Board 8 > Just got back from a week-long all-inclusive trip to Mexico, ask me anything.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Or I'll just tell you everything. I honestly can't understand why people enjoy those types of vacations.
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are you more or less in favor of a wall now
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HotDogButts posted...

are you more or less in favor of a wall now

As a Canadian, more. I'm not going to say they're all rapists and murderers, but holy shit was the racism intense.
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Where did you visit?

If you didn't enjoy it, why'd you go in the first place?

How cheap or expensive was everything?
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Raka_Putra posted...

Where did you visit?

A resort in Puerto Vallarta.

Raka_Putra posted...

If you didn't enjoy it, why'd you go in the first place?

I knew that type of experience wasn't what I was interested in (would have loved to explore towns, walk the streets, discover little restaurants and shops, etc.) but I was going with my girlfriend and her family and really wanted to open myself up to new experiences and see if there was anything I could enjoy about the beach life, being pampered and all that jazz. That and we're super in love and all that gooey stuff so I knew that even if the resort wasn't anything I liked, spending a week with her was going to be great anyways.

Raka_Putra posted...

How cheap or expensive was everything?

Somewhere between $1000-1500 for the flights, hotels and everything I think. I honestly paid zero attention throughout the planning process so I have no idea, really. I think that it would be considered quite cheap for what was included.
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People were racist towards you or you witnessed a lot of racism?
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I went to an all-inclusive trip in the Dominican Republic a year ago and really enjoyed it.

What didn't you enjoy about it? Did you feel that the resort didn't offer much stuff to do, and that it was inconvenient to leave the resort? How was the food and booze?
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EndOfDiscOne posted...

People were racist towards you or you witnessed a lot of racism?

Towards me, and by extension my girlfriend as well. It's hard to explain since it was a lot of looks and no actual violence, but as a black person you get used to being noticed, looked at or stared at by strangers just by virtue of being different... the looks we received here were something else though. It was like they were angry that I was there, not simply surprised to see a black person. I was just being clocked the entire time, and sometimes looked at with what seemed like pure disgust. Like you would meet their gaze and try to smile back and their expression would remain unchanged. It was really weird, but sadly enough you kinda get used to it after a couple days.

Though I must say that this was only from the other Mexicans staying at the resort, the staff treated me very well in most encounters, other than the time I heard someone refer to me as "negrito" to another staff member, but I'm sure that stuff happens in Canada too so no big deal.
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thundersheep posted...

A resort in Puerto Vallarta.

Whoa I was just there last month!

We stayed at a home instead of a resort. We had fun but it's not my preferred vacation.
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CaptainOfCrush posted...

I went to an all-inclusive trip in the Dominican Republic a year ago and really enjoyed it.

What didn't you enjoy about it? Did you feel that the resort didn't offer much stuff to do, and that it was inconvenient to leave the resort? How was the food and booze?

I think it's just hard for me to identify with spending days on the beach as a "fun" activity. I see going to the beach as something you do sparingly, not several days in a row just sitting in the heat and getting in the ocean to cool off. There were some games you could play, beach volleyball, watersports, tennis, yoga, etc. but the whole idea of "relaxing" for a week just doesn't make much sense to me, I was really only interested in the excursions and things you could do outside of the resort.

The inconvenience to leave was more related to the vibes we were getting from the locals. If people staying at a resort on their vacation were that comfortable being openly hostile to the only black person there it didn't feel too safe to do much exploring on our own and this was confirmed by a Mexican friend of ours as well. She said the region (Nayarit) isn't too safe for black tourists especially and suggested we stick with the tour groups if we do leave the resort.

Food was... fine. Decent variation in the menus throughout the week but the buffets definitely got old after day 4-5 and it was kind of hard to get into the a la carte restaurants you wanted on any given night. Also... nothing was actually spicy. This is probably the craziest thing about the entire place. They'd have different sauces and salsas labeled as "spicy" or "not spicy" and none of them were even remotely spicy. Even the actual hot sauces they offered were incredibly tame... a huge disappointment since I fucking love Mexican food and their stuff didn't compare to the some of the little places I've found in major Canadian cities.

I'm not much of a boozer so I generally stuff to beer, but they only offered regular and dark Modelo and their mixed drinks were of varying quality. For instance my girlfriend loves Mojitos and was pretty excited to go HAM on them, but they didn't actually muddle the mint or add real sugar... they just poured some rum, club soda and squirted some "Mojito mix" in there that tasted nothing like the real thing. So pretty poor on the liquor end as well, apart from the fact that it flowed freely and they would make whatever you wanted.
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thundersheep posted...

EndOfDiscOne posted...

People were racist towards you or you witnessed a lot of racism?

Towards me, and by extension my girlfriend as well. It's hard to explain since it was a lot of looks and no actual violence, but as a black person you get used to being noticed, looked at or stared at by strangers just by virtue of being different... the looks we received here were something else though. It was like they were angry that I was there, not simply surprised to see a black person. I was just being clocked the entire time, and sometimes looked at with what seemed like pure disgust. Like you would meet their gaze and try to smile back and their expression would remain unchanged. It was really weird, but sadly enough you kinda get used to it after a couple days.

Though I must say that this was only from the other Mexicans staying at the resort, the staff treated me very well in most encounters, other than the time I heard someone refer to me as "negrito" to another staff member, but I'm sure that stuff happens in Canada too so no big deal.

Not sure if you're aware, but 'negro' is literally the Spanish word for the colour black. With no other context, it doesn't sound like that person was being 'racist'
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BlAcK TuRtLe posted...

Not sure if you're aware, but 'negro' is literally the Spanish word for the colour black. With no other context, it doesn't sound like that person was being 'racist'

Super aware, it's just that I know "negrito" is a diminutive and it's not as if me and the servers are buddies. I see it the same as if I'd overheard someone at a restaurant saying "go take that short black guy's plate" instead of "go take that plate". I know it's not racist, just seems unnecessary.
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Maybe they were in awe of seeing a short black guy.
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thundersheep posted...

I knew that type of experience wasn't what I was interested in (would have loved to explore towns, walk the streets, discover little restaurants and shops, etc.) but I was going with my girlfriend and her family and really wanted to open myself up to new experiences and see if there was anything I could enjoy about the beach life, being pampered and all that jazz. That and we're super in love and all that gooey stuff so I knew that even if the resort wasn't anything I liked, spending a week with her was going to be great anyways.

Oh, very understandable. Yeah, me and my family prefer the same thing as you do. Well, at least you can say you gave it a try.
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