Biography:I am a writer from Vancouver, BC, Canada. However I've lived in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico for the past 34 years. My bicultural lifestyle is the inspiration for most of my work.
My husband Jorge is from Merida and it is here that we raised our children, Carlos and Maggie. We've enjoyed a very interesting career in International Education and been very active in our community.
I have many interests and passions but also keep time for reading, relaxing and re-charging my batteries. I strive for balance in all areas of my life.
Now retired from the directorship of our college, we look forward to lots more travel and new adventures.
I hope you'll like reading my stories from this corner of the world and beyond. Blog link: www.writingfrommerida.com
Magic... Made In Mexico
In January 1976 I worked as a customer service representative for a Canadian tour company. A very pleasurable part of my job was to accompany familiarization trips to different destinations. Tourism was a new activity in Cuba and I was assigned to take six groups of journalists, travel agents and other media types to Havana. From there, I’d escort the groups to Mexico. Not a bad gig in the middle of the west Canadian winter!
Although intrigued to have seen Fidel’s Cuba, the cohort looked forward to the next destination – Merida, cultural capital of southeastern Mexico. As the plane touched down, Yucatan’s sultry humid air enveloped us like a blanket. How was I to know that my life was about to veer completely off course?
On my very first night there, I met the man who would become my husband. It was literally love at first sight. On my second trip to Yucatan, Jorge asked me to marry him. After my sixth three-day stay in Merida, I traveled back to Vancouver… quit my job, sold my car, let go of my apartment, gave away most of my earthly possessions, then moved permanently to Merida!
Jorge had recently finished having a three bedroom house built on a lot that had both a mango and avocado tree! He hadn’t even moved in when he met me. When he showed me the house I would live in, he said, “I had this house built for you.” “But you didn’t even know me”, I countered. “No, but I knew I would meet you…” I settled in and we have lived there ever since.
Although my background was in Education, I had worked in Tourism for several years and I loved it. When I moved to Merida, I assumed I would get a position at a hotel or as a travel agent or maybe a guide… NOT! In those years, it was nearly impossible for foreigners to get a working visa; about the only option was teaching English. So that is what I did. After a few years, Jorge and I started our family and I didn’t work full time until my youngest daughter was five years old. That is when we started our college, Tecnologia Turistica Total www.tttac.com and we worked “double-time” for twenty years. We no longer have such a busy schedule as we’re “in the process of retiring” but I still manage one of the programs at our college, Life Long Learning. This option offers workshops (in English) and culture travel opportunities for Merida’s international community and snowbirds.
So many things about living in Merida are very special to me… But I would have to say the most interesting one is the gift of living a bi-cultural lifestyle and that Jorge and I have raised our children in this environment. It is amazing to me to see the impact this has had on our immediate family and on our extended families, here and in Canada.
I love the fact that I have been able to do so many different things with my life. I have gotten to know so many incredible people through my work and my social life. I have seen so many wonderful places in this country and I have been enriched by it all.
The one sadness for me has been not spending more time with my Canadian family, especially when the children were small. Now, it is a different story… easier travel, lower telephone rates and the Internet keep us close in a day-to-day way. I do NOT miss the “good old days” when my only means of regular contact was by mail.
I don’t miss Vancouver’s cold or the rain or the grey skies, although I will admit to a few moments of nostalgia when a “norte” blows in.
In Yucatan I’ve had the chance to really learn about the Maya culture. Coba is my favorite of the lesser-known archaeological site; it is a very special place… I like the little lakes and walking through the village. The actual site is other-world and the accommodation is great – whether you choose to rough it (El Bocadito) or not (Villas Arqueologicas). The birding is spectacular – I once saw seven toucans in a tree overhead!
I am always asked by tourists, “Why don’t you have more of a tan?” The tourists don’t realize that most residents work or at least have a home to manage and they can’t be at the beach all day… Tourists don’t worry if they act-out. I guess they figure no one knows them anyway. Residents have to be (or should be) conscious of the way they behave because they don’t want to offend the local population. Merida is the fastest growing retirement community in Mexico and respect for the city’s traditions and lifestyle are very important to most of the people who have settled here.
I have friends from many socio-economic groups and of many different nationalities… this is something I am very grateful for. However, there are a few women who live in Merida who are my best friends. Like me, they came from elsewhere many years ago and made their lives in Merida. Along with my family, these women helped me adjust to life here; we have supported and helped one another through many good and bad times. These friends are the family I chose.
As an example of the multicultural activities I get to participate in, let me tell you about last Sunday. Jorge and I went to a party held at the home of one of our college’s maintenance men who lives in the village of Tahmec. In fact, Don Jose invited our entire office staff and everyone went…
It was a very cool party with wonderful food. There were hand made tortillas, pavo en relleno blanco and pavo en relleno negro. Both these entrees were prepared in the traditional way by burying the pots underground on top of hot coals. We got to see our lunch as it rose steaming from the ground!
The party venue included the entire house and surrounding property. There were A LOT of people! At one point, I found myself alone in a room with an extremely elderly lady who was watching TV from her hammock. When she saw me, she beamed a totally toothless smile, signaled that I should sit beside her and commenced speaking to me in Maya. I do not speak the language and as we swung to and fro, I tried to tell her this… She just kept talking and I eventually started nodding my head up-and-down or back-and-forth as I thought was appropriate.
I finally spied our host and asked him to come in to the room and translate for me… “Oh don’t worry” Don Jose said, “this old grandmother is deaf!” She was still talking away so I kept up my nodding and added gestures to indicate I fully understood her. And you know what? Although the words were not comprehensible to me or even audible to her, we did have a lovely conversation about the fundamental things most women have in common: children, home and hearth. An open mind and heart will always compensate for a lack of language.
I have been to most states in Mexico except in the northern part. There are many places I have really loved but I think San Cristobal de las Casas in Chiapas is my very favorite. I love the strong Maya presence, being in the mountains, the novelty of cooler temperatures, the handcrafts and ceremonies.
I feel totally embraced by the Mexicans who know me (and I know many people) Once in a while I encounter someone who has attitude but this is so infrequent, I don’t waste any sleep over it.
Although I have worked with language all my life, it was just a few years ago that I got serious about my writing. I wrote a book about my life that also includes anecdotal advice for new residents in Merida. I have currently finished an updated version that will be available just before Christmas this year. It is called, “Magic… Made in Mexico” I blog Monday to Friday (www.writingfrommerida.com) and I am editing my first novel.
I definitely want to stay in Merida for the rest of my life. Before I ever even dreamed of moving to Yucatan, a fortune teller read my palm and she told me, “You will be buried under a foreign flag”! At the time I was pretty spooked but maybe she was more clairvoyant than I realized? Hopefully, the prophesy is far from fulfillment and I will have many, many more happy years in Merida.
I plan on enjoying my family, my friends here and guests from abroad. For the foreseeable future, I will continue to work with the Life Long Learning program and I’ll keep writing.
I’m often asked what advice I have for new international residents in Mexico: Learn Spanish and get involved in this community!
The following quotation is from the introduction to my book. I think the words describe my life quite well…
“Living in Mexico is complex – solving one mystery presents another. Life here is a fragmented composite of the magical and the mundane, of fact and myth and more. To complicate matters, many situations seem to have solutions that are at odds with one another and attempting to determine what is valid and what is not, is folly. I think those who’ve successfully adjusted to a new life here simply sit back and let it unfold. They say there’s one constant: you’ll always be surprised!”
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