We're in Mexico!

We arrived safely in Cozumel, Mexico around noon today, and we're looking forward to seven days of sunshine. It was 80 degrees when we landed! Cozumel is an island in the Caribbean, near Cancun. (Need a visual? See this post from last year.)

We're staying at the Coral Reef Inn again, which is where we stayed last year. It's like a bed & breakfast, and it's a really great place. There are only five rooms, so there's a community-like feel to the place. We've already met some of the other guests, and two are from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Here's a photo of our room.
Most of today's activities involved getting settled in -- renting a car, unpacking, and grocery shopping. The inn has an outdoor kitchen on the roof that guests are welcome to use.
We saved a lot of money last year by eating breakfast and other small meals at the inn, so we decided to buy food again this year. We had lots of fun at the grocery store! We took time to walk around the whole thing just to see what kinds of stuff they had. There were a lot of fruits and vegetables that we didn't even recognize. Many of the packaged foods were similar to what we have at home, only different flavors (for example, chile and lime). The grocery store was like a Super-Walmart, and it was especially interesting to me because somehow it succeeds in serving both tourists and locals.

We bought a variety of foods, including chocolates (even hazelnut-filled Reese cups!), Mexican cheese, mangos (of course!), avocados, limes,
pastries (don't worry, the price is in pesos, not US dollars!)
some cereal, drinks (including mango juice), mango granola bars, and mango sorbet. (Did you notice the trend there?)
After dinner we sat outside on the roof and watched the stars for awhile. Usually I have to do that by myself because, according to Dave, nighttime at home is either freezing cold or full of mosquitoes. We didn't have to worry about either of those things tonight, and it was a relaxing way to end the day.

Tomorrow we're driving to the "other side" of the island where there's no electricity, and it's mostly undeveloped. We're pretty much guaranteed to find a spot of beach all to ourselves. I'm looking forward to spending the day with my love, the ocean.