I’ve been lurking, and enjoying, this site, for the past few months, so I thought I would take the plunge and register. This is just a great site and I look forward to learning more by being a member of this community.
For the last 10 years, I’ve been married to a Mexican girl from Chetumal, and although that’s where we spend the majority of our time when we’re in Mexico, we get to PDC as much as we can because she and I love the place. We are both bilingual, and so are our two kids. Although we live in the U.S., near Atlanta, we usually spend the summers, when our kids are out of school, in southern Q.R. I’m fortunate that I have a job that allows me to do my work over the Internet for at least part of the year. Whenever possible, we also come down to the area for Christmas holidays. We were there this past December, but, unfortunately, didn’t make it to Playa.
I first discovered this site a few months ago, right after Hurricane Dean. I was looking for news about Mahahual after the hurricane and this was the only place that could be found on the Net that had up-to-date news and photos about the situation there after the storm. I was very impressed at the sense of community on this site that pulled everyone together to help out the people in Mahahual after the hurricane. I commend all of you, especially those who took the lead in running food and supplies to the area. I especially commend Heather, who took great photos and wrote great reports about the critical situation in Mahuhual after the hurricane. This was stuff that couldn’t be found in the media at that time. Thanks!
Although we don’t get to Playa as often as I would like, we have a typical routine: stay at the Maya Bric, hang out at La Tarraya on the beach all day, and then return to the hotel to cool off in the pool and hit 5th Ave at night. We used to have a place in Tulum, and we would always make day trips to Playa. Sometimes, we’ll go to Xel Ha or Cozumel. We aren’t the backpacker types, but we’re definitely budget travelers, we’re not the AI set at all. I have very little interest in Playacar or the condo scene, but that’s just me. I like to be near 5th Ave, near the action. But, I am ready to learn about new and different things to do in Playa to break out of the routine. From reading this site, I have learned about a lot of new places that I would like to visit on our next trip to the area. It’s great to read advice and learn from so many Playa experts and expats.
I love music and play guitar, requinto, and mandolin. In the past few years, through my trips to the Yucatan, I have really gotten into the music of trios. One of the things I love about Playa is the ambience that the street musicians give Playa, and my dream is to retire and become a "músico de trova" in Playa someday. During my last few trips to Mexico, I’ve also been introduced to "rondalla" music, thanks to my father-in-law who plays the bass fiddle with the state-sponsored group. I’ve even gone out and played a few gigs with them, so that just made my obsession with this type of music even worse!
Anyway, it’s great to find this site and hopefully be able to contribute in some way. There are some very interesting, and articulate, members of this community. I probably won’t get to post that often, but I will always be checking in to see what’s going on in Playa and get the 411 on the ever-changing scene there.
