Marian’s Vacation: An Outsider’s Perspective
By Guest Blogger and Occasional Lunatic: Ellen
Marian’s patented approach to relaxation is exhausting. Hurrying to the beach. Hurrying to get food. Hurry so that we can
relax! I’m constantly chasing her around
the resort trying to keep up. It’s
actually a wonderful workout. I have
tricked her into participating in several ‘organized group fun’ events,
including our sad attempts to learn Spanish and arguing with borderline-racist people
from Chicago. Our attempts at speaking
Spanish are hopefully not annoying the lovely staff, who have endured my
obsession with learning about local culture and cooking. In addition to learning how to cook plantains
and make a medicinal rum drink, these forays drive Marian nuts,
which is an added bonus. But I know that
she is glad that I asked, so expect to see future posts about her cooking
plantains. She also gets mad when I try
to make friends with the other guests, but this always ends up being entertaining
and we have decided that we are in an Agatha Christie novel (complete with
Russians!). Together, we bravely
traversed a giant trench in the ocean to find a stable sandbar from which to
body surf waves. The trench was 6 inches
deep and terrifying. But we are
brave. We are strong. We are emboldened by alcohol. Marian has read four books to my half of a
completed book. She pretends that she is
not competing with me, but I know better.
In conclusion, Marian is actually successfully relaxing in a
way I never thought possible. We sit on
the beach in the shade all day reading or sleeping. We leave the beach only to
get food and drinks. However, since
there are only eight other guests during the down-season, Marian has figured
out how to get several staff members to bring us drinks on the beach. In these moments, she is to me, a god.
Much love from a perfect beach vacation!!
-Ellen
