15 March 2010

Cabo San Lucas = Rainy Wedding Day!! (March 6, 2010)

What's the deal with rainy weddings!?!?  Poor Erin - she planned a destination wedding in the location that only gets about 15 rainy days per year, and it pours on the one day she wants sun!!  Talk about unlucky.  I know there are many people out there who say rain on your wedding day is lucky, but I think it is just said to make brides feel better about their misfortune.  I know how it feels, it rained on our wedding day three and a half years ago!


You smile for the cameras, because you really are happy the day has finally arrived, but you hold back the tears of not being able to see the sun set on the mountains (at our wedding), or on the beach in Cabo San Lucas.  The day goes on and you just make the most of it.  Looking back, you still get upset the weather didn't cooperate and I don't know if you ever let it go...

So it rained in Cabo San Lucas on March 6, 2010, the day Erin Socha was set to marry Paul Leonard  (for technically the second time since they had to get the justice of the peace to do it in the States first).  Not only did it rain, it poured!  Everyone in Cabo said they've never seen it rain that bad.  So instead of a beautiful, beach-front/golf course backdrop wedding, we attended a beautiful golf club wedding.  


The bridge and groom were glowing, the surprise mariachis were amazing, and the entire celebration was a blast!  




I will remember that it rained that day, but I will also remember how much I enjoyed being part of the wonderful celebration between my friend and the man she loves.  I'm more saddened by the fact that not all of our "UVM girls" could be there than I am about the rain.  I can't speak for the bride, but it has been way too long since we have all been together!  The last time was for Michaela and Nils' wedding in September 2006.  


If we continue our trend, we won't all be together at the same time until 2011!!
  
On the note of UVMers, it was fun to hang out with our "twin UVM couple," Mike D and Georgiana, who like Colin and I, met at UVM, and got married at the UVM Catholic Center by Father Dan White years after leaving Burlington.  Here is our couples photo:


I wish Mr. & Mrs. Paul & Erin Leonard much happiness in their marriage and hope the people who said that rain on your wedding day means luck are correct!  It would mean a lifetime of happiness for me and Colin, Paul and Erin, and countless other couples!!




14 March 2010

Cabo San Lucas = Timeshares (March 4-6, 2010)

When we arrived in Cabo on March 3 (see previous post), we were warned about all the timeshare salespeople in the airport.  We knew to go outside and find the bus company where our reservations were made.  So, we did a great job avoiding them in our first hour.  Unfortunately, we didn't realize how easily we would get suckered into timeshare sales experiences!!

When we checked into the hotel, we were told to go with "Pablo," who would "give us some information about the resort."  Before we really knew what was happening, we were agreeing to a timeshare tour at our hotel (half is a hotel, half is a timeshare).  Unfortunately, the $150 resort credit to the restaurants seemed really hard to pass up.  The "75 minute" sales experience took more like 2.5 hours, but in the end we did manage to leave without buying and get our $150 credit.  What we didn't realize is that getting the credit required you to speak to another "timeshare sales person."  So, again, we were somehow convinced to check out another resort on day 2 in Cabo!  This time, the woman offered to pick us up at the resort and bring us to downtown Cabo (about 5-7 miles) and she would give us parasailing and a boat ride to the famous Cabo Arch.  We had wanted to see downtown, so we decided to suck it up for another 2 hours for the free ride, free breakfast and downtown tour packages.

This sales pitch was not bad at all.  The salesman was pretty cool, telling us about his scuba adventures and not pushing too hard on the sale.  Plus, there were some morning rain showers that would have kept us from the beach anyway.  We made the mistake of walking around downtown instead of using the parasailing/boat trip after the sales experience, so we only had time for 1 adventure before heading back to the hotel.  We decided on the boat trip to the arch and Lover's Beach.  This was not the best idea. There were tons of flies that bothered us on the beach, making our 1.5 hour adventure torture!  On the upside, we did get to see a bunch of colorful fish as the boat had a glass bottom!  At the end of timeshare #2 sales pitch, we knew the drill and planned not to go to a third.  But, the sales lady pulled out the big guns and offered us $125 cash.  Everyone knows cash is king - so we took the bait and signed up for timeshare sales tour #3 on Saturday, which was the day of our friend's wedding.

The morning started out rainy, so we felt pretty good about our decision to do the timeshare tour.  Unfortunately, the sales guy was the biggest jerk right from the beginning.  We had been the 9am tour the first two days and decided to do the 11am tour on day 3.  We think our sales guy didn't make the morning sale.  Once we sat down to breakfast, he finally managed to get his "game face on," giving us fake laughs, smiles and stories.  The tour was typical, aside from the comment in the elevator that "at this resort, you never have to see cleaning people because there are underground tunnels for them."  Take about marginalizing the locals!! (BTW- just about all the timeshare condos were owned and operated by Americans).  He gave us the toughest sell at the end and brought in even more of a jerk at the end to try and get us to buy.  We kept our eye on the prize -$125 - and stuck it out.  At the end of this pitch, there were no ladies waiting to try and sign us up for another, so we had finally reached the end of the road.  It was good, because we were pretty tired of dealing with salesmen (all were men), but not so good because it was cloudy all day Sunday too!

Looking back on a timeshare sales experience, it isn't so bad until the last 30 minutes or so when they try to get you to buy.  Colin was pretty annoyed at how calculated and fake everything was, but you are just chatting during breakfast (where they establish rapport), you're touring really nice condos for the next hour or so, and then comes the sales pitch.  The topic of finances are their forte.  They can set up any kind of payment plan you want to get monthly costs down.  No matter what your financial reason for not buying, they always crunch a bunch of numbers very quickly showing you just how "cheap" the investment is.  It probably makes sense for some people, but something about giving money to wealthy Americans who take all the beach property on other country's land makes me sick.  It means I would own a condo on the beach 1-2 weeks per year (along with potentially 51 other owners), making me a part of this "system" of taking over other people's best property.  The best vacation experiences for us is on the beach, but it's sad to think we are destroying the natural habitat and causing local economies to rely on our tourist dollars.  The condos were amazing, but where did all the marble on counters and in bathrooms come from?  How much money did the locals make to build the units?  How much do the locals get paid relative to the timeshare sales people?  What kind of money are the timeshare companies making??  These are questions I could have asked during the tour, but where would it get me aside from staying longer on the tour?  Condo units are still going to be built all along the isolated stretches of beach because that is what tourists want.

Dealing with the sales pitch at the end was nerve wracking.  It did feel like we were working for our money (especially on the third pitch).  We heard that cash is not a typical incentive.  Would I do it again?  Probably for cash.  But, I have to work on the reasons why I don't want to buy and find the answer that gets me out of the conversation the fastest.

In the end, we left Cabo not having to pay for a meal at the resort (aside from our first dinner), getting three free buffet breakfasts, going on a glass bottom boat tour to the arch and Lover's Beach, and making $125 in cash.  Not a bad deal since we didn't miss out on any sunshine during the three tours!  Had the weather been really nice, I may not be saying the same thing.