Tuesday, March 1, 2022

Only 66° this morning. Very refreshing! I worked out on the patio this morning before doing laundry and catching up with my Belgian buds.

Shorties

When housekeeping came to clean my room so I headed out for what else – tacos! This time I ordered quatro cochinita pibil tacos and a Coke. Just as delicious as yesterday and completely satisfied. The male waiter was very friendly. He found it funny I could reach the menus mounted on the wall from my table. Everyone is fairly short here. This makes for many near obstacles when I walk around town. Among other things, awnings are usually low enough I need to tilt my head to clear the entry. I’ll be surprised if I make it through the whole trip without knocking my head on something.

Everyone here wears masks, even outside. It is the law and is followed. I wear mine out of respect for their rules and their people.

Today wasn’t a particularly interesting day all around. I checked out a different park, Park de la Madre. I nestled onto a park bench with minimal bird poop. All of the parks have public wifi in Merida, so I primarily caught up with my friend Amy over WhatsApp. She’s a seasoned traveler who’s lived abroad for many years so she’s offered me loads of advice. We send voice recordings to one another which is my new favorite way to catch up with friends who are not close by. As I was sitting there not getting pooped on, a 12 foot limb broke off of the palm tree behind me and came crashing down less than 5 feet from me. It scared me half to death. I’m starting to think these parks have it out for me.

The day warmed up to a comfortable ~77F. I walked back to my Airbnb and researched places to stay in Bacalar. John had initially suggested checking it out and Amy suggested it before I even got the chance to ask her opinion so I think I may head there next. Mexico isn’t quite as inexpensive as I anticipated, although I can’t say I did a lot of research in advance. If you know where to go, and can negotiate, it can be incredibly cheap (like the taco stands). But if you don’t know, or you want to be in a specific area, then it can be comparable to USD value. It’s a broad spectrum.

I made a little rice and vegetables for dinner, then began looking at options for day trips from Merida, arguably its best asset. Right now my options include loads of cenotes, Valladolid, Izmal, Uxmal, Celestun, and Dzibilchaltún. I’m eager to get a little adventuring underway.

Small World

Shortly after booking my trip to Merida I found out that a few other friends I had just met at CampFI in January would be here at the same time as me. Then Deb decided to tag along, so she arrives at my Airbnb tomorrow. Emily and James just arrived this week, so we’re meeting up tomorrow for lunch. I have enjoyed my solo trip so far, as it made me get out of my comfort zone, but I’m also excited to be around some friends. Looking forward to the adventures the next week will bring!

Daily Expenses

Amounts in Mexican Pesos