Blog #615: 30 Nights on the Water

For the next four weeks…
I’ll be sharing stories from the ocean.

For 30 nights…
That’s where I’m sleeping.

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Cabo San Lucas.

It’s a beautifully visual port town.

So many towns are along Mexico’s coast.

I was sitting in a main walkway…watching locals drum up business with travelers just getting off the ship. Big brimmed hats, photos with giant iguanas, deep-sea fishing tours…it’s all there to buy.

Me?

I love people watching in the middle of it all.

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And then I saw them again.

It was the Korean couple I’d sat next to on the ship’s tender to port. Their broken English and my “broken English translation” made for a fun ride. We gawked together at the rock formations jettying out of the water. We got super excited to see a sea lion following closely behind a fishing vessel looking for freebies they’d throw over.

My new Korean friends had grateful eyes when we talked.

And my heart felt them.

We went from quiet parties of one and two…

to a smiling party of three on our short boat ride to shore.

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One hour later…

I saw the couple again.

They were struggling to communicate with a local excursion guide. My friends seemed as if they needed help…and the guide was losing her patience trying to understand them.

The Korean couple saw ME see THEM…and immediately leaned to me.

It was a minor misunderstanding to fix. I sense both sides had trouble understanding the other’s thicker accent.

Before I went my separate way, I pulled the tour guide aside.

“I want to let you know these are very, very VIP.”

Her growing big eyes told me she understood.

For reinforcement, I said the words one more time…slowly.

“These two are very, VERY VIP.”

She shook my hand and eagerly told me she would treat them extra well.

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Before boarding the ship at the end of the day…

I found myself sitting in the same place when the Korean couple returned from their tour. They were extra happy with what they had seen. They quickly shared, too, they had learned I told the guide they were “VIP.”

“It’s the truth,” I said.

Their humility and graciousness shined bright…and they wanted to thank me. We headed into the restaurant bar. As we talked, I shared that I loved Korean TV shows…and had just finished watching Crash Landing on You and the Extraordinary Attorney Woo. They knew both well.

When I admitted I also had a love for K-Pop…our building bond required another broken English toast.

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So here I am.

In Mexico.

Bonding with a Korean couple.

Not because I love watching the same TV Koreans watch.

But because I’m not afraid to say, “Hello.”

“Hello.”

No other word has opened the world more to me.

I hope it becomes your favorite word, too.

S.