Saturday, 30 October 2021: Mérida

Ken is working on the tiles in the upstairs bathroom at Hartung as I am having coffee in my hotel room in Merida.  Now that’s retirement.  Justin checked on the weather in Green Bay.  It will get down to maybe 31’ one night this week.  And here in the Yucatan, we are still waiting for the nights to get down to 72’.  That too is retirement!

Retirement also looks staying in your jammies a bit later in the day.  We talked to Kim this afternoon.  She’s in California with her parents right now.  She said she was proud of me to see that I was in my jammies at 12:40 in the afternoon.  When I reminded her that yes, it was 12:40 for her but 2:40 pm for me in Merida, she said I was her hero.  I’ve always aspired to be Kim’s hero! 

When we did venture out, we headed to The Plaza Grande to see the large altar prepared in celebration of Dia de Los Muertos.  

We knew that the big parade had been cancelled for the second year in a row.  We’d read that there would be a parade of abejiles...whimsical mythical figures.  Did not see any sign so we could only assume that it too had been cancelled.

On to Chaya Maya.  We only needed to wait about 40 minutes for a table.  Justin took a quick walk down to La Negrita to see if Jesus was playing while I browsed in the tourist shops.  Very soon we enjoyed a Chaya cream soup and a mixed seafood entree.  I don’t remember the margaritas being quite so small...so I ordered another.  

Taking advantage of being in Merida for the festivities, we ventured to the Plaza Grande to see the special altar that had been set up.  In this observance, we see a mix of traditions from the (ancient) indigenous peoples and (newer) Catholic practices.  To show respect for deceased family members, the locals create ornate altars and leave food offerings for their loved ones to enjoy.  They also dress up as skeletons, and eat seasonal dishes. These activities acknowledge that death is only the continuation of life elsewhere.  Compared to the altars that are in private homes, the altar that was constructed here in Merida was quite large ........ 

.

We bought some leather key chains in
the Grand Plaza. 
The vendor personalized them with
"Casa Colibri."

And, of course we needed a parade.  Alebrijes are brightly colored Mexican folk art sculptures of fantastical mythical creatures. I originally learned of these as “fetishes.”  Originally made of paper-mâché, wooden variations have also become popular.  Although the huge parade, The Paseo De Las Ánimas, had been cancelled for the second year in a row, I’d read that there was to be a parade of the Alebrijes.  We’d timed our visit to the Plaza Grande to be there for the start of the parade.  Alas, no parade but that set us up for an early dinner at Chaya Maya.  Kim remembers this restaurant well and has her favorites on the menu.  Justin and I tried a new fish dish this trip.  Super yummy!

Phenomenal Packer (6-1) win over the Arizona Cardinals (7-0).  So both teams are now 7-1.  The injured Packers started absolute no-name players who earned their names into the playbooks.  We will certainly hear more of Winfree and Douglas who had the game ending and game-winning interception with only seconds remaining.  There were about 15 fans at Boston’s for the game. That crew watched the game in the private room but Justin and I sat at our usual spot at the bar since the screens are better.  Justin was so pumped.  

[Justin and I kept talking about this game for days.  It was simply phenomenal!!  One of the questions I asked him a dozen times was how did that Cardinal receiver, AJ Green, explain the fact that he didn’t even turn around?  How did he face his teammates?  One explanation we saw on the Internet was, well,  that was how he had announced his retirement.  Go figure.]