mexico: day 1 + half of 2

we arrived in playa del carmen, mexico, last night around 12 midnight, after flying from san fran - mexico city - cancun, then driving for about 45 minutes. my mom wasn't driving though, luckily. i heard if you get in a car accident here they are allowed to hold you (in jail) indefinately until they figure out whose fault it was. bummer. i'm not letting her drive.

didn't sleep until about 3 am yesterday, and as a result was awakened at 11 by my mom (who the night before had declared "call me when you wake up!...we're in different rooms). after a fruit/yogurt/granola brunch downstairs, we decided to peruse their "fifth avenue." it was probably about 95˚ outside, but because of the humidity it felt hotter. i'm not usually a big sweater, and even i was wiping my forehead (i know, how lovely huh?). their shops were cute-ish, but after a while you start to realize that everyone sells pretty much the same thing, and for much more than they're worth. typical tourist destination.

after about 2 hours we couldn't take the heat anymore. occasionally the shops were air conditioned, but there was no shade to be spoken of along the entire pedestrian-only street. no big purchases for me, i've still got about 850 pesos left. my mom carried around a tin drink holder which she continually banged into anything she could find. matt complained about the heat incessantly, until we finally gave in and got ice cream.

we've been lounging by the hotel pool since. when i get a chance i'll post some pictures, this hotel is very interesting, but it's cute. (check out www.hotelbasico.com). i guess we're going out to dinner tonight. i'll go over that tomorrow. so far, mexico = friendly people, good food, but too hot.