The theme of my company Christmas party for 1997 was Middle Eastern. A local Egyptian restaurant owner catered and I ran around in my Sheik gown. Most probably thought of me as Yasir Arafat than Lawrence of Arabia. I had too much Lebanese wine by the end of the evening where you can say things you may regret. Not this time. In the midst of a dozen employees, I said, “Next year, for all that are still with me, we will do our company Christmas party in a foreign land.” I felt so many had seen little outside of Michigan. Many were encumbered with ‘getting by’ I wanted to give them a new dimension in life.
In due consideration for the IRS, my memo read, Photo-Tron is sponsoring a series of educational seminars and workshops to take place throughout the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico in the second week of December 1998.
It worked out to be two ladies in their forties and one gent of fifty. No one had traveled outside the USA and only one had been on a commercial airplane.
Their adventure began in Cancún with a rented van, we headed for Chichén Itzá. A mere twenty kilometers down the road, my three passengers were in awe and amazement over the scenery. One’s first time in the tropics can take your breath away, so I pulled to the side of the road for them to inhale. Some daylight was left after checking into the Hacienda Chichén and my crew was not ready to rest. Driving through a rural area, I saw many people walking towards a small town. We followed to find a twig and twine constructed bullfight ring in full action. Some locals dragged us into an arena side view of this very local event. Later an adolescent beauty pageant was being held beyond the butchering of the fallen bull. Such was the happenstance of events that thrilled the four of us throughout our eight days on the Yucatan Peninsula.
In due consideration for the IRS, my memo read, Photo-Tron is sponsoring a series of educational seminars and workshops to take place throughout the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico in the second week of December 1998.
It worked out to be two ladies in their forties and one gent of fifty. No one had traveled outside the USA and only one had been on a commercial airplane.
Their adventure began in Cancún with a rented van, we headed for Chichén Itzá. A mere twenty kilometers down the road, my three passengers were in awe and amazement over the scenery. One’s first time in the tropics can take your breath away, so I pulled to the side of the road for them to inhale. Some daylight was left after checking into the Hacienda Chichén and my crew was not ready to rest. Driving through a rural area, I saw many people walking towards a small town. We followed to find a twig and twine constructed bullfight ring in full action. Some locals dragged us into an arena side view of this very local event. Later an adolescent beauty pageant was being held beyond the butchering of the fallen bull. Such was the happenstance of events that thrilled the four of us throughout our eight days on the Yucatan Peninsula.
We happened upon a ceremony as the Virgin of Guadalupe was put to sea. An eco-tour brought us together with thousands of flamingos. Remnants of the ancient Mayans were everywhere. Who can forget the tarantula on the doorstep? The ladies spotted whales in the ocean as our flight departed for home. I wondered who benefited more; it was such a pleasure to see childhood amazement in the eyes of mature adults.
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