Weekend Life in Mérida

We began Saturday with a visit to the Mercado Lucas de Galvez, which is the municipal market in Mérida. It's a bustling two-story building that takes up the entire block, and you know you're getting close to it because the streets are filled with people.

The lower level was jammed with both vendors and patrons, making it difficult to navigate through the aisles. At one point, we rounded the corner and wandered into the meat market, complete with hanging body parts of every variety, and leering animal heads. A pretty gruesome sight, so we did the best to walk in front of the kids and block their view as we shuffled them out of the area. Fortunately, they didn't seem to notice, since they were busy eyeing the toys and playthings for sale in the opposite direction.

We purchased matching embroidered shoes for Jennifer and Emma at just a couple of dollars apiece, before heading across the street to a craft shop for some browsing. There I picked up a guayabera while a vendor tried to convince Jennifer that she needed a jeweled beetle. This is a live beetle that has been trimmed with jewels and a gold chain to fasten to a button on your blouse or dress. It was a big sucker too, think Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. The vendor told Jenn that all the fancy women wear them, but she assured the man that she certainly is not THAT fancy. Nevertheless, the kids had fun holding and playing with the beetle.

We spent the afternoon at the house, then got nicely dressed for a visit to the anthropology museum. However, we had the timetable wrong for the weekend, because it had already closed when we got there. We had to settle for a few pictures in front of it instead.

From there, we decided to treat ourselves to an earlier dinner at Trotter's, an upscale steak and seafood restaurant. The ambiance was nice, the meal was enjoyable, and the children were well behaved.

Every Saturday evening, Mérida hosts 'Noche Mexicana', which is a weekly festival of music, dance, food, and crafts. We left the restaurant and headed to the end of Paseo de Montejo to be a part of the fun. There we watched some very entertaining musical performances, and enjoyed some tasty ice cream. I sampled the corn flavored ice cream, and you know, it was quite good!

It's really surprising that all this happens every week, and it's free of charge, giving families a great opportunity to get out and enjoy the evening together. It was really a nice way for us to experience some more of the culture of Mexico, as well as a pleasant way to end the day.

Love and Life

Having just returned from our jungle excursion to Uxmal, we spent Wednesday in Mérida, preparing for Lukas' birthday. We started the day with a trip to La Piñateria, where there were dozens of piñatas to choose from, in various shapes, colors, and characters. Lukas selected a traditional Mexican piñata, trimmed in shiny red, green, and silver streamers.

From there it was off to Costco to pick up the cake plus goodies for the piñata. We got lots of crazy candies like Krankys, ChocoRetas, and Bubu Lubus. Surprisingly, everything else was identical to the same stores at home, just the prices are posted in pesos instead of dollars. We got some lunch and frozen treats, then raced back to the house before everything could melt in the hot trunk.

Later in the afternoon, we took a ride with Greenwood to an orphanage named appropriately 'Amor y Vida' or 'Love and Life'. He visits with an associate every Wednesday to provide the children with art instruction and encourage their creativity and self expression.

This was a great opportunity for our children to play with some local children their own ages, who were in need of attention. While some kids were understandably shy and wary of strangers at first, others were ready immediately to welcome with a hug and share some conversation.

Jennifer broke the ice by asking some little girls to help her with her Spanish words. Then, we helped out with some art projects while learning a bit more about the orphanage and the art program.

Greenwood gave Emma and Lukas some silly bands and candy to pass out to the children, and soon they were all running around playing together.

The thing that really got the kids to open up to us was the camera. Once we snapped a few photos and showed then to the children, everyone wanted to get in on the action. These were kids who seldom get to see themselves in pictures, so everyone began posing for photos and mugging for the camera. It wasn't long before a hundred photos had been taken.

A group of girls played with Jennifer's blond hair and tried on her fancy sunglasses, posing like movie stars. Soon, even the boys were trying them on! We plan on printing the pictures before we leave Mérida so we can forward them to the orphanage for the children to keep.

We were struck by how the simplest things can sometimes make a difference. A friendly greeting, a little bit of attention... just being silly together and having some fun. We didn't give these children their parents back or give them homes of their own, just some friendly distraction. It can't solve all of their problems, but it can bring a smile to their faces, if only for a little while.

Our visit to the orphanage was another one of those life altering experiences that really made us pause for a moment and think. It was truly heartbreaking to see so many children without families, having to band together to form a collective family under one roof...

all during the most formative years of their lives.

We left the orphanage with the children in our hearts and minds, hoping we had made some small difference today.

A quiet Sunday at home

Not every day can be an adventure; some days you just need to take time to regroup and get caught up. Sunday was one of those days to catch up on work, get organized, and plan out the days ahead.

We were granted another sunny morning so we started the day with a nice breakfast up on the rooftop. Then Jenn did some shopping while I caught up on the blog and did some editing for a commercial that needs to get done this week. I wouldn't want a trivial thing like work to get in the way of our adventures! The charge on the camera battery had dwindled down to zilch, so only a few pics before it went on the charger.

The kids occupied themselves watching Spanish cartoons for awhile, then I hooked up the Wii so they could play some games just like they used to back home. After that, it was time to hit the pool for more than an hour before lunch, then some rest and relaxation.

In our travels around town, these billboards caught our eye...

Near as I can tell, this one says, "We have more black moments."

Yes, that's Sprite Negro. Black Sprite.

And speaking of black moments...the raccoon look is all the rage. Sometimes you CAN have too much UV protection.

Tonight, Emma got to play chef and help her her mom create 'The Bean Thing.' It's Jenn's signature recipe for Mexican comfort food. A bit spicier than usual for some reason!

Oh well, that's it for today. We're keeping our eyes peeled for a piñata for Lukas birthday this week, and hoping to hit the road tomorrow on another quest for adventure. We'll keep you posted!

Un día con los amigos

Saturday morning started with a trip out to the Mercado Fresco de 'Slow Food' Yucatan, which is an organic food market held by a collection of expats here in Mérida. Here we chatted with some nice folks and even ran into Aliza, our interpreter for the EducaTE video project. She has an organic garden, and was there selling her spicy arugula among other things. Sampled some tasty treats (even Korean food!) and brought several back with us, like fresh baked apple bread, cocoa muffins, caramelized onion bread with fresh goat cheese, and dulce de ciricote, along with the arugula for the evening's dinner.

Back at the house, the kids spent some time 'cooking' on the living room floor, then we met up with Cherie and Greenwood for lunch at La Chaya Maya, a great spot for authentic Yucatecan & Mayan cuisine. Chaya was an important staple in the Mayan diet, and since I survived my chaya drink from the night before, we both sipped chaya with our meals today. And since my crepes were made with chaya flour, I hope to stay healthy for the rest of the trip!

The meals were delicious and even the kids ate very well, especially since these dishes are completely foreign to their North American palates.

They enjoyed watching the Mayan woman making corn tortillas by hand.

After lunch, a quick walk back to Cherie's casa for a swim in the pool and plenty of sunshine. The kids played games with Greenwood, and then got an art lesson as they painted their very own wooden signs. They also enjoyed giving the pets lots of attention. It's so nice to have new friends who enjoy making us feel right at home in Mérida!

That evening, dinner at home prepared with the ingredients picked up earlier, then up to the rooftop to enjoy the clear skies, full moon, and cool breezes. Ahhh, now this is the life!

A beach day in Chelem

A blogger's work is never done. I'm already posting two days late! Trying to get caught up today with some down time at home.

We were blessed with some sunshine on Friday so we headed out to explore the beaches at Chelem, a sleepy little fishing village just west of Progresso. This is certainly a more remote area, and one can imagine how easy it would be to drop out of society by settling here. The roads turn to sand as you drive closer to the shore, so we found one where we could pull up and make camp in relative isolation.

The beaches in this section of Chelem are not particularly wide, so we chose the concrete patio of a vacant hotel to drop our belongings and have lunch. The kids spent much of the time playing in the sand and combing the beach for seashells. The plan is to string them together to make necklaces. Occasionally, giant pelicans flew by overhead, usually when the camera was put away in the beach bag. Lukas calls them pterodactyls.

Later, we explored the shoreline and encountered several buildings that clearly suffered extensive damage due to previous hurricanes. Beach erosion has claimed a good amount of sand from this stretch of Chelem, but other areas seemed to fare much better. Jenn chose the wrong spot to cool off in the water, because she cut her foot on a boulder sized rock on her way out. Much different from the beaches we encountered in Progreso, where the bottom was silky smooth sand.

No afternoon showers on this day, so we got a good deal of sun before heading back to the casa. That night we enjoyed some Yucatecan cuisine in the open air courtyard of Amaro, under a clear and star-filled sky. We enjoyed some margaritas and I tried my first chaya shake, which was pretty tasty. Chaya is a leafy green herb that is native to the Yucatan and has more nutrients that spinach (so it's sometimes called Tree Spinach). Although the raw leaves are toxic, the cyanide they contain cooks out and becomes a traditional drink. That's me, living on the edge! Of course, Jenn doesn't tell me these things ahead of time, so maybe she's just looking for an insurance payout so she can settle down here full time.

Some live latin music drew lots of other patrons to the restaurant, so we spent most of an hour trying to get our check once it was time to go. When in Mexico, you're on Mexico time!

It's all happening at the ZOO

Many would be surprised to find that there is a pretty extensive zoo right in the heart of Mérida. The Parque Zoologico del Centenario was established just over a hundred years ago, and it's a fun place for families to enjoy a refreshing change of pace.

We spent a good portion of Thursday strolling through the park, taking in the scenery, and visiting all the zoo animals. We started by circling the zoo by train, then headed to the playground so the kids could run around and get some exercise.

In the early 1970's, an old Cessna was found in the jungle and added to the playground as a jungle-gym and slide. It's the first thing that catches your eye as you enter the play area, and as you can guess, the kids loved climbing inside to be the pilots. Lots of other families seemed to be enjoying themselves in spite of the heat. (What am I saying? Mexicans don't feel the heat!)

Then it was cotton candy and icy refreshments before heading into the zoo area to see the animals. The lions were pretty lethargic and the hippos stayed cool in the water. The flamingos were having a smackdown, which was disturbing, so we moved on.

I tried to get a closeup shot of a monkey, but the darn things wouldn't sit still, so I settled for a cute little baby deer instead.

After a couple of hours at the zoo, we stopped at the Super Aki to pick up a few household supplies. The kids helped out, so we ended up with Mexican Twinkies and Tang in crazy exotic flavors.

Then it was off to have lunch and frozen mocha frappés at the Olive Cafe on Paseo Montejo. The sun was in full force as we took in the sights of Mexican city life all around us. Lukas did his best to look cool and sophisticated.

Once we were back home, the little guy took a nap while the rest of us headed up to the rooftop to lounge in the hammocks and enjoy the sunshine. Emma was thrilled that she was getting away with doing something 'grown up' while Lukas was sleeping.

For dinner, Jenn prepared tasty 'pollo del horno' (that's baked chicken for you gringos back in NJ). The regular house owners must not do much cooking, because Jenn kept complaining about the lack of a measuring cup and other basic kitchen tools.

At nightfall, a thunderstorm was brewing on the horizon, so we put the kids to bed and took our wine glasses up to the rooftop again to watch the show. As we witnessed the crazy lightning streaking across the sky (at a safe distance, don't worry), the moment was made all the more memorable by the sounds of a local band streets away, practicing Elvis' Jailhouse Rock...in Spanish, of course.

Monday? Back to School!

Our Italian dinner out Sunday night provided more confirmation of just how tightly knit the expat community in Mérida really is. We got to talking to a couple of senior ladies from California, who were smitten with Emma & Lukas and craving some"grandchildren" to shower with attention. Turns out they are friends and neighbors of Cherie's, our new friend from the EducaTE organization. It's really such a small world down here!

Speaking of Cherie, she picked us up the next morning for our second day of shooting for the EducaTE video project we began working on last week. Even though school is out for the summer, she and Aliza arranged for some students to return to the school in Cholul so we could get shots of class in action. We staged some shots of them interacting with the teacher, taking notes, and walking around campus. Once again, Aliza acted as our interpreter.

Then we took a trio of girls for some shots in the brand new computer lab. The school in Cholul is one of the very few to get a grant for computer equipment to expand the curriculum. The computers are used, so some of the mice don't work properly and some of the keys don't function, but this is still a tremendous opportunity for students that would have no access otherwise, and for that the administrators are grateful. Two of the girls have never seen a computer before, so they were feeling a bit intimidated. They got a quick lesson while we got all the shots we needed. We got lots of shots here since it was air conditioned!

Once again, Emma and Lukas were so well behaved; we are so grateful to have two terrific kids! Even with all of the heat and being out of their environment (plus the language barrier) they managed to occupy themselves and have fun so we could get the work done. The young girls they met last week heard we were back in town, so they came by the school to visit. They colored together, played hide & seek, and climbed trees together. Emma tried to organize a game of tag, but I don't think anyone was ever able to offer her a translation!

Then...

back to the house afterward for a bit of rest and freshening up before dinner. We enjoyed some Yucatecan meals on the open air patio at Portico del Peregrino, since the evening skies were clear. Had to swat a few mosquitos away, so the waiter put a repellent coil under our table. That's Mexico!