Tuesday, May 17, 2011

A pink prick of bougainvilla

I found this poetic piece from Working Gringos of Yucatan Living. Mérida Moments was written in 2007 and elicits wonderful thoughts of the city.  A second article attempts to show the "dark side" of Mérida, but in the end seems to conclude that many of the downsides can also be found in most any city in the US. As I write this, we are battling an army of ants (the second such battle) that have invaded our kitchen, and it is impossible to spend more than a few minutes in our backyard from June to October without being attacked by a swarm of fierce mosquitoes. In the summer we periodically have tropic-like torrential downpours that cause such severe flooding in many of the streets of our neighborhood that unwitting drivers find themselves in a river of water that stalls and permanently ruins the vehicle.  Our cars have been broken into several times - kids looking for loose change. A couple of years ago three of our neighbors had their cars stolen in a single night, a couple of which were later found but trashed. There have been 20 homicides in the Norfolk-Virginia Beach metro area year to date. The number of robberies, burglaries, and other serious crimes are in the hundreds.  A major trauma center three blocks from our home has a constant stream of ambulances - sirens screeching, horns blaring - bringing in the next  MVA (motor vehicle accident) or stabbing.

And, after a winter with a 14-inch snowfall, I can imagine that the 100+ degree heat will require some getting used to, but I'm game.



Speaking of pink, I really love this building.
(from our trip in January)


And this house with the pink prick of bougainvilla...

pink corner


6 comments:

  1. What a nice little nugget you pulled from Yucatan Living's backlog. I never noticed that before. As for the heat, we're here now and it's clear we've traded the cold damp north with the hot humid south, and I'm enjoying the change of pace. But the locals are not amused. We just had lunch at the first pink building you showed, and my pink belt matched the decor perfectly.

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  2. I must find a cinturón de color rosa!!

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  3. Our house is starting! So I started our blog to follow the process....since I enjoyed your process so much.
    ontomerida.blogspot.com

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  4. Carlos and Pat, congratulations! And welcome to the Mérida blogging community. Look forward to reading about your experiences. We just arrived yesterday for a brief visit. HOT, but not so bad in the early morning and evening.

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  5. For only having started this blog in January, you've created quite a nice compilation here. All of it fun to follow and personalized enough so that we hope it comes out well for you both without even knowing you.

    We'd love to see more construction photos, especially finished floors! (and more!)

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  6. Thank you so much for your comment. We will definitely post more construction photos soon. We are in Mérida now trying to get some of the furnishings done, artwork, etc. Will not get it all done, but it is fun hunting for things we like. Really enjoying the pool in this 100 degree heat.

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