December 28- Costa Maya, Mexico

Tired and weary, the Cheek family returned from a fun day of boat rides to little villages in Guatemala. The kids had saved their money and bought school supplies to give out to children in a school, but it turned out the schools are closed from November through January. They went into a town and distributed what they had purchased and brought along from home. Both children commented on seeing the poor children who were selling necklaces made from seashells. I think they have learned much from seeing these cultures and communities where people don’t have much in the way of materials possessions.

Many purchases were made from the vendors at the dock- small beaded purse, a beaded lizard, a cute t-shirt and a clever wooden turtle puzzle box.  After “show and tell” , the kids settled down- Ella to color a lovely picture and complete a maze and Christopher to search the menu for his choice for dinner food. He has loved the chilled soups, but last evening the melon soup didn’t work for him….however  the four Cheeks ate 8 bowls of soup- chicken gumbo and bacon cheddar. The service was really fast and correct and our various comings and goings didn’t make that easy to do.

Kids went up to the HAL Club for an hour and the adults visited.

Today we are in Costa Maya, Mexico. This is a port created for cruise ships so off the ship there are stores with stuff and a beach resort. Neither is something we need to experience or purchase.

We learned that Holland America Cruise Lines has two new safety and environmental additions. This ship is testing a thermal imaging system that detects if a person accidentally falls overboard. Don’t know what happens if it wasn’t accidental!!

The Cruise line is spending $1,000,000 per ship to outfit them to be able to plug  into shore power facilities while in port. We decided that is a good trade off- the community gets to sell power to the ship and the ship reduces the amount of fuel being used to just operate their generators.  Interesting changes reflecting the changing times. BUT the Internet is still so slow and I can’t figure out why someone doesn’t tackle that.

From our balcony we can see the resort, hear the big waves and see the many shades of beautiful blue water. Wonderful place to relax. What a life!