Life's a Beach | Expat Life in Playa del Carmen

Sometime in the Fall, Papalote parents were asked if their children would like to participate in a performance that was to take place sometime near the end of the 2010-2011 school year. There were to be required in-school rehearsals and books to buy and uniforms to order and little or no information about exactly what kind of event we could expect. The children would be learning some songs on the Flauta Escolar (that's a recorder to you and me) which, like all good Waldorf children, they become quite proficient with at a young age. Frankly, the prospect of MORE recorder practice in my house filled me with dread, but as Cole and his pals seemed keen to do it, I signed him up and paid for the music book. Having lived here for almost 7 years now, I secretly wondered if this "performance", would ever actually take place. I've seen lots of these bright shiny ideas take off like a rocket only to fizzle and die out. Events are rarely, if ever, planned a whole year in advance and I questioned whether the organizers and the young participants could keep up their enthusiasm and the momentum to make it through!

As the year progressed, I was curious to find little or no recorder being practiced at home with the exception of John Williams theme from "Star Wars" which Cole played over and over again until I heard it in my sleep. Having no musical skills whatsoever, I was delighted that he was able to accomplish this one song and that he seemed to really enjoy it. So great. We will watch Cole and his class perform "Star Wars" on the recorder, everyone will take pictures and shoot video. We will all cheer and praise them for their dedication and grumble about plopping down 300 pesos for the big music book and wonder why we couldn't have just banged out a couple dozen copies of the sheet music at Copyvanka.

More time went on, informational meetings were scheduled (meetings which I conveniently forgot about), uniforms were paid for and ordered, tickets were reserved for this event which was to take place at Xcaret. Xcaret? That made me stop and think. What on earth could they be doing that would take up the theatre at Xcaret? Maybe I SHOULD have gone to the informational meetings.Damnit! There goes my parent-of-the-year award. Again.

Determined not to screw this up completely, on the appointed day...at the appointed hour...printed minute-to-minute time table in hand...I brought Cole to Xcaret for a mandatory rehearsal...scheduled to last 6 hours!  Greeting us when we arrived were throngs of other students, each clad in their respective school uniforms, each with the aforementioned big music book and flauta in hand, waiting with their parents. It was bedlam. Cole was delighted. I felt a migraine coming on and cursed myself for having that last after dinner cocktail. This was no time for the spectacular hangover I was sporting. I somehow managed not to embarrass myself or my son and made a mental note to get a good night's sleep and eschew all thoughts of cocktails.

The next morning, with a clear head and a full night's rest, I arrived at Xcaret and dropped off Cole to meet up with his group. I had pre-purchased tickets and easily found my way across the park, aided along the way by the helpful and charming Xcaret staff. Our seats were good and I settled in fully expecting to have a good long wait ahead of me. As 1st and 2nd call was announced over the loud-speaker, I began to panic that perhaps "Mexico Time" was not in effect here! Rob and Birdie made it just in time for the opening number!

What I experienced then and for the next two hours was, to me, nothing short of a miracle. Nearly 1000 children, from different schools in Cancun and the Riviera Maya, all perfectly dressed with the required uniforms, music books and recorders played 21 songs directed by their music teachers and accompanied by a  small orchestra. It was amazing! I was awestruck! My son and 999 other children had managed to learn 21 songs during the course of the school year. Even more amazing, the event, with just one day of rehearsal, went off on time and without a hitch. For those of you living out your lives NOB (north of the border) this may not seem like something to get worked up about. Trust me. It is. Aside from a dramatic and much-needed downpour of rain, there was no detail left unaccounted for by the teachers, organizers and Xcaret event staff. If you had asked me 7 years ago if I could imagine such an event taking place in Playa del Carmen, I would have said you were crazy. It is incredible how things have progressed over the past few years. There are so many more opportunities available for families with children here and across the Riviera Maya. If your children are attending a school in this area and they are not involved in this activity, I would strongly encourage you to suggest it to the head of school or the music department. It will be well worth the effort. We all need to keep pushing for more of these "miracles"!