I made my way to the back of the plane, found my seat, made myself comfortable by the window. I passed by the gentleman sitting in the aisle seat, hoping the space between us would remain unoccupied. When more people boarded the plane, and sat in the row behind us, the young man who was sitting there rose and took his seat between the man on the aisle and me. I shifted to give him room, opened my tablet to read (a Lonely Planet on Cancun) and get some rest. Mind my own business.
He asked if I that was a Lonely Planet book I was reading. I nodded and went back to reading. A little while later he asked another question, and I politely answered but went back to reading. I occasionally saw him pull out books in Chinese and read them over. Towards the end of our flight we had to fill out our customs forms, but I had no pen. I asked if I could borrow his, which he obliged. I noticed for place of stay he had listed the same hostel I was staying in. I thought I would say something, but my socially inept side took over my head and told me I didn't want to get into a conversation with someone. So I kept my mouth shut.
I disembarked the plane, made my way through customs, got out of the airport and found my way to the bus terminal to head into the city. At this point I began feeling nauseous and a huge headache started setting in. I tried to relax on the bus into the city, but there wasn't much time to rest. Within minutes, I was in Cancun proper.
I knew I wanted to head off to Chichen Itza the next morning, so rather than find my hostel immediately I decided to stay in the bus station and purchase my ticket then and there. But there was a line, and my illness kept forcing me to nearly sit on the floor. I wanted to vomit, but I thought that'd be bad form. And I didn't want to lose my place in line. Eventually I made my purchase and headed out.
My hostel was only about a 10-minute walk from the bus station, nearly a straight shot down the street. Along the way I saw some restaurants, some holiday lights on trees and buildings, and a drug pushing mascot working outside a pharmacy. Be sure to ask for Ritalin by name, kids!
The hostel was just next to the grocery store, which was convenient. I checked in, made my way to my room, opened the door to find.....the young man who sat next to me on the plane! We looked at each other, obviously recognizing one another. He was speaking to our third roommate. We make our introductions. The third person is Jethro, or J. He's from Australia. His accent made it obvious. The seatmate is Nathan.
They continue their conversation. Nathan is asking about the city, what to do. Jethro is conveying his experience. He's only been in town one day, but already he had been down to the hotel zone and partied with his friends at a bar and all they could drink and there was music and it was great. I participated when I could, but let them carry on the conversation that had begun before my arrival. While this was happening, I showered and changed so I could see the town, get food. I chose to fight through my ailment.
After a few hours out, hoping to take advantage of my first day/night in Cancun, I decided I could not fight the headache anymore, and that it was much smarter to get rest so that I did not miss the next morning's bus and felt stronger in order to enjoy the rest of the trip. But first I wanted to check the Internet. WiFi did not work in the room, so I tried the lobby. But it wasn't working there either. I sat hoping to catch the lobby computer for a minute, but a young man monopolized it for a while. Eventually I got up to go, just as Nathan was entering with a young female friend. We both head to the room, and find Jethro chilling out. Nathan and I enter, but Nathan's friend walks away. Jethro invites her in. I go looking for her to invite her in. She politely declines. I begin getting ready for bed.
Nathan was now gone, but Jethro was still there. We chatted a bit. I learned more about him, his travels through the US and NYC and LA and New Orleans and how he came to Cancun last minute because his friends came first. What his plans were, how to get to the hotel zone easily. He also cannot find lodging for 31 December in Cancun. I had the same trouble. But he thinks he can crash with someone.
Because of my late arrival, as compared to Jethro and Nathan, I am stuck with a top bunk. Although it was early, I had to close my eyes and force myself to sleep. Sleep, that would make the headache go away. My nausea had subsided some but my head kept pounding. Jethro was nice to kill the lights though I told him to continue doing what he was doing.
After struggling to sleep, nothing making my head feel right, I finally fall asleep some hours in. I do hear the door open and close a few times throughout the night. I don't know who it is, I just continue sleeping.
The next morning I awake, and I feel much better. Headache gone. Nausea gone. All systems AAA rating.
I get out of bed and notice Jethro's bed is undisturbed. Nathan keeps coming in and out, though.
I go down to breakfast, get a table. A few minutes later Nathan comes down. I invite him to join me. We begin chatting. He is a student at Tufts. A sophomore in computer engineering. Interested in interface. Wants to go to University of Washington eventually. He asks about archaeology. We converse about a lot in the time we had. I give him my email address. But I have a bus to catch, so I excuse myself.
In our room I am packing while we continue our conversation. He then asks if he can ask me a question about women. I did not expect this but was happy to help out how I could. I sit down with him and he asks me about when is it OK to make the move to kiss a girl. He had just met the young lady friend who passed by the previous night, and they seemed to have a good time together. But he wasn't sure how to read her. I did not want to start giving out blanket advice, as I did not know this particular person and didn't know her true self. I asked him some questions, such as where she is visiting from. He didn't know. The whole night with her, he never bothered asking where she was studying.
I tell him some things I thought could be good indicators. How closely she let him stand to her. He thought I meant him going for his arm around her, but I assure him it was just about proximity and not about a move. Also, she had agreed to see him the next day, which is a good sign. He was trying to convince her to change her plans to travel with him. He wanted to get her to a water park. I just listened.
Ultimately I told him he might have a better grasp on the situation than I, as I had never dated a Chinese girl before, and wasn't sure what the customs were for dating with them. I had gone on a few dates with some other east Asian women, but these were women who grew up in the US and were more American than from the countries of their parents. Most of my experiences were with American women, or with Latinas who are much more forward. Hard to compare.
I reiterated that if she was going to get together with him again, it was a good sign. If she did not like him, she would not bother for a second meeting. He admitted he tried to hold her hand while crossing a street, and she pulled away then. But that was too much too soon. Just be a gentleman, make her laugh. Key. Feel her out, not up. Just have fun.
He says he'll let me know how it goes with her. She told him I was nice, to which he retorted that that was weird since I didn't talk to him on the plane at all. And that's when I felt like a complete ass and regretted my actions, or non-actions from the previous day.
As I gather my belongings, he says he'll send a picture of he and she together. Even if it is a picture of them naked together. I chuckle.
At the door, I turn one last time to say goodbye. He is now at the window, staring out. At nothing, as there is nothing but a brick wall outside the window. But I don't think he went there for the view.
Outside the bus station a man selling fresh juice from a cart agrees to sell me some bananas. He comments I don't have shoes on. I show him where my sandals were rubbing my feet wrong and that I was better off walking barefoot. I did not pack properly for this trip. He laughs at me.
On the bus I think about Nathan, and I hoped to hear from him. He'll be in Mexico for three weeks. I'd like to know what comes of him, and of his experience with his new friend. I stare out the window, think about what will come of me and my experiences.
He asked if I that was a Lonely Planet book I was reading. I nodded and went back to reading. A little while later he asked another question, and I politely answered but went back to reading. I occasionally saw him pull out books in Chinese and read them over. Towards the end of our flight we had to fill out our customs forms, but I had no pen. I asked if I could borrow his, which he obliged. I noticed for place of stay he had listed the same hostel I was staying in. I thought I would say something, but my socially inept side took over my head and told me I didn't want to get into a conversation with someone. So I kept my mouth shut.
I disembarked the plane, made my way through customs, got out of the airport and found my way to the bus terminal to head into the city. At this point I began feeling nauseous and a huge headache started setting in. I tried to relax on the bus into the city, but there wasn't much time to rest. Within minutes, I was in Cancun proper.
I knew I wanted to head off to Chichen Itza the next morning, so rather than find my hostel immediately I decided to stay in the bus station and purchase my ticket then and there. But there was a line, and my illness kept forcing me to nearly sit on the floor. I wanted to vomit, but I thought that'd be bad form. And I didn't want to lose my place in line. Eventually I made my purchase and headed out.
My hostel was only about a 10-minute walk from the bus station, nearly a straight shot down the street. Along the way I saw some restaurants, some holiday lights on trees and buildings, and a drug pushing mascot working outside a pharmacy. Be sure to ask for Ritalin by name, kids!
The hostel was just next to the grocery store, which was convenient. I checked in, made my way to my room, opened the door to find.....the young man who sat next to me on the plane! We looked at each other, obviously recognizing one another. He was speaking to our third roommate. We make our introductions. The third person is Jethro, or J. He's from Australia. His accent made it obvious. The seatmate is Nathan.
They continue their conversation. Nathan is asking about the city, what to do. Jethro is conveying his experience. He's only been in town one day, but already he had been down to the hotel zone and partied with his friends at a bar and all they could drink and there was music and it was great. I participated when I could, but let them carry on the conversation that had begun before my arrival. While this was happening, I showered and changed so I could see the town, get food. I chose to fight through my ailment.
After a few hours out, hoping to take advantage of my first day/night in Cancun, I decided I could not fight the headache anymore, and that it was much smarter to get rest so that I did not miss the next morning's bus and felt stronger in order to enjoy the rest of the trip. But first I wanted to check the Internet. WiFi did not work in the room, so I tried the lobby. But it wasn't working there either. I sat hoping to catch the lobby computer for a minute, but a young man monopolized it for a while. Eventually I got up to go, just as Nathan was entering with a young female friend. We both head to the room, and find Jethro chilling out. Nathan and I enter, but Nathan's friend walks away. Jethro invites her in. I go looking for her to invite her in. She politely declines. I begin getting ready for bed.
Nathan was now gone, but Jethro was still there. We chatted a bit. I learned more about him, his travels through the US and NYC and LA and New Orleans and how he came to Cancun last minute because his friends came first. What his plans were, how to get to the hotel zone easily. He also cannot find lodging for 31 December in Cancun. I had the same trouble. But he thinks he can crash with someone.
Because of my late arrival, as compared to Jethro and Nathan, I am stuck with a top bunk. Although it was early, I had to close my eyes and force myself to sleep. Sleep, that would make the headache go away. My nausea had subsided some but my head kept pounding. Jethro was nice to kill the lights though I told him to continue doing what he was doing.
After struggling to sleep, nothing making my head feel right, I finally fall asleep some hours in. I do hear the door open and close a few times throughout the night. I don't know who it is, I just continue sleeping.
The next morning I awake, and I feel much better. Headache gone. Nausea gone. All systems AAA rating.
I get out of bed and notice Jethro's bed is undisturbed. Nathan keeps coming in and out, though.
I go down to breakfast, get a table. A few minutes later Nathan comes down. I invite him to join me. We begin chatting. He is a student at Tufts. A sophomore in computer engineering. Interested in interface. Wants to go to University of Washington eventually. He asks about archaeology. We converse about a lot in the time we had. I give him my email address. But I have a bus to catch, so I excuse myself.
In our room I am packing while we continue our conversation. He then asks if he can ask me a question about women. I did not expect this but was happy to help out how I could. I sit down with him and he asks me about when is it OK to make the move to kiss a girl. He had just met the young lady friend who passed by the previous night, and they seemed to have a good time together. But he wasn't sure how to read her. I did not want to start giving out blanket advice, as I did not know this particular person and didn't know her true self. I asked him some questions, such as where she is visiting from. He didn't know. The whole night with her, he never bothered asking where she was studying.
I tell him some things I thought could be good indicators. How closely she let him stand to her. He thought I meant him going for his arm around her, but I assure him it was just about proximity and not about a move. Also, she had agreed to see him the next day, which is a good sign. He was trying to convince her to change her plans to travel with him. He wanted to get her to a water park. I just listened.
Ultimately I told him he might have a better grasp on the situation than I, as I had never dated a Chinese girl before, and wasn't sure what the customs were for dating with them. I had gone on a few dates with some other east Asian women, but these were women who grew up in the US and were more American than from the countries of their parents. Most of my experiences were with American women, or with Latinas who are much more forward. Hard to compare.
I reiterated that if she was going to get together with him again, it was a good sign. If she did not like him, she would not bother for a second meeting. He admitted he tried to hold her hand while crossing a street, and she pulled away then. But that was too much too soon. Just be a gentleman, make her laugh. Key. Feel her out, not up. Just have fun.
He says he'll let me know how it goes with her. She told him I was nice, to which he retorted that that was weird since I didn't talk to him on the plane at all. And that's when I felt like a complete ass and regretted my actions, or non-actions from the previous day.
As I gather my belongings, he says he'll send a picture of he and she together. Even if it is a picture of them naked together. I chuckle.
At the door, I turn one last time to say goodbye. He is now at the window, staring out. At nothing, as there is nothing but a brick wall outside the window. But I don't think he went there for the view.
Outside the bus station a man selling fresh juice from a cart agrees to sell me some bananas. He comments I don't have shoes on. I show him where my sandals were rubbing my feet wrong and that I was better off walking barefoot. I did not pack properly for this trip. He laughs at me.
On the bus I think about Nathan, and I hoped to hear from him. He'll be in Mexico for three weeks. I'd like to know what comes of him, and of his experience with his new friend. I stare out the window, think about what will come of me and my experiences.
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