TULUM -- and if i drag this out for longer than a post, this is pt. 1

on friday morning, our crew packed up bright and early and headed out east to tulum, a quaint little beach town in the yucatan's neighboring state of quintana roo. i woke up friday with a throbbing left heel that i couldn't put any weight on, but after a toughen up! internal pep talk, i grabbed my things and hobbled my way down my usual path to the central house. i arrived just in time, panting, but present! and after throwing my backpack in the trunk i hopped in the van and settled in for the 4 hour car ride that was just ahead. i had this smug little look on my face that read, "i'm ready for ya this time, ya vicious air vents," and smiled at myself as i looked down and took in my outfit that was long sleeves, leggings, and tennis, for i was finally prepared after learning the hard way that mexican van drivers like their AC. and being fuh-reezing on road trips is the absolute pits.

so i sat. and i waited. and the van started up and we drove off and i heard the air blast threw the ventilation system and i yelled bring it on! over the one direction that was blaring through my head phones. as i stared out the window, time kept passing and i kept waiting, and the cold air never came. instead, i started to get hot. sticky. my hair line was a little damp. are things.. sweating? shoot, that van ride was smoldering. i felt so defeated. the one time! it was uncomfortable. moral of story: van ride temperatures are unpredictable. wear peelable layers. remind me of this in a few weeks when i start talking about our next trip, okay?

we stopped to swim in a cenote on our way to tulum. a cenote is an "underwater sinkhole," or cave (with bats and all!), that is the result of collapsed limestone. it becomes filled as rainwater seeps through the ground (which is all limstone.. here i go again, explaining earth-y stuff). all cenotes lead to the ocean, which means, if you're a super skilled diver and feeling very ambitious (and stupid), you can start in the cenote and swim your way through the underground tunnels, and (hopefully) pop out in the ocean! but don't. because a lot of people get trapped and die.

i'm serious.

it's morbid, i know. 

that said, i clung to an intertube and floated near the stairway entrance into the cenote to avoid getting sucked into the big hole and/or touching the few catfish that were gliding around and/or because i don't like slash am bad at swimming. did i ever tell you my mom made me take swimming lessons until the fifth grade?  fifth grade! i was practically fully developed! talk about an emotionally scarring situation.

after swimming, we drove a bit further to tulum. first things first, we checked into our hostel and prepared for ESNORKELEANDO! er, snorkeling. we spent the afternoon learning how to snorkel in two different locations: right off of a beach and in a "cenote" - which, i'll have you know, was not a cenote! albeit, my cenote standards were a bit high after having visited such a beaut just a few hours before, but "cenote" number two was above ground, and in sad reality, was merely a pond in some mangroves. and all i saw was a crab and some guppies. i will never understand the biological world's fascination with mangroves..?
snorkeling is a tricky concept to grasp - my nose panics a little when it's not being put to use - but once i got the hang of it i was breathing and exploring and swimming like a pro. those swimming lessons paid off!

just kidding. i was wearing a life jacket.

unfortunately we weren't allowed to bring our non-waterproof cameras to the snorkeling sites, so i wasn't able to get any cool beachy fishy action shots. however, i'm planning to just rip some off of my friends' social media sites to share with you later. in time, in time.

now friday night.. my heart flutters a happy dance at the thought of that friday night. it was a good one and i shall enlighten you on such events that took place!

tomorrow.

but i'll leave you with this darn good clue of a photo:

are you curious yet?