I am forever a creature of habit. Whenever I come to Huatulco, I come to the same place; I sit at the same table, in the same pink chair. I don’t think it’s necessarily on purpose; my feet just take me there. I’m not sure when that started happening. When did I become comfortable enough in the world that I have “regular” haunts in places that once registered only vaguely as names on a map.
I mean how did I – who was born and raised on an island that most residents never seem to leave – end up regularly sitting eating quesadillas and drinking corona on a beach in Mexico – and getting paid for it?
I have…a wonderfully weird existence.
But I do like Mexico. It is so full of life everywhere , and colour. You never see colour like you see in Mexico anywhere else. The souvenir stalls are lined with crazily bright weavings and handmade creatures in all colours, some of which don’t even look like they exist in nature.
It is odd being here alone, the last few times I’ve come to this port Amras has sat in the chair next to me. That said, there is a kind of poetry to being alone with your own thoughts. It gives you a chance to reset and catch up with yourself. A rare chance to observe the ever busy world around you (and wonder things like how the tales across from you could not know how to say ‘thank you’ in Spanish, and then wondering why you would ever wonder – or even notice – such a thing). I hate being lonely, but over the years I have learned to treasure my solitude, moreover, I have learned to appreciate the difference.
No contract is easy, no ship is perfect, heck no job anywhere is perfect. Perfection is a human concept that we both constantly strive for and constantly render unattainable. In truth, the days are always long, there is always one ‘problem child’ and things never go quite as you intend (that’s not a complaint really, it’s just an observation, and part of what keeps life interesting).
But for all that, there are still days like this, where the sun is warm, the waves are clear and the drinks are cold.
And that, my friends, is more than enough.