Recap:
The narrator of our story is Maddy Williams, a woman with cappuccino-colored skin and coiled black hair. She is a sophomore in college on the Football (American) team with a trim muscular build well suited for a running back. For the last couple months (off-season) she has been playing a tabletop roleplaying game called StarHunters: Asteroids and Aliens with a few college students who have become her good friends. She and Cesar Vidal, the handsome Latinx sophomore with long hair, glasses and an undercut who organizes the game, sometimes hang out after the event. One such time, he shared that his 'friend with benefits' (Jasmine) put a pause on their relations when he broke one of the rules and gave her a gift. Jasmine Thompson is a pretty blonde woman, with brown eyes, and a pear shaped figure. She is a fiercely independent Junior in college, who reconciles her relationship with Cesar soon after. She and Cesar treat Maddy to lunch as a thank you for helping them get back together. She agrees to go with them to Mexico for Spring Break.
End of Recap
On Friday after my last class, I drove back home. I spent the weekend before the break with my family. My mother and I ended up cooking recipes she'd seen online while watching our favorite soap opera, The Doctors. She was always trying something new in the kitchen, and I enjoyed helping. On Monday I saw a couple friends from high school just to catch up and then on Tuesday morning my little sis drove me to the airport. I flew to Mexico, landing in Tijuana just after lunchtime. I met Cesar, Jasmine, and Vera at the terminal. Vera is Jasmine's friend from college, a tall Asian girl with dyed blonde hair in a bob hair-cut. She seemed a bit prissy upon first impression, but as I got to know her she turned out to be a friendly goofball.
We exchanged our dollars into pesos and then had to wait about an hour for the next bus to Rosarito. During the conversation we had while waiting, I learned that I was the only one who hadn't been to Mexico before. We got on the bus when it arrived and then it drove about half an hour to Rosarito. Then we hopped in a taxi to drive us to the rental house. Although many of those we met spoke English, I was thankful Cesar didn't mind acting as our translator.
The rental was a one story house and nothing fancy, but seemed to have everything we might need like a kitchen, bathroom, clothes washer, dryer, and coffee maker. There were just two queen beds and a couch, but I didn't mind. I was used to sleeping on a couch. The highlight of the house was the combined kitchen and living room with doors made mostly of glass that opened to the brick patio on the beach. In the center of the patio was a firepit and beyond it, the beach with crashing waves of the Pacific ocean. The house was a great place to have a party.
By the time we got situated with our luggage and rooms it was nearly three in the afternoon. None of us had much to eat over the travel day, so we decided to walk to a seafood place called La Chula about half a mile away. It tasted very fresh and went well with beer. We grabbed some bottled water, vodka (Jasmine hated tequila), and a few six packs at a nearby minimart before going back to the house and turning in early. I slept on the couch, leaving Jasmine and Cesar with one bed and Vera with the other. The sound of the waves were the perfect white noise as I drifted off to sleep.
The next day, in the early morning, we found a place that rented out surf boards and gave lessons. It was busy because of Spring Break, but Cesar and Jasmine managed to book someone to teach them. I thought it was a bit pricey. Luckily, Vera knew how to surf, so I got pointers from her. We rented a couple longboards, spread wax on them, then swam out towards the waves. It took many tries, but I was able to stand up a couple times before we called it for the morning. We had lunch at a place well known for carnitas, and then hit the beach again to ride ATVs. Not long after that, Vera complained that she wasn't feeling well. She waited while we continued on the ATVs because we had paid for an hour. When we got to the house she went directly to the bathroom. She must have had food poisoning, but nobody else got sick. We thought it was the soup, because she was the only one who ordered it at lunch.
Vera stayed at the rental with Jasmine while Cesar and I walked to a nearby minimart and bought some plain food for her like white bread, bananas, and more bottled water. We also got that pink medicine that's supposed to coat your stomach. I felt bad for her to be sick just as we started our trip, but there wasn't much else we could do.
Although I was a bit concerned about going out to eat for dinner, I was also quite hungry and wanted to see what other restaurants there were. At first Jasmine didn't want to leave her friend alone, but Vera insisted she would be fine staying at the rental to rest. So we went to another seafood place. This one was a bit farther South, but still within walking distance. The food was similar to the first place (La Chula), but I thought the tacos were a bit better. We all avoided the soup, just in case.
We came back and found Vera asleep on the bed. Everyone else stayed up late drinking beer and vodka around the fire we lit on the brick patio outside. Jasmine tried to get Vera to eat something, then went to bed early, sleeping next to her on the bed. Cesar and I chatted for a while. We started talking a bit about his childhood. He told me that he grew up near Mexico City. But then the conversation changed, when he thanked me again for being such a good friend. He said Jasmine and him were really glad that I came. They had wanted to take me out to a bar for drinks and dancing. I smiled, but wondered if that would really be responsible considering how sick Vera was. Cesar agreed that it might not happen now. We ended up talking for about an hour about some of our favorite times from our StarHunters game and previous games Cesar had played until the couple logs which were burning in the fire went out. Then I went to the couch to sleep.
The next morning on Thursday, we went to the minimart and grabbed some more food to bring back to the house. It was just eggs, toast, orange juice, and conchas (Mexican Pastries). I mixed screwdrivers (vodka with orange juice) for everyone to sip with our breakfast, while Vera kept to water. Everyone, including Vera, ate outside on the patio. We talked about the plans for the day, which was to visit Puerto Nuevo, about 20 minutes South along the coast, but Vera still wasn't feeling well enough to travel. None of us wanted to go that far from the rest of the group (we had heard things about crime), so we decided to just relax on the beach. Everyone except for Vera changed into swimsuits and laid on the sand. I put on a dark pink swimsuit that was a razorback top with matching bottoms cut like boyshorts. Cesar wore light blue board shorts. I noticed the work he had been doing in the gym was starting to show, especially in his arms. Jasmine looked absolutely amazing in a metallic green top, black bikini bottom and green sarong. Vera sat on the patio with us, watching the ocean and people surfing.
After an hour or so, we headed to the ocean to play in the waves. Vera went back inside to rest. The sand felt good on my toes, but the temperature of the water took some getting used to. We swam a bit, and waded in the sun. It was the perfect day to throw a ball around, so I got the pigskin I packed from my bag and started throwing it up in the sky and catching it. Cesar and Jasmine even tossed it around with me. We had lunch at the carnitas place again, then walked down the beach in the evening. We met a group of four American girls there who told us of a good fish burrito place. Vera went out to dinner with us this time, but she stuck to rice and chips. The fish burritos were really good with the salsa roja. Vera went to bed when we got to the house, but the rest of us talked until late at night. The conversation was about all sorts of things, college, life, everything. We drank a little more vodka and beer as we laughed and told stories from our lives. I was really enjoying Cesar and Jasmine's company, they were such a good couple. We turned in just before midnight. I collapsed on the couch, all the time in the sun finally got to us.
