Umbel Nomad: A Taste of Life in Merida

Life in Merida, Mexico is different than life in Alberta. It’s not better or worse; it’s just different.

I think Canadians tend to think of Mexico through the eyes of either vacation advertising or sensationalized news reports. Both those sources tell only a tiny piece about Mexico and not even the most interesting parts.

Close your eyes and think about Mexico – white sandy beaches, turquoise water, palm trees, pina coladas and big smiles all round. Yes, you can do that and millions do, but I wanted to see more than the post card.

When this trip started, I thought Mexico might be somewhere I could live. Now, I’m not so sure. First of all, I would need someone to support me because I can’t function in the heat. This is not so much an issue in Canada where we rarely have this kind of heat in the summer and this is winter here. I imagine that, if you live you here full time, your body adjusts. I’m not sure mine would but I know people who don’t mind the heat. I find it debilitating. I can’t imagine summer here.

Corner lot for sale. I think it's my lodge!

Matt and I have been in a city for the past month, so maybe if we were in a small town on the coast, the temperature would be moderated by a breeze off the water. Maybe I should try that next year J … or next week!

I’ve already talked about sidewalks around here, so I’ll move on to the huge difference between the way Canadians build their houses and the houses in Centro Merida. Canadians do mark off their territory with fences and hedges, but here they build solid concrete walls 10-20 feet high. Then, it appears, they build rooms attached to the outside walls in various configurations within the compound. It also appears as though the most common configuration is room, behind room, behind room to the open space at the back.

No you're not drunk. Just standing on a Mexican sidewalk.

One of the things this seems to allow is turning that front room or 2 into a business or even just opening the front doors to sell whatever you have to sell today. People use garage doors here not only for garages, but also for the front wall of their business/home. At the end of the day, they close the garage door and bingo! shop closed. This would not work so well in Calgary where the door would be closed most of the year. Here, it’s possible to open it every day.

The other predominant feature is the metal work and huge front doors. In a climate where keeping in the heat is not an issue, it appears that windows didn’t really catch on as a portal to the outside when closed. The metal work usually fronts wooden doors and windows so you see openings behind the metal work. In some respects, this makes the city look as though it’s a dangerous place to us Canucks because metal bars on the windows are crime deterrents. I’ve come to appreciate that for Merida residents there is a cultural reason why they use metal work just as there is a cultural reason they build compounds. I don’t know what that is, but having stayed here, I can tell that this is a safe and friendly city.

Check out those curves! People here are not that tall. Why are the doors all 15 feet?

Of course the effect on the street is narrow pavement roads, sidewalks and canyons of concrete. These of course are heat sinks during the day and well into the evening. They also trap noise. Have you ever driven through a tunnel with the windows open on the car? Like that.

Oh, yes - Mexicans also seem to enjoy noise more than Canadians. They make noise all the time with fire crackers, especially at Christmas and New Year (Holy Jumpin’), car horns, wandering bands and even the cats and dogs make a lot of noise compared to my Canadian experience. Yes, I’ve lived too close to noisy dogs in Canada, but they seem the exception rather than the rule.

Also heard in the streets during the day is the music of vendors. Many have noise makers such as horns, whistles and bells, but there is one guy on this street that sings out Tor-teee-as as he comes along the street.

Video by Matt

So in spite of the tunnel-like streetscape there is street life livelier than most days in Calgary even in the summer. In the evenings, lots of people sit out on the sidewalks in front of their homes and everyone mutters Buenos Notches in passing. Of course there are lots of outdoor restaurants and cafes and parks full of people too. There are definitely more parks in Merida than in Calgary, but we haven’t come across anything the size of Nose Hill and, of course, there’s no river. Although in Valladolid there is a cenote right downtown and that has a park, market place and restaurant around it at ground level and public access through a staircase bored into the surrounding rock.

It means that while we are out and about for a simple activity such as grocery shopping, we see things we’ve never seen before. Some of these things may happen in Canada and I just haven’t seen them and some, I’m pretty sure are not found in Canada.

You just can't keep a good jungle down!

One night we passed a shop that sells picture frames. It looked like a picture framing shop with all the samples hanging on the walls. What was different was the small card table off to one side selling butchered chickens (as in not alive with feathers). I don’t think Canadian laws allow for selling chickens off a card table in your picture framing shop. Too bad for us because it appears to be a butchered while you wait operation and that would be fresher chicken than most Canadians have ever eaten.

Mary watching over the street. This is not Christmas. This is the ever present Christianity of Mexico.

One of the very first observations Matt and I made here was how free we aren’t in Canada due to regulation and red tape. It becomes blindingly obvious when you come here how much we’re not allowed to do in Canada. Yes, I know a lot of regulation is there to protect us, but we are now being protected from life and ourselves to a degree that may not be healthy.

I’m going to stop writing now because this is getting too long and I have raindrops showing up on the monitor!