OK, I'm back but I don't know for how long.

Continuing our story from yesterday... A bit about Club Med, and, in particular, Playa Blanca.

Playa Blanca is an open-air resort. That means that all the public places are open to the air, including the bar, the restaurant, gathering places, etc. Oh, there were indoors places but only for specialized purposes - like the disco.

In general, you just had to get used to the different bugs, lizards and even birds that made their way through the buildings. Sort of added attractions. Remember that this is the tropics and you have to accept all that "wildlife" as just a natural part of the landscape.

There were groups of rooms scatter here and there and occupancy was normally two to a room. As a single I had been assigned a roommate, but I never saw him. That first night I got to bed around eleven, heard him come in later. He got up early, took all his stuff and disappeared.

Actually, I learned later that there were a lot fewer people there that week so everyone got to have their own room. Ah, just me and the gecko. Each room had its own gecko, to eat any insects that got in. And it worked, I never saw any insects in my room, but it took some getting used to, having a lizard darting across your bed during the night.

At Club Med they don't want any distractions to detract from your enjoyment. There are no newspapers, no TV's, no radios, no telephones, but they arrange all kinds of entertainment and events throughout the day and night. And, of course, there is also the possibility that you might spend some of your time drinking. Or even a lot of your time.

Much like Las Vegas, there are no clocks and they suggest you put your watch, along with your valuables, into your room's lock box and forget it all exists until you leave. But how am I going to know it's time for dinner, you ask?

Every meal is served for about 4 hours, so literally there is some meal being served at just about all times, even midnight snacks. The disco closes about 6 A.M., the same time as breakfast is starting. Anyway, just go to the restaurant when you're hungry and eat. No problem.

This resort being owned by a French company, all the wine (as well as soft drinks and beer) is free. The only thing that you have to pay for during the whole week are mixed drinks. To avoid problems with carrying money around (and to keep that lock box closed), you go to the cashier's office and purchase plastic beads that snap together (remember those), and use these if you want to purchase hard liquor.

So, you're walking around with your room key and lock box key on a necklace around your neck, almost assuredly another necklace of plastic beads alongside it. All your valuables are in the lock box, so no need for pockets. When I went, my total luggage for the week consisted of a small overnight bag, and I do mean small.

I spent about 99% of my time in swim trunks (you might say it's REALLY informal there, remember some of their resorts are clothing optional). I packed a pair of shorts and a knit shirt for fancy occasions (although I'm not sure that I encountered one of those) along with some underwear for those occasions (rare) when I needed them.

I also brought a wide assortment of T-shirts. Why? Because, although I had not attained my full figure, I was beginning to show signs of being in my forties and having a desk job. I felt a lot more comfortable wearing a T-shirt with my swim trunks.

And it worked out well since I never went in the water anyway (have I ever mentioned that I hate being wet) and the shirt protected a lot of my pale Minnesota skin. Although I had gone to the tanning salon before my trip (I do so hate sunburn), I could see that wouldn’t be enough. So, between the T-shirts and taking great care to stay out of the sun, it was all OK. Tropical paradise, stay out of the sun. Check.

Part of the reason for taking this vacation was to complete the transformation I'd begun on that 13th floor of the high-rise. I was the type who always had to have something to do, I was totally unable to simply relax and let life happen. I had brought several books with me for emergencies, but mainly I intended to do absolutely nothing that week.

Now, it might not seem like much of a vacation to do nothing, but that week I broke the back of the "event" mentality that infects so many people today. There always had to be some "event" I was engaged in and I was tired of living that way.

I was tired of feeling bored and then feeling harried trying to find something to stop my boredom. I felt that I missed a ton of life by being so busy living. This was my opportunity to stop it, to learn to relax.

I guess it worked because many people have since then said they envied me, wishing they could be more like me in this aspect. And it happened there in Mexico, in a place with hundreds of young people all busy enjoying themselves with all kinds of activities. And I saw it all, enjoyed it all, and felt no need to participate at all.

My day would start whenever I awoke. That might be at eight or it might be noon. I'd throw on a T-shirt and my swim trunks, go down to the bar, get me whatever beverage I felt like, stake out a table, and just sit, watching the crowd ebb and flow around me. Sometimes I would walk down to the beach, find a shady place to pull a beach chair up into and watch the bikinied babes frolic in the water.

Yeah, I said bikinied babes. I said it and I meant it. I'm on vacation, I don't have to be PC. Cut me some slack. Then, drift back up to the restaurant and have whatever meal might be available. Then it's afternoon, maybe a trip back to the room for siesta, maybe just doze in the bar. Later in the afternoon, more sitting, maybe some drinking.

Quite often people would see me sitting there, wonder at it a bit, and have a seat and talk. Soon I found I was seldom totally alone. There were even those regulars who would drop by for a daily conversation. Some of them were even girls.

There were all kinds of people discussing all kinds of things. But, when I was alone it was all right, too. I can remember one day sitting for several hours discussing the creation of the Jewish state with a young man from Israel. Another day a woman telling me all her problems at work back home. People are always looking for a listener.

I can also remember one day when it was raining, and one difference between Mexico and the States became so obvious. There in the amphitheater were four or five Mexican workers, busy with brooms, brushing water off the steps and to the drain in the middle of the floor.

Mind you, it was still raining so it was an endless job, but labor is cheap there and it provided work for them. Here in the States we’d have just made the seats/tiers slant toward the middle and throw a lot of workers out of work.

More tomorrow about some of the activities at Playa Blanca, along with word of "PICNIC."