Sultry Nights & Cuban Music

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Greetings all, and happy Domingo (Sunday) from sunny Playa del Carmen which is expected to be 32C today with a 46C humidex. Thankfully someone installed an ocean around here otherwise we'd be in big trouble :>

Things I like...

Hanging with my friends on the beach, sipping drinks & laughing about life.

Things I don't like...

My child throwing up all night, and being sick all day.

Things for Rory started to turn around by noon on Saturday when I realized the medication the doctor would give her, I could get at a pharmacy. I researched it, and it did say it was a safe drug to take, but not for any great length of time as it could cause some side effects. I know Rory; when she gets ill, she's violently ill, then if she can sleep, she wakes up feeling better. So I gave her one dose of the medication, and finally she fell asleep with me rubbing her head. She slept for a few hours, and I was able to grab a bite of breakfast, but when she woke, she was still really nauseated. She vomited one more time, and then I encouraged her to try and shower. She was able to but wanted to lie down again right after. Oh my poor little monkey head.

I finally got down to the ocean on a lounger for half an hour till Ava called me to come back up the condo. Rory was sick again asking for a doctor.

Dr. Bernardo is a great doctor in Playa del Carmen, who has a practice here, but who will also come right to your condo if necessary. In fact, we have had him before, specifically in 2013 when Rory had a bad flu & ear infection. Yesterday he responded to my email, and arrived within 30 minutes of our contact. He's a youngish doctor, in his thirties, formally married to a Canadian. I told him about our previous meeting and he laughed and said he was surprised I remembered him because he had lost weight & had gotten laser eye surgery so no longer wore glasses. I asked him how he went about losing 50 pounds and he said, "divorce". Yep, that will do it. Now he's remarried to an Australian who's a doctor as well and they both practice in Playa.

Basically, he agreed with my diagnosis. Rory has a virus; it is not food poisoning with no classic symptoms of diarrhea etc. He listened to her tummy, no rumblings, and so it probably is the flu, and could be combined with too much sun that she had on Friday which worsened her symptoms. Friday was such a busy day waiting on the gals to arrive, and we all ended up in the pool and I think the kids just got too much sun without me realizing. The sun here is nothing to fool around with.

He gave her a shot to help curb the vomiting, which in turn made her sleepy. He gave me (for free) 2 days of medication & a prescription for any other tummy/intestinal upset that may occur.

He stayed for a while, checking on Rory as we chatted about this and that. Right off the bat he teased me about being Canadian because I said "ey". (or he said I said ey!)

He's a really interesting person; very witty and he's been doing some research about taking a trip to Canada. Victoria, Montreal, Quebec City you ask? NO. He's dreaming of taking a trip to Churchill Manitoba to do the "Churchill Wild Safari". Yep, you go there in the late summer or fall to go on tour guides to see the polar bears, grizzly bears, birds, whales, belugas, Northern lights and they do ground-level walking tours of the Arctic while staying in a lodge that you have to be airlifted into. Yes this is for the elite and only the elite.

Most of us Canadians are trying to escape the cold, and here he is, a professional Mexican that can't WAIT to get into the cold. WT Hell? And he says the cost for one week/per person is $9,000. So for he and his wife it'd be $18,000 for a week. AND, they have to pay for their flights from Cancun to Churchill, and then they would be privately airlifted into the arctic safari. Gourmet meals are included, with such things as your traditional French toast and caribou sandwiches.

So when he told me the amount per person, and for a couple...Holy toledo! $18,000 for a week in the cold? What is it about the human condition that makes us want to escape our own surroundings to be in someone else's surroundings? Talk about wanting to walk a mile in someone else's shoes (or snowshoes more to the point). It's good he's a doctor or I'd tell him to see a doctor to check his head (insert joke here).

I told him he could come visit us in Ottawa in the dead of winter if he was wanting a change of pace from the heat. I'd happily provide them all their meals, (where the heck am I going to get caribou for the sandwiches? Does Farm Boy sell that?) Hmm? I could get a big flash light and turn off the lights and hope I can recreate the tiny flashes of dancing Northern Lights for them. Hey, I've got another brilliant idea...Perhaps we can show them a video of polar bears and call it a day? Maybe Martha can wear her favorite moose sweater to make them really feel like they're having a true-north-strong-and-free experience (insert another joke here). Or perhaps Al could run by the living room quickly with a blow-up beluga whale while they dine on their caribou sandwiches? And if they want rustic, heck they can sleep in front of the basement electric fireplace.

And for all that, I would only charge them half price, $9,000 for the entire week. Now doesn't that sound like a great deal compared to $18,000? Heck I'll even pick him and his wife up at the airport too; no required airlifting necessary to get to the wilds of the Robusky household.

And yes...Dr. Bernardo thought my offer was quite kind and rather good (and he did think it was funny). However, I don't think he bought it. Dang. However...ahem, because he liked us, I got a discount on the house call.

We then shared restaurant tips and he stayed till he felt like Rory was feeling better. After we shook hands good-bye and I got on with the day. He later emailed me twice, to check on Rory. Oh Dr. Bernardo, I like your style. Talk about a hands-on doctor that follows up with you not once, but twice. I hope he and his wife visit us - I'm rethinking my price - he can come stay for $4,500 for the week. (Heh heh heh). Aren't I generous?

After all that, Rory slowly improved enough for me to have dinner out with my friends. We walked, (sweated), enjoyed a nice dinner of pizza, salmon, fresh Mediterranean fish, and good wine and conversation. We stopped on the way home to listen to a live Cuban band. We've heard them before, and these guys can get your hips swaying in no time. Thereafter we got some goodies at a French bakery for dessert. Yummy creme brule and chocolate tarts.

Then we hailed a cab. I don't know how it happened, but the driver allowed six of us (4 adults, 2 kids) in his cab, jammed in for only 50 pesos back to the condo. (This normally would cost around $140 pesos (around $12 CDN for 2 cabs). We laughed so hard being jammed in like sardines, and cracked jokes all the way home.

It had me thinking of Kool & the Gang, "It's Ladies Night"...

"Oh yes it's ladies night & the feeling's right, Oh yes it's ladies night oh what a night, oh what a night."

Oh what a night it was...and we were all tucked into bed by 11 PM. Now that my friends, is a sign of a day well-lived.

PS I don't have many pics of yesterday due to the rigamarole of Rory's illness. But there's a few at the bottom. Rory just woke and she's feeling much improved. YAY.

Sal and the Ladies 😊

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