Merida!

So, last week we spent some time in Merida, Mexico. Originally we had only planned on staying in Merida for a night or two, but our plans changed when we met a wonderful woman named Elizabeth in Tulum. Elizabeth invited us to come stay with her for part of our time in Merida, and it was great! She was a wonderful hostess and has the most adorable dogs! She is our Momma Merida :) It really is hard to get a good idea of what a city is like without an insiders view; we felt lucky to see the REAL Merida.

It´s hard to keep your tongue in your mouth when you don´t have teeth, huh?

We spent the first few days in Merida seeing the usual tourist sights. Beautiful old churches, the Governor´s Palace, the Main Plaza, museums. We then decided to spend our last day doing some exploring in a different part of town...

After successfully hailing a cab in a zone of Merida where it appeared there were none, we tumbled out in front of the bus station. Using a mixture of Spanish, hand gestures, shrugs and exaggerated facial expressions we were able to secure two tickets to Palenque on an overnight bus.

Next stop after the bus station, was the market. This was not a tourist desination, but a local market where the people go to buy EVERYTHING. Hundreds and hundreds of stalls inside a warehouse and in open-air. Selling things such as pastries, produce of everykind (many unidentifiable), leather goods, shoes, clothing, tattoos, a multitude of raw meat products, pets (puppies, ducks, bunnies guinea pigs, birds, roosters, etc.), grains, dog food, and snacks.

While we had tried to get an early start on the day to avoid the heat, by 10:30 we were soaked in sweat and longing for air conditioning. The smells of live poultry, cigarette smoke, srange meats, sewage, and mothballs in the stagnate air was overwhelming. And so we sought refuge in an air conditioned store outside the market that sold Quincinera dresses. These dresses were extremely elaborate! All different colors of blues, greens, pinks, and purples. Layer upon layer of tulle, sequins, sparkles, and embroidery, and each with a matching crown and wings. Even Barbie would think it was over the top!

This part of town was like a weird Frankenstein of Chinatown, Harlem, and Times Square. It smelled like fish, there were strange liquids flowing in the street and everywhere we looked people were aggressively hawking some kind of merchandise.