The Perfect Storm

If you’re like us, the phrase “the perfect storm” conjures up giant rogue waves and a tiny boat thrashing about on a wild, dangerous ocean. Tropical Storm Ida, which passed this area last night on her path up north, is our version of the perfect storm…one that never even occurred!

Despite all the preparations for a good sized tropical storm (our first of the season) Ida veered east at the last moment–as storms sometimes do–and managed to have very little impact on Playa del Carmen and the Riviera Maya last night. There was barely any rain, and certainly no high winds to speak of. It was never going to be a huge storm, but nevertheless people here prepared for it, just in case. But in the end nothing happened. It passed peacefully between the Yucatan peninsula and Cuba…probably the best place a storm can go to avoid impact on human lives.

Even though there was barely any rain or wind, for some reason at least one airline, Jet Blue, cancelled their flights for today. We know this because some guests called last night saying their flights had been cancelled for today and they wouldn’t be arriving until Tuesday. We have NO idea why this would be. Surely Jet Blue had the same information we all had, and we knew by early last evening that this entire area–including Cancun–was completely out of Ida’s projected path. It’s hard to avoid mass panic when even the airlines make decisions like this.

Ida was a relatively late season storm, since hurricane season officially ends December 1. It has been an extremely slow season for us. We’ve had no hurricanes, no tropical storms and barely any rain. We figure it’s about time we got a break down here. We’re looking forward to the beautiful, balmy sunshiny weather that our winter brings, and the huge influx of tourists it brings with it.

In any event, we’re expecting another overcast day or so and then hopefully back to the warm sunshine and gorgeous waters of this magical place we call home, Playa del Carmen. Come and visit, if you can. You won’t regret it.

Tropical Storm/Hurricane Ida is Coming to Visit

Here’s a weather alert we’re giving to all of our guests of the Luna Blue Hotel today regarding Tropical Storm/Hurricane Ida, which is expected to pass through tomorrow:

Weather Alert
Saturday, November 7, 2009

Tropical Storm Ida is currently on a path to pass through this area sometime between 7 am Sunday morning and 7 pm Sunday night. A tropical storm will bring a lot of rain and thunderstorms, and winds are expected to be between 40 and 65 mph. It’s quite possible we will lose power during some portion of the storm’s passage, as Mexico sometimes turns off the power during storms for safety reasons. We will put candles in all of the rooms just in case. We will also be removing the outside furniture this afternoon in anticipation of strong winds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

There is a small chance that Ida may gain strength and become a Category 1 hurricane. THIS IS NOT CONSIDERED A MAJOR HURRICANE. It will simply mean stronger winds and more rain.

At this point, there are no plans for closure of the Cancun airport. We strongly suggest that you check the internet with your particular airline if you’re flying out tomorrow. If you are unable to determine whether your flight is on time, come to the front desk and we will call the airline for you.

If for any reason you are unable to leave the area tomorrow, we have accommodations should you require or wish them.

We want to again emphasize this is NOT a major storm. There are no plans for evacuation, business closures or other safety precautions. It will simply be very windy and wet for about a 12 hour period. Please feel free to come to the front desk if you have any questions or need any assistance.

To take the sting out of the storm, we’re having 2 for 1 margaritas while the bar is open today (3 to 11 pm).

Tony & Cheri, Owners

All Shook Up…Twenty Years Ago Today

Twenty years ago today, the two of us stood in the middle of the Loma Prieta Earthquake, the second largest earthquake in the San Francisco Bay Area history. Here are our memories of that day.

~ Cheri ~
I can remember October 17, 1989 as clearly today as I did two decades ago. Twenty years ago today, at 5:04 pm, I had just left my job at a law firm in downtown Oakland, California. I was armed with my little portable TV and all my softball gear. The plan was to meet Tony for a drink at our favorite watering hole in downtown Oakland to watch the World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland A’s. Then I was going to go on to my late softball game in Oakland (with the TV in tow so as not to miss any of the Series), catching a ride back to San Francisco with my brother afterwards, and Tony was going to go home. This was the first ever World Series between the two Bay Area baseball teams, and we, like most everyone else, didn’t want to miss it, so Tony left work early to save us some bar stools.

I first heard glass breaking. My eyes followed the sound, and I saw panes of glass crashing onto the ground and others falling from the fifth or sixth floor of the large brick building I had just walked past. I jumped into the street and off the sidewalk to get further away from the building and the falling glass. What was going on?!? I looked at the little deli across the street, and the small sign in the window was swaying violently from side to side. I knew then that not only was this an earthquake, but it was by far the biggest one I had ever felt. I looked back at the brick building and saw it actually slither like a snake, only vertically. I was sure it was about to come down. Bricks started falling onto the street. I looked quickly to see if there were any people would be hurt by the falling debris, but the streets were amazingly clear for 5 pm. No one seemed to be on their regular schedules that day because of the baseball game. A guy on the street nearby yelled, “Earthquake!” and ran to hold onto a utility pole. I ran over and held on with him. The street I was standing on rolled like a magic carpet, rising about three feet up before coming back down again. That’s a sight I had never seen before or since.

When the shaking stopped, I just stood there, stunned. There was broken glass and bricks everywhere, and portions of the streets were cracked. I figured I’d better go to the bar and meet Tony, since he was waiting for me. I had no idea the extent of the damage, but I knew it had been a big one.

I got to Roy’s, but Tony wasn’t there. Roy, the bartender, said that Tony had been there during the earthquake but had rushed back to San Francisco to pick up his son from school. I sat down next to Tony’s Jack Daniel’s, ordered a margarita, and turned on the little TV. At that point the electricity was out, so everyone crowded around the tiny screen to get a glimpse of the news. The first news I heard was that the Bay Bridge had collapsed! OMIGOD!! I had a vision of the bridge falling into the water that I just couldn’t shake. Since the Bay Bridge is the only direct way to get from Oakland to San Francisco, I figured eventually Tony would come back to the bar to figure out what to do next. This was before cell phones, so we had no way to reach each other. I sat down and waited with the other people at Roy’s, our eyes glued to the little TV for news of how strong the quake had been and what other damage there was. Was this “the big one?” Everyone was clearly shaken by the experience. I know I sure was.

~ Tony ~
Twenty years ago today I snuck out of work early. The San Francisco Giants and the Oakland A’s were playing in the World Series in San Francisco. Knowing that getting back into San Francisco across the Bay Bridge back was going to be impossible for a couple of hours, Cheri and I agreed to go to a local bar near where we worked to watch the game and wait out the traffic.

The game was supposed to start around 5pm, and so I went down early to grab us a couple of seats at the bar in front of the TV. By the time I got to Roy’s, there were seven or eight people already there with the same idea. I sat down and ordered a Jack Daniel’s and began to watch the pregame show while waiting for Cheri. Suddenly the TV screens went blank. Everyone in the place assumed it was Roy’s TV and began to groan loudly and yell complaints. Then the quake hit us.

The bottles and glasses behind the bar suddenly came flying off. People were knocked off their feet and off their chairs as the floor seemed to tilt one way and then the next.

When you live in earthquake country, it becomes second nature how to react. You get into a reinforced doorway or under a table. Within a few seconds, all of us in the bar were scrambling to fill the small doorway that led into Roy’s from the street. We must have looked like a circus pyramid group climbing on top of each other to find space in the doorway. As I clung to the moving wall of Roy’s bar, I looked out onto a terrifying panorama. The buildings around us swayed to and fro, and with every movement sent bricks, concrete and glass crashing into the street and onto the parked cars. For a moment, I really thought that my life might end there. Then after a few second that literally seemed like an eternity (they always say that, and it’s true), the quake ended. There was an amazing stunned silence broken only by car alarms.

As we untangled ourselves from the doorway, my first thought was of my son, Chris, who was in day care back in San Francisco. I had no idea how great the damage was over there, whether he was in danger, or whether his mother would be able to find him and get to him. I told Roy to tell Cheri that I had left for San Francisco to find Chris. I jumped in the car but had only gone a few blocks when the car radio announced that a section of the Bay Bridge had collapsed. A few minutes later the radio also said that a large portion of the Cypress freeway (the freeway I would have taken to go home if I hadn’t stopped to watch the game) had also collapsed, crushing and pinning numerous cars beneath it. There was no way to get back across to San Francisco. I turned the car around, driving through rubble in the streets, and returned to Roy’s. When I walked in the door, I saw Cheri, pale and a little shaky, sipping a margarita at the bar.

~ Tony & Cheri ~
After exchanging stories of where we were and what happened during the quake, we agreed that our first priority was finding a phone and checking on Chris. None of the phones in the bar worked (remember, this was pre-cell phone), so we took off down the street. We each took a side of the street and began knocking on doors, stepping over broken glass and concrete as we went. We knocked on every door and asked at every storefront if they had a working phone we could use. Eventually someone said yes. Through some electronic miracle, we were able to connect across the Bay to San Francisco and find out that Chris was fine, there had been no damage to his school and that his mother had arrived there a few minutes after the quake. They were both safe and sound at home. We checked in with Cheri’s mom and other family members who lived in San Francisco and the East Bay and made sure they were all fine.

Having found out that the family had survived, we went back to Roy’s for another drink. It seemed like the thing to do. Roy was still sweeping up glass and replacing bottles but took time to give us another round. We didn’t stay long as it was beginning to get dark and there was no electricity. We wanted to go back to San Francisco but didn’t know how to do it. The Bay Bridge was closed, so no traffic could cross it and BART, the underground railway, was closed in case the tunnel beneath the bay had been damaged. Probably the safest thing to do would have been to spend the night in Oakland somewhere, but we both just wanted to go home to San Francisco.

Part of the problem was that we couldn’t get good information. We decided we’d drive around and see if we could find any part of Oakland that still had electricity, so we could find out what was happening. We ended up in a small section of the city called Rockridge and to our relief and delight found the main street, College Avenue, had power. We went into a small restaurant called the Rockridge Café (which is still there and still serves great food) and found a table. We joined a lot of other “refugees” watching the news on the café’s TV. It was pretty scary. The videos of the collapsed freeway, the damage to the Bay Bridge and the fires that had broken out in the Marina district of San Francisco (where the damage was the worst) were horrifying. The city was badly damaged, and in a strange way it made us want to get home even more.

Eventually a news report said there was a way back into San Francisco. The northernmost bridge across the bay, the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, was open. So was the Golden Gate Bridge. We could get home by driving over to Marin and then south across the Golden Gate into San Francisco. The only problem was that no one knew if the bridges were damaged or not. There were no lights on the bridges, and emergency teams were so busy in San Francisco that there was no one to inspect them for damage. People were being warned that they could use the bridges but at their own risk.

We talked about it for a few minutes and both felt the same way. We wanted to go home. It was worth the risk.

We drove slowly across the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. There were a few other cars, all of us driving slowly, wondering if at any minute the bottom of the bridge would fall out beneath us. Luckily it didn’t. Once across, we headed south over the Golden Gate Bridge.

If you’ve ever driven across the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco, you know it’s a spectacular sight, even at night. The lights of the buildings lining the rolling hills make for a beautiful skyline. This night, we gazed in amazement at a San Francisco which was completely dark. No lights were to be seen. The hills looked like giant shadows against the night sky. As we headed across the bridge, Cheri commented that there was a huge fog bank on the bridge ahead of us. As we drove into it, we realized it wasn’t fog, it was smoke from the fires that had broken out from ruptured gas lines in San Francisco.

We drove slowly through the smoke and into the City. The streets were deserted, with electric buses stopped dead in the middle of intersections. There were no people or cars on the street except for the occasional police or emergency vehicle. The only lights we saw came from candles in people’s apartments and houses. It was sad and it was frightening, but at least we had gotten home safely.

The next day the City started its recovery. Everyone had a story. Friends who had been downtown had to walk several miles back to their homes in the surrounding areas. There were no buses, no BART, no way to get there other than to walk. In true San Francisco style, however, the pain of the hike was lessened as bars along the main streets, having no electricity to keep their beer cold, were handing out free drinks to passersby. Most of the City was without electricity for several days, and the downtown business area was virtually closed. The City was forced to slow down, and it gave all of us a chance to look around us and once again appreciate where we lived.

In the weeks that followed, life slowly began to return to normal. However, for several weeks there was no way to get to the East Bay and back again except by ferry boat. We would take a ferry in the morning, drift across the bay to our jobs in Oakland and return in the evening. It was a slower, much more inconvenient way of rush hour travel, but in the end we actually came to love it. We were almost disappointed when the Bay Bridge reopened and we could drive to work again.

Of course, as with the first great San Francisco earthquake, out of the ashes came new beauty. The ugly old freeway that had lined the waterfront had to be torn down. The empty warehouses and rotting piers gave way to palm lined boulevards, restaurants, stores and new apartments. The Embarcadero, the area along the waterfront, is now one of the prettiest and most vibrant sections of the City (and is now home to San Francisco’s new ballpark).

San Francisco has had more than its fair share of tragedies–from the 1906 earthquake to Jonestown to the murders of Harvey Milk and George Moscone to the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake to the AIDS epidemic. The people of the Bay Area have had a lot of heartaches. They mourn and remember those who were lost in the Loma Prieta earthquake but also take pride in their rebuilding and survival.

San Francisco may sit on the shaky edge of the continent, but its inhabitants have long ago figured out that the pleasure is worth the pain. And they long ago realized it’s better to dance than to cry.

We may live in Mexico, but today our hearts are in San Francisco, which is still and always will be our home.

Kalaka…A New ‘Must Try’ Restaurant in Playa

We were looking for a new restaurant to try the other night and ended up at Kalaka. It was an instant hit with us, and it’s already become one of our “must recommend” places. We enjoyed everything about this restaurant and have already eaten there twice in the last three days.

Kalaka bills itself as serving Italian/Mexican fusion food. We were a little dubious about that description and were unimpressed when we first read the menu. The entrees offered are pretty basic, i.e., steak, fish, fajitas, pasta. Basic Playa style restaurant fare. However, it was cute and intimate with only eight tables in an open storefront setting on Calle 4 between 15th and 20th Avenues, and it got points from us for being outside the resort zone. We decided to give it a try.

As soon as we sat down, we had a cute little free appetizer delivered to the table consisting of cheese and olives in a pool of olive oil. There is an extensive wine list but unfortunately only by the bottle. Wine by the glass is limited to your basic red and white “Chateau de Sam’s Club.” There is a full bar.

The first night Cheri ordered chicken in a mushroom cream sauce. It was a large chicken breast completely covered in a thick cream sauce full of very large sliced mushrooms (no canned stuff). In our opinion, cream sauces tend to be too thick and a little bland in taste. This one was flavorful and delicious. The chicken came with rice and some steamed vegetables which had been perfectly cooked and flavored with a whole lot of butter. Tony ordered shrimp fajitas. Rather than getting the standard bowl of shrimp with some overcooked onions and pepper strips, he got a plate full of well-spiced shrimp surrounded by huge amounts of steamed vegetables. The vegetables were fresh, well-cooked and perfectly set off the shrimps. This was accompanied by homemade tortillas and some of the best guacamole in Playa. We were both extremely impressed with our meals.

The next time we returned, Cheri had the shrimp brochette, which consisted of giant shrimps wrapped in bacon and grilled on skewers with various vegetables. This was covered by a light and very flavorful sauce. It was served with a baked potato and more of those delicious vegetables. Tony ordered one of the two filet mignons on the menu. It was a good sized steak grilled perfectly and covered with hollandaise and a tangy soy-based sauce. It was easily as good as any steak we’ve ever had in Playa. It was, frankly, better than the steaks we had at Chicago Don Jose’s and equal to the more expensive steaks we had at John Gray’s Place. It was served with fresh asparagus and a baked potato swimming in butter and sour cream. At the end of both meals, a small tray with two shots of tequila, lime, salt and watermelon chunks was placed on the table. It was a nice touch.

We met the owners, Sylvia and Max, who are from Milan. They were friendly and gracious and are obviously very enthusiastic about their restaurant. We really liked this place, as you can tell. The intimacy and soft lighting makes it a very romantic spot. The quality of the food makes it one of the better restaurants we have eaten at in Playa del Carmen. And because it is a couple blocks off of Fifth Avenue, the prices are not outrageous. The most expensive thing on the menu was the filet mignon Tony ordered at $225 pesos (about $17 US).

This place has style and is worth keeping around. We’re definitely going back (next time we’re ordering from the extensive pasta menu) and highly recommend that our readers give it a try when they visit Playa.

Shrimp Fajitas

Pollo con Champinones (Chicken with Mushrooms)

Inside Kalaka

And on a totally different topic…for those of you who have been worrying about the weather, the beaches, the sunshine, etc. (especially our friends, “the other Tony & Cheri”), here are some pictures we took this morning on Xpu-Ha beach. This is why we live here.

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Thinking of New Orleans

Tonight our hearts are in New Orleans.

We have loved New Orleans for many years. It is a special place for us. There is a magical devil-may-care spirit in that city, and we love to drink it in. Whether it is Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest, Halloween or just a spring weekend in the Quarter, whenever we go to New Orleans life gets crazier, stranger, freer and better.

We have partied with porn stars, danced with vampires and watched ghosts wander home in the pre-dawn darkness. We have been in the crowd to hear the greats of modern music play on the stages of Jazz Fest, and we have walked alone on a cobblestone street following the sounds of a solitary saxophone. We have dined with the social elite at one of the oldest restaurants in America and with transvestites at a greasy hamburger counter down the street. For us, New Orleans is soulful… in every meaning of the word.

We arrived in Playa Del Carmen three years ago as Hurricane Katrina tore our beloved New Orleans apart. And we watched in horror as the City That Care Forgot was herself forgotten by America. We were filled with anger and disgust as the politically powerful, Republican and Democrat, ignored the danger, abandoned the helpless and ran for political cover even as the victims of the storm ran for shelter. The shame should haunt all of us forever.

A short story by the wonderful James Lee Burke tells of a man who is drowning in Katrina’s flood waters. As the waters take him away to his death he notices a wooden statue of Jesus is being swept along with him. He talks to the statue in his final moments and remembers the beauty of the place now dying along with him:

“That’s the way it was back then. You woke up in the morning to the smell of gardenias, the electric smell of the street cars, chicory coffee, and the stone that has turned green with lichen. The light was always filtered through the trees, so it was never harsh, and the flowers bloomed year-round. New Orleans was a poem, man, a song in your heart that never died.

I got only one regret. Nobody ever bothered to explain why nobody came for us.”

~Jesus Out to Sea by James Lee Burke

We didn’t make it back to New Orleans for over a year. But as we started our new life in Playa del Carmen we never forgot the city we loved so much. When we could finally return for a visit in 2007, we found a city destroyed and a people in pain. Places that had existed for generations were shuttered. The empty wreckage of homes were tattooed in paint with the strange code that told other relief workers it had been searched and how many dead could be found inside. People we had known and seen for years were gone–disappeared or dead we would never know. And among those left was a sorrow that could not be described. Friends and strangers would tearfully tell us their stories. Waiters and cab drivers would stop working to begin to cry with us, for their families, and for themselves.

Slowly and painfully New Orleans struggled to breathe. And the people stayed. They didn’t give up on themselves. They survived by their own strength and by the love and gifts of good people around the country. By the time we went to Jazz Fest this year, we saw the spirit of the place we loved starting to swell again. It was a joy to behold.

Sadly, tonight New Orleans again faces destruction. As we write this Hurricane Gustav is poised to strike the Gulf Coast just as Katrina did three years ago. Predictions are that it will arrive as a category four hurricane with its deadliest power centered on the levees of New Orleans which are built to only withstand a category three storm. Massive flooding and damage is expected.

Once the storm passes New Orleans will begin again. Of that there is no doubt. But they will need help. We hope that people will answer the call for help without waiting for the politicians and corporations who never came last time. There are many fine charities and organizations already in place. We will post some of them in the days ahead. We will ask the people who know us, or simply know of us through this blog, to try and help. Please help. Do what you can.

And tonight please join us, if only in your hearts, in New Orleans.

Obama/Biden in 2008

A Little Hurricane Humor

As hurricanes become part of our daily focus, we thought we’d share some humor from theonion.com that was posted by our favorite meteorologist, Dr. Jeff Masters, on wunderground.com (click on the title below).

Hurricane Bound For Texas Slowed By Large Land Mass To The South

It’s so true. We once saw a Weather Channel broadcaster exclaim, “Thank goodness the storm hit Mexico!” And of course there’s always our favorite, Fox News, which, after Hurricane Dean missed us last year by a couple of hundred miles, dramatically declared, “Playa del Carmen is destroyed!”

Enjoy.

Dolly the Dud

Dolly passed through last night and nobody noticed. When we went to bed last night, we left the windows and doors to the bedroom deck open, not only to get some breeze but so we would awake when the storm rolled into town, just in case we were needed at the hotel. We never heard a thing. We were awakened this morning to our usual alarm clock of tropical birds in the banana trees outside our house and of course lots of dog licks. Gypsy always seems amazed that we’re still here every morning.

During the night, Dolly had decided not to strike Playa del Carmen after all but slipped through the straits between Mexico and Cuba, where the Gulf of Mexico runs into the Caribbean Sea. We got a little rain during the night and a little more today, but it’s not even as strong as a normal thunderstorm. We got lucky, but unfortunately Dolly is still rolling north and now has hurricane potential. Our thoughts are with our friends in Texas where Dolly seems headed next.

As for us, our favorite meteorolist, Dr. Jeff Masters at weatherunderground.com, says that conditions are building in Africa for another storm system. Hurricanes are born as weather systems off the coast of Africa. Moving westward over the warm waters of the Atlantic and the even warmer waters of the Caribbean Sea, they build in strength and can turn into major storms, even hurricanes. You can be sure we’ll be keeping our eye on this latest situation. However, it’s really nothing new; it’s just life in the tropics for us. As our close and personal friend Jimmy Buffett sings, we’re just “trying to reason with the hurricane season.”

Hello, Dolly

Well, here we are again, blogging about a storm bearing down on us. It’s been almost a year…so we guess it’s about time. Still, Tropical Storm Dolly took us by surprise. It was supposed to be just another band of thunderstorms passing through when it suddenly organized itself into something bigger. It was only about midafternoon today that we discovered Dolly was upgraded to a tropical storm and that her 60+ mph winds were going to make landfall in Playa del Carmen this evening around 11 or 12 pm.

Taking advange of the unseasonal breeze, we went to lunch at El Pirata on the beach for some of the best Sopa Azteca in Playa and to check out the pre-storm ocean. We ran into some friends and took a few pictures. We wandered back through the crowds to the Luna Blue and found our bar filled with people. Unfortunately we also found that the thundershowers we had been awaiting had turned into a tropical storm of pretty good force, that it was going to hit in 6 or 7 hours, and the city in its wisdom had declared all alcohol sales prohibited. We made the disappointing announcement to the bar, bought one last round for everyone on us and began a speeded-up version of our pre-storm checklist. With our receptionist Jaime and our bartender Jose assisting, we quickly moved through the hotel taking down hammocks, carrying loungers and chairs to the bodega (storeroom), tying down the columpios (swings) in the bar, and generally securing anything that might swing or blow away in the upcoming winds.

And for the first time, not on our checklist was grabbing Blue and putting her into a room to keep her safe from the storm. We wiped away a tear over that.

While spreading the news among the guests, we assured them of their safety. After all, this is just a storm, not a hurricane, and we’ve certainly weathered worse, but we still take it seriously. With the hotel secured, we headed home to follow the same routine for our home. This being only a tropical storm, there’s no need to board up windows, but we still need to make sure there are no items out in the open that can be thrown about by the wind.

That having all been done, we now settling in to enjoy our dinner, play with our new kitten (that’s another blog entry!) and watch the Fool’s Gold DVD we rented at Blockbuster a few days ago.

Right now it’s quiet and humid with an occasional gust of wind and burst of rain. If we’re awake and the storm warrants it (and we have power, of course), we may blog later tonight about what’s happening here. Otherwise, to all our friends and family, don’t worry, we’re safe & sound. And if you’re coming to Playa soon to visit, don’t worry about that either. The storm will move quickly through, damage if any will be minimal, and Playa will be up and operating by tomorrow afternoon.

Hasta luego.

Long After Hurricane Dean, Mahahual Continues to Suffer

The little group of Playa del Carmen volunteers known as the Playa Pals for Mahahual returned to Mahahual with more supplies on Saturday, September 8. We were saddened to find that despite publicity and promises by the Red Cross and other humanitarian organizations, no one other than private volunteers and the occasional government assistance truck has been to Mahahual. Three weeks after Hurricane Dean devastated this region, there are still no established relief programs in place. There is no regular supply of food, water or medical supplies. There is no organized assistance for rebuilding individual homes. In some isolated areas, there is literally no help at all.

With the help of the Dutch consol and a number of Holland ex-pats who we affectionately refer to as “the Dutch Army,” we took more than 200 despensas (packages of food containing rice, beans, cooking oil, coffee, soup, soap & tuna); about 450 mosquito nets for hammocks; boxes and boxes of mosquito repellent, sunblock and mosquito coils; lots of blankets; bags of donated clothing and new underwear for children and adults; many tarps and, as always, bags of candy for the kids.

We pulled in to the parking lot of the Costa Maya Inn where Kevin Graham, local organizer of volunteers, and his group of helpers have set up headquarters. There to our joy was a large Cristal truck which Alex, one of our Dutch friends, had arranged to come from Chetumal to meet us there. They had 1200 gallon jugs of water, which they sold to us at a discount and delivered for free. Everybody pitched in unloading the truck and putting the water into the vans and pickups which were going to be distributing aid door to door throughout the area.

We were asked by Kevin to distribute our truckload of goods (food, water, clothing, mosquito repellent) in the central part of Mahahual nearest to the beach and the former tourist area. The other truck and van were directed to other outlying areas. If you’ve never been to Mahahual, it had a beautiful beach looking out on the Caribbean Sea. Lining a sand road which ran along the beachfront were small hotels, shops and palapa restaurants. It was a tiny tropical village. The second road back from the beach began houses, again mostly wooden with palapa roof. Behind them was the giant mangrove forest. Wherever the forest opened up, small Mayan style houses had been built. There is a school and a very small city hall.

A local Mahahual resident, Otto, guided us door to door. He was invaluable. He knew families that were in trouble and he knew houses that looked abandoned and destroyed but were actually home to people still living there. He also knew where to tell us to drop food and water for people who were off working but would return. Unfortunately, the population of Mahahual has dramatically shrunk since we were there last. The area experienced a forced evacuation when Hurricane Felix threatened. Although the hurricane came nowhere near Mahahual, many of the residents decided not to return. It is no small wonder given what we saw there on this day.

As always, the people of Mahahual were friendly, gracious and effusive in their thanks. We asked one local resident, as we offered him food and water, if he had received any government or Red Cross help. He said that the government had been through once since the hurricane, offering despensas, but there had not been enough for everyone. He replied that a local official had been telling people that if anyone asked about the assistance, he should not say that the “gringos” brought it down.

We also saw little in the way of rebuilding of the homes that were destroyed. On our previous visits, the town had been a beehive of activity with people digging out and beginning to put up new boards, walls and roofs on their small homes. We saw none of that this time. We learned from a local newspaper article that palapa style homes could not be rebuilt or fixed up unless the owner first obtained a permit from the local government at the cost of $500 pesos. Any attempt to rebuild without a permit, according to the newspaper article, would result in a government-enforced halt on work. We personally saw more than one building with “Clausurado” signs, indicating that no permit had been obtained. It appears that larger concrete structures are exempt from this permit.

Although we observed no Red Cross or government aid offering food, water or medical assistance, we did see surveyors in several locations near the beach. We stopped and offered them water and asked who they were. They informed us that they worked for the governement and were surveying for the building of the new malecon (oceanfront walkway). It seems that a “new” Mahahual more conducive to tourists and cruise-ship daytrippers is planned. That plan seems to include an expanded and modernized beachfront. It does not seem to include the small colorful wooden Caribbean-style buildings and homes that existed before.

Among other changes that we learned of, Kevin informed us that the community kitchen which had been serving up to 200 people per day was closing on Sunday (yesterday). The kitchen had been one of our primary means of distributing food and water to the people of Mahahual. It had been run by Francisco, a volunteer chef who worked nonstop for the past three weeks but always seemed to have a smile. Our question of course is who will feed these people if the kitchen is closed? Another change we saw were new signs throughout Mahahual posted by the Department of Tourism proclaiming that Mahahaual would be rebuilt. And, near the beginning of town there is a large sign hung by the people of the nearby areas of Placer and Ubero which says “We have received no help; we have been forgotten.”

We have to say again that despite announcements by the International, American and Mexican Red Cross organizations that they would soon be offering aid in Mahahaul and the rest of Costa Maya, there was no sign of any organized help.

With the drop in population, the Playa Pals discussed last night focusing more on individuals rather than on large-scale relief. Claudia made a request on behalf of a 70 year old man. He has a serious infection in his leg that needs immediate medical attention. He is afraid that if an ambulance takes him to the hospital, he’ll just be abandoned. Claudia asked if the Playa Pals could pay for an ambulance and oversee his initial medical treatment. She asked for approximately $500.00 for this, and we said yes.

In the same vein, Willem and Alex of our Dutch Army contingent came back from their distribution of goods with a sad story of a family, two adults and three children, living in one of the poorest areas of the mangroves who were desperate for assistance. The family had lost everything, and both parents were so crippled from rheumatoid arthritis they could not easily begin to recover. The guys were invited into their home and found nothing but a hammock. NOTHING. The guys suggested to the rest of our little group that we give this family special attention and provide them with some of the necessities of life even beyond a package of food or water. We all agreed that we would spend some of our money and donations buying such things as cooking pots, plastic table and chairs, specific clothing for the children, shoes (no one had shoes, and the ground and swamp water is filled with parasites), and whatever else we could think of to help them create a home again. The thought of our group is that without institutional help, we cannot possibly sustain food and water for everyone in Mahahual, but we can help some specific families. The Playa Pals for Mahahual still have some money left in the treasury and will be spending it this week on another shopping list to be provided by Kevin. We will all be heading down again next Saturday, sooner if Kevin says he needs us.

We’d like to tell one more story. As we were handing out food and water in one area, a pregnant woman with a small child accepted some of our help. A short while later she returned with a bowl which she had obviously made herself by cutting the bottom of a plastic container. The bowl was filled with water and a few cubes of ice, which she then asked us to pass around our little group, insisting that we needed it because we were working so hard. That’s when our friend and fellow volunteer Heather started crying the hardest.

By way of something positive, here is an email we received the night before last from Kevin Graham, who is coordinating the volunteer relief efforts in Mahahual. It was originally written to his fiancee, but he sent a copy to us:

To My Playa Family…

The most incredible thing happened today. Early today we had no more water to give the public commissary which is preparing 300 meals per day in centro. Then an entire water truck from Cristal arrived courtesy of our friends in Playa……I think 2500 1 Gallon Jugs and we distributed it to go out with the convoy from Playa. They brought hundreds of mosquito nets from the Dutch Consul, dozens of lonas, and enough dispensas to go around all the areas of Mahahual and Xcalak, too. It is amazing to see what Luna Blue, playa.info and the Dutch community are doing and it all appears to be seamless. It is really hard to tell who is bringing what! They work together beautifully and selflessly.

After the convoy was split up and sent their different ways with volunteers from here I was privately worried that we may not have had enough dispensas to last for a more than a few days. Just then a huge bus full (same size as an ADO) of college students from a university in Cancun arrived and asked for me. I have no idea how they ended up her but will find out. In addition, they had a moving truck full of at least 1200 dispenas. What an emotional moment. When the students asked me to tell the entire group what Costa Maya means to me I couldn’t help swallowing my words…they know what it means to now. One doctor that came with the group came up to me and thanked ME for taking care of the Mexican people. I told him that I will never come close to repaying the kindness and warmth that the Mexican people have given me. The students and volunteers from here connected instantly and worked together to deliver dispensas to the pueblo and then went with a guide to Limones, Chacchoben, and Noh Bec on the way back to Cancun. There will be enough food for another week now, too.

The town is shutting down the public commissary tomorrow, so now we are all really worried. Still no aid from anyone other than volunteers.

Lic. Kevin Graham

We’d like to end with these words:
“And if ye mingle your affairs with theirs, then they are your brothers.” — the Koran

Great News for Mahahual and the Quintana Roo

We just received this email from Kevin Graham down in Mahahual:

Hola,

The government of Mexico has declared a state of emergency for Costa Maya and other areas of Costa Maya. The other areas such as Cozumel and Cancun may have been added to the list in order to obtain more funds. This has been confirmed now.

So, where do go from here? Until the aid arrives here we have to keep going but this should open the door for formal humanitarian aid. At this moment I was told that 3 tons of food, water, and lamina are on the way to Mahahual that are independent of the lamina, food, and clothing that Marilyn secured yesterday. When it appears, I’ll let you know.

And, who can I thank? If you received this email you are to be thanked individually. I am so afraid that I will leave someone out that I can’t single out anyone. We know each other and that is enough. I think the most powerful thing has been all of your combined positive thoughts, actions and spirit that will change the history of Costa Maya. This is the truth.

Life is about celebrating the small and large accomplishments…this is a big one. Take a second and think about what you have done.

Thank you,
Lic. Kevin Graham
Si necesitas ayuda, solo avisame – If you need any help, just let me know.

How great is that?! Maybe, just maybe, us amateur relief workers can get out of the way for the professionals. We have no doubt that the money, donations, time, emails, letters, links, etc. that so many people from so many places and so many websites have contributed has had a very positive effect on the decision to make this happen. You are all heroes in our book.

Let’s remember in the two weeks since the hurricane that it has taken for this to happen, YOUR DONATIONS have fed, clothed and helped house the people of Mahahual. Let’s also remember that the professional relief workers aren’t there yet. As Kevin has said, there is still an immediate need for food, water and supplies. Another convoy of supplies is scheduled for Saturday. We are continuing to receive donations and don’t worry–the money will still be well spent.

If surplus money exists once the official relief effort is underway, the Playa Pals for Mahahual volunteers will meet to discuss where that money might best be contributed or spent. What a great problem to have to deal with. Anything we do, we will inform you on this blog and playa.info.

Again, thanks to everybody!