Dave: Farewell Merida. It was far to short.

Well, 9:00pm Monday evening and I am packed as far as I can go for now. On our arrival in Birmingham Wednesday evening, it will have been 36 days, 34 in country. I can't believe we have been here a month plus, but here we are packing to return home. Yes, mentally, I am not ready to go back, but physically, I need my chiropractor! Yes, they have them here but time does not allow the research I would need to find the right one. In addition to that, I have other obligations that I need to get back and take care of so others can take a rest. And of course, there are the holidays, family and friends to enjoy.

Gene and I made a video of closing comments. You would have thought we scripted the video but we didn't. Just came out that way. Having been here long enough to get to know the neighbors a little better has been a wonderful thing. Seeing and visiting old friends is also a wonderful thing. Being in a society that largely practices respect and dignity is something I find truly to my liking. With the exception of one incident our first trip down 10 years ago, we have been welcomed and have felt a true part of life here. And yes, it is a different feeling when you know that you are the one that stands out as different in skin color, yet no difference is made by many. Yes, prices do go up at the beach and the local places where the cruise ship passengers stop on "cruise ship day",  but that happens even in the US and most other places as well, so you just don't go in those areas on those days. Everyone has a schedule of port calls.

Merida continues to modernize. Many of the old cobblestone streets in the central area (Centro) have been taken up and replaced with concrete in the pattern of cobblestones. The base was redone as well so now many of the old streets that were so rough are now very nice to drive and walk on. Fashion also changes. When we were here three years ago, none of the locals wore short pants/gym shorts and tee shirts. They were always properly dressed. Today, the younger generation lives in shorts and tee shirts while the older generation still looks well dressed even for just a trip down to the mall! Merida continues to modernize the electronic age gadgets we all rely upon. The internet is by far the best I can remember and cell phone service is so wide spread I don't think we were out of cell phone signal but about 5 minutes on our trip to Celestun. Gene has had problems with AT&T on the US side with his US phone, but neither of us have had any issues with our Mexican AT&T phones. We call and text anywhere in North America with no problems. And talk about competitive- our Mexican phone cost $97 USD and we get unlimited talk and text to Mexico, USA, and Canada and 2 GB of data for $15 dollars per month. No, the phone is not some old three generation old phone. It is a brand new phone, released in August 2016 and is running Android Marshmallow, yes, that is 6.0. So I have just renewed for another month to see just how well it will work in the USA. We shall see!

I could rattle on all night, so I will wind it up here and post the video. So enjoy and we shall see you in a couple days!

Dave and Gene

The Last Full Day in Merida.

Wow, the month has flown. Today is the official work holiday for Dia de Revolucion (Revolution Day.)  So I missed out on the chance to go to one of the museums that I had planned to visit again.  Otro Dia as they say here - Another day! The town was really bustling with people today as many businesses and schools were closed.  I visited the mercado just because I could, when I realized that the museum was closed.
I didn't really buy anything except a bag of raw almonds to eat on the bus trip to Cancun tomorrow.  A protein snack is always a good idea for me.

This afternoon we are sitting on the deck/patio enjoying a cool breeze and watching the birds play.  We have been seeing an interesting yellow bird off and on for the entire stay.  I think it is probably a Social Flycatcher -photo "borrowed" from another site.

And here is my photo - off in the tree top

Another bird we have seen frequently is a White Winged Dove.  The first time I saw one, I immediately had an earworm of Stevie Nicks - Edge of Seventeen - in my head. It hasn't left yet.  I have not gotten any good photos of the WhiteWinged Dove though.
This is the best I could get:

Here is a better one from Audobon

Another photo that I have had on my phone is one of the Coca Cola trucks.  This is the typical size Coca Cola truck that you see here.

Tonight we begin packing and tomorrow we will take the ADO (ah DAY oh) bus to Cancun for the flight home on Wednesday.
We are planning a video posting for tomorrow morning - if all goes well we will have it posted before we depart.
For now, this is Gene, signing off with a sigh.

20 de Noviembre - Día de la Revolución

Today is Revolution Day, here in Mexico.  I found this "The holiday itself commemorates the day, November 20th of 1910, when Madero denounced President Díaz, declared himself president of Mexico and called for a national insurrection."
Our host had emailed me a link about the parade, but when I checked, it said that the parade started at 8 a.m.  That is too early for us.
Between 9 and 10, I headed into town to walk about and enjoy the day. Sunday in Merida with the vendors is always fun.  It is a great time to people watch.
But, wait -- WAIT!!!  The bus stopped and unloaded in a strange place.  I knew where I was, but it wasn't the usual bus stop.  I got off and walked toward the square. Then I heard the beating of drums and the roar of trumpets.
The parade was still going on!

As you can see the streets were lined with spectators.  There was lots of police and military presence.

I have videos that I will be uploading when we get home.  For now, I  will just show a few more still shots of the day.

You can easily guess that this is Red Cross.

Moments after I took this photo, they knelt down in the street and performed CPR on the dummies!  

After the parade, I saw this person.

Each person that gave a donation was given a slip of paper.  Okay, so, my curiosity got the better of me and I put a few pesos in the bucket and was given this:

"Life is short: Break rules, kiss slowly love real laughs a lot and never forget what made you smile."

I think it was worth the donation.

Actually it is a quote from Mark Twain: “Life is short, break the rules. Forgive quickly, kiss slowly. Love truly. Laugh uncontrollably and never regret anything that makes you smile.”