Book Description

The prologue describes a letter of complaint written by the author in 1988, addressed to the Secretary of Tourism, Mexico City, Mexico. The letter details a frightening event that had taken place at Chemuyil. The story then begins in December 1986 when BARBARA (49) and husband EDDY (58) cross the Rio Grande in a motor home prepared to spend months exploring Mexico. Brief travel descriptions are sprinkled with humor as they make their way to the Caribbean where they discover Chemuyil, a dream come true beach. At Chemuyil they meet LALO, the proprietor of the palapa beach bar concession. Intermittent details describe how the couple liquidated assets to prepare for a once in a lifetime adventure, traveling in their new motor home indefinitely. The gist of the narrative is a first person view of both ordinary and extraordinary lives encountered during lengthy stays at Chemuyil, but the charismatic Lalo carries the book from the moment the readers meet him. A Don Juan character for sure, yet a much respected man, Lalo's personality defines the ebb and flow of the story. Barbara and Eddy become immersed in Lalo's web of passion, money, business, drugs, gambling, and government conflict. Lalo's biography is that of a hero/anti-hero who is very well known in Quintana Roo. However, Lalo suffered from delusional pain. His anguish revolved around losing his beloved Chemuyil, followed by mental conceptions of returning to Chemuyil, and finally psychological obsessions about how he would obtain another Chemuyil. Because Lalo's highs are both humorous and tragic, the author describes the book as a tragicomedy. Although Lalo's palapa bar is at the core of the drama, mixed into the story is nature at its best in an area of sea and jungle. Vivid descriptions also cover the after effects of hurricane Gilbert, as well as the role of the modern day Maya in the Yucatan. Barbara's fascination with Maya culture, Mexican politics, and her newly adopted Mexican family, connected her to insider information about another society. Her writing is an objective view of her inside connection, a summary of journal entries recorded while living in a motor home for three years . . . wintering at Chemuyil.