August 3, 2011

COSTA MAYA

 

The Karaoke Contest went really well last night. Actually, far better than I had hoped for. We had, of course, the usual selection of average to bad singers, and then a few really good ones that, as I had hoped, made it to the finals. Tara and Amanda, from Hairspray, were there, both with their mothers and Tara with her grandmother as well. It was Amanda’s birthday, so I had the entire room sing “Happy Birthday” to her.

Tara had approached me earlier and said that Amanda was being thrown a surprise birthday party by the casts of Hairspray and Come Fly With Me, and that she would have to have her out of there by midnight. We planned a situation where I would pretend to receive a call from the Production Manager that there was something wrong and that Tara and Amanda would have to leave. Their family member could not go with them, so I knew that I would have at least three judges for the duration of the show.

There was a Scottish girl, and her husband, who I had heard singing the previous night and I had forced her to say she would come to the contest. She had sung a song by Katie Tunstall that was very difficult and brilliantly done, “Black Horse and Cherry Tree”. They both showed up. Also my friends Patrice and Chanetta and their group were there. Those women are a hoot! The are the stereotypical Black women with lots of ‘Tude and, if I may mix cultural idioms, Chutzpah.

By the time I got there to On Air there was already a full house with no seats to spare. I had to beg seats for the Judges. We quickly signed up the 12 singers and began. As this was the fourth time, I believe, that we had done it, we had system, Earlon and I, and it went very smoothly. First round had several stand-outs. Exactly six, in fact. One Black woman, Lolita, blew everyone away with an Anita Baker song. Lolita is one of those few people I have seen who you cannot look away from while singing. She reminded me of Terri White, my Broadway actress friend whom I used to sing with in Key West at the Keys Piano Bar. Lolita, for her second song, chose Whitney Houston’s “Greatest Love”. A standard for women in karaoke. She knocked it clean out of the park. The entire house immediately leapt to their feet in a standing ovation when she was done.

Afterwards, when getting the Judges’ comments during the second part, I said, “Ladies and Gentlemen. Whenever someone says there are going to sing that song I will admit my rear end puckers a bit while I try to smile.” Everyone laughed. “But I have to say that this was the best I have ever heard!”

Well, it was like when I saw the movie “Dreamgirls” in the theatre and saw Jennifer Hudson sing “And I’m Telling You”. I turned to Ralph at the end of the song and said “She just won the Oscar”. This was the same thing. It didn’t matter what she chose for her third song, I knew that she was going to be the winner. And she was. Eve came in second…even though she was the better singer technically.

The best part about the show was that we actually ended about five minutes after midnight, so Amanda and Tara were able to stay for the whole show.

So today was Costa Maya. I was talking with Andrew, Amy’s boyfriend, in the office after the karaoke contest and he said that he was going to the beach. I actually had most the day off until 3:30 PM, so I asked if I could tag along. He said sure, so at 11AM I met him and one of the Youth Staff named Micheline for a day at the beach.

Andy is a total red head, and stereotypically so. He must have been the boy who was always in trouble, but not as much as he should have been since he didn’t get caught often. He has a very sly sense of humor that can sneak up on you and bite you while you are not looking. I love it. Micheline is a Lebanese girl who was raised in Canada…Ontario I believe. A big woman who is totally Middle Eastern in that she will mother EVERYONE. Especially when it comes to food. Very nice woman.

We walked off the ship and headed through the port of Costa Maya. This is a very Disneyesque port that has grown up around the pier. It is landscaped with faux Mayan ruins and clipped plantings. A whole market place is here with a large pool for everyone to enjoy. We wanted to get away from the guests, so we took a taxi into town and to the beach. We went to a little restaurant that sat right on the beach called El Tropicante. It is owned by an American named Steve. It apparently is a hangout for the Crew members since he knew Andy and came on over to say hi. He’s a very nice man with a Jimmy Buffet look about him. Silver hair, tanned, clean shaven face, tropical shirt. He had been a general contractor in Utah when someone bought all his properties at the same time that he was going through a divorce. He did the natural thing…he took the money and bought a restaurant in a small town on the Mexican Riviera. Andy bought a bucket of beer for us, and we ate while waiting for Amy to join us. When she managed to get away from the office and meet up with us there Micheline and I left them to themselves for a bit and headed out into the water.

Bliss.

The town may be dirty and run down, but the water is clear and blue. It was like being back in Key West actually. Same needlenose fish, same palm trees, same sea grass…better sand though. After a wonderful hour sporting in the water it was time to be getting back to the ship. I suggested to Micheline that we walk the ‘boardwalk’ a bit to dry off before we headed back. It was filled with shopkeepers selling the usual tourist trash, but I did go to one stall. There was a gentleman there who had actually been at my karaoke contest the night before and called out to me, so I went in and spoke with him for awhile. The shopkeeper was selling jewelry and I saw a bear claw necklace that had been handcarved into a mayan dragon head at the crown of the claw. I figured that that would be something that Ralph would like, so I bought that and a small mayan glyph. I asked the man what the mayan glyph meant and he hemmed and hawed a bit…so I told him to just make something up. He said it was good luck. I accepted that.

Back at the ship it was time for work again, but at least I had gotten off and got some salt water on me. It made all the difference. Tomorrow is Cozumel, and I have the entire day off until 7:30PM!! It is so I can go to the Mayan Ruins of Tulum.