The writer on assignment

“What do you think of the war in Iraq” I inquired of a girl I met last week. She was from Texas and an obvious Republican so I braced myself, but not for this response. “Kill ‘em all” she shouted, “and when they’re gone we get the rest of the Arabs”. I know right? But this was Cancun and this was Spring Break 2007. There was worse to come.

Cancun is a strange place. On one hand it’s a soaring oasis, a glorious coastline of beaches made from talcum powder and water so entrancing you could almost drink it. On the other hand it’s a hedonistic metropolis, a harem of scantily clad youths baying for beer and almost effortless late-night escapades. There were no first dates here, no expensive dinners. It was easier to get laid than it was to get a taxi (apparently).

I’d never done Spring Break before. I had visions of what it could be and expectations of what it would be but nothing prepared me for what was to come. This was no picnic. Free drinks started at 11am and finished when the clubs closed, which more often than not was as the sun rose glistening over the crashing waves of the Gulf of Mexico. Akon and Fergie echoed throughout the day from the giant speakers located in bars and restaurants across the center of town. And the people, oh the people &mdash without them I wouldn’t have had the half as much fun.

Being at Penn has given me a somewhat warped view of what the average American college kid is like. I now know the truth. They are not all upper-middle class liberals with a yearning for knowledge and a rational outlook on world events. They are far more than that. Monolithic jocks strutted around like silverback gorillas while pre-tanned sorority sisters (”ow ow!”) paraded their elasticated bodies in the afternoon sun. This was not Penn. This was not even close to Penn. This was Cancun, Spring Break 2007 &mdash no prisoners taken.

The stories I have, the people I met, the things that I saw… they will never leave me. But I will share them with you. And you will laugh and you will cry and hopefully they’ll leave a smile on your face on an otherwise drab day at Penn.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 13th, 2007 at 4:28 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.