at times, and extra difficult because i was attempting to put my bikini back on. i managed to get a really sore sand-burn on my back from one of the waves that took me out.

on sunday, josh, david and i went on a snorkeling expedition while cas & matt enjoyed the last day by the pool.

we played board-games, laid in intertubes which swept us along the lazy river every day, ate trix, did crossword-puzzles, developed inside jokes.

this is probably my favourite photo of my 4 wonderful friends.

i've never felt so much like a beach bum in all my life. my hair was almost always wet, i'm quite tanned, and my freckles emerged in the sunlight within the first 24 hours. i almost don't want them to go away.

one thing i learned about myself while on this trip is that when i'm nervous, anxious, scared, or feeling vulnerable i need to be touched. don't get me wrong, i felt very safe in mexico (even though we regularly passed military men with machine guns), it was different stuff that i won't get into. anyways, it was interesting for me to realize this about myself, and now that i understand it, i can look back on my life and see times when i cuddled or placed my hand on someone simply for emotional-support.

i tried to upload photos onto facebook this afternoon several times, but it didn't work. i'll try again tomorrow. i'm excited for you all to see my photos. i was thinking that i didn't really take that many because i kept forgetting my camera in the room, but it turns out i have 98 pictures. haha. but i want to get everyone elses too because they got some really nice pix.

i'm a tiny bit worried that it'll be hard to go back to living alone after enjoying the company of friends for a week straight. but i'm going to try my best to connect with friends so that i don't feel lonely. i already went to bren's this afternoon, and i'm going to shannon's in 10 minutes. on the way home from bren's i was FREEZING, as i stood on the street corner i thought "i was in mexico yesterday". it's kind of sad, but mostly bittersweet. it was an amazing trip :)

the sun's so hot i forgot to go home.