Life In Merida

Merida is modern and traditional all at the same time. Yes, you will find many American companies here. They all look the same as the ones in the States. Just picture Costco, Sam’s, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Burger King & McDonald’s, all the major car dealers, Office Depot, Blockbuster, …..then add some palm trees to the parking lot and you’ve got the picture.

Then to imagine the traditional side~

My first thought as we got closer to our new home was that these people should be getting notices from there Homeowners associations, if in fact they had any. They do not always separate commercial and residential dwelling on some streets. In some of the older areas you will see a home next to another home that has been turned into a café or store of some sort. Then you can go 5 streets over and see several of the most gorgeous Meridian mansions in a row and then one block over is a partially vacant lot, with a torn apart building on it, and then several three room homes with clothes lines hanging in the front yard one street over from that. In some strange way though, it is still very picturesque. Real eye candy on a regular basis. I find myself wanting to take pictures constantly as this is very different from what you see in America. I am lured at times with a desire to go sit on the sidewalk and just people watch for hours, or drive around in the evenings when people stroll in the streets.

So far, Jay does all the driving here and I am real okay with that. I think my husband described the traffic movement here perfectly. If you have ever seen the animated Bee movie, were the bees race around in perfect close harmony and never run into each other…..that can be driving in Merida. I have never seen anything like the way people drive here in Merida. From the faint lines in the street, you can assume at one time they did have lanes and then someone came along and painted new lines a few feet over. So you have to take a good look at the street and decide where the new lane really is. Nevertheless, you see very few wrecks here as compared to the states. You just have to make sure you are always going fast enough, turning quickly enough and if you don’t, someone will let you know with a prompt blow of their horn. I could safely say that traffic movement here is managed mostly by horns blowing.