“Mexico has a bizarrely uniform reputation in America media. It’s an odd contrast to the actual land, which shifts between coral caverns, tropics, pastel towns, colonial settlements, Maya ruins and curving mountains.” – Old Sean
South of the Border
Again, I have managed my escape. Just prior to the tumultuous 2020 elections, I’ve finally removed myself form the United States after an unplanned six-month detour to my homeland.
As a general rule, I dislike living in the US during election cycles and almost always prefer to vote absentee. There are a lot of countries that have their own relationships with politics, but the US (and perhaps the UK) are the most prone to… yammer.
I’m sure that the elections will be a lot worse this year with the mudslinging rising to lethal heights, but bracing myself in the muck isn’t my idea of productive. So at the cusp of one of the United States most defining and trying years, I packed up my usual single backpack and left.
Last Dallas Days
That being said, there were a few noticeable event I got to enjoy before doing my usual escape of national boundaries.
First, I found a pair of very good friends from high school band to join me for a quick jaunt around Dallas. We visited Monster Golf which is a black-light Halloween-themed mini-golf course complete with trick shots, terrible putting and a devastatingly catchy soundtrack.
We also got to visit a unique location that is quintessentially Texan, the Truck Yard. This patch of dirt has live country music, a graveyard of rusting vehicles standing vertically at the entrance and numerous food trucks accenting an existing dive bar. Dogs and children and axe-throwing abound and it’s all outdoors and social-distance friendly. Afterwards, we got Korean BBQ because I’m weak.
If I had one thing I could take with me from Texas, it would be that unapologetically entertaining vibe.
I also managed a pseudo-road-trip with another friend all around the DFW area, since he’s moving apartments and I just managed to tag along for the ride. There were milkshakes, sailing boats, lake visits, lugging stuff around, special salsas and general wandering involved.
Following all of this, I also managed to attend an Equinox Party with four or five other folks, where we were treated to a full-blown one-man show called “Sweet ‘n Toxic.” This isn’t a real name, or a real show.
In the past, I’ve worked part time at a cookie factory alongside an extremely good man named Thomas. He managed to distill his work history into a very digestible and entertaining one-man-performance and made all the better for my peripheral relationship with it.
I also managed to join another friend while I visited a few of my old haunts, including Jeng Chi, where the dumplings are fantastic and I worked once upon a time.
Out at Sherman
The rest of my time was spent roping my friends into short hikes in the far north of Texas. Using food from the Sherman food truck, Two Brother’s Kabachi as my fuel, I convinced my friend Cheryl to join me for a trip out to Lake Texoma one last time. We hiked around the Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge to spot giant spiders, numerous deer, a couple of coyotes, some egrets, several great blue herons, and a chunky armadillo.
The following day, I was able to meet up with long time friend Tim who brought me on a swift breakfast and a couple walks around Caddo Lake where we stumbled across a (fortunately skittish) herd of wild pigs.
Finally, wrapping up my time in the States, I caught a ride to the south where I lounged with a couple of friends, reminiscing, walking around parks and sighting the few fireflies this year. (Those neat little glow-bugs are clearly on the decline, not too many left). My friend Dani was kind enough to provide a ride so I could store a single box of goods at another friend’s house, where my other four boxes of Earthy possessions exist.
For those of you keeping track, I now own five boxes of worldly goods plus one backpack and whatever outfit I’m wearing right now.
My cup floweth over.
Afterward, I got to see my brother once more and we wandered around my old campus, UTD, stretching our legs and meeting up with one of his close friends. And then my day was nearly done. I stopped by my road-trip buddy, Ari’s home (she’s moving) for one final visit, returned my key to her apartment and she gave me a ride to the airport the following day.
And so I vanished from the US. Finally.
Entering Mexico
The flight leaving the States was… not horrible. Certainly awkward, stilted and distant. Ironically, security was a much smoother walk-through since there just weren’t as many people and the vast majority of folks were portioned out at a fair distance, preventing backlog.
As promised by the airline, my seats were spaced apart with a gap in-between, until I finally arrived in Merida, Mexico.
I left the airport to have a powerful swamp of humid heat engulf my face and I staggered back inside for an unhealthy dinner at Johnny Rockets before borrowing airport wifi to secure a ride to my new home.
My new living arrangement is a lovely house on the far east side of the city and it’s where I’ve spent practically all my time since arriving here.
Merida and the rest of the Yucatan Peninsula is in the midst of being lashed by hurricane after hurricane. While these have not been high-winds (and as such, I’ve retained electricity) there’s such a constant downpour of mostly-sideways rain, I never really leave the apartment on extended walks.
That being said, the weather has been kind to me twice, and I managed a long trek to the downtown area to stretch my legs and soak in some of the sights. Of course, these hikes weren’t entirely without sporadic drizzles and large puddles spread across various roads, so I ended up soaking my feet a few times as well.
An Impression of Merida
Firstly, Merida isn’t an entirely pristine place. Many walls are damaged, potholes are common and most houses, despite their bright pastel colors show a bit of wear and tear.
That being said, I’ve thus far enjoyed walking around the city a lot. There are sidewalks virtually everywhere, shops tucked into odd corners in every neighborhood and isolated roving cats and a fair number of happy dogs.
In some portions of the city, sleek horses are tied in narrow pastures and the variety of birds who manage to thrive in the city is somewhat breathtaking. Best of all, dozens of lizards scuttle in every direction, a wide array of thin, gravity-defying reptiles skittering about, rustling through plants and performing dramatic leaps over puddles and onto grooved walls.
I’ve even seen a rather large one, a chunky beast that outsized my arm and gave a sheepish look before ducking back under a park’s sidewalk when I inched closer for a look.
One of the most defining traits of Merida is the extremely lush vegetation. There is no doubt at any point that the city is camped in a tropical region.
Though I haven’t managed to venture beyond the city limits, cracks in sidewalks quickly yield to violent sprouts and stems which quickly overtake wide portions of cement. If humanity were to vanish tomorrow, Merida would be reclaimed by hardy, sprawling plants within a year.
Already-untrimmed trees quickly dip over sidewalks, many of them supporting bell-shaped flowers of yellows, pinks and purples. The occasional park is defined by old playground equipment and notoriously dense, long grass. A constant army of rotating workers patrol parks and roadways with weed-eaters, battering down the flora with professional gusto.
COVID in Merida
Now, the few times I did manage to explore the city, I followed my quarantine procedure. Not because I’m showing any symptoms, but because I’m coming from the COVID infection capital of the planet and it would be rude to start spewing myself everywhere on the chance I’m asymptomatic.
So, my walks are taken with Purell in my backpack, a mask across my face no matter the heat and a studiously maintained distance from all other humans (of which there are few. Merida is not a place of hoards). With all this in mind, I walked everywhere, never bothering with public transportation. My proud little Fitbit buzzed and crowed every time I hit the 30,000 step mark.
My first stop, which took an hour of walking on it’s own was the powerfully Mayan Monumeno A la Patria. This artfully constructed structure sits alone in the middle of a roundabout, with deep, bold etching depicting a stylized history of the city.
Following this, I picked my way south and was treated to a sudden transformation of the city. Gone were the small, haciendas, the low adobe walls and bright pastel colors. In their place, impressive mansions began appearing, bright old buildings in the style of the stately colonial era. Palacio Canton loomed beautifully, while Paseo de Montejo (Used by the founding family, modeled after Champs Elysees) lurked behind vibrant trees on the opposite side of the road.
Town Parks
However, even more impressive than the buildings are the parks.
Merida has extremely pleasant green spaces that are unfortunately roped off due to COVID. These quaint parks are crowned with a centerpiece usually displaying a historical figure with more art etched in along the peripherals.
Also unique to Merida are the Confidant Chairs (Also known as Conversation Chairs). These white, curve-backed chairs face one another in an S shape, normally allowing pedestrians to sit while facing their partner. They’re scattered across the city’s green spaces, including a giant set in Parque de Santa Lucia.
Parks that I enjoyed especially include Remate de Paseo de Montejo, Parque de Santa Ana, Parque de Santa Lucia, and the most excellent Parque Principal de Merida Plaza Grande (also known as the White Park of Yucatan, home to MACAY, Museum of Contemporary Art, the municipal palace and a fair amount of colonial architecture.)
As I continued to wander south, I also stopped at Cafeteria Impala , which was kind enough to let me make a to-go order during a rush of rain. I munched on this in an open green space as water pattered around me. Afterwards, I browsed Palacio Municipal de Merida, which serves as the City Council Building.
Of course, since we are speaking of Mexico, the old and grand churches are also worth a walk-by.
Near Parque Hidalgo stands the firm, grey walls of Iglesia El Jesus, towering over the surrounding buildings. This entire area is tailored towards tourists, so things were busier here than anywhere else in the city. I walked by some open-air shops and found Mayan blankets, drooping, colorful hammocks and delightful Mexican-styled animal sculptures, complete with skeletons covered in every color the human eye can capture.
Offshoot Walks
On a separate trip, I also tried to attend the Parque Zoologico de Centenario, a free-admission walk-in zoo with a fair number of animals. Unfortunately, the area was closed when I passed by, so I ended up making a detour to a strange place.
Across the street from the zoo is the extremely unique and derelict building Restaurante Abandonado Ciudad Maya. As the name suggests, the building, made with tons of Mayan decorations is completely abandoned. Furthermore, there are layers of graffiti coating the walls of the building, a miniature ziggurat presiding over an overgrown garden and giant, thin lakes of water, brought in by leaks and slanted floors. The entire ruin is open air, giving a supremely creepy vibe.
I finished my second walk of the day by browsing the quiet little Parque de la Paz, which has a cool sign made of motor parts and numerous hummingbirds flitting about.
Embrace Above
It was at this point I began walking all the way back home, with gradually increasing haste. Unknown to me, the air was growing still with anticipation as a churning vortex bore down on the city. Hurricane Delta, then marked as a Category 4 storm, was due to utterly thrash the shoreline and batter my new residence.
It was only while I was walking, I noticed an auto shop with huge yellow X’s drawn across the window in tape.
If that’s not a jangling warning for a hurricane, I don’t know what is. My leisurely walk became a goofy trot and I made it back to my home well-before the hurricane arrived (though I didn’t know that, since I don’t have internet access in this country yet).
However, luck favored Merida. The storm shed power overnight, tumbling down to a safer category two. While I couldn’t go outside the next day, power remained intact and I was treated to my first, actual sunny day in Merida following the storm’s passing.
Final Notes
In sunlight, Merida is an even more compelling place. Flowers thunder forth and the pastel colors of the battered houses and haciendas glow in sunbeams. Street performers meander around with carts, playing tunes on saxophones, carrying marching band drums or rocking some pan-pipes with a piano rift playing off a radio. Oxxo gas stations are busy with people heading to work and birds flit around rapidly vanishing puddles.
And so ends another week, my first in Mexico. I have the next two weeks off from serious work, allowing me to break out of my self-imposed quarantine and begin wandering more freely. Though to be honest, it’ll likely just be long treks into the jungles on the outskirts of the city.
So until then,
Best regards and excellent trails,
Old Sean
Written October 10th 2020
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This Fire-Maple 1L Hard Anodized Aluminum Pot cooking pot is perfect for single meals. I use it in hostels, apartments and on camping trips. The narrow shape lays down flat in my bag and the material is very light. The folding handles make it a good tool for making hot chocolate on cold mornings
