Summer Break 2010: Cabo, Mexico

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico is a popular vacation destination that apparently everyone had heard of, except for me. Having only lived on the East Coast of the US, I knew of hot spots like the Florida Keys and the Bahamas, but Cabo? Never heard of it. That is until now.

When I would tell Israelis that I was going to Mexico, their eyes would widen and ears would perk up. As seasoned travelers, Israelis go many places, but Mexico is not on the top 10 list, probably because of the distance. (Despite the far distance from Israel, there were still a few Israelis going through immigration with me. I have yet to find any destination without Israelis travelers present).

"How long are you going for?" they would ask.

"5 days," I would respond.

"You are going all the way to Mexico for just 5 days? Are you crazy?"

Yes and no. Yes, it is far and took me 30+ hours to get there, but how often do 6 girlfriends that I have known for 18 years get together? 5 days was all that they had and I was not about to miss the chance to spend it with them. Add a private house with swimming pool and good Mexican food and you have a recipe for total relaxation.

Mexico sees its fair share of American tourists and Cabo is no exception. While I felt quite American in that setting, the Israeli side of me did come out now and again. One day we decided to leave our private pool and head to the beach. Since it was too far to walk we had to grab a taxi. As we approached the van I asked the driver in my broken Spanish how much it would cost.

"14 dollars" he replied.

"How about 10?" I ventured.

He thought for a moment and then said "OK."

Living in Israel has taught me 2 important lessons in negotiations:

1- Everything is negotiable, and

2- You won't get a discount if you don't ask.

While I think that at times Israelis can take this to the extreme, I felt quite at home haggling a little over the price.

We went out dancing one night and I felt like I was in a time machine, teleported to college spring break. Of course, this is Mexico, which means that there aren't too many rules, including a drinking age. I almost asked this one group of girls how old they were because I am sure they could not have been more than 15 years old. The music was great…the first time I heard each song; however, it felt like each club was given a playlist of only 20 songs. By the third time I heard the same song in one night, I knew it was time to go home.

On our last night all 7 of us went to a place called the Nowhere Bar. The barmen had T-shirts on that said "Nowhere Bar? Because Nowhere is exactly where you want to be. Summer Break 2010." I never went on a typical Spring Break in college before. This is probably the closest I will ever come…and it was awesome.