In the summer of 2017, my daughter, Becky, graduated from the College of St. Mary (a women’s college) with her master’s degree in Occupational Therapy. In lieu of a party, she chose to celebrate in Isla Mujeres (the Island of the Women), Mexico. Yay!
Becky and I have often taken girl trips with Marilyn, so having her join us on the Island of the Women to celebrate Becky’s accomplishment couldn’t have been more perfect.
At the time, Becky and I were residing in Nebraska; Marilyn lives in New Hampshire. Becky and I made all of the reservations for this trip and planned to meet Marilyn at the airport in Cancun, from where we would travel together to our hotel.
I hadn’t bothered to relay all of the logistics to Marilyn, because, well, she trusts me to take care of all those ‘little things’. After all, we’ve been friends for more than 30 years, and I’ve proven myself to be trustworthy, right? Unfortunately, a thunderstorm delayed Becky and I in Chicago hour after hour, and I was unable to reach Marilyn to tell her of the delay.
When I finally reached Marilyn by phone, she was sitting alone in a cafe enjoying an umbrella drink and taking in the sites and sounds of downtown Isla Mujeres. I’m so glad she’s resourceful!
As she tells the story, upon landing in Cancun and finding that Becky and I were hours delayed, she devised her own game plan. Marilyn recalled only the name of the island and that our intended hotel had “something to do with the moon”. Admittedly, not much to go on! A taxi fare and a beautiful ride on the UltraMar ferry landed her on Isla Mujeres. Luckily, Marilyn speaks Spanish and was able to explain her moon hotel theory to an “ancient” tricycle taxi guy. In case you don’t know what a tricycle taxi is, well, it’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like: an oversized trike with a gigantic basket on the front, powered by a guy just trying to make a living. It’s actually a very popular thing on the island. Normally, a tourist’s luggage rides in the basket, and the taxi guy leads the way while the tourist follows along behind. But not Marilyn. And, oh man, I really wish I had a picture of this-Marilyn rode in the basket, on top of her luggage! To her credit, she said that the old guy insisted. I nearly wet myself when she was telling me this story. I believe the guy must have endeared himself to Marilyn, because it turns out that she tipped him, in U.S. dollars, the equivalent of an entire day’s wage!
Fun Isla Mujeres 
pictures ‘cause I don’t 
have a tricycle taxi pic!
Marilyn is impressive, she found her way to the Ixchel Beach Hotel. That only sounds like it has “something to do with the moon” if you know that Ixchel is the Mayan goddess of the moon and fertility. I’m not well versed on Mayan goddesses, but evidently Marilyn and the ancient tricycle taxi guy are!
The hotel was awesome: beautiful, walking distance to the shops and restaurants on Avenida Hidalgo, and right on the beach. Perfect.
If a tourist has already taken a tricycle taxi, the next most preferred method of transportation is a golf cart. Of course, none of us had ever driven a golf cart, but we weren’t about to let that little issue hold us back-we’re college graduates, celebrating college graduation, right? The ride across the island was fun, bumpy, and just a little bit scary-even when we weren’t lost.
We loved the Women’s Beading Cooperative. The beading cooperative is run by talented local women who come together to practice the art of beaded jewelry making and selling it to tourists for profit. This project supports women by bringing them together in a community where they teach this craft to the next generation, and allows them to earn an income to support themselves and their children. Plus, I just love bracelets!
Our next stop was to check out the Ruins of Ixchel Temple. The ruins are on the southern tip of the island, and were built to honor the Mayan goddess, Ixchel. The Mayan civilization populated Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and Belize approximately 3000 years ago. Known for their advances in math and astronomy, they built stone temples and pyramids as worship centers for their gods and goddesses. Although, as a Christian, I don’t worship the Mayan gods and goddesses, I can appreciate the beauty of the Mayan workmanship.
Ruins of Ixchel Temple 
The temple grounds 
While relaxing on the beach outside our hotel one afternoon, we decided that we each deserved to get a massage. One by one we enjoyed relaxing massages while listening to the waves roll gently onto the beach. Three massages later it was time to pay the piper. Oops, come to find out they only accept MasterCard. I only had Visa. Marilyn only had Visa. Getting desperate, we turned to the broke, recent graduate…did she have a MasterCard, or did we really just get ourselves into a jam? Or a pickle? Quit talking about food because we might have to sing for our supper! Yay, Becky had a MasterCard and she was willing to cover us this time! Whew!
Fully relaxed on the beach 
My graduate
Like all vacations, this trip ended way too soon. Celebrating women on the Island of the Women was awesome. What are you celebrating today?
The ferry ride back to Cancun 
Hasta la vista, Isla Mujeres