Emmerson and one of the lovely tropically hued buildings on the Paseo Montejo.
Wow, Merida sure did impress. I did not even know Merida existed prior to Emmerson opting to do a study abroad in Mexico. Originally, the program she selected was in Mexico City. She would have been staying in a dorm situation at an international university in the city. DePaul transferred her to the program in Merida as the one in Mexico City required a higher level of Spanish proficiency than Emmerson had at the time. Actually, she had no official instruction other than the Spanish course she was taking at DePaul at that time. But she still wanted to go so glad the Merida option worked out. She would be staying in a homestay with Dona Marilu (who I now know is an absolutely lovely lady who has taken wonderful care of Emmerson) who has been a study abroad mom for over 20 years BUT does not speak a whole lot of English which is ideal for a student like Emmerson who could definitely benefit from an immersive experiencing as terrifying as it can be at times!
So that's the background of why Merida. It is the capital of the state of Yucatan, which is in the southern part of Mexico and makes up part of the Yucatan peninsula. The Yucatan Peninsula is where Cancun and Tulum are located, but in the state to the east of the state of Yucatan, which Merida is the capital city.
Again, I knew nothing of the city, which I actually like going into a trip, so I can experience it without any preconceived notions. It is one of the cleanest, well functioning, and overall delightful cities I have been to.
And here is a chronological visual journey of Emmerson and my time in Merida last weekend (Fabruary 12 - 15).
In the always a joy baggage check line at O'hare. I took the red eye Volaris flight. It left at midnight, transferred in Mexico City at 4 am which was a delight. I think Mexico city is like 294 in Chicago - perpetually under considerable construction. And then on to Merida. I rarely sleep on airplanes but slept a lot of the way so that was a swell surprise.
Arrived in Merida without issue, and then had an issue, I cleared immigration no problem, scurried thru the airport taxi official and then unofficial area as I planned to uber. Texted for uber and received a response. It said, "meet me on calle 32". I responded,"I don't know where calle 32 is". He canceled. So I checked my surroundings and realized there was not a whole lot of Uber action going on. I pulled up a map and found calle 32 and made my way there and tried uber again. The uber critter assured me there was a driver coming soon and I watched them on the uber map as the video gamed around but none happening. And then I heard back from the uber fellow who canceled with the interesting message "its federal land" as if that explained everything - but it actually did. They were not allowed to pick up within a certain radius on the airport. So I began wandering away until finally I got one to stop. This all took about 45 minutes. I went to the centro as Emmerson was in class until 1 pm and I figured I could sit and drink coffee and basically just do that for a while. Here I am in centro.
And the cafe on the centro plaza where I drank coffee and ate that fruit, which was quite nice.
Yayyyy! After a bit, I got another uber, without any excitement, who took me to UATY - University Autonomous Something beginning with a T Yucatan but all in Spanish. This is where Emmerson studies. So I texted her and after a few minutes, turned around and there she was!! Yaaayyyy!
It was Valentines Day season so I had Emmerson "pozu" which she did dutifully - they have learned from years of posing for my random pictures that protesting just prolongs the inevitable so just get it done. She did note that it was embarrassing as we were in the student hang out area and she had an audience.
Emmerson with the official UATY cat, Mordisco?? or something like that - the biter. He just basked on the table and passerbyes would say hi and pat it - part of the students experience. Sidenote - lots of cats in Merida - as it is definitely a street cat city not a street dog city - (check post from 20 years ago to get my take on this dog cat world reality ...). And Emmerson has taken to them very fondly.
It was carnival while I was there so different related festivities were taking place.
