A day in Merida...American style

Today was the first day that I reverted back into my American lifestyle.  Although I am enjoying Mexican culture and all it has to offer, I just really needed a day inspired by the good ol' U.S.A.  The day began with plans of going to the beach in Progreso but, because the weather was horrible today, no one wanted to go.  Instead, Amanda and I paid 100 pesos (or $10 U.S.) to go to the spa and pool at "FiestAmericana", which is a hotel in Centro that allows non-hotel guests to pay to use their services.  Because this was my first taste of "gringo" life, I felt like I was in my glory.  The pool, jacuzzi, sauna, and (you have no idea how excited I was to see this in el bano) HAIRDRYERS all made me think of America and how I miss the many novelties that it offers me.  Having not originally planned to make the day a "gringo," American day, I am, in retrospect, shocked at how fast I became completely comfortable at the luxuries of the hotel!

After roasting in the sauna, swimming in the frigid pool, and bathing in the jacuzzi, I took a shower.  It was all down-hill from there for me.  The ability to use a hairdryer made me so thrilled that my downward spiral into gringo-ism accelerated rapidly.  From this point on, I was a tourist.  No longer did I feel as though I was living in Merida.  With my hairblown dry hair and my camera on my wrist, Amanda and I walked through Merida taking pictures of things that we had seen multiple times, but never as tourists.  Not to say that this is a bad thing, but I definitely was a tourist.  My gringo tendencies did not quite sink in until, as usual, a man came up to me to say his usual catcall but, this time, he said "Hello, Gringa!" 

Gringa? Really?  Until this afternoon, I had yet to be called out as a gringo, but I guess there's a first time for everything.  Even though I was willing to accept the fact that, today, I was a tourist, I still felt a bit taken back by this.  I knew that it was obvious that I am not a Mexican native, but the fact that I was "called-out" on it made me feel a bit confused.  What do I want to be: a gringo or a civilian?  The one day of this entire trip that I have felt as though I was a tourist made me realize that I don't want to be the "American stereotype" or the "gringa"; I want to be able to fit into the culture and fully emerge myself.  I hope that I will be able to do this more effectively this week and be able to learn more about how to "live" in Mexico rather than just being a visitor. 

Aside from this, however, Amanda and I had an awesome day.  I'm not quite sure if it is because I felt like a tourist or if it's just because I was able to explore the landmarks of the city without having to "get to class" or meet a group of people downtown.  I had my first McDonald's meal today which, shockingly, was extremely refreshing.  I hadn't realized how much I was craving a "taste" of home, even if it had to be through McDonald's greasy burgers and salty french fries.  To add to our tourist-inspired day, Amanda and I headed to Centro and walked around to the different vendors (all of which speak English for the visiting tourists) and looked at souvenirs.  Almost as equally shocking as the wonderful taste of the McDonald's food, today was the first day that I bought any souvenirs for myself (see, Cory? I don't always spend alot of money!): two pairs of glass-blown earings (for only $8 U.S.)!  After all of these America-inspired actions, I feel that I am now ready to re-initate my emergence into Mexican culture!

Also, Amanda and I met an interesting vendor who was trying to help us with our Spanish and was telling us some of the history of the oldest church on the American mainland, which is called Catedral de San Ildefonso.  Inside of the church was a crucifix of Jesus Christ that was originally in a cathedral in Guatemala.  The church had been struck by lightning and the only piece of the building that remained erect was this crucifix, which only was blackened by the smoke of the fire.  More interestingly was the fact that the crucifix was not blackened at the points of which Jesus was crucified (on his palms and feet)!  The man kept saying (in Spanish, of course) that this was truly a miracle and has been regarded as such by the Catholic church.  A statue of the Virgin of the Yucatan was also featured within the church and symbolically was shown standing on top of a serpent with an apple in its mouth; this was displayed as such to show the defeat of the tempting serpent in the Garden of Eden whom told Adam and Eve to eat the fruits of the garden.  In addition, a huge crucifix of Jesus Christ was featured in the middle of the cathedral and, as told by our friendly vendor, three unusual pieces were different about this crucifix when compared to others: Jesus was depicted as being crucified through his wrists rather than his palms; Jesus was not wearing the "Crown of Thorns"; and the wound which was inflicted upon Jesus's side was missing.  Of all of the places that I've been to so far in Merida, I can say that I truly enjoyed visiting this cathedral the most! 

In addition to teaching us history, I was able to ask the vendor about the lifestyles of the Mexican working class.  He was telling me about the popularity of hammocks in the home and, even though he has a bed at home, he often sleeps in his hammock for half of the night and then will move over to his bed.  Through his knowledge of the city, I was also able to see the pride in which Merida's citizens have for the city.  Not only did he know the locations of various monuments in town, but he was able to tell us indepth details about the smallest, almost unnoticeable details of each building in Centro (as seen above!).  Through his pride in his city and his devoutness to Mexican culture, I was able to see that Mexican citizens are truely genuine people.  Not many individuals in the U.S. could tell you much about the monuments in neighboring cities, nor could they say that they've been able to stay true to their heritage and ancestral culture!  Because of this genuine care for preserving their culture, I began questioning why many of the streets and houses in Merida appear to be so poorly maintained.  Is it because of their culture that the country is not able to move forward economically?  Could the desire to remain devoted to ancestral cultural aspects be resulting in Mexico's inability to become a "developed country" rather than remaining "developing?"  To be honest, I'm not quite certain.  By retaining cultural aspects, for example, as an occupation may limit some Mexicans in their ability to become economically secure, but I feel as though one must weigh the benefits and the disadvantages.  Because culture is so rich in Mexico, it may be a limitation on societal growth but, as more influence from America comes in, I feel as though the country will continue to grow.  As this occurs, however, much of the Mexican culture will be lost as financially suffering individuals resort to jobs in American corporations, such as the many McDonalds or the soon to be Hershey factory in Mexico.  As I see more and more American corporations in the city, all of which seem to be located within close proximity to one another, I feel as though the city is more economically sound.  Travelling to the outskirts of the city, however, prove to me that the city is still poor, although parts of it seem to be thriving in tourism and business.  It will be interesting to see how the towns in Mexico change as we travel to areas where little or no American/corporative influence has been experienced. 

After walking around Centro, we took a cab to the Dawley's, where we met up with our whole group for some good company!  In addition, we walked around the Dawley's beautiful backyard and identified plant species.  It may not sound that fun, but I really think that knowing the names of different species is very interesting!

And, just to update on last night's activities, a small group of us met in Centro and went to a restaurant/bar that had live music.  It was alot of fun, especially because we had a small singing competition going on between our table and the neighboring Mexican table.  The competition began when "Living On a Prayer", by Bon Jovi, came on and our entire table sang/yelled the words very loudly.  Following this song, the Mexican group next to our table began singing the next song obnoxiously loud as well, mainly because it was in Spanish and they knew we wouldn't be able to compete with them! 

That's it for today.  I miss you all, and I will be sure to continue to update you on my Mexican adventure!

Love,

Ashley