Mi Horario en Mérida

My daily schedule is thus:

5:30 AM: wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast, and otherwise get ready to leave the house

6:10ish AM: leave the house, walk to the bus stop (3 blocks), wait for and catch the bus, ride for 

a few minutes, get off the bus and walk six blocks to the school

6:35ish AM: arrive at school, greet teachers and students

7 AM: school starts, watch starting meeting/gathering

7:15/45 AM to 12:00/15 PM: teach English classes, talk with teachers, students, and the principal, play with the small kids during recess, wait for class to start, observe the principal

12:00/15 PM: walk to the bus stop, catch the bus, walk home

12:25/50 PM: arrive at home, change clothes, do some homework, eat lunch, prepare for next job

2:00 PM: leave the house, take a bus to the centro, walk to next bus, take bus from the centro, arrive at the Salvation Army

2:55ish PM to 6 PM: arrive at the S.A., teach English class, help with homework, play with the kids, translate between my coworkers (one is British and speaks a bit of Spanish and the other is Mexican and speaks a bit of English, but a lot of translating is required)

6 PM: wait up to 20 or 25 minutes to catch the bus, walk to the other bus, take other bus, walk home

7:00/7:15 PM: arrive home, eat dinner, take a shower, do homework, plan next classes

10:00/30 PM: go to bed

Next day: repeat

Add in occasional meetings, weekend trips, etc.

Total: 8.5 hours of work, 3 hours of travel daily

LONG DAYS

Mi Vida en Mérida

I live in a beautiful house in the northern part of the city. The street I live on is all houses, but one block over is a major avenue with many stores, banks, and restaurant. I catch my bus three blocks in the other direction at the local Costco. It takes about 15 minutes to get to el centro by bus from my stop; the bus stops about a block away. All the bus fares in the city are only 6 pesos; if you have a student or senior citizen card it is 3 pesos. The public transportation here is very safe and reliable. In addition to lots of buses, there are also taxis. Taxis are much cheaper here than in the US, but it is still more economical to take a bus unless you are a family traveling a short distance.

The houses here in the city are made out of concrete due to the tropical climate. The house that I am staying in has a courtyard that two or three of the rooms open out to; in the morning, I eat breakfast with a view of the courtyard, which is nice with large trees and many pigeons. My homestay family feeds leftover food to the pigeons. I am not sure if this is true of all or even the majority of houses in Mérida, but both the house that I am staying in and the house that my college has purchased as a permanent residence have only tile floors. The tile is different in all the rooms in this house, but it can’t beat the original gorgeous tile pattern pictures in the college house. The architecture around here is like a mix of Florida and New Mexico; I am reminded of both places every day. 

The schedules for daily living in Mérida are quite different than any schedule I’ve ever been beholden to. Breakfast is at an early hour but lunch isn’t eaten until 2o’clock in the afternoon and dinner not until 7:30 or 8 o’clock in the evening. I usually cannot make it till lunchtime; I have to eat a snack. My house pretty much closes down after dinner, with most people going to their rooms to sleep or watch TV. The stores here don’t close early but they also do not open until around 10 AM, at least in my neighborhood. Everything about time is very different here.

Mérida

Mérida is a lively city. The city is always bustling and el centro is packed with people in the plazas and el mercado. Mérida, like most places in the Yucatán, is flat. The buildings are almost all one story and are connected in el centro. Most of the stores do not have traditional doors; instead, they have the metal garage door-like roll up storefront. When the stores are open, they are completely exposed to the street and the weather and you can see everything in the store. The restaurants are more traditional and are everywhere in el centro. There are many cafés, eateries, ice cream and sweets shops, and full sit-down restaurants. 

                                          Rozca de Reyes, an event in the northern part of the city

Outside of el centro, there are two extremes. The northern part of the city is very developed with malls and supermarkets and other huge stores and hotels. There is a Hyatt, a Costco, a Sam’s Club, and a Walmart. There are also large Mexican supermarkets (Mega and Soriana Súper) and chain stores. If you are in the northern part of the city, you could be anywhere in the States (granted, most signs are in Spanish). The southern part of the city is a different story. If you head south from el centro, you know that you are not in the States. Instead, you could be in any underdeveloped country. The houses are falling apart, some do not have running water, and if the house has electricity it hasn’t been for long because many of the neighborhoods did not have access to electricity until the mid-2000s. There are dogs running around everywhere and the streets are poorly kept. Most of the houses do not have roofs and have open or semi-open doorways. There are no lawns or plants or trees, just block upon block of crumbling concrete. The people who live here mostly work in minimum wage jobs such as construction or service sector jobs. The minimum wage here is 57 pesos (about $4.50) per day. In the US, federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour and in some places the local minimum wage is much higher.

Mérida is in one of the top states for the percentage of indigenous people in the state. In Mérida you can see many traditional Maya. The Maya are a short people compared to people from the US (which I love, as I’m on the tall side at not quite 5’2”) and are very dark skinned. The Maya women wear white shift-like dresses with colorful embroidery. Also in Mérida there are many indigenous women who have come from the southern states of Oaxaca and Chiapas. These women wear black wool skirts and dark blouses. Many of them sell hand-made wares on the streets for extremely low prices (50 pesos for a hand knit scarf). These women have come to Mérida because it offers them more hope than their hometowns. There are many reasons and causes for this, but one cause we have been studying in our group is NAFTA. The indigenous people of the southern states were mostly farmers of maize, but the structure of NAFTA at this time forces these farmers to compete with the heavily government-subsidized corn from the US. Because there is no competition, many of these people have lost their land. Some have gone into the tourist business, becoming maids in the hotels in Cancun or other service sector jobs, and many have come to places like Mérida to try and make a better life. Whether they are successful I could not say.

Made it!

After getting up before 2:30 AM EST, I finally made it to Mérida at 9:15 pm CST and was at the hotel a bit before 11. My long layover in the Houston airport turned out to be beneficial as I was able to read half my history textbook. I was glad to get to Mérida, though, and happy to get to bed. 

This morning I explored el Centro for over 45 minutes, which is how long it took me to find the bank that was "1 block over" according to the program hostess. I only have a few minutes until I am supposed to meet the group for a tour of the city and orientation, though, so I had better get going. 

Lucky for me, this hotel has free wi-fi, but I still do not know if I will have any once I get into my homestay tonight. This may be my last post for awhile.

¡Adiós!