It began to rain here on my ride from the airport and has been raining, off and on since. Here, though, it is warm and humid, and the rain provides relief.
Though the miles and miles of walking I’ve been doing since my arrival is no doubt good for my general health, the bottoms of my feet and shins are quite sore, requiring me to tread gingerly. The streets of Merida are generally numbered with the odd numbered streets running East and West and the even numbers running North and South, so it’s been fairly easy to find my way around.
I have discovered a very nice restaurant nearby my apartment, where classical music is played and which has quite a collection of books and magazines, both in Spanish and English. The staff speaks to me in English and I to speak to them in Spanish. They are all quite patient with my Spanish and correct my mistakes. Generally English speakers are rarer here than in other places in Mexico I’ve visited, which is good because one reason I’m here is to become more fluent.
Yesterday afternoon I stopped into the restaurant for a “Sol” beer and struck up a conversation with a woman sitting at the next table. As it turns out she is Canadian teaching English here for 5 months and has recently obtained her resident Visa. When I explained to her why I am here she assured me that I will decide to stay.
I am frequently told here that the Yucatan is quite different from the rest of Mexico, in that it is “mas tranquilla”. I have noticed that the police are mainly occupied in directing the voluminous traffic; and have yet to see a police officer with anything besides a sidearm, which is something I also noticed in Cuba. Quite different than in the land of the free, home of the brave, where police officers, even in the smallest of towns, are laden with sidearms, pepper spray, night sticks, and stun guns.
Today I am off to look for a bicycle, a barber shop, grocery store, and a self service laundry.
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