Dear friends,
I am now living in Merida for about 2 months, until the end of March after the Equinox, from which I expect to take 1-2 day trips to Mayan sacred sites and then I intend to talk about them here. So far, my ventures have only been within a mile or so of where I am staying.
I've rented a lovely 2-story casita with large bedroom and an ample bathroom with over sized Jacuzzi tub. Quite a luxury! The water is barely lukewarm but the jets work well. The shower is also more than satisfactory. The toilet bowl is stained but works well, as long as you don't put any paper in it... the paper goes into a small basket at the side, a hard habit to get used to, pretty much universal throughout Mexico.
The upstairs bedroom with comfortable double bed and large bookshelf and work table, has a balcony under a lovely palm tree in true tropical style, with a little table and 2 chairs. Downstairs has a simple but modestly outfitted kitchen with frig, 2-burner hot plate, toaster oven, microwave, dishes, pots and utensils.
The living room has 2 comfy stuffed sofas, a TV (with HBO + other movie channels, which means lots of movies for easy evening entertainment), and a large dining room table that I have turned into a computer work space. There are ceiling fans both upstairs and down and air-conditioning is available, but not yet necessary.
The yard is delightfully green with trees, plants, grass and a jetted pool, surrounded by a wall and locked gate to create a safe compound, with the main house (3 bedrooms & 3 baths, a lovely remodeled kitchen, and shared laundry). The casita and main house are oriented at a 90 degree angle to each other for relative privacy. The casita has a covered porch with table and chairs, which is a lovely spot to sit, except for the pesky mosquitos, which seem to have a small bite that only iritates for a little while.
My hosts are a lovely American retiree, Evonne, and her Pakistani partner, Sam.
I'm paying $700/mo US, including all utilities, extensive movie channels on the TV and internet access that works considerably better than in Crestone. In March I'll get a discount for taking care of the main house while my hosts do some traveling. The Casita will be available for rent in April and beyond if anyone wants to rent it... just email Evonne at evonnevonboeck@netscape.net. I paid easily via PayPal in American dollars from my bank account.
Yes, there are cheaper places to rent, but hard to find while in the US and I doubt you'll find anything this nice and safe and convenient for less. You can rent for more money in el Centro to be within walking distance of "the attractions" like restaurants and museums, etc., but it's noisy and dusty downtown with buses belching fumes until midnight. For a quick visit, it makes sense, but if you want a leisurely stay, try the colonias.
My neighborhood is called Chiburna de Hildago, although you won't find it in any guidebooks, and is just off Calle 60, a main north-south thoroughfare that goes directly downtown and north to the Progresso beaches with local bus rides costing 6 pesos (~50 cents). I use the easy-to-figure-in my head rate of 10 pesos = 1 dollar, but it's actually less and the rate is ever fluctuating... The confusing thing is that written prices in stores use the dollar sign with a single line through the "S" which looks like "dollars" to me but is 1/10th of a dollar (or less). How pesos became $, I don't know. And just to be more confusing, in places like Cancun, $ sometimes means American dollars, so you have to ask.
In one of the big supermarkets I found a 750ml bottle of Kahlua for about 10 dollars (would be ~$24 in the States so I bought it) but most imported goods are close to TWICE what they cost in the USA, while local goods are less expensive than in the US. Availability is, of course, limited, so bring your special goods with you when you come as you may not find them here. Coffee tends to be more acidic here than at home and getting an expresso grind is difficult so I'll bring more of my favorite coffee next trip. There's no quinoa or sprouting seeds here, no almond butter or nutritional yeast, limited hair conditioners, I just discovered tofu, but only at a specialty "slow market" for expats, etc. You'll probably find something here that you can use, but if you are fussy, bring your own. The lamps are good for general lighting but not-so-great for reading. Luckily, I bought a cute little LED lamp that pinches onto a book or stands on a table... a smart move, as my eyes require better lighting and I'm reading a lot.
For books in English, there's the English Language Library downtown, where Evonne used to volunteer, but they recently had an embezzlement scandal and the Board fired the most competent librarian ever who was doing a GREAT job, so all the volunteers QUIT! It's currently quite a mess, which is unfortunate because it has been a favorite gathering place for expats for years!
There are plenty of familiar stores here - Walmart, Costco, etc. but the local supermarkets are called Mega (good prices) and Superama (more gourmet goods with expat prices). The little local tiendas in the neighborhoods feature soft drinks, snacks (quite a collection of unfamiliar chips, candies and cookies), soaps, milk in boxes, beans, rice, eggs, with a few veggies or fruit like onions and mangoes (in season, which it is now), etc. But if you don't eat "that stuff", they are pretty limited. The Mega is about 8 blocks from the house, so I tend to walk there (to discover the neighborhood while getting exercise) and bus back. I haven't yet ventured into el Centro because I can't figure out how to get the bus back, but Evonne will take me downtown tonight on the bus to "show me the ropes". That should be most helpful! Of course, taxis are quite available and not so expensive for expats, but for me, they are an option of last resort, especially since my Spanish is so rudimentary. However, I got here OK by taxi the first time, so I'm sure I can get back here by taxi again, if necessary. I carry a map and a photo of the place! However, I prefer to walk the neighborhood first, in order to get a better sense of my general surroundings.
If you want an idea of how confusing the street numbering is, put "Merida, Mexico" in Google maps, blow it up large and you'll see a million numbers repeated over and over again without explanation. Only a few major streets are named and it may not be the name used by locals, to boot. It turns out that each colonia or neighborhood has it's own numbering sequence, but there's no way to know which neighborhood is which, except by walking and looking at the small lettering on a street sign, if you can find one. For instance, the numbers don't necessarily run the same on both sides of the street, as they may be different colonias. So a cross street on one side of Calle 60 is numbered 15, while the other side is 27, and a few blocks further, another whole numbering sequence kicks in, apparently randomly, which is why I want to put some landmarks under my belt by daily walks, so that if I get lost or miss my bustop (which is almost anywhere along the route), I'll at least know when I am in the correct neighborhood, or within walking distance... and I'll know how to walk or direct my cab driver from there to my casita, although to a certain degree, all neighborhoods look rather alike, at least in the working class residential areas. The only thing that makes sense is that north-south streets are even numbers and east-west streets are odd numbers, except for diagonals, which can be anything. Then again, letters are added to further confuse you, so there is Calle 25 and maybe the next street is 25-A. Or Calle 25-A may be blocks away, just as #405 may be blocks away from #408 on the same street. Randomly walking, as I do, has also taken me down dead end streets with no warning... a small price to pay for getting acquainted, I guess. I've also looked up the municipal bus websites but have not found the major bus line on Calle 60 mentioned anywhere, so research online was stunningly unhelpful!
Temperatures this time of year range from the mid-sixties (lowest) to the low 90's (highest) with high humidity, which is delightful after high altitude dry Colorado weather for February, which is more likely to be in the single digits, or minus zero. It's about 50 degrees warmer here than in Crestone! Daytime temps ranges in the 70's and the 80's most of the time. Rain is fairly rare this time of year, although many days are partly cloudy. Nights have been mostly clear, but only the bright stars are visible (unlike the crystal clear nights in Crestone). The rainy season runs from May through October, more or less, so November through April are your best months to visit.
I'll give a run-down of my experiences downtown in my next blog.
Best wishes,
Betsi Hohani
The yard is delightfully green with trees, plants, grass and a jetted pool, surrounded by a wall and locked gate to create a safe compound, with the main house (3 bedrooms & 3 baths, a lovely remodeled kitchen, and shared laundry). The casita and main house are oriented at a 90 degree angle to each other for relative privacy. The casita has a covered porch with table and chairs, which is a lovely spot to sit, except for the pesky mosquitos, which seem to have a small bite that only iritates for a little while.My hosts are a lovely American retiree, Evonne, and her Pakistani partner, Sam.
I'm paying $700/mo US, including all utilities, extensive movie channels on the TV and internet access that works considerably better than in Crestone. In March I'll get a discount for taking care of the main house while my hosts do some traveling. The Casita will be available for rent in April and beyond if anyone wants to rent it... just email Evonne at evonnevonboeck@netscape.net. I paid easily via PayPal in American dollars from my bank account.
Yes, there are cheaper places to rent, but hard to find while in the US and I doubt you'll find anything this nice and safe and convenient for less. You can rent for more money in el Centro to be within walking distance of "the attractions" like restaurants and museums, etc., but it's noisy and dusty downtown with buses belching fumes until midnight. For a quick visit, it makes sense, but if you want a leisurely stay, try the colonias.
My neighborhood is called Chiburna de Hildago, although you won't find it in any guidebooks, and is just off Calle 60, a main north-south thoroughfare that goes directly downtown and north to the Progresso beaches with local bus rides costing 6 pesos (~50 cents). I use the easy-to-figure-in my head rate of 10 pesos = 1 dollar, but it's actually less and the rate is ever fluctuating... The confusing thing is that written prices in stores use the dollar sign with a single line through the "S" which looks like "dollars" to me but is 1/10th of a dollar (or less). How pesos became $, I don't know. And just to be more confusing, in places like Cancun, $ sometimes means American dollars, so you have to ask.
In one of the big supermarkets I found a 750ml bottle of Kahlua for about 10 dollars (would be ~$24 in the States so I bought it) but most imported goods are close to TWICE what they cost in the USA, while local goods are less expensive than in the US. Availability is, of course, limited, so bring your special goods with you when you come as you may not find them here. Coffee tends to be more acidic here than at home and getting an expresso grind is difficult so I'll bring more of my favorite coffee next trip. There's no quinoa or sprouting seeds here, no almond butter or nutritional yeast, limited hair conditioners, I just discovered tofu, but only at a specialty "slow market" for expats, etc. You'll probably find something here that you can use, but if you are fussy, bring your own. The lamps are good for general lighting but not-so-great for reading. Luckily, I bought a cute little LED lamp that pinches onto a book or stands on a table... a smart move, as my eyes require better lighting and I'm reading a lot.
For books in English, there's the English Language Library downtown, where Evonne used to volunteer, but they recently had an embezzlement scandal and the Board fired the most competent librarian ever who was doing a GREAT job, so all the volunteers QUIT! It's currently quite a mess, which is unfortunate because it has been a favorite gathering place for expats for years!
There are plenty of familiar stores here - Walmart, Costco, etc. but the local supermarkets are called Mega (good prices) and Superama (more gourmet goods with expat prices). The little local tiendas in the neighborhoods feature soft drinks, snacks (quite a collection of unfamiliar chips, candies and cookies), soaps, milk in boxes, beans, rice, eggs, with a few veggies or fruit like onions and mangoes (in season, which it is now), etc. But if you don't eat "that stuff", they are pretty limited. The Mega is about 8 blocks from the house, so I tend to walk there (to discover the neighborhood while getting exercise) and bus back. I haven't yet ventured into el Centro because I can't figure out how to get the bus back, but Evonne will take me downtown tonight on the bus to "show me the ropes". That should be most helpful! Of course, taxis are quite available and not so expensive for expats, but for me, they are an option of last resort, especially since my Spanish is so rudimentary. However, I got here OK by taxi the first time, so I'm sure I can get back here by taxi again, if necessary. I carry a map and a photo of the place! However, I prefer to walk the neighborhood first, in order to get a better sense of my general surroundings.
If you want an idea of how confusing the street numbering is, put "Merida, Mexico" in Google maps, blow it up large and you'll see a million numbers repeated over and over again without explanation. Only a few major streets are named and it may not be the name used by locals, to boot. It turns out that each colonia or neighborhood has it's own numbering sequence, but there's no way to know which neighborhood is which, except by walking and looking at the small lettering on a street sign, if you can find one. For instance, the numbers don't necessarily run the same on both sides of the street, as they may be different colonias. So a cross street on one side of Calle 60 is numbered 15, while the other side is 27, and a few blocks further, another whole numbering sequence kicks in, apparently randomly, which is why I want to put some landmarks under my belt by daily walks, so that if I get lost or miss my bustop (which is almost anywhere along the route), I'll at least know when I am in the correct neighborhood, or within walking distance... and I'll know how to walk or direct my cab driver from there to my casita, although to a certain degree, all neighborhoods look rather alike, at least in the working class residential areas. The only thing that makes sense is that north-south streets are even numbers and east-west streets are odd numbers, except for diagonals, which can be anything. Then again, letters are added to further confuse you, so there is Calle 25 and maybe the next street is 25-A. Or Calle 25-A may be blocks away, just as #405 may be blocks away from #408 on the same street. Randomly walking, as I do, has also taken me down dead end streets with no warning... a small price to pay for getting acquainted, I guess. I've also looked up the municipal bus websites but have not found the major bus line on Calle 60 mentioned anywhere, so research online was stunningly unhelpful!
Temperatures this time of year range from the mid-sixties (lowest) to the low 90's (highest) with high humidity, which is delightful after high altitude dry Colorado weather for February, which is more likely to be in the single digits, or minus zero. It's about 50 degrees warmer here than in Crestone! Daytime temps ranges in the 70's and the 80's most of the time. Rain is fairly rare this time of year, although many days are partly cloudy. Nights have been mostly clear, but only the bright stars are visible (unlike the crystal clear nights in Crestone). The rainy season runs from May through October, more or less, so November through April are your best months to visit.
I'll give a run-down of my experiences downtown in my next blog.
Best wishes,
Betsi Hohani
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