Sat. Oct. 22^nd 8:30am

I slept well last night. Early in the evening, I was awakened by the resort officials coming in and making an announcement that the hurricane was presently moving through Cancun. This was verified this morning by another guest that told us that he had heard the eye of the hurricane was just now moving through the area north of us. This storm is moving so slow, who knows how long it will take before we are able to go outside and see what is left? They announced last night that approximately between 9am and 10am a decision would be made as to whether or not it would be safe for the certain staff members to go out and inspect the area. If so, and we are allowed to leave this building, it will only be into a designated roped off area. However, with the wind blowing the way it is and the volume at which I can still hear it sweeping across the roof of this building, I see no way anytime soon of us getting out of here. This storm seems to be settled right on top of Cancun with no desire to go elsewhere. Rumors also have it that this is now a cat.1 storm. I don’t believe that. The noise is still as loud as it has been most of the time. Ceiling tiles have fallen, no one hurt. Water now pours down the walls of the interior next to us. Areas are roped off to avoid people from going into the most dangerous areas of the hall. We are all getting very “antsy” and are ready to get out of here. It is hot, humid, and stuffy in here. But we’re glad to be here instead of at the airport sleeping on floors and paying for whatever there may be to eat….if anything. We just don’t know what to expect once we leave this place. We’re in a foreign country and have no communication with anyone in the states. How will we know if we have a flight? We are an hour from the airport. How will we get there? Where is our luggage? Will we get it back? Is it even still in one piece and a safe place? Our reservations here ended yesterday. Will they turn us away as they informed me they would two days ago when I asked?

The wind still sweeps over our heads in waves. It’s quiet for a moment and then the sweeping sound comes again before another moment of silence waits for the next sweep.

The guy next to Gloria is entertaining himself by playing a game of “toss the hat on my head” by placing his ball cap on his foot and kicking it off and toward his head as he lies on his cot with hope of aiming well enough to land the cap on top of his head. Everyone is bored. What can we do next? I am lucky enough to have a book and my laptop computer to write with.

The lights are at about ¼ usage. It’s very dim in here and really too dark to read. They are saving what electricity they have. Most people retain their sense of humor. Gloria and I made our way to the ladies room this morning through an ocean of cots with sleeping people. The snoring in here last night was like a “symphony” again, only this time, I think Gloria was the primary sitting in first seat. I had to punch her when she woke me from my drug-induced slumber. She quickly went back to sleep without the snoring thanks to her own drug induced relaxation. With all the snoring and people talking in their sleep around here, not to mention all the noise from the storm, we were both very grateful to have our sleeping pills with us.

10:00….they just opened the doors…but we are not allowed out yet …the sky is still dark and the wind is still there….there is a loud applause when they opened the doors and we can finally feel fresh air coming into this stifling room. They are still making announcements, but now in Spanish. Everyone is dying to get out… how long will it be before they will let us out???…..

11:41….people are lining up to get whatever they have to feed us. I’m hungry in spite of the banana sandwich I creatively and put together this morning. The lights are so dim in here. They have announced that the hurricane is still in Cancun on the northern side headed at 9mph to the Gulf of Mexico. We are still getting very high winds. They let us out into a very small roped off area, a few people at a time, just to get air and a couple of pics. People seem to be in better spirits than they were this morning. The wind is blowing so hard that hotel security cannot step any further than we are allowed. I convinced one of them to take that risk anyway, and get two pics for me standing under the overhead structure at the entrance to the convention center where we are all at. He steps down the 5 steps and into the drive below and took the photos trying hard not to be blown away. The wind is blowing sideways; there are trees and pieces of trees blown everywhere. The overhead structure at the entrance to the center has been blown off its base, and the columns still hold it up by the edges. I was told that all this would have to be torn down and rebuilt, as it is not safe. This is all new construction, just opened two weeks ago after repairs from another hurricane that hit here. The destruction is hard to assess from where we are allowed to stand. I see parts of the roofs blown away, trees and limbs scattered everywhere, and stucco and metal twisted and mangled.

We are told that they will make another announcement today at 4pm. I guess we’ll be here for a while….perhaps another night. It is SO HOT and MUGGY in here, it’s hard to breathe. The only thing we have to do, to pass the time, is sleep. And I don’t think I can sleep any more. I’m grateful for the food and water, but it is very dull. Bread and fruit, are pretty much what there is. There is no more ice, and no means by which to cook. The last announcement stated that the airport would be closed for another 24-48 hours. After that, who knows how long it will be before we can get a flight out of here. Without contact with anyone in the US, I’m not sure how we’ll get back. I’m sure we will, but how long will it take, and will we ever see our bags again? Heck, I can’t believe there’s anyway they can be safe. And with all the people here, the number of bags being stored is UNREAL. I’ve dealt with huge tradeshows and trailer upon trailer of freight to be unloaded and disbursed to exhibitors….and I can’t imagine how this is going to be.

When the doors were opened, a HUGE bug flew in and all the women yelled with excitement, “it’s a hummingbird!!!!!!”. I quickly deflated their joy by announcing they were nuts…. it was just a big bug.

2:20pm….there is a sense of celebration. Once the doors were opened, the fresh air came in, and resort employees were able to get additional supplies into the convention center, everyone took on an almost party like attitude. They had a hot meal ready for us in a matter of minutes. I don’t know how they were able to put together a meal for 2,000 people in such a short amount of time. It was very well received and many showed a high level of gratitude. Part of the ceiling in the lobby gave way and it is now raining inside the building hard in that area. The flooding in the ladies room continues and the maids are working hard to keep it as clean as possible in there. Another ceiling tile has fallen from the large hall I am in with Gloria. The damage to the property appears, at least for now, to have survived the hurricane. There is damage, but I have been told that we will be able to go back to our room.

According to one of the workers, our reservation here is going to be extended until we are able to get a flight home. I hope we are able to get a flight out of here and be home before Wednesday, but I feel quite sure we’ll be here at least through Tuesday. We are told the airport will be closed for some time….we also heard rumor that the US is sending in additional jets to get us out of here and home. I believe at this time the hurricane is still not completely out of Cancun. The wind and rain are blowing so hard that outside is all white. I am sooo ready to get back to our room and get a shower….even if it’s a cold one. I’m surprised that we still have running water. We’ll see what they plan to do, hopefully, at 4pm today. I’d like to sleep in a bed tonight.

7:40pm…We’re not getting out of here tonight. The resort has to be approved by the federal officials for safety before they will allow us to return to a room. They have promised us showers, as this place is really beginning to STINK. It is hot in here. I think we’ve been here now for 3 days….(forever). These crazy Mexicans keep feeding people beans, peppers, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and other gas producing delicacies. They say we may get out of here tomorrow sometime, but even that remains to be seen. They tell us the airport is closed today (duh), and tomorrow. I believe we will not get out of here before Tuesday. There is still no communication with the outside, so I don’t know where they are getting their information. We are still on generated power and I’ve been told they had enough diesel to run the generators for three days. We are on day three now, so, if they don’t get us out of here tomorrow, we’re going to be without power. They are about to make announcements now over a bullhorn and hopefully will have some good news…………………….

We are to pull a number and a lottery for shower…oh my God…this is going to be madness.!!!!

8:40….I managed to get myself to the front of the line. I got a number, and am to return to the lobby area at 9pm. There are thousands to get these numbers and I don’t know how they expect to be able to get any sort of order to getting these people into a 15-minute shower. They have prepared 50 rooms and are going to call by numbers to go to them. None of this makes any sense. They have less than 500 T-shirts that they are raffling as well with the same numbers. I believe the first 500 numbers in numeric order will get those. At first they said they would give them to the people that had no additional change of clothing. I have nothing other than the clothes on my back, and I’ve been wearing them for 3 days now. Looks like I may be wearing them another few more. Hopefully they’ll find my suitcase at some point and I’ll have clean clothes to change into. At the rate they are planning to do this, it could take all night and into tomorrow morning. People are getting easily irritated now. We’re all tired, and hot, and need baths really bad. I’m afraid that the people that are getting the shirts don’t need them. They’re taking them as souvenirs. This little fact makes me a bit ill….I’m tired of wearing the same clothes. Already, there have been people screaming and yelling at each other. I watched a confrontation escalate into a near fight when a Mexican man couldn’t hear the announcements made in Spanish because of all the chatter coming from the English speaking people.