Ugly Americans

  Months ago, when my kids were still going to Spanish class here, I ran into another expat mom. She was a new arrival to the area, having recently moved to Mérida. While the kids were in class, we chatted about a life traveling with kids, finding your people in your new home, and making a life for yourself amidst all of it. In the course of our chat she told me the story about how she found out her family would be moving to Mérida.   Apparently, they had lived in the same place for seven years, and she'd left a picture from their initial move wrapped all that time. In her mind, as long as that last picture never got unwrapped and hung, they would never leave. For seven years, that picture stayed wrapped up, and tucked in its corner.   So, imagine her shock at seeing it on the wall after a handyman she'd hired to fix something else in the house, completed the task he was hired for then  also unwrapped the picture and hung it up. That same night, her husband came h

We are leaving Mérida. I am going to miss Mérida.   I know that statement seems at odds with my previous writings, but I will miss the city and its people. After almost a year here, my Spanish (which had withered from years of neglect) has improved dramatically. I have made acquaintances (both expat and locals) that could have probably become full-fledged friends had we stayed here the full three years. One of them might still become a long-term friend, but we'll see. You come to accept that friendships made in this life are what you put into them. Sometimes, this ends up being a one-way street despite your best intentions.   My plan of visiting as many archaeological sites in the region is pretty much at its end. I would like to visit at least one more site, but realistically I probably won't. We've just run out of time. It turns out that you can only squeeze so many sites in between work, school, people getting sick, poor weather, and any other roadblock life throws