This year’s vacation was to a palatial beach resort on the coast Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. Previous excursions took us to the ancient Mayan sites including Chichen Itza and Tulum, but this trip was strictly for relaxation. The resort was all-inclusive, so the plan was simply to spend a week eating and drinking to excess in the sun and sand. The hurricane was in the forecast, but it was projected to slip to the north of Cancun, leaving the coast unscathed.
The Caribbean was wonderfully placid for our first three days, but the wind and waves picked up considerable strength around mid week. Though the breeze was hot, we welcomed the air movement as we walked the streets of Playa Del Carmen on the only day we spent outside the resort’s front gate. Inquiring about the price of a piece of “local” artwork, I was offered a special deal that included a joint. I ended up getting an eighth for 300 pesos. It was stringy Mexican shwag, but it had noticeable effects and it was nice to sample the local fire.
I brought a couple hundred milligrams of mescaline to Mexico with me and I really didn’t want to bring it back. I was feeling comfortable with the resort, and was familiar enough with the layout to find my way around drunk, so why not? I had weed, plenty of alcohol of every type; the weather was good. I had all I needed for a good trip.
Though a holiday beach resort isn’t exactly a classic Mayan mystical environment, the living elements were still there. The jungle was still home to all the same plants and animals, and I had the same sand and sea to gaze out on as the ancients. I wonder what they thought about all the iguanas.
The heat and humidity had risen along with the wind and surf, and the night brought no relief. I woke up early to take a walk down to the beach while nobody else was around. A little warm, but I was convinced that today would be a good day. I returned to the air-conditioning.
I ate half of the mescaline after a late breakfast and mimosas at the dining hall. We then strolled down to the saltwater pool at the edge of the seashore and watched the bathers file in to photograph each other. The pool has an invisible natural stone shelf that reduces even large, rolling waves to a gentle lapping that feeds the pool from the outer edge. A brief pale blue flash appeared in the middle of each wave as it crested, then rolled to a trickle into the pool.
Walking back to the room to get ready for lunch, I remembered just how great mescaline feels. I was floating down the path. The Chit palms were popping out from everywhere, waving hello to me with their fresh green explosions of leaves.
Back at the room, I ate the other 100mg of mescaline. A couple of hits from the new onyx pipe before going to get lunch would be perfect, I thought. As it turns out, this would not be a good idea.
I had been in Mexico for a number of days and I thought that I was getting acclimated to the heat, but I then began suffering from an uncontrollable drenching sweat. After coming out of the cold air conditioning, water was condensing on me like a cold jug of milk. I felt that I was also being wrung of my water from the inside by the mescaline.
The dining room was even hotter than outside, as there was absolutely no air movement. I still wanted to eat, but was rapidly losing my hunger. It was the noise, the heat, and peoples’ eyes that were turning me off. I saw my reflection and noticed that my pupils were absolutely humongous. No wonder people were looking at me strangely. I tried to squint to hide the size of the pupils, but I could see that wasn’t fooling anybody.
I didn’t really want a hamburger, but I had asked the chef to make one, so I dressed it up and went back to the very hot table to see what happened next. I sat down and started working on a burger that started falling apart as soon as I picked it up. Sweat was rolling down my face, dripping from my hair and hitting my ears and shoulders. Though I got confirmation of the temperature being extreme, it seemed that it was only me who was having that much trouble keeping his face dry. I try not to be paranoid, but I saw a man lean in to say something to his wife, and they both turned scrutinized me in tandem. I know at that moment I did not look like a person who should have a knife in his hand.
I ate most of my burger and pondered its remains until the plate was taken away by a tiny Mexican woman. I wanted to leave, but I wasn’t sure of where I to go. Besides, I didn’t come alone. Still, I felt like the only person within 100 miles who was tripping on mescaline, and the only one of my kind on the planet. I couldn’t just leave the girl sitting there by herself to finish. That probably wouldn’t have helped things. So, I waited. I was starting to get a handle on the temperature in the place, and I had finally stopped sweating like a madman. And then it was time to go.
From there, we went to the lobby to exchange some dollars to spend at the internet café. I really couldn’t care less about anything in my e-mail inbox, so I waited in the open-air lobby. I sunk into a couch and closed my eyes for a minute. The strong breeze blowing through the lobby made conditions absolutely perfect. I couldn’t hear or see anything. With the temperature being perfect, I didn’t feel anything either. Opening my eyes, I noticed a bird flying back and forth in the top of the giant grass roof of the lobby, which seemed to be at least a hundred feet high. The mescaline started to ebb for a second, so I got myself a beer and tequila from the bar. With drinks in front of me, I could dissolve in the fashion of a typical alcohol junkie rather than someone under the influences of substances unknown. I like to give the people what they want.
With things now in full swing, it was now time to play in the waves. The violence of the storm’s waves was great fun, but it also dredged up a sudsy soup of algae, seaweed, and sand. I ended most wave rides pulling plants off of my back. It was still fun even when a wave hit me in my face and seawater went up my nose. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but I woke up the next morning with an extremely dry nose-throat passage. It progressed into a bacterial infection that eventually spread to my ears and lungs.
I should have picked up some antibiotics in Mexico for 30 pesos, but I didn’t expect it to get so bad. Instead, I am now ordering medication online from Canada. The healthcare system in this country is absolute insanity. And now with the insurance bailout, the United States has institutionalized profiteering from the sick. To my understanding of government, this is totally contrary to its fundamental intent. We need government to organize collective efforts for the greater good. In all other industrialized nations that includes providing healthcare, a basic need of all people, to its citizens.
In any case, back on the white sand, the frozen drinks tasted like half-thawed freezer pops. It was a little windy, but overall a great day. It was just cloudy enough to make things interesting. We walked back to the outdoor pool for a couple hours to watch some more waves roll in. In all the time I sat there and watched, no two waves were the same. The spacing, direction, intensity, everything about each wave had its own characteristics. Soon the distant aqua blue began turning a slate gray, and it was time to shower and get dressed for dinner.
I was coming down now, so I smoked a little more weed before heading out to the evening's chosen restaurant. Dinner started with the best chicken wings I’ve ever eaten. Wings might not sound that exciting, but these were phenomenal. The waiter forgot the blue cheese mentioned in the menu, but that might have just masked the incredible mix of spices that kept getting hotter and better. The main course was pork ribs. Excellent, but not outstanding. A bit of a disappointment when all the other dinners were so incredible. And the white Russian I ordered after the meal had no Irish Cream in it, so it was a bit of a let down there too.
On the way back from dinner, we ran into the night’s vendors in the central lobby area. One thing that caught our attention was a local artist was making airbrush paintings of Chi Chen Itza with stencils and spray paint. We bought three paintings and got our souvenir shopping out of the way. We then watched a little of the stage presentation, then made an early night of it. We watched some of the limited US television programming in the air conditioning, and I was spent.
The experience had its positives and negatives, but the environment was not comfortable enough to be conducive to any type of growing or healing. During the most intense moments, I was simply trying to keep myself together. The day would have gone a lot smoother if I had spent lunch outside, or kept the mescaline down to 100mg. But, that was my day on mescaline in Mexico. Maybe next time I'll make it mushrooms...
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