this is not Belize

We live a colorful life, sometimes, without necessarily trying. For instance, we were supposed to be in Belize last week, a trip planned months and months ago, but here's what happened instead. The day before we were to leave, the BF was packing and pulled out his passport. He says, aloud, "Hey, I wonder when this thing expires?" A very apropos question, since we discovered at that moment that it had expired a month ago. After a few moments of utter panic, we launched into motion. We googled for expired passport information (not especially promising). We called the superfast, overnight passport places (not enough time). We called the airline, the travel agency, and some people in Belize. By afternoon on Friday (we were to leave at 4am on Saturday) we had in our hands some additional documentation, certified and bonafide, from the County Clerk's office, stating that the BF is who he says he is and is a legal citizen of these United States. We also had a letter from the Belize Travel Board that said that with these documents, a birth certificate, and an expired passport, he could, indeed, get into the country of Belize. We began to have a glimmer of hope.

Saturday morning, 4am, we were at the ticket counter, checking in, sweating, praying. Everything seemed to be going smoothly until the airline dude called passenger S., and we knew it was most likely not to offer him a First Class upgrade. Much information was presented back and forth, but the bottom line was, due to Homeland Security laws, he was not allowed to board the plane to Belize. Period. End of discussion. I almost cried and BF was on the verge of a minor freakout. But instead, we pulled ourselves together. I said to him, "Plan A is dead. Plan A is not going to happen. We cannot waste another second of energy on Plan A. We must move on to Plan B." We were at the airport, our bags were packed, and we were in as desparate need for a vacation as two people can be, so we worked rather cooperatively, for us, and put together Plan B right there and then. After visits to several ticket counters and some phone calls, we were on a plane to Mexico within a couple of hours, with hotel reservations on the island of Cozumel. And that's the beginning of the story of our vacation. What can I say--the best laid plans, etc., etc. We gave ourselves pats on the back for resiliency and resourcefullness and moved on.

Sidenote: the photo is the Virgin de Guadalupe. They are big on the Virgin down there, and I happen to be a big fan as well (there are always stories within stories), even though I am not and have never been Catholic. At that point, I was feeling mighty lucky to be there on that warm beach, and so I picked some flowers and offered up my prayers. I have to wonder if picking someone else's flowers to honor the Virgin is a serious theological faux pas. I'm hoping it's the thought that counts.