Why Merida? Sounded like our kind of place -- friendly, quiet, not too touristy, lots to see and do. A couple of people whose opinions we respect thought it was an excellent destination and the more I researched, the better it sounded. Many northern expats have retirement homes here, especially Canadians so that was an endorsement.
We got here the usual way -- flew to Cancun and then took the bus which is about a three hour ride if you take a "directo". Just right for two movies. Mexican intercity buses tend to be quite luxurious by our standards and, in our experience, show recent Hollywood movies with Spanish subtitles which is great for turistos.
Merida (accent on the first syllable, take it very easy on the "r" but roll it if you can and the "i" is "E" in Spanish) is a city of about a million people in the Yucatan state. It is built on the site of an ancient Mayan city and named after the Spanish city of Merida built on Roman ruins.
Merida lies about thirty miles inland from the north coast of the Yucatan and the small city of Progresso where Meridanos flock to escape the heat in the summer. I have yet to learn exactly why Merida was built here except perhaps proximity to fresh water. There is no surface water, i.e. rivers and lakes, in the Yucatan. The surface is so porous that fresh water collects underground. Underground pools are called "cenotes" (see-no-tays) and can be refreshing, if spooky, swimming holes.
Merida was founded like the rest of Mexico by Imperialist Spain crushing the indigenous natives underfoot. The resident Mayans gave them a good run for their money however and it took two generations to finally subjugate them.
Probably the greatest attraction to Merida, after its proximity to many of the great Mayan ruins, is the remnants its recent history. Prior to the 1800s, the farms or "haciendas" in the outlying areas were mainly devoted to raising cattle and food for the city but in the early nineteenth century someone discovered that one of the large Agave (a-gaw-vay) plants native to the area produced a fibre that was excellent for making rope and many other things. This fibre is called "henequen" (en-e-ken) or sisal (Cecil) and by the end of the century the Merida area was producing millions of tons of the stuff. In 1900 Merida supposedly had more millionaires per capita than any other city in the world. The henequen barons built palatial homes on their haciendas and in the city. All things European were admired and emulated. They sent their children to be educated in Europe and they came home with European tastes in culture and the arts which further enriched the city with a European ambiance. The bottom gradually fell out of the henequen market with the invention of nylon during the second World War. Hard to believe that the "binder twine" of my childhood was produced way down here in the Yucatan. It wasn't replaced by that fake blue and white nylon stuff until the late 60s at the earliest in my neck of the woods so the market eclipse took a while.
Merida reminds me as much of Cuba as it does other parts of Mexico. Maybe its the grand colonial buildings, many in decaying splendour, or maybe it's the pride of its people. As I said to Neil this morning, "It's like Cuba with stuff." (Poor Cuba does its best with so very little.) Probably a big part of the similarity is the isolation. Until the 20th century and even up to 50 years ago, Merida was very isolated from the rest of Mexico and the rest of the world except by sea. Apparently the Spanish spoken here is a more ancient dialect than what is used in the rest of Mexico. (Not that I would notice.)
All of the European influence is balanced with Mayan culture and flavoured by the climate, the terrain, not to mention many immigrants from far flung places. Arabic is the mother tongue of more people here than English! My impressions of the music, the food, the fashion, the art, the heat and anything else that strikes my fancy will be shared in further installments.
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