Today we got on the city bus, learned to navigate that system (learned an important tip: the red and white ones have air conditioning!!), and made our way downtown. Again, we flaunted our ethnicity, and received a host of whistles, honks, and waves! All friendly though. Once downtown Val showed us around a bit, as we passed some time before meeting our tour. We were greeted by an extremely vibrant, open-windowed bus. It was our group, 2 other American women, what seemed like a European lady, and a few Mexicans. Val wanted the tour to be dictated in Spanish only, but since we had tourists with us, Juan did both English and Spanish. I found myself understanding his Spanish better, because he didn't annunciate his English too well! Merida is so rich in history, and dates back to the 1500s when Francisco de Montejo founded the city. I learned that it was called Merida, because the conquistadores came by sea from Merida, Spain. Fancy that! I won't bore you with all we saw and learned, but many fancy houses, churches, and parks! What really interested me was learning about the center of downtown - El Gran Central - the park there is surrounded by many governmental buildings, the governor's home, her offices, a court and some other things. These places in the past were used much differently. One a slaughterhouse/butcher, one a jail, another a place to house African slaves brought over by the Spaniards. Crazy to think how much has changed in those buildings.
The Monument to Mayan Culture at the end of Paseo de Montejo (a main street)
Double-sided, very cool. This picture isn't mine, but I took some of both sides.
We came home and had lunch, delicious of course, and then siesta. When I woke up I was so discombobulated - it threw me off trying to figure out which day it was, etc! Our afternoon was filled with a hammock demonstration and learning about the Mayan village stay we'll be doing in early February. A man and woman, Schultze and Lisa, introduced information about how to know a good hammock, how to sleep in them, what our village stay will be like, etc. They offered hammocks for us to purchase, which were gorgeous, and they support women in the Mayan village. I didn't buy one, I'll look downtown. We need them when we stay in the village, and most natives here will sleep in them instead of beds when it gets outrageously warm, for better circulation.
I'll skip dinner details, but dessert must be mentioned. Our cute little cooks said it was banana bread, but I'd disagree :) It was warm out of the oven, chocolate something, but sort of banana bread - all topped with scoop of some high-quality ice cream!! We all cheered when it came! Haha
A little rain this afternoon (but it was pretty to listen to!) The heat is bearable, there's been a nice breeze, it's perfect in the shade, and la casa although no air conditioning, has fans and since it's all tile, stays cool.
This evening about 7 of us went around the town, first to Oxxo (gas station type store) to pick up snacks for the house, then explored, and made a pit stop at a little taco place. Again, humorous, because it was called Tacos Árabes. So we were Americans, eating Arabian food, in Mexico. But don't get me wrong - mine was delicious. As we walked back we commented how great it is, for 12 pesos I got a taco, which is like one dollar. So a dollar for a fun night with friends, chatting, and making all of those 'this world is so small' connections - I'd say it was a successful night. With many students from the Des Moines area, it's been fun comparing stories/making relations. My friend Emily S. was flipping through pictures and we realized that both of us went to the same corn maze/farm as students at Drake did!
A shower felt so good tonight! The water is usually cold, but no one seems to mind too much!
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