Mérida

The bus stop in Mérida where we arrive is.. well, in the middle of the city, presumably, but we have no clue where exactly. Irving (our Couchsurfing host) gave us a detailed description which city bus to take to his house, but unfortunately we can't find the street.
In the "hotel" where we ask (they rent rooms for 1, 2 or 4 hours...) they don't know either. Finally, we DO see a bus with random destinations scribbled onto the windscreen, but it's not ours. (Actually, these destinations would plot out a detailed map, but not for the uninitiated like us.) Lesson to learn here: It's a lot more communicative and sociable when there aren't any printed bus plans or timetables.
After a lot of walking, asking, and hoping, we finally find the right bus, and then the right house.

Irving, our couchsurfing host, is most welcoming! After showing us our quarters (which is actually a small house on its own!), we are even invited for dinner by his parents. 
It's a dish prepared with the minced meat of a small shark (I forgot the Spanish name..), and served with various salsas. While his parents make a valiant effort not to smirk at our un-Mexican eating habits (apparently, *this* salsa is not for putting onto tortillas, and you don't eat *that* one with a spoon.. we're really sorry! We just don't know better!), Irving patiently explains how things are usually done, but also adds with a smile that our odd way is also acceptable. Thankfully, Mexicans are very relaxed when it comes to etiquette.

Our host's plan for tonight: A short stroll around the city centre, and then off to a pub, meeting some friends' of his. It turns out Irving is also an excellent guide, and knows a lot to tell about most historic buildings, completed with tips what to visit. It turns out Mérida is just full of museums, and quite a lot of them don't have an entry fee. On top of that, there are some cultural events every evening on the main square. Tonight, for example, the road in front of the city hall is packed with elderly couples, swinging away to the live Salsa music played for everyone's pleasure. Amazing!

In the pub ("La Negrita", highly recommendable) we spend a great evening - Irving, Doris, a German living in Mérida, Luisa, who has a shop preparing Spanish-style Paella, and her artistic cousin Aeneis who came for a visit from Mexico City, all of them make us feel very welcome here.. On top of that, we do make an amazing language mix all evening long. German (Iving started learning that language recently), Spanish (of course) and English (because our Spanish is still so "pocito", of course..) combines very well with the beers, and the various nibbles that the waiter keeps depositing at our table.

Since Irving has to prepare classes next morning (he works as a lecturer in the university of Mérida), we explore the city on our own. The town hall shows huge murals by Fernando Castro Pacheco, telling the story of the conquest of Yucatan as well as the rise of the Mayan population against the following suppression.

Interesting interpretation of the Mexican flag: The eagle and the snake are a metaphor for positive and negative powers struggling within Mexico (or even within each Mexican?) itself, and the hope that the "good" will eventually prevail. A commendable example of self-criticism.. Could we please have a similar symbol for the Austrian flag, please?

The Hall of the City Palast. Pacheco's painting all seem like they are actually chisseled into the canvas, and illuminated by spotlights (they aren't it's all paint), but the overall tone is gloomy.

Also, we would like to follow Luisa's invitation to try her Paella.. but, alas, the city busses confuse us again and lead us astray. We DO arrive at Luisa's house, but way to late. No Paella left, but her housemate and partner-in-Paella immediately asked us to come in and wait for her to come back. (Because we didn't show up for so long, she decided to go to beach, which isn't far) At first, I feel a bit awkward, but Miguel, without knowing us at all, treats us like long-expected guests. He speaks only Spanish, but explains and illustrated everything he tells us so well that I DO understand quite a lot of it.. And he has a lot to tell. Being originally from Madrid, he still has lived here long enough to know quite a bit of the country. (And he really likes it here in Mérida. One of the few complaints he has is that Mexicans always put some Chili-loaded salsa on his Paella. To translate that for non-Spaniards: It's like putting tomato sauce on a Wiener Schnitzel..)
Later, Doris pops by, and invites us for coffee (she's living next door), shortly after that Luisa and Aeneis arrive as well, and we spend another evening feeling like we are with some old friends..

On our way home, it starts to rain, and we fall asleep with heavy raindrops spattering on the roof. For some reason I wake up quite early, around half past five, and when I drowsily get out of bed, I don't find solid ground next to it, but instead... water. A lot of water. Around 30 centimeters deep water. What on earth..?! Disorientedly I wade around a bit, and find that the entire house is under water. A quick glance outside confirms that the rain has stopped, but the garden is a small lake, and our lodging a small island in the middle of it.

When I open the door to the backyard, a bit of motion comes into our indoor pool, and it slowly starts to flow out of the house. One of my sandals sneakily tries to float out as well.
Next thought: Our backpacks. They were on the floor. Oh shi.. damn. Damn damn damn.
We wake up Irving (his house, next to ours, is about half a meter higher, and thankfully not affected), but there is really not a lot we can do. Well, there is a lot to do, but nothing does a lot of good. We spread out all our stuff on the available dry surfaces like tables and chairs, and wring out our sopping wet clothes and backpacks and hang them on clothes lines, but still.. Damn.

Later on the day we assess the damage: Both our mobile phones are fine, the laptop as well, but both our cameras and my lenses are just dripping pieces of garbage. The worst thing: The ebook with all our travel guides and books on it is useless as well. It survived, but its touchscreen did not.

Dry, dear clothes, please dry.. (No pictures of our cameras.. The lens of my good old Nikon D50 had enough water in it to serve as an aquarium for a small fish.)

We spend a dreary day hunting for an affordable second-hand digicam, but finding a replacement for the ebook is just hopeless. Still, by evening, we get our spirits up a little bit, aided a lot by the fact that we can wash all our clothes with Irving's parents' washing machine. Clean dry clothes make a lot of difference.

Next day the sun is out, and now also our backpacks and shoes get dry properly. Hannah's passport and our notebooks as well. It looks like there is hope for the one paperback guidebook, too, but that will take more than just one sunny day. Still, no use to stick around and watch the evaporation process, so we visit the city's town history museum.

Facade of Francisco de Montejo's house. He actually put Spanish conquistadores standing on the heads of their vanquished foes on his front door. And back then, it was probably not even considered bad taste. Today, even the horse sneers at this.

Apart from an overview of the city's history, it also shows some paintings and art installations of Méridan artists. Museums of Vienna, hear hear: This one is free as well!

I made the mistake of not writing down the painter's name, and I have no clue what the picture is, but it's beautiful.

One of the details I learned, which I liked most: The most likely origin of the name "Yucatán" seems to be the phrase "I don't speak your language" in Mayan. So possibly the state shares it's name with Kangaroos, but definitely documents once more the linguistic ineptitude of the conquistadores..

Our last adventure in the city was another wonderful idea of Irving. As a fellow natural scientist (for some reason, I still consider myself one..), he had the idea that some of his students could be interested in a short talk on my experiences at CERN and at MedAustron. I think it could be fun, he quickly coordinates things with a colleague, and a few days later in the evening I stand at the blackboard, in front of a dozen students.

Most of them are in the fifth semester, mechanical and mechatronics engineers. While I give a short introduction to CERN, the construction of particle accelerators, and the medical applications, I'm amazed. They are really, really interested! And they ask questions! On top having of a really enjoyable evening, I even get a certificate thanking me for my guest lecture.. My goodness, wow.

A very unexpected lecture. I hope the students enjoyed it as much as I did (but it was their idea to take a photo!)

We planned on staying for two or three days in Mérida, but it is almost a week when we finally leave. Apart from our aquatic adventure, we did enjoy Mérida a lot.. I guess it must have been the combination of the city itself, and all the nice people we met there. (And there is also the hope of meeting Irving again in Germany! He hopes to find an interesting PhD position in Renewable Energies there.. I keep my fingers crossed for him!)

One of the chairs-for-two on the cental plaza of Mérida.