My Conversation with Toby-Last Entry of 2010

    Speaking with Toby after my round was nice.  He did not own a dog like the starter at the beginning of my round.  He was very pleasant and full of information.  I wanted to find out the English translation for Estrella del Mar, and this is it: The Star of the Sea.  Estrella meaning star, of course, and Mar meaning sea.  Good name.  Very fitting.

   He also told me he likes..

Estrella del Mar Skinny Guy

 

Enough of that.  On to golf…

   I ordered a sandwich on hole #14, but it didn’t get to me until hole #17, which was silly really.  I could have just waited to finish and then ordered a sandwich, but I was happy to have it when it arrived.  I ate it between shots as I finished my round.  The fries were as wet and wiggly as worms and the sandwich had bacon, but that didn’t stop me from eating them. 

   When I was done playing, I looked for a shirt in the pro shop, but I had no desire to buy one after looking at them all.  They were nice enough, but I felt I had spent my quota on golf for this trip already, and the guilt about Belinda’s birthday was still affecting me.  I heard later she had to kayak with a stranger.  I am sure she was mortified.  He was nice enough, she said, a cop or a naval guy or both, but that must have ruined her birthday as quickly as our money was spent on this cruise ship vacation.  James thought about being the odd one out (not riding with cousin Kyle) since it was his mom’s birthday, but he just couldn’t do it.

   I also missed out on...

Trying to Get Away on a Getaway

12-24-10

   Merry Christmas Eve!  I am on Deck #11, I think.  I am at the back of the ship.  The sun is to my right.  The churning water from the ship’s engines mellows and fades away like a cone as the ship moves farther away from the tip of the cone.  I see a stray ping-pong ball hiding below the windowed railing.  It looks like a mouse scurrying back and forth afraid to be discovered. 

   I thought for sure I had found a place I would not be discovered by my family, but as soon as I sat to write at a table...

The Mexico Christmas Golf Effect

   It took me three holes before I caught up to the next group, Rick’s group.  They asked me if I wanted to join them or play through.  I did not hesitate this time; I told them I was going straight through.  Rick’s brother was smoking a big ol’ cigar, so that made that decision even easier. 

   I am out on our balcony again.   It’s almost 2:00 "ship time."  Kyle was going to take a short nap, but then A and B decided to nap, too, so we are staying on the boat a little longer while they rest.  It’s giving me plenty of writing time, so I am happy. 

   I am in Puerto Vallarta for crying out loud!

Is it a Small World?

   Starting out at Estrella del Mar, the other six who came along did what I did.  I must look like a really great golfer, which is good, but I really wish I was a great golfer, and not just have the appearance of one.  I wanted to warm up for a long time, and then go play by myself.  Both Eric and Curt chose not to go with me to play golf on this trip, so I selfishly hoped not to play with anyone this time. 

   We had one guy from Las Vegas.  He said he shot an 86 (when we were back in the van ready to go back to the ship), which he also said was not good for him.  We also had Bill, Brad, and Jason from Phoenix.  Brad was Jason’s stepson, and Bill was Jason’s best friend.  The other two were brothers who were from, get this...

Estrella del Mar

 12-23-10

   We are resting a bit before we head off the ship to Puerto Vallarta again.  We already did some shopping at a nearby flea market.  Everybody bought something.  I bought two new belts and a money clip.  Walking out of the ship, we saw a mariachi for picture opportunities, a small donkey (for the same reason), and a long sidewalk lined with various tours we could have taken.  For example, ATV tours, tequila factory tours, city and shopping tours, and jungle zip-line tours.  That’s the tour the Lamberts are taking today, the zip-line one. 

   The golf was swell, although it was tainted by the drive over.  I felt like I was a privileged, wealthy snob.  It was a most uncomfortable feeling since I am not that way at all.  I am a humble teacher, a servant really.  It’s not my style to be catered to or to be in such posh surroundings.  This whole vacation I’ve had to convince myself that we deserve this, that I deserve this.  It has not been easy.  

   When I played hole #13, some boys, maybe 13 or 15 years old, were trying to sell me some golf balls.  I had to say no.  We (our three families) all learned to say no over and over again, "No thank you. No gracias.  No, no thank you."

   “Pro-V,” they would say!   

   I didn’t want any golf balls.  I have plenty.  My first shot went out of bounds, a bad hook, and the boy near the green found it and gave it back to me.  I thanked him because I had a small thought that he might ask for money for my own ball. He didn’t.  He then applauded when I got my fourth shot close, and then once more when I finished the hole, so I nodded and touched the bill of my hat.  I asked him, although it was pretty obvious that he did not speak English, if he had ever been struck by a golf ball.  I motioned with my arm to mime it out for him.  He shook his head.  He asked me again if I wanted to buy some golf balls, but when I said no this time, he said, as I was walking away, “Money for food?” 

   He did not smile.  I felt a pang of guilt.  I told him I had no pesos, but I really meant I did not have any pesos, not that I didn’t have any money.  I think he thought I meant I had no cash at all.  Either way, our brief encounter ended at that point and the awkward silence caused me to walk away.  What else could I say at that point?  I felt bad, but for all I know he could be a "minor" scam artist.  Or maybe not.

 

One Good Birthday Choice and One Bad One

12-22-10

   Today is Amanda and Belinda’s 43^rd birthday.  I gave Belinda a brand new Canon digital camera before we left for this vacation.  I let her pick it out for herself from Best Buy, so I know she is happy with it.  It’s another Canon (her last camera, the one the children dropped and broke at Grand Lake was also a Canon), a slick black one that’s not too small or too big.  She likes those.  I am proud of myself.  She used it again today, and she told me she got some clear pictures of the kids parasailing.  Danielle’s pictures, she said, are the best because Danielle went last and the practice she had taking pictures of the others helped.

   I am sitting on the balcony again.  This is becoming my favorite spot for writing on this cruise.  It’s private, it’s cooler...