Why I love Mexico, part 3

Drum roll please!

Why I love Mexico - Reason #1

The people! Did you guess it? If you have been there you know that the people working at the resorts in Mexico work very hard and are very happy, friendly people. The only people that I have found to be unfriendly are the folks at the front desk . . . of every resort I've been to! I think it's because they tend to deal more with tired people with lots of requests, but for whatever reason they are crabby!

Let's focus on the fun people. Here are some of the people that have made my vacations in Mexico so much fun:

Meet Argel and Valerie . . . two members of the Entertainment Staff at the Catalonia. I met Valerie last year at a sister resort, the Catalonia Tulum. Since my visit there several of the Entertainment Staff have moved to the Catalonia Riviera Maya (CRM), and I was so excited to see them this year! Valerie is just a little bitty thing - but a spitfire! She's from Italy and since I remembered her she vowed to remember my name, and for the entire week I would hear "Nancy" over the microphone every time she saw me. She was so much fun! Argel is from Mexico City; his dad manages a theatre and his mom is an actress. Argel wants to become an actor and promised to remember me when he's famous!

This is Carlos, another member of the Entertainment Staff. Carlos has been at the CRM for 4 years and we remembered him from past visits. Carlos is soft spoken and shy and was embarrassed when I took his picture. He is good friends with Raymond, a former staff member that we loved but is no longer there. Carlos tried to arrange a meeting for us but it didn't work out as Raymond now works in Cancun (about 1 hour away). Carlos is also from Mexico City.

Juan, the bartender (obviously). Juan works hard all day and always has a smile on his face. He's quite the jokster and is well liked by staff and guests alike. He must have his picture taken a lot because when I walked up with my camera he instantly posed!

Then there's Freddy and Nelson - good buddies and quite the characters. Freddy was at the CRM when we arrived and quickly became our friend because I remembered him from the resort last year. I asked where Nelson was and was happy to hear that he would be starting in two days. When he arrived Freddy brought him right over me and told him that I remembered him. They love to hear that! These two are a riot, always up to something.

The Entertainment Staff work very hard - from 10 a.m. to midnight, six days per week. They have tons of energy, speak several languages, and love to have fun.

There are countless workers at these resorts and although I don't have any pictures of waiters or maids I can tell you that they are all friendly and work very hard. We love visiting with them, learning about their lives and they feel the same about the guests. At least they make us think so! Actually that's how many of them learn new languages, by talking with guests.

So there you have it, the 3 reasons I love Mexico:

1. The people
2. The weather/scenery
3. The food

We have snow on the way . . . I sure wish I was back in Mexico!

Why I love Mexico, part 2

I'm back with the 2nd in a 3 part series . . . read on!

Why I love Mexico - reason #2

This reason has two parts - weather and scenery. Going from Minnesota to Mexico in one day is quite a shock to the system. It's great to leave the freezing cold temperatures and wind chill in Minnesota and arrive in Mexico to hot, humid temperatures with balmy breezes.

There's something great about getting up everyday (when you wake up, not when the alarm goes off), putting on a swim suit and laying by the pool until it gets so hot that you have to get in the pool. That's the life!

The resort we stayed at had several pools, not to mention the beautiful Carribean Sea. Here are a few photos:

It's stunningly beautiful, and I don't take it for granted when I am there at all. It's so nice to see green grass and foliage and beautiful flowers. You can feel your whole body relax, and your skin goes from dry, white and scaly to tan and moist - and it happens surprisingly quickly!

Tomorrow I'll post my #1 reason for loving Mexico - be sure to come back to find our what the #1 reason is. Any guesses??

Why I love Mexico, part 1

I've been back from vacation for a week now and I'm finally getting back in the swing of things, including blogging. This is the first in a series of posts about why I love Mexico, watch for parts 2 and 3 in the next few days. After this series I'll get back to posting about crafts!

I'm going to start with reason #3 and work my way up to #1.

Why I love Mexico - reason #3

The food! It's not only the food, it's the food experience. We always stay at all inclusive resorts, and they have many food options. You can eat at one of the buffets, at the snack bar by the pool, or at one of the many restaurants that are included in the package but require reservations.

The snack bar by the pool has awesome fries, burgers, nachos, pizza, etc. It's great because you can go right from the pool without the hassle of getting dressed, and as lasy as I tend to get on vacation that is a good thing.

We ate at three different restaurants at the resort this year - Italian, Mexican and Japanese. My favorite was the Japanese restaurant, which involves sitting at a table with a grill in the middle while the chef prepares your meal with lots of fanfare. The appetizer was sushi, and it was so good! That was followed by fried rice which included having the chef fry an egg and then launch a small piece from his spatula to your mouth, if you can catch it. My piece went right down my shirt. Ahem. After the rice we had a choice of shrimp, beef or chicken. I chose the shrimp and it was awesome! We were fortunate to get seated with a couple from Paris and their 4 year old daughter. Their english was limited but we managed to have a great time with them.

All of the food at the restaurants is very beautifully presented as shown here:

The resort also featured a great ice cream parlor, located on the roof of a building with wonderful view of the ocean. I'm not an ice cream fan in real life, but somehow it tastes great in Mexico! Here a picture of my banana split:

We ate dinner in Playa del Carmen one night and had the best enchiladas! The refried beans were also very good, and the whole dinner cost about $11 per person. That includes an ice cold Corona!

Check back for Why I love Mexico - reason #2.

Seriously? Is this necessary?

What a very sad sight . . . this is our picnic table sitting forlornly in our backyard. How sad is that? It's so cold here in Minnesota; I mean really cold. So cold that a person just wants to curl up on the couch under a nice, warm blanket and wait for spring!

The only thing keeping me going in this weather is the knowledge that in just 5 short weeks I'll be looking at this:

Or maybe this:

Or possibly even this:

Ok, I think you get the point. In just 5 weeks I will be lounging on the beach in Mexico and I truly cannot wait. Warm breezes, cold drinks, hot sun . . . heaven!

In the meantime I'm spending all of my free time studying for an HR certification test that I'm taking at the end of the month. I'd much rather be crafting, but for the month of January studying has to be my priority.

I did make some Valentine's Day cards, like this:

And you can find them in my 1000Markets shop. Click the link and take a look!