ART MUSEUMS in Merida

ART MUSEUMS - The MACAY & The Olimpo

The MACAY Museum of Modern Art by Mexican artists has a lovely green central courtyard with a few sculptures, a main level gallery  which I never found the access to, and a second story with gracious balcony off of which were individual air conditioned rooms that an attendant opens for you and closes behind you.  I am not sure if this is for the comfort of the visitor, or for better preservation of the art, possibly both.  

Generally a room would be dedicated to one artist, although there were walkways between some rooms that had multiple styles of exhibits. 

The lighting was rather low in lumens, but that seems to be a factor throughout Mexican buildings.  Electricity is relatively expensive here, I am told, especially if one uses much air conditioning, and lights are far from bright. 

You enter up a grand stairway to the second floor rooms off the wide balcony of arches overlooking the courtyard.  There is a massive central painting in the center of the staircase beckoning you to mount them. 

I am presenting here a pictorial sampling of some of the art styles, but will not give artist’s names because I did not note them, except as shown. 

Detail

I went to college in Boston and lived a few blocks from the Museum of Art, which I visited often.  The MACAY cannot compare in size to art museums of Boston or New York City, but visiting was an enjoyable way to get out of the heat.  

Class Trip to the MACAY

 Olimpo Cultural Center

Across the Zocalo from the Macay, tucked into a corner of the main Square is the Olimpo Cultural Center. It's within a historic building but has some modern architectural upgrades mixed with classic arches inside.  It also has an auditorium and theater and presents various exhibitions and presentations. 

Currently The Olimpo has been showing a Frido Kahlo Exhibit, which I was excited to see, but found rather disappointing as far as the art went, because it was so limited.  Mostly the Exhibit was a marvel in Graphic Art, with photos of Frido blown up large and mounted, and less about her art.  There were only a few small pieces of her primitive style art.

 

Frida Kahlo is one of Mexico's best known artists, in case you are unaware of her work.  It is surprising that she has become so famous, given her simplistic style, but I find that rather encouraging for the beginning artist!

Because the Olimpo was closed between 2 and 3pm, which was when I arrived, I went looking for a cafe to take some late lunch.  Mexicans tend to focus on one main a meal per day, eaten around 2pm.  If they have leisure time, they can nap after that through the heat of the day, arising ~4 or 5pm and generally have drinks or snacks later in the evening.  The expats have a different schedule with dinner out in the evening when the air is cool and the sun has long set, sometimes followed by entertainment after 9pm.

The ZOCALO and Merida's EL CENTRO

The Zocalo and El Centro – Merida 

Downtown Merida, or Centro, is the heart of the original historic part of town.  It is here where a large number of important buildings, art museums, the Governor’s Palace, restaurants, banks, shops and bookstores can be found, as well as buses to everywhere…. 

Latin American cities take a little getting used to for the average American.  The buildings all come to the sidewalk or street and are attached in rows along blocks without the more spacious feel of an American city, so we tend to judge them as “less beautiful” than our sterile modern cities, but it’s really just a difference in style.

 One must pay attention to where one is  walking throughout the city because of holes in the sidewalks, potholes in the streets and generally walking can be an obstacle course, except in the most upscale neighborhoods.  Sometimes streets are cobblestoned or stone blocks and usually sidewalks are narrow cement slabs so that they are often broken or slanted with unexpected gaps.  The street lights take up a good portion of the sidewalk and when there is work being done on the facades of buildings, a common occurrence, one needs to walk in the street to get around the scaffolding and fend one’s way carefully along with the press of traffic, buses, and trucks.

This is especially true for trash days, when big black plastic bags of trash take up large parts of the narrow sidewalks.  But there IS trash pickup and organic trash pickup (on separate days), so Merida is a relatively clean city, except where the trash has blown and built up over time.  It does seem to spill out as the trash truck goes by as well… But there are street sweeping machines that come through after some trash days, which helps.

The Central park is called the Zocalo and is spacious with many benches under lush trees.  Mid day is a favorite time for people to hang out, catch a bite from local food carts, couples tend to smootch, students to work on their computers (although I don’t know if there is wi-fi in the park), and everyone chats on cell phones!  Across from the square somewhere there is always a Church or a Cathedral.

In Merida the MACAY Museum of Modern Art is right next to the Cathedral and the Olimpo Cultural Center, with revolving exhibits and presentations of all sorts is also on the Central Square.  Mexicans can be very vague when sending you in a general direction in response to asking how to find a certain place… or maybe it’s my less than stellar Spanish in understanding what they are telling me, but after getting directions, I find myself wandering around quite abit before actually finding what I am looking for.  Lack of signage is a factor as well… While I was searching for the Macay Museum, however, I stumbled upon a long archway arcade full of sculpture and THAT led into the Museum. 

 

One of the most important buildings on the Square is the Governor’s Palace, which has been preserved and is open to the public for viewing.  

It’s a stunning building with amazing murals and a long room full of paintings telling the gory story of the conquest of the Maya with great pomp and pride.  It’s actually a bit disturbing, in my opinion, but it’s well worth a visit.

Other buildings include historic homes that are now museums.  Along the square most buildings have magnificent arches with a wide shaded tiled walk ways  between the outer sidewalk and the inner buildings, which are full of restaurants and shops that spill over with tables and displays into this strolling area.  Prices of course are high here, but just around the corner can be found the local economical eatery too. 

 There is so much to share about this cultural Mecca of downtown Merida, I will have to break it down in sections for different posts, but this is probably enough for this one.

    

DENTISTRY in Merida

Dentistry in Merida, Yucatan

I had heard that coming to Mexico or Guatemala were good places to get your dental needs met at a decent price, considerably less than in the States.  So being in Merida for 2 months, and having some long-overdue dental work that desperately needed attention, I began to look for a dentist.  A magazine that is available in Spanish and English (and on the same page so it’s very helpful for learning how to read Spanish) is the Yucatan Today monthly.  I could not find it in the City Square or Zocalo at magazine stands, but it is found at places that are geared to foreigners (upscale hotels, some car rental spots, the Merida English Library, etc) and you can find it online at http://yucatantoday.com/.

Browsing the pages, I came across ads for and references to a particular English-trained and speaking dentist and orthodontist, Dr. Javier Camara Patron & Associates (drjaviercamara@hotmail.com), located at the Star Plaza under the shadow of the Star Medica Hospital in the Colonia of AltaBrisa.  My host Sam also said that he had a good dentist who spoke excellent English, and it turned out to be the same dentist!   That seemed like a good enough double recommendation and when Sam set an appointment to see him one Friday, I went along for a preliminary exam as well.  Dr. Javier Camara Patron (a solid Yucatecan family name) took a brief look in my mouth, asked what I wanted done, and ordered x-rays.  Then he sent in his Hygienist, who did a much-needed and thorough cleaning of my teeth. Getting a few years of smoking and coffee drinking tartar off the back of my teeth was no easy task, and the instruments soaked my whole face in a wet shower, but the results were quite satisfactory.  Clean teeth at last!

An appointment was set to have a couple of crowns put in the upper right “hole in my mouth” where a tooth and an old crown had been broken over the years.  I had been unable to get them handled while in Crestone due to a heavy work schedule, exorbitant prices and the distance factor from Crestone to my former dentist in Boulder.  For my first visit, the waiting room had been full of mostly expats, but upon my return, there was No Waiting… the lobby was empty!

Dr. Camara Patron was nowhere to be seen (he has several offices across town) but Dr. Perla Moran, a lovely, slender Mexican woman probably in her 30’s, stepped up to serve me and lead me to the dental chair.  Perla was the gentlest dentist I had EVER experienced!  She took her time injecting my gums with novacaine so there was no sting and her drilling was absolutely painless and relatively quick, although sitting in a dentist chair while having 2 teeth drilled is never much fun….  After several impressions in various colored “sticky goo”, she and her assistant constructed 2 temporary fillings and soon I was on my way, to return in ONE WEEK for the crowns to be fitted.  I had the receptionist call me a taxi and for 50 or 60 pesos ($4-5), I was returned safely to my lodging at Evonne’s.

The following week the fitting went well, I set up an appointment to do the same procedure to fix the huge broken filling (too big to replace, so a crown was necessary) that had been catching chunks of food after every meal, like a giant lobster trap.  Again, an absolutely painless drilling, and a temporary crown for a week, another excellent crown was installed.  My mouth issues now corrected, I am almost regretting having no reason to return to visit Perla any more, but rejoiced in the success of long-awaited dental work FINALLY accomplished! And the cost… about $250 per crown so that the 3 crowns, cleaning and x-rays, and a total of 5 visits, cost me less than $1000!  Basically you can come to Merida (flights to Cancun cost about $400 round trip, a luxury bus to Merida costs about $35 one way), rent a place for a month (Evonne's is $700/mo complete with jacuzzi, TV with movie channels, home internet, AC and is completely outfitted - evonnevonboeck@netscape.net), have your dental work done and return to the States after a month’s vacation for less than the work would cost in the States! AND it is quality workmanship as well.  I highly recommend it!

Near Miss with a Bull Fight

On March 1st, I decided to search online for Merida activities.  One that I would not be able to duplicate elsewhere was a BULL FIGHT!  Of course, I had mixed feelings about it, being a 30+ year vegetarian and all, but upon further research, I found out where the bull fights were held and discovered that there is a Bull Fighting day!  So I diligently continued my search... only to discover that the Big Day had been Feb 29th, the night before!  In fact, that Leap Day evening I had heard the sounds of some major event, like a big soccer match, that took me into the streets to see where the sounds were coming from, only to discover that it was only radio, turned up loud, that I was seeking, and not a true event in the neighborhood.  In retrospect, I am guessing that it was the Bull Fight in the Plaza de Toros, which my peaceful Spirit had set up so I wouldn't have to behold the gore of a bloodied and murdered bull to torment my soul for days...

12 seconds of the ART of Bull fighting, no gore


So I felt disappointment for having come so close, and relief for not having been part of the killing spree. My Spirit Guides had no doubt set it up for me that way, to insure my near-miss with a Bull Fight!

Shoe Polish, Hydrogen Peroxide and Velcro, Oh My!

Shoe Polish, Hydrogen Peroxide and Velcro, Oh My!

As I am wondering the neighborhoods, the most gorgeous bushes in full bloom every where are the bouganvillas.  They are deep red, magenta, pale tangerine and even white in color, but they are pervasive, lush and beautiful in these lower and middle class neighborhoods and thoughout the streets of Merida.  I will pop in some photos of houses and streets I see on my trek.

  

I had heard that there was a fabric store about 8 blocks from my casita, so mid-day I set off looking for it.  I headed due east until I hit Prolongacion de Paseo de Montejo, the extension of the El Centro street that boasts the most beautiful renovated Colonial mansions, museums, and expensive shops & bars.  The Prolongacion end of it is certainly less spectacular, featuring every known brand of car dealership, a WalMart, an Office Depot and lesser shops, including, yes, a large fabric store!  There were rows of fabric on bolts displayed, and it had obviously been busy during Carnival, now over, because most fabrics were highly impractical with sheens and glitters, feathers and tiaras were abundant as well.  Yes they has zippers and buttons, cheap plastic beads and threads, a few needles and pins.   I only bought 6" of velcro for about 10 cents!  Ah such a big spender!  I was actually shocked at how cheap it was!!!

Having made one discovery, I walked on down the Paseo wondering what I'd find next.  A Mexican version of Staples caught my eye, so I went in to see what sort of pens and notebooks, computer peripherals, etc. I could find.  And I walked away with a plastic binder and a roll of packing tape (for that package I hope to send home soon).

There was also a Mexican supermarket along the way, so I went in to see what they had and found some black shoe polish for my VERY scuffed pyramid-walking shoes.  Three years ago when visiting Antigua in Guatemala, I couldn't even get out of a park bench without some 12-year old insisting that I VERY BADLY needed a shoe shine, something I could hardly deny. But I have yet to be accosted by a shoe shine boy, so I thought it best to take matters into my own hands!  And I'm still wearing the same Mary Jane style shoes, originally rescued from Crestone's fabulous free box about 5 years ago!  They drink polish like Mexicans down tequila!

Leaving Montejo for quieter residential streets, and taking a different route back toward Avenida Technologico, the main street close to my house, I decided to head for the giant "Mega Commercial" grocery store that is an easy bus ride back to my casita, to pick up some supplies while I was "out and about".  This store has the fluffiest chocolate croissants for about 60 cents, yummy with morning coffee!

Cheese has been a bit of an exploration.  There are some favorites like Philadelphia cream cheese (but in smaller boxes, and sticks of butter are smaller too), and some wrapped American Monterey Jack and such, but the only Muenster I have seen was at Costco (only I don't have a members card so I can't buy there), and the variety of quesos is quite extensive, but totally unknown to me, some of it is not refrigerated, which makes me wary, and all in all it's very white, looking like fresh mozzarella. I generally pass on it out of ignorance. However, today I found a small block of Feta cheese, so I brought that one home with me.  I couldn't find tofu there, although I saw it somewhere else, only I can't remember where.  Tofu that has been marinated and baked can sometimes be had at the Saturday Slow Food Market, which is moving from 2 blocks away to about 20 blocks away next Saturday.  (I'll do a blog on that some other day.)

  

But I had a mission in mind.... to find hydrogen peroxide for my gums, as I am getting some dental work done (another blog story) and I cannot stand Scope and "tasty" mouthwashes.  So I went to the pharmacy part of the store where 2 young men and a woman were wearing white hospital jackets, so I assumed they had some chemistry background, and asked for Hydrogen Peroxide, Agua Peroxide, and even wrote H2O2 on a piece of paper, but that struck a blank, the usual response when I don't have the correct term in Spanish.  I did a little charade of swirling water in my mouth and spitting, and the young woman suggested Agua Oxygene, which I thought sounded promising.  Sure enough, the label had peroxide, or a form of the word on it, so I bought a bottle... another successful find!

Here is the mural outside the Engineering College that is on the main street leading south to El Centro and north to the beach/port town of Progresso, Calle 60, also known as Avenida Technologico.... because of this fine school.