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June 25, 2021: Day Four

Today was another work day for both of us, so we didn't have a lot of activity.  

I splurged on a cup of coffee from the Oxxo convenience store and a pastry from the local pastry shop.  we welcomed the surpise that one of the pastries was not sweet:  filled with ham, bacon and jalapeño despite looking very much like a fig square from the old country (Manchester, NH).

Francine found our dinner location, which was spectacular.  It was outside...key lime trees providing the shade.  Limes fell right on the table.  Kinda funny.  The mean was spectacular:  lamb and potatoes.  Francine had guacamole, which isn't my favorite, but I tried a bit. Its still not my favorite, but compared to the normal American sort of green plaster of paris stuff, it was quite good.  Here's what I'll say about the lamb dinner:  For me, American restaurant food (even the good stuff) is too salty and what flavor there is is so upfront and in-your-face, that it gives the vibe of trying too hard.  This meal was flavorful; not salty.  Not "hot" but very flavorful.  Where American style Mexican (and other foods) yell at you, this food whispered very interesting things in your ear.  Francine tried a local beer (Colorado) that tasted like Blue Moon but with pinapples in place of the oranges.  I had two Mexican wines, both from Cetto, one Shiraz and one Merlot.

Lamb and Potatoes

The location Francine found was also just a couple blocks from where we're staying in a couple weeks when we get back from the beach, so we took the opportunity to stop in to see if they'd hold onto our bags for a bit, so we don't have to schlep a month's worth of crap to the beach.  This put us just a couple blocks from the  Paseo Montejo, which is the central, Paris-inpsired boulevard of the "newer" section of town.  By "newer", it was built in the late 1800's.  Wow!  What a difference between the Paseo Montejo area and the shabby chic Historical Center where we are now.  I have to agree with Tangerine Travels that if your only experience of Mérida does not include Pasejo Montejo, I can see writing the place off as "meh". We are certainly looking forward to being in the Pasejo area for a while in a couple weeks.

One thing I'm noticing is that my Spanish is a little rusty.  Upon reflection, there are three things that I think are making it a little tougher for me:  first, in Ecuador, NOBODY spoke a word of English, second, the EVERYONE is wearing a corona mask and third, they use very different word for things than in Spain.  Here, most people speak a little bit of English.  As soon as I stumble for a word, they help in English, which is not helping my Spanish and making me lazy.  Second, I'm realizing just how much I rely on reading lips.  I have the same lip-reading problem in English with the corona masks, but add the foreign language complication and matters get much worse. Lastly they use different words!  I had an experience in Ecuador in which using different words put me in a rather embarrassing situation (in which I asked a couple college-aged girls if I could (colloquially) have sex with a bus) that I think is making me a little gun-shy to just let it rip with the words I know. 

And so ends the fourth day.

Steps:  9.046

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Location: Mérida, Yucatan, Mexico

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