These two traveling seniors have absolutely loved our time in Viva la Mexico! but, alas, it is is time for us to make an adventure into a new country! It blows our mind that it has been almost six months since we arrived in Merida!
Here is a break down of the Good, The Bad & The Ugly of Merida.
Everyday here in Viva la Merida has been a life changing adventure for us. We lost a lot in the U.S. with the forever search for material things and the idea that you have to have more… We, and yes I’m speaking for both of us on this point, have never felt more comfortable, safer or more a part of the community. That is sad but true. The warmth and acceptance into the community has been wonderful.
Yes, we heard all the propaganda stories the news stations put out every day about how ‘bad or unsafe’ Mexico is but honestly here in Merida we have seen none of that. Of course, we did not come to Mexico looking for trouble – if you do than you may be at the sorry end of the police here. That’s on you. The only issue we have had with the local police was the other night, we were walking & we decided to remove our masks. A police car pulled up next to us & hit the siren to alert us to put our masks on. Yes, they are serious about the pandemic down here in Merida & we are good with that.
Here is a break down of the Good, The Bad & The Ugly of Merida. If you have been following us than you know every day has not been a bed of roses during our stay, there have been bumps but nothing that wasn’t easily fixed. Empecemos! Let’s get started!
The Good, The Bad & The Ugly As Seen By These Two Traveling Seniors…
Where do I begin?
The Good…
- Sweet bread or as they call it in Spanish “Pan Dulce!” I won’t lie, we really have to ration ourselves on the sweet breads. Bakeries!
- Cocina economicas food deliveries! For a few dollars, we order our lunch from whichever cocina is offering our favorite that day! Often servings are large enough for leftovers for dinner. Pork or Chicken with beans, soup, salad & corn tortillas meals can be different just depending on which cocina you call.
- Street food vendors! Need I say more?
- Select Fruit & Vegetables market/store.
- Mexican organic coffee. Our nose & taste buds love the various types of coffee beans & their characteristics!
- Walking the streets to view the beautiful colored casas, flowers & trees. On one side street, totally unexpected, we ran across a huge coy pond right up by the sidewalk inside the fence of the casa. The coy were at least a foot long & multi colored, just gorgeous! Or the chicken poking her head out from a hole in another fence! I guess what I’m saying is to leave yourself time to walk the streets as you never know what beauty you may see.
- The culture of familia is strong here. Quite a few families have wrapped us into their families & we are super appreciative of that love.
- Again, the people have been so accepting of us wherever we have gone.
- Some days it is toasty hot for walking but for the most part is not to bad with the breeze. We are from Texas after all.
- Finding a great Spanish teacher in Georgette! We are not masters of the language yet but she has given us such a good foundation to build on.
- The BEST massage therapist & acupuncturist is right here in Merida!
- The closeness of the beach! A short drive by car or bus to the Gulf or the Caribbean. We will post more on this later.
- Mayan / Aztec sites all over Yucatan! Cenotes! So many to choose from…so much history in this land!
- I’m sure once I post this, I’ll think of another Good or Bad but will leave at this for now as I hope you get the picture YOU HAVE TO VISIT MERIDA!
- I knew it. The medical services that we have dealt with have been fabulous & really spot on price wise! I’m going to post a “Contact List” for new visitors to Merida in the next week or so. It will save you some time and frustration from looking all over the internet for the various business contacts in the Montecristo and surrounding area that we made during our time in Merida.
The Bad…
- Sidewalks are not perfect [see pics below]. We walk & have seen some awesome beautiful sidewalks but with a two foot high curb. The issue is with these sidewalks, if you are not alert you could easily step off & fall or even break a bone. Other sidewalks are in such poor shape, you are better off walking in the street. Some sidewalks have ‘hills’ or dips that are not that noticeable until you step or trip on one. Bottom line, be very alert in walking Merida. Some walks have huge bolts & metal pieces sticking out of middle of walkway.
- Alto [Stop] signs are treated like yield signs. Ha. If there are stop lights, you can easily cross at the light on at the speed humps. If you are on a street with roundabouts, then you might have to wait a minute or so to cross, Back to the Alto Sign – I don’t think we have been in a Uber yet that stops behind the sign to check traffic – they pull into intersection/stop/slow down/then finish crossing. I am glad I don’t have to drive here. Ha.
- Speaking of traffic, it can get pretty loud especially in the evenings during rush hour. Ha. Just a lot of horns blowing.
- Loose wires hanging. I’m talking what looks like cables or electric lines hanging down on sidewalks, etc.?
- While it is great to have the sun, the humidity is a killer. If there is no breeze, yikes you are going to sweat your butt off. You should always carry water with you!!
- You have four corners at an intersection – is it not uncommon for a street number to change from one side of street to other. Can be confusing.
- Sometimes the ‘smell’ factor is not nice.
Although I listed the above under ‘Bad’, the ‘Good’ far outweighs any of these little inconveniences!
And NOW The Downright Ugly!
I am going to stick my head out here & say there is really only one downright ugly thing in Merida…”THAT ONE TOURIST” [or outside person/expat] who talks down to the working class people. We were walking when a truck pulled up on street in front of a auto shop. The expat jumped out of his truck & started calling for a name of someone inside. He hadn’t even crossed the sidewalk when he was yelling at the workers to ‘speak English!]. Really, this is how you treat people? We both felt pure disgust for the behavior of this man. He clearly was ‘privileged’ or at least thought he was. Just a word of advise if he is reading this article, You are supposed to represent (in a positive way), the country that you came from and I hope you were not from the U.S.A.
Viva la Mexico! Volveremos!
Bottom line, the Good of Merida is awesome; the bad, we can live with!; but the ugly of the actions of anyone treating working class people in that way is sickening. I’m not saying all expats or tourist are like this but you only need one pompous ass to make you wonder? Enough of that.
As I stated, our time in Merida is right around the corner. We plan to come back next year but in the meantime we have a couple other countries we need to check out & we are excited to jump out to another adventure.
“Hasta la proxima vez!”
