It is now about 24 hours since I arrived in Merida and I have sunk nicely into the city, though unfortunately at the expense of work. Yesterday, after a bit of rest in the afternoon (I think this will be my usual routine in this climate. It is designed for siesta, with fierce bright afternoons and cool breezy evenings when the city comes alive) I went out for a stroll and wandered through the city, finding little parks and churches to examine. I decided to have a dinner of tacos at a restaurant that seemed to be a Salt and Pepper equivalent, called Los Trompos. It was filled with local families and specialised in competent local food and pizza to local flavours. I had a taco and a bowl of guacamole and an excellent tamarindo.
I do love cities which come alive at night. There was music, people on the streets, not too much drinking though I’m sure it picked up later. I came back to bed early.
This morning I left for breakfast at around 8 and again walked far through the streets, past the Dragon Gate which is the eastern gate into the city, and the graffiti photographed here.
I managed to place an order entirely in Spanish after having asked for the English menu, which I was proud of as the Spanish was picked up entirely from movies etc. I think my pronunciation is not too terrible, thanks to Urdu which has similar sounds to the ones that English speakers struggle with. I am often not identified as a foreigner, though there are definite give-aways: my features are not Mexican even when the skin colour is, my clothing is looser and airier and definitely foreign. There is that indefinable something about how one moves and one’s expressions, of course. But the main giveaway, I think, is that I’ve been carrying a water bottle, something I’ll avoid in future or else get a small one to carry in my bag. The only people with water bottles have been American tourists.
An update: when I went to lunch today and asked for a menu in my near non-existent Spanish the waiter brought over the Spanish menu. When a tall white gringo appeared and spoke fluent Spanish, he was given an English menu. So I suppose appearance-wise at least I fit in? Though I wasn’t carrying a water bottle.
What makes Mexican food delicious is clearly the salsas, generous quantities thereof. Even fairly mediocre items like my torta today, are made tasty.