Liking The Group

Woke up early to take care of some bid-ness. I had to get copies of the itinerary and other information for my pax. Then we were off.

Today was a long day for me. I drove from 9 until noon. Then we stopped at a Walmart to go grocery shopping and since it was the first time that we did it as a group, I had to show everyone where stuff was and how much to buy in order to feed 11 people. Then we stopped for lunch and while they ate I filled the van. Then back in the van and another 2 hours of driving to Palenque. When we arrive I unloaded the van and spent the next hour demonstrating how I like my gear set up (OCD style) and how to set up a tent. Next I was in the kitchen preparing our first camp meal for the next 2 hours (and sipping the sweet Tecate nectar). We all sat down to eat; I briefed the crew on the next day’s events and then helped pack things away for the night. It was almost 10 pm when I could finally chill.
So far the group seems pretty cool. El unico hombre, Maurice, seems a little spaced out. He doesn’t talk much, just kind of sits there and stares/listens. Also he’s been sleeping a lot and seems to slack a bit when it comes to helping out with things. But my crew of Swiss and Korean girls pick up the slack. They really are good workers going above and beyond their daily assigned duties and doing whatever needs to get done. I really like the hard workers, it makes things easier for me. The only thing that bothers me a bit about the Swiss girls is that they are friends that booked the trip together and they spend the majority of the time speaking together in their language. This tends to isolate people… others can’t understand and feel intimidated and then it causes separate clicks within the group. I have mentioned it to the girls so we’ll see if things change. Besides these small complaints, the group seems to mesh really well.