First Day Beach House Party

Thursday, January 8, 2009
We landed in Cancun at sunset and quickly caught a ferry for Isla Mujeres, or “The Island of Women.” It is only a half hour ferry ride from Cancun but it’s a completely different world, far removed from Cancun's vacation package glamour.
We are lucky enough to get a bed in a dorm room at the popular Poc-Na hostel on the north beach. Confronted with my options of top or lower bunk I move towards the lower but Michelle informs me that bed bugs are generally lazy creatures and won’t jump to the top. I contemplate my options as there’s a dangeroulsy close and wobbly ceiling fan. Reluctantly, I put my sheets on the small mattress occupying the rickety top bunk.
Later in the day we get rained out and an impromptu house party is organized. Three men who own the house invite us (along with about 30 others) to their little piece of paradise. And indeed it is a paradise. Perched on rocky cliffs overlooking the ocean, the crashing waves are a constant backdrop. We are amoung the first to arrive but people quickly pile into this small and completely bare house. Hammocks are strung up in the living room to serve as couches and people sit around in circles on the floor and congregate on the deck.
Everyone is welcoming and kisses are given on the cheek as a form of greeting; no handshakes here. The counters are overflowing with food and soon everyone pitches in to cut vegetables, butter bread and marinate the meat as the makings of a great barbeque begin. A table is piled three feet high with cuts of beef, chicken and pork and a nice guy with a ragged smile just keeps cooking it on a small grill. The meat is thrown on a community plate and cut into strips and we all dig in with our hands.
A band plays and the singer has brought her young daughter who dances with all of us. One man runs a stick up and down the teeth on an animal skull, while another sits in the background keeping time with a set of bongo drums. One of the party organizers, Roberto, is also the DJ for the Poc-Na’s beach bar and has set up his laptop to fill in when the band takes a break. We all dance, alternating between Latino rhythms and fast house beats.
Eventually we must all return to the Poc-Na because alot of these people work there. It’s only 8pm and I feel like it should be 3am. Back at the Poc-Na I quickly learn the beach bar is the center of this small island’s nightlife. People flood in from all over and we all sit and dance around a small bar, where drinks for Michelle and I are free because the bartender was at the house party earlier. Ah the advantages of being in the right place at the right time...