Eats Shops and Buildings

Proper punctuation makes all the difference.  I did not eat shops and buildings!  This post is about eating and shopping and the beautiful buildings in Mexico.  And when you're in a foreign country the way you pronounce a word can make all the difference, too.  For instance, Bebe means "it drinks" and bebé means "baby."  Fortunately, Ken knew enough Spanish to get us around and our son and daughter-in-law speak it fluently and were with us on several occasions.  Other times a stranger would help us translate.

Getting around Merida was easy and inexpensive with the readily available cabs.  Understanding how to shop and what to eat was another matter.  I've shown you where we slept in Merida.  Now I'll show you where we ate and shopped, as well as the architecture we passed on the street as we walked to the shops and restaurants.  I've already mentioned we shopped at a Mexico-made guaybera shirt shop the first night we arrived.  We were soon to learn that overly-helpful people were receiving commissions to steer customers to certain shops where the prices were often higher.  My first advice on shopping is look around before you buy so you can compare.  You will see many of the same items in most of the shops or in the street markets like the market set up in the Grand Plaza every Sunday.  You may also want to have a calculator on hand to help you compare the pesos price to dollars.  I was constantly trying to divide the price by 18 (the exchange rate) in my head.   These slippers were  $180 pesos--$10 USD, an easy calculation. . . .

The embroidery on the women's clothing is beautiful.  From everyday blouses to these formal dresses. . . .

This hand-crafted clay figurine was for sale in a museum gift shop.  I did not bother to look at the price because I was sure it was more than I could pay. . . .

 I bought this lion for Olivia for a few dollars. . . .

And this guaybera shirt and shorts in size zero for August for less than $20--a marked-down price. . . .

I couldn't find an embroidered blouse that went with my skirts so I bought this large bag for its embroidery for $450 pesos ($25)--perfect as a carry-on for all the other things I bought. . . .

This beaded hair jewelery helped keep my hair off my neck for $6. . .

And I can't remember what I paid for this cute dress for Olivia which was made out of sisal.  I bought it the first day there and probably overpaid because I was so in love with it.  There are no sales taxes and you aren't given receipts unless you charge it. . . .

I bought a few other gifts that I neglected to take photos of before I gave them away.  Now I'm wishing I'd bought chocolate to bring home for us and a few other things I'd passed up.

The food was good but I eventually became tired of the same dishes because I generally do not experiment when I go out to eat.  Ken, however, was more adventurous and tried a variety of Mexican dishes.  But even he opted for Italian or seafood a few times for a change of pace.  We even had a Burger King burger one night catercorner from the hotel because we didn't want that much to eat after having such a large lunch.  We went to the chocolate cafe several times--that place we never got tired of.  The best coffee was at The Italian Cafe.  We ate at the Bistrola 57 on two occasions.  It was really nice to walk in the second time and have the waiter recognize me and greet me as a friend.  And the night desk clerk in Playa del Carmen who served us coffee the two mornings we were there gave me a cheek-to-cheek "kiss" when we left.

This slideshow gives you a glimpse of some of the restaurants we ate at and the types of food we and our companions had (we were with family from time to time). . . .

                                 

One evening after dark we were eating ice cream in the Grand Plaza (the park in the center of Merida) that we'd bought at the Dulceria across the street (mine was peach, Ken's was corn).  A little Mexican girl (maybe 6 years old) came up and asked my daughter-in-law in Spanish for her ice cream so she gave it to her.  She came back a little later with the cup of ice cream in her hand and stood in front of me so I figured she was asking for my ice cream, too, so I gave it to her.  She ran back to her parents. My son then told me that he'd seen her parents off in the distance point in our direction and thought perhapps they'd sent her back to return the first ice cream.  I can only imagine what her parents had to say when she returned with two ice creams!   Another little girl had been watching the whole scene from a nearby bench and complained to her parents that they never get her ice cream when they come to the park.  Maybe she's going up to strangers now and asking for ice cream, too, now.

It was this same evening a little earlier that a man with a young boy approached my DIL and asked for money.  He'd paid a "coyote" to smuggle him and his child out of Guatemala into the U.S., but had been dropped there in Mexico.  I asked my son wouldn't it be easier and cheaper to buy a plane ticket to the U.S. and then just disappear instead of paying a "coyote" thousands of dollars and then not even reach his destination.  He said it's very hard to get a Visa even to visit the U.S.  If you aren't married and don't have a job you probably can't get a Visa because you are at risk at doing just that--disappearing once you get here.  Even members of my DIL's family have had trouble getting a VISA to visit her because of their profile.

While we were walking back to the hotel we passed young women carrying a load of women's blouses trying to sell them to anyone they passed.  I remarked that I felt sorry for them if this is how they made their living.  She said it's really sad to see some with their babies on their back.  She said they often have to turn over all the money they make each night to the man who sends them out.  We passed crippled people sitting on the curb begging, flower sellers, and musicians.  This musician came up to the second floor of the restaurant in Playa del Carmen, plugged in his amp and proceeded to play, after which he went around to the tables asking for money. . . .

                   

The architecture we passed while exploring every day was striking--colorful, ornately detailed--and ancient in many cases.  Many of the museums and hotels are housed in former haciendas that were built during the boom period of the sisal industry. . . .

                    

Next time  I'll take you to the several museums we visited during our week in Merida.  Until then. . . .

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Take Joy!