If you want to be totally pampered, and you have a week or two and some extra money burning a hole in your pocket and a sighted friend, take a cruise.
Cathy, her sister and I just spent a week floating between San Diego and Mexico. We boarded the Oosterdam, one of the larger Holland America liners. These people have made a science out of pampering. The crew is made up mostly of young, energetic, super caring Filipinos and Indonesians. If their English is sometimes difficult to understand, there can be no mistaking their desire to take total care of you.
But for a blind person to really kick back and enjoy themselves it would be wise to bring a sighted companion. I was lucky enough to have two such folk. A blind person with good travel skills can certainly learn the layout of the ship, as huge as it is, but the problem is the language. We did most of our grazing at the buffet line. Between the crowd noise and the soft, musical, non-understandable voices of the servers, I would have starved to death trying to figure out what was for dinner.
But the quality of the food was amazing. And you could eat until you exploded. Sad to say, we noticed many people who loaded up platters only to leave most of it on the table when they were done eating. And the food was honestly served on platters!
I could write a book just recalling the wondrous days spent on board, but this was a Mexican cruise, after all.
So we signed up for three tours.
Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucus.
I will not take space describing what we saw on these tours. And here is the reason. Tours are designed to bring people to a number of sights, such as cathedrals and ancient ruins, and then haul everyone to the eateries and gift shops.
But if you pay close attention you can get a sense of some of the actual life that goes on around you.
Mostly what I experienced as a blind traveler in a different culture, was how different that culture is when it comes to assisting the blind. It reminded me of the long ago times in the USA. For one thing we saw no blind people on the streets. Not even beggars. Local citizens stared openly as I passed them. Naturally most of this is due to my intense good looks, but some of it was their amazement at seeing a blind man in public. Now, I am tall. Six foot three inches. And I am not wasting away. Two hundred and forty five pounds. Many Mexicans are not big people. However they ar quick. Strong. Eager. And they would encircle their arms about my middle and actually hoist me off the ground in order to "assist" me in boarding or leaving the ship or tour bus or chair or going down stairs or going up stairs or even if they thought that I might be about to move. So I became well acquainted with the local folks. Up close and very personal. But not the ladies. I might have enjoyed that, but they seemed to leave me to the men to handle. Now that I think about it, Cathy may have had something to do with that.
But beyond the discomfort of being mauled, the Mexican people are a beautiful and kind and caring people. My years as a rehab teacher caused me to think of actually moving to Mexico and beginning a training center. Naturally I have not researched the subject, so I have no idea just what services do already exist. But I doubt it will happen. All my children and grand children live here in Washington state. All of my friends and all of the organizations I have labored in over the years are also here. And most of all, those Mexicans all speak Spanish. My Spanish consists of the normal one word conversations such as, "eat", "Bathroom", "Thank you", and one short sentence, "Which way to Seattle?"
Another time I will comment on the deterioration of courtesy and assistance in our American airports. But suffice it to say, I have gone from being an eager traveler to absolutely hating to enter airports. I will take a bus or a train or stay home before flying.
But enough for now. All in all it was a great experience and we did meet so many beautiful people. Both Mexican and American.
Curious Carl
No comments:
Post a Comment