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 Entertainment | Books | July 2006 
Vamos a la Playa (and Other Useful Spanish Phrases)
 Christine Delsol - sfgate.com
| | "Spanish - Live it and Learn it," by Martha Racine Taylor (Cypress House, $18.95, 323 pages). |
Summer is hardly the most popular time to hop on a plane to Mexico - but it is an ideal time to plan a winter escape. Spanish immersion schools and the newly anointed "it" destination of Playa del Carmen make good starting points.
"Spanish - Live it and Learn it," by Martha Racine Taylor (Cypress House, $18.95, 323 pages). Subtitled "The Complete Guide to Language Immersion Schools in Mexico," this is an immensely helpful guide for anyone trying to wade through the proliferation of increasingly popular Spanish schools. Taylor, a Spanish and business professor at College of the Redwoods, pares the choices down to manageable proportions by confining her survey to Mexico, where she has made 40 trips, and includes only schools she has personally investigated and found worthy.
The 49 schools range from La Paz to Oaxaca, Puerto Vallarta to the Yucatán. Most offer home stays, the key to cultural as well as linguistic insight. Taylor offers concise descriptions of each region and detailed directions (usually two options) for getting there. She uses her own five-star rating for location, facilities, program and overall quality of each. She also describes the campus, faculty and teaching methods, and provides details on whether the college is credit available, costs, excursions, discounts and lodging options.
The final section on what distinguishes each school from the others is particularly helpful. No corresponding entries specify the weaknesses for schools awarded fewer stars, though the descriptions contain clues for a careful reader. The one other glaring omission is an index. Readers who simply want to look up a school they've heard of will have to read the three-page table of contents; for specific interests (such as associated volunteer programs), they must search every entry.
The 45-page introduction is a smorgasbord of advice that begins with how to evaluate schools (including a form to duplicate and fill out for each one under consideration). She notes that the quality and speed of the school's response to questions can be an indicator of the program's effectiveness and tips readers to look out for schools that exist mainly to teach English as a second language, offering Spanish as an afterthought.
Equally important is her advice on navigating and respecting Mexican customs, from practical details suited to the first-time visitor to nuances a veteran will appreciate - a woman entering a men-only bar identified as a cantina, for example, is as good as announcing herself as a prostitute.
"Best of Cozumel," "Best of Isla Mujeres" and "Best of Playa del Carmen," by Jackson Lindsay (Local Knowledge Travel Guides, $14.95 each, 112, 120 and 80 pages, respectively). Despite the unfortunate slogan, "Creating travelers out of tourists," these candid and highly focused little guides easily earn their (negligible) space in a pocket or tote bag. They don't offer lodging recommendations ("the great majority of you are already booked in a hotel or visiting off a cruise ship"), sticking instead with dining, night life and other activities that open up these destinations as communities.
Entries are broken into sometimes whimsical categories, such as "best palm-shaded spots for lunch, dinner or a cocktail" and "hot spots for a pickup game of soccer or volleyball," as well as the more standard dining and sightseeing suggestions.
The books suffer some weaknesses common to many self-publishing efforts, notably the lack of a clear-eyed editor. The evaluations, though, are refreshingly straightforward ("Don't expect chic coffees or gardens, just instant coffee and wonderful eats") - and how else would you know that Isla Mujeres is unique in the Yucatán for its wealth of pool halls?
"Great Destinations: Playa del Carmen, Tulúm and the Riviera Maya," by Joshua Eden Hinsdale (Countryman, $18.95, 352 pages). Covering much of the same area as the Local Knowledge series, this guide has the advantage of being part of an established and respected series. It claims to be the first complete guide to this recently defined tourist hot spot, and it includes updates on damage, repairs and new construction in the aftermath of the double whammy of last year's hurricanes Wilma and Emily.
Playa del Carmen is the geographical center of the Riviera Maya - officially defined as the coast from Puerto Morelos, just south of Cancún, to Tulúm - and Hinsdale treats the city as the region's heart and soul, a city whose sleepy hospitality defies its rapid development and modernization to create an international scene unique not just in Mexico but the world. He also ventures beyond the Riviera Maya to cover the northern islands (Holbox, Contoy, Mujeres), the Sian Ka'an preserve and Mahahual in the south, and even touches on the basics of visiting Cancún.
The area is dominated by all-inclusive resorts starting mostly at $200 per person, per night and more, with a bargain scattered here and there. But the book provides a gratifying amount of detail about less expensive areas, such as Isla Holbox ("It's doubtful anyone has ever worn a tie here") and lands south of Tulúm.
Devoting a whole book to the area allows the author to delve into cultural details more comprehensive guides can't. Some of the most delightful reading is in the sidebars. The story of the mischievous alux, for example, will give new meaning to the hotels named after these mythical creatures. Other sidebars are devoted to a novelistic account of the hurricanes; investing in the business boom; witnessing the sunset in a town that faces east; the ritual and significance of the original temazcal (bath house), which has bequeathed its name to modern spa facilities; Mayan culinary specialties; and the delicate art of finding the right strip club.
"National Geographic Traveler: Mexico," by Jane Onstott, (National Geographic, $27.95, 400 pages). This update of the original 2001 title is every bit as glossy and gorgeous as you'd expect, with stunning photos, luminous color maps and richly detailed charts and illustrations. Travelers determined to strike out for parts unknown might do better with more comprehensive guides with modest production values; this one sticks to established tourist paths. For those areas, though, this is the one to beat.
Email Christine Delsol at travel@sfchronicle.com. |
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