Lisa n Tom (n James n Joseph)

First thing: What day is Día de Muertos? Depends on which state you're in. Yucatan thinks it's tonight, but the internet seems to think it's tomorrow. Second thing: The weather just got better. It suddenly dropped ten degrees a couple of days ago and it has stayed there. I'm suddenly much more optimistic about surviving for the rest of the year ... or at least until March when, I am told, it will get hot again. Sigh. Third thing: So, in summary, if you're going to come to Merida, may I recommend the end of October? It's a party and you probably won't die of heat. Today we had a little celebration at my Spanish school after classes where we could get our faces painted like calaveras. James didn't do it because he's wearing a mask with his costume. We also ate pan de muerto, sweet bread flavored with orange blossom water and sprinkled with sugar. That's the "normal" kind. You can also get it stuffed with anything from guayaba to Oreos and...

It's not as flashy as the Catrinas parade that takes place the next night, but it's more moving. The Paseo de Las Ánimas. The idea is that the souls of the departed leave the cemetery for a few days to return to the world of the living. Think " Coco " but without the bit about security guards checking ID before they can leave. Disney made that part up. People dress in traditional Yucatan clothes, paint their faces like calaveras, carry candles, and silently walk from the cemetery to the cathedral where they are met with a much less somber street festival with music and food and vendors. James' comment was, "This is the most Mexican I've ever felt."  The parade route and local law enforcement. The scene at the Parque San Juan in front of the cathedral. Afterwards, when we got home, we set up our own little altar. We wrote little notes to the Grandpas who have passed away and set out some of their favorite snacks.

 It's the end of October, ya'll, and here's the weather report:

 We went to a textile show at the convention center this evening and I failed to take any pictures, but let me tell you what I learned anyway using borrowed images from the internet: #1. Here is what everything is called: Nowadays, women still wear the huipil and skirt (or corta) a lot. There are various degrees of fanciness. These gals are at Maximum Fancy. Many women have huipil-like shirts that they wear all the time -- the same sort of shape and embroidery, but shirt-length. Also, I've learned that nobody thinks it's cultural appropriation for tourists to buy or wear them.  Men don't wear the traditional stuff as often. Only for special events like Janal Pixan. It's more common to wear guayaberas. There's a lot of Cuban influence in the Yacatan. If that seems odd, please refer to the profession diagram below: #2. The clothing was made of cotton or sheep's wool and woven using something like this: #3. Nowadays, you can obviously buy pre-made cloth and you can...

 founded in 1540 by Spanish conquistadores as San Francisco de Campeche atop the pre-existing Maya city of Can Pech. Campeche is (along with Quebec City) one of the only cities in North America with most of its historic old city walls intact. It's a World Heritage Site. It had a lot of trouble with pirates . Like, a lot. Here's a list of the more famous ones: John Hawkins, Francis Drake, Laurens de Graaf, Cornelius Jol, Jacobo Jackson, Michel de Grandmont, Portuguese Bartholomew, William Parker, Jean David Nau, Edward Mansvelt, Henry Morgan, Lewis Scot, Roche Brasiliano, and Jean Lafitte. So many pirates. Nowadays, it's got a cute little touristy downtown with a pedestrian street for restaurants. The old fort is still there with its original canons, waiting for any new pirates. The interior is a museum. There's a convention center and a really big, modern mall. There's a water park. Some nice hotels. A craft market in the plaza. A malecon (sidewalk that runs along ...

 James had his first all-day play date here. This is his classmate, Santiago. Santi's English is very good, although he definitely learned a lot of it from watching Minecraft videos on YouTube. The boys went to breakfast at a restaurant and then got ice cream at Santa Clara, then they went back to his house and played with his plastic army men for a while, then ate chicken nuggets and ketchup, then played on his computer for a while, then came back to our house and played with Legos. It was everything James could ever want in a playdate.

 Joseph's Halloween costume has arrived. He is mega-psyched about being the Grim Reaper. James has to keep an empty eggshell intact for two weeks as a class assignment. He named his "Timmy." Joseph has always been about the costumes. Here's the Halloween section of Walmart.

 Here's James practicing with his soccer team. He's the guy in the orange shirt.

Here's where I was tonight at the Merida Wine Bar (drinking lemonade and knocking out that charcuterie board) with some new acquaintances. The chica next to me just bought a house in Merida and is moving down here next year with her two school-aged boys who will, hopefully, be attending the same school as James and Joseph. I've been reading Roald Dahl' "Flying Solo" to the boys and I was struck by the introduction where he talks about meeting the British "Empire Builders" on the boat to Africa. He describes them as "each having his own particular worm in the brain" and "the craziest bunch of humans I shall ever meet." My dinner companions were very nice and not that crazy, but it definitely does take a particular kind of person to just drop everything and move to another country without a plan.

 We met up with Joseph's friend and his parents this morning for the weekly Biciruta in Centro Merida. The city closes a couple of downtown streets for bicyclists. You can bring your own or rent a bunch of different types of bikes and scooters. Joseph got lucky and found a "fast" one and left us all in the dust. 

 This is the Christmas card picture we didn't use. Can anybody see why? (Hint: It's Tom's fault.)

I feel dumb posting the bougie stuff we do, instead of "real" stuff like trekking through Mayan ruins and experiencing the joys of Chikungunya or whatever, but even bougie culture is still a kind of culture, right? Here's another mall:

Halloween is coming (as is Día de Muertos) and Joseph LIVES for costumes, so we hit up Amazon Mexico . I honestly wasn't sure it would even work (see the "there is no functioning postal service here" post from earlier). But it did! Here's our Amazon delivery driver: How cute is she on her scooter? And here's the first costume to arrive. Joseph's TBA in a few more days.