The second day there we went into the ocean on the Azul Fives side. There was a lot of rock to get through that was kind of painful on the feet before you got to the soft sandy part but once you got there it was fine. Water shoes would have totally solved that problem. The water feels like room temperature bath water. It was perfect. The next day we went out in front of the neighboring resort because there was a nice cut out of water with soft sand and no rocks to get past. I had a ball frolicking in the water with MJ until I learned the truth. There are fish in the sea. This is a big deal for me because I'm scared of fish. Not because I think they will bite me or hurt me but because like spiders or bugs, they gross me out even though MJ says they won't touch me. I believe him but I'm still scared. It's a phobia and I can't help it. Those first two days I didn't see any and I've always been under the impression that they don't hang out much in shallow waters so I usually don't worry about it too much. MJ tried to tell me there were fish but I told him to shut up because I didn't see any, I was having fun and I figured he was just trying to scare me. Ignorance was bliss. After we had our fun on the 2nd day I noticed a flash of silver in the water. "Are those fish?" I asked MJ pointing. When he said yes I immediately took off for land because I was surrounded by a giant school of fish. I chipped my pedicure and almost fell down running through them trying to get out of there. Oh my gosh, it was awful. I was so creeped out that I didn't go back in until Friday and only because we wanted to get some pictures in the water.
I tip toed ever so cautiously step by step until I got to waist deep but I wouldn't go any further and I was constantly on alert looking for fish. Then MJ has to go and make things even worse by telling me that we were swimming with fish every time we we went in the water. At home in Coronado, Oahu, Maui. He says he saw them with his own eyes. I'm not sure why I didn't, but I really wish he hadn't said that. I kind of wish he had just lied so I would think this was an isolated incident.
GROSS |
MJ got up super early to get a beach bed that day. Like, 6am early because it's first come first serve and that's how early people show up. He said he'd be back but around 7am when he still hadn't shown up I felt bad and got up to get dressed so he wouldn't be by himself. We can always sleep more on the beach. He ended up coming back just as I was leaving so we put out more stuff to hold our spot, went to breakfast and then we got to enjoy the beach bed all day.
Our last day there was also the Fourth of July. They had a Bar B Q set up on the beach, red white and blue decorations and the staff running around in patriotic costumes. For obvious reasons I spent most of my time in the Pool. It was my very first time at a swim up bar. It's just like a regular one except nobody asked me for any money. They even put out mixed nuts when you sat down. I'm that person who can go through ten plus napkins eating pizza. If I even take a bite of MJ's food I'll probably need a napkin even though he won't need one for that entire meal. I wanted one to wipe my hands every time I grabbed some nuts but it would have felt weird asking for one while sitting in a body of water so I didn't.
They also had a mechanical bull for the 4th. Every time I see one of these suckers in a bar I want to ride but it's never the right time. I'm either wearing a skirt, I haven't had enough to drink or I'm just too scared of looking like a fool. If you can't ride a bull in a bikini on a Mexico vacation then when can you? So I said to hell with it and gave it a try. I have really strong thighs and I was doing pretty good at staying on until the guy increased the speed trying to kick me off. My only injury was from my left knee digging into the hard plastic around the horns. It bled a little but it didn't hurt much. I can't sue because I signed a liability release waiver that probably said I couldn't sue even if I broke my neck.
His last volleyball game |
Lazy Pool River |
We can't stay but we get to keep the memories and as always I have this blog to remind me when they start to fade; which they will because I have the worst memory. The traveling part sucked there and back. We did an overnight flight there and a super early morning flight on the way back with two lay overs both ways so I felt like death warmed over. MJ was fine of course, but as I mentioned earlier I don't do suffering very well. I also managed to get a UTI which luckily didn't present itself until we landed in LA. I spent the next hour googling my symptoms and then had to go to urgent care the next day so that was fun.
And getting back to the whole fish debacle. Since then I've had two people tell me that they got nicked or bitten by a fish so if anybody wants to lie or reassure me that it would probably never happen to me feel free to do so. The success of my next beach vacation depends on it.
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