Imagine Mérida

Becoming Expats in the Yucatán

Archives for May 2011

The young and the bashful don’t like to give directions

by

I won’t say too much about the latest Mérida “House Hunters International.” It’s the third one they’ve done over the years, and this one had the buyers with the biggest budget, plus cameos from Erich and Rob from the second in the series. I guess I have some thoughts on the houses, and on the show’s format, but I’ll save that for later.

One thing we got a chuckle out of was this very brief scene (above). Todd and Allison, the couple from Dallas, approach a youth to ask directions to the main square. The clip is meant to illustrate Todd’s poor Spanish skills. “Pardóney,” he asks the kid. But what struck us was how reticent the lad was. Was he shy? Untrusting? Did his parents tell him to avoid contact with gringos?

This happened to us, too. We were sort of turned around at Santiago Park and I couldn’t tell which was was east. We tried to ask a passing teenager, someone a bit older than this boy. He kept on walking like we weren’t there. We tried again, in Spanish. He never broke his stride. Everyone had been so sweet and polite, so we were shocked at what seemed like rudeness. We soon concluded he had been instructed not to talk to strangers.

What’s ironic is how forward some people on the street are once you approach that main square, when older men start to engage you in conversation about your urgent need for a Panama hat or a guayabera shirt. People selling hammocks, plastic Spanish hand fans that they pop open right in your face, anything at all. I dread those encounters. I become that little boy, avoiding eye contact and hoping the person approaching will just go away.

Sherbert colors on Calle 55

by

The things I think I know, but aren’t true, could fill a book. One of the things I thought I knew was that the colors one paints on one’s facade in the Centro were controlled by the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia. You have a range to choose from, all pastels and all historically appropriate. That’s my understanding.

How, then, did these the Hotel Santa Lucia and its neighbors on Calle 55 come to exhibit these hot hues? They don’t look historic to me. The bright sun will eventually tone down these sherbert colors into something softer, I was told.

Mérida has been celebrated for the muted palette of its streets. There is a reason photographers tend to dwell on the Centro and not more modern neighborhoods.

Not that I object to these vibrant colors. I actually kind of like them. But I just want to know if I’ll be allowed to paint purple polka dots on my future home here. Maybe INAH is only involved with out-and-out restorations, and once my restoration suits the authorities, the polka dot stencils can come out.

Learning to cook like I’m already in Mérida

by

I’m about to head out to the supermarket to get ingredients for a special breakfast. I plan to make Huevos Motuleños, which I’ve enjoyed several times while in Mérida. (Photo taken at Hotel Casa San Angel, a classy little restaurant we stumbled upon and became kind of attached to last week.)

Eggs, Motul style, doesn’t seem to hold up to variations. Recipes online vary, but they’re essentially fried or poached eggs stacked with tortillas and black beans or refried beans, ham and a smoky salsa. Garnish with peas and fried plantains. The first time I had this, I remember feeling pleased that the local cuisine was so agreeable. Then I thought, too bad there aren’t any Yucatecan restaurants where we live NOB. And then I though, ha! I can make this at home. Funny how my mind reels when I take a bite of something new.

I’ve been paying attention to Remixto and Los Dos in my feeble effort to wrap my head around the food of the Yucatan. Both sites are really helpful. (Los Dos has a recipe, and a bit of back story, for Motul-style eggs here.) Partly out of intellectual curiosity and partly because I know eating is cheaper if I adapt to locally available ingredients, I’ve enjoyed watching clips of professional cooks shopping in those daunting markets and then making a meal out of chiles, mole or choriso. Here, Brent Marsh makes chicken tinga three ways, and explains working with masa, which is the dough that forms the tortillas.

A great way to spend Memorial Day, where my body is in NOB and my head is in the Yucatán.

The case of Santa Lucia’s broken obelisk

by

Our first night in town, a Thursday, the cab took us quickly by a concert in Santa Lucia park. It was just as the travel publicity had promised — families, people of all ages, enjoying traditional serenades in the open air. Where we live, there is a gazebo in a town square, and the old-timers bring lawn chairs and listen to polka or big band music. This is a little like that, but I think in Mérida, these have more general appeal, and the music happens more often.

That first impression has forever colored my impression of this little park across Santa Lucia Church, on Calles 55 and 60. The third oldest park in Mérida, this “Parque de los Héroes” is anchored by a large obelisk that looks like it snapped off years ago. We had to look closely at the weathered plaque to see it was dedicated to a General Sebastian Molas in 1887, two years after the major battles of the Caste War had ended.

When and why did Gen. Molas’ obelisk snap? Why isn’t it being repaired. No one I asked seemed to have given it much thought. A broken monument may be an apt symbol for such an ugly chapter in history after all.

Another guide for prospective expats

by

“Living in Mérida,” an upbeat and encouraging guide, recently published its second, updated edition. Now a rival guide with a similar title, and possibly a darker, more provocative tone, is on its way.

“The Essential Guide to Living in Mérida” is scheduled to come out annually for 10 years, aiming to protect new arrivals from the “small cottage industry of hucksters that prey on foreigners,” according to editor Vince Gricus. Topics range from the innocuous “where’s a good Italian restaurant,” to the more biting “which are the three real estate companies to avoid?” Other topics: Which nonprofits are scams; which English library is recognized by the College Board for Teaching English. (Here’s an excerpt on the website of the book’s publisher, the Merida Bed and Breakfast Association.)

If you’ve been following Mérida blogs and websites for at least six months, these topics will sound familiar. Yes, this book will be a teensy bit divisive. (Update: I have read it and I can see I was right.)

I haven’t decided whether to splurge on the second edition of the original 2008 “Living in Mérida,” which lists recommended lawyers, property managers, markets and so forth, all things that can become dated pretty quickly. But the first “Living in Mérida” book had better start selling on Amazon if they want to compete with “The Essential Guide.” The book’s release date is listed on Amazon as tomorrow, and no reviews have been posted.

Online sources have been indispensable as well. Yucatán Today is online and in print, and their beautifully done maps are worn to tissue paper after one of my trips. (They also published the original “Living in Mérida” book.) Yucatán Living‘s Working Gringos’ first-person accounts of their home building — their enormous Ermita complex is now for sale — and their travels are engaging and enlightening.

Then there are services like Yucatán Expatriate Services or Yucatán Property Management, which will help you pave the way to paradise. You can pay for guidance every step of the way, from buying your property, to running it, to running a business out of it.

Right now, at home we’re considering whether our future new home will be a rental until we’re there full time. This is just the kind of service I’ll need. Who wants to fly down to your house to find the garden overgrown and burned out, or worse, some catastrophe like a break-in, a burst pipe, etc., etc. Right now I’m looking for someone to prevent any kind of etc., etc.

I wonder how many expat enclaves have the road ahead paved so smoothly. Does Ecuador or Panama have such a wealth of services? It’s stunning how many resources await gringos willing to spend the money for help living in a place where the cost of living is less.