July 19-21, 2021: Days 28-30

For the most part, days twenty-eight, twenty-nine and thirty were all pretty much just working during the day and walking around looking for dinner after 7pm or so. We stop working around 4pm, but honestly, its just unpleasantly hot outside, so we tend to watch a little TV or read or swim in the pool until the rain looks like its passed and then out we go.

Francine has pretty much at her limit with regard to Mexican food. This place is FULL of Mexican restaurants!! (Who would have ever seen that coming!) I can see her point a little. Its very good, but its very redundant. To me, its sort of like Italian food that way, but I am prohibited from saying that in pubic. Joking aside, I can understand that if you don't like corn tortillas, or bread made of corn, this place could get a little tedious because just about everything comes with or is made of some kind of corn. I like it and even I'm heading toward overload with it.

Our expenses perked up for two reasons. First, I managed to incorrectly book our hotel, ending up with a two day gap (no place to stay), so we had to pay for that. Second, we seem to be eating very indulgently - not so much by volume but by cost. This might be a side effect of avoiding local food.

Paseo 60 food court.

We took the suggestion of someone we met who recommended this mall sort of place called Paseo 60. It was only a few blocks from the hotel. We went twice in these past couple days. This is a newly opened venue that has more or less a food-court kind of setup with six or seven food places indoors, accompanied by a giant courtyard with outdoor seating. There is live music in the courtyard (at least there was the two times we went.) There are also fancier restaurants lining the perimeter of the courtyard with table service. We had actually walked by the Paseo a few days ago when we got here, but decided from the outside that it looked too much like a mall for us, so we kept on walking. But with the suggestion to try it in-hand we did and it was very nice, but/and pretty up-scale.

Besides that - a whole lot o' normal life - there's not much going on.

And so end days twenty-eight, twenty-nine and thirty.

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July 18, 2021: Day Twenty-Seven

Today is Sunday. On Sundays in non-corona times, they shut down the more glamorous part of the Pasejo Montejo and allow for bike-riding. In corona times, they shut down the north-bound lane of the more glamorous part of the Pasejo Montejo to allow for bike-riding and allow the traffic to flow south like normal. We decided that this would be as good a time as any to take a walk on the Pasejo Montejo. Actually, we've been walking up and down this street ever since we came back to Mérida from Progreso. They call the road the "Champs Elysée of Mérida". I have also heard Mérida referred to as the Paris of México. Let me start by saying that I can see the resemblance, but any references to Paris are a bit of a stretch, if you've been to Paris. If you haven't been to Paris, I think maybe the resemblance might be enough. There are a lot of Haussmann-esque homes here, but unlike in Paris, they are isolated, they don't run for blocks and ...

Overview

This year, we are spending thirty-eight days in México. To be exact, the Yucatán peninsula, México. My new calling (minister) provides me with ample vacation time, which I totally mismanaged, leaving nearly half of it untaken. My contract year ends on July 31, so nothing like waiting till the last minute. I also have two weeks per year which I am to dedicate to learning and becoming a better minister. Then, I have one week of General Assembly/Ministers’ Meetings. Normally, General Assembly means travel to a convention hall somewhere, but this being Corona Year Deux, General Assembly is virtual again, meaning as long as I have internet, I’m there! Yucatan Trip Itinerary So, we took off the Tuesday before GA, which is the second of three days of Ministers meetings, which like General Assembly is also virtual. There is a gap of a few days which I’ll get some work done as well. Add it all up, and you’ve got thirty-nine days....

June 28, 2021: Day Seven

Francine had a half day of work today so we worked in the morning and then headed out on a small trek. We walked down to the beautiful malecón. Malecones are a pretty uniquely Latin American thing from my perspective. The only American word we have - and the one often used - is "boardwalk", but that's not accurate. A malecón is a pier or a sidwalk on a sea wall that runs along a seashore. This one had pedestrian paths and bike paths. I've never seen that before. It was Bayshore Boulevard in Tampa, with all the glitz stripped away. Unlike the one in Guayaquíl, this one did not have a retail presence. Malecón, Campeche From the malecón we walked to the market, which turned out to be closed. Then, we got a salad lunch back in town. Later in the day it was off for a trolley tour of the city. It is quite a nice city in almost all respects. Its certainly nicer than the historic center of Mérida. Its about 1/8 the population of ...

2021 Visit to the Yucatán

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