Jasmine POV
Anthony and I ran out of the airport, hand in hand.
We took a taxi and headed to our hotel.
Once we arrived to the hotel, we quickly headed to our room.
This room also had a balcony, and that's where I went first to check out the view.
The beautiful island of Cozumel was stretched out before me.
"Are we doing anything today?" I asked Anthony, who was still inside the room, fixing his clothes in a dresser.
"Hmm... well I was thinking we could go to a museum about Cozumel first, then El Parque Benito Juárez, and later swim at the pool here. What do you think?"
"There's a pool?!"
"Mhmm. It's on the other side of the hotel"
"Sounds good!"
He laughed, stuck one last clothing piece into the dresser, and walked over to me.
He pressed a firm kiss to my forehead and said, "Let's go"
He grabbed his backpack, and soon enough, we were on a taxi to the museum.
A few minutes later, we arrived at the museum, which was called, 'Museo de la Isla de Cozumel'. (Which I now understood! Translated, its "Cozumel Island Museum")
I paid for our tickets, and the first exhibit we saw was on basic information about Cozumel in general.
From little blurbs here and there, Anthony learned (the museum was in Spanish.. yay) that Cozumel was named, most likely, after the Mayan word "Cuzamil," meaning "Island of Swallows" It was also Mexico's largest Caribbean Island, with a population of about 100,00. San Miguel was where most of the population lived. Cozumel's economy mainly depended on tourism.
Small maps and diagrams of the island adorned most of the first exhibit.
Another section with small clay figurines talked about Cozumel's animals. A few animals included the American crocodile, the black spiny-tailed iguana, and the blue land crab. Other animals, such as the Cozumel fox and Island Coati, were endangered, or possibly, extinct.
The second exhibit was about Cozumel's water bodies. (For the most part, the Caribbean Sea)
Large clay models of a few sea animals were displayed in the middle of the room. One animal that lived in the sea was called the "Splendid Toadfish"
The third was on Cozumel's History. That one was my favorite, because all sorts of interesting artifacts, such as models of boats or small Mayan carvings.
Mayans were said to be the first settlers of Cozumel in 1 AD. The island was sacred to the Mayan moon goddess, Ix Chel, and many temples and such were built in her honor. Most of those temples were destroyed as of now, but the remaining ruins could be found in San Gervasio. Later on, in 1518, Juan de Grijalva, followed by Hernán Cortés the following year, led expeditions there and were peaceful with the Mayans.
The fourth was on Cozumel in the present.
Most of the culture was based on Mayan cultures, and the Cozumel Municipality was one of the ten municipalities of Quintana Roo. El Cedral Fair and the Cozumel Carnival were the most important celebrations held there.
Alas, we had finished up at the museum. I checked my watch.
3:00.
"Do you want to go eat now?"
"Oh yes! I'm starving"
He laughed, and then said, "We can go to Al Pie del Carbon. It's a block away"
"Okay"
He took my hand, and together we walked to the restaurant.
Eventually, we arrived, and we were given a seat overlooking the sea.
"How are you liking the trip so far?"
"I'm loving it! How about you?"
He smiled and responded, "As long as I'm with you"
I laughed just as a waitress came to our table with the menu.
I scanned through the menu and ordered Ceviche. Anthony did too. (Ceviche is sort of like a salad. According to the menu, it's main ingredients are fish, lemon, onion, and chili pepper)
We also ordered lemonade to drink.
After a few minutes, our food arrived, and since I was dying of starvation, I immediately took a bite.
"Well someone's hungry today..."
I finished chewing, laughed, and said, "Shut up, Anthony. And when am I not hungry?"
He laughed and replied, "True"
We continued eating, and soon enough, we finished.
We paid together (because someone wouldn't let me pay it...) and got ready to go to the park.
I checked my watch.
4:10.
Next stop: Parque Benito Juárez.
Anthony claimed that it wasn't very far away, so we decided to walk there.
I knew we were close when the bland pavement turned into a colorful cobblestone. There were also large circles with patterns every so often.
Out of curiosity, I asked Anthony, "Are we close yet?"
He thought about it for a moment, then answered, "Yes, we're actually already there. This cobblestone is the entrance"
A few steps later, he stopped walking and gently lifted my chin with his hand. (I'd been so focused looking at a pattern with suns and moons)
I was instantly amazed by beautiful palm trees and a large colorful sign, saying, "Isla Cozumel"
"Woah" I murmured, my mouth wide open.
"A bee is going to fly into your mouth if you don't close it, Sunshine" Anthony pointed out, laughing.
I closed my mouth, suddenly fearing bees, and said, "Hey!"
He laughed and kissed my cheek.
We continued walking in the midst of many palm trees, and eventually found a rotunda-looking thingy with a large clock a few feet behind it.
Anthony dragged me over to the rotunda thingy and walked to the center.
He twirled me around, and then put his arms around my waist.
"Would you care to dance with me, Jasmine?"
I smiled and responded, "Sure"
"And I know exactly what song we can dance to... give me a minute"
He pulled out his phone, searched for something, and began playing a song.
Then he arranged himself to put one arm around my waist, and the other on my shoulder. I did the same.
He stuck his phone into the back pocket of my shorts, (he often did that when he was too lazy to stick it in his own) and we began dancing.
The song (that was in Spanish) had a nice rhythm to it, so I asked, "What song is this?"
"It's 'Corazón sin Cara' by Prince Royce. I thought you'd like this song, which is why I picked it"
"I love the song!"
He smiled, and then said, "This song is actually a kind of song we call bachata. I promise that I'll teach you."
I put on an evil grin, and whispered, "You better. Otherwise, I'm going to punch you"
"I will! And I kind of don't want to become your personal punching bag"
He twirled me around a few times.
I laid my head on his chest, laughing, just as the last few notes of the song ringed.
We stood like that for a few minutes, then broke away.
"Pleasure to dance with you, Jasmine" Anthony exclaimed, sarcastically bowing the way you do in formal balls.
I laughed and lightly shoved him.
We continued walking, but then Anthony said he had to go to the bathroom, so I waited for him.
While waiting, I remembered I had his phone in my pocket. Evil plan... in action!
I opened the camera of his phone (I know his password... oops) and took 30 pictures of myself, making a silly face in each one. I sticked the phone back in my pocket, trying not to laugh.
Anthony came out of the bathroom, and we went back to walking.
We found a large golden statue of two birds flying, and another statue of (what looked like) a seashell.
Further down, we saw small lighthouses and other random statues of people, including a head statue of the person the park was named after.
"Anthony?" I asked, trying not to wince because my feet hurt of so much walking.
"Mhmm?"
"Can we head back now? My feet hurt"
"Okay. We can come back another day"
We took a taxi back to our hotel. It was 6:00, and I was pretty exhausted.
"Anthony, do you think we can swim tomorrow? I'm really tired right now"
"Sure, princess. I'm tired too"
I laid my head on his shoulder, and soon enough, we arrived.
Once in our hotel room, Anthony decided to take a shower.
After he finished, I also took a shower.
7:15.
"Do you want to watch a movie? I'll brush your hair in the meanwhile"
"Okay. Good luck finding my brush!"
He rolled his eyes and started digging through my luggage.
The truth was, I'd left my brush in my purse, which was somewhere in Anthony's drawer.
I started dying of laughter, mainly because he was looking in the wrong spot.
"What are you laughing about?!" Anthony asked, unable to contain his own laughs.
"You're looking in the wrong spot!"
"Then where is it?"
When I didn't answer, he started tickling me like crazy.
"Stop!" I shrieked.
"Tell me where the brush is!'
"Fine! It's in your drawer!"
He stopped tickling me and looked in his drawer.
"Really?"
He walked back over to me and led me to the couch.
We sat down, and then he started scrolling through the movies.
He decided to play the new Cinderella movie.
I leaned my head on Anthony's shoulder, kind of not paying attention. At around 9:20, I accidentally fell asleep.
Anthony POV
I gently lifted her from the couch, and onto the bed.
I turned off the television, and immediately turned off the light.
Something from underneath Jasmine's pillow buzzed.
My phone! I'd rather forgotten about it... my angel consumes most of my brain's thoughts.
I sat down on the bed, next to Jasmine, and checked my notification.
"View Recent Pictures"
I knew that we took, like, a bizillion pictures so far, so I settled myself next to Jasmine, unlocked my phone and scrolled through the photos.
At one point, I found 30 pictures of my silly little angel making silly faces.
I laughed and looked over at Jasmine, who was peacefully sleeping.
I leaned over and kissed her cheek.
Then I threw my phone to the couch (hoping it landed on a good spot) and cuddled up closer to Jasmine.
I knew that she was already fast asleep, but I whispered, "Goodnight, princess. I love you"
I squeezed her hand and drifted off into a sweet sleep.
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I've taken half a century to upload this chapter, sorry! (Which is why I made it longer than usual. 1751 words)
There's so many red lines underneath the Spanish words lol
And FYI, I can speak Spanish.
~Christina 💙
