Merida!

So here we are in Mexico at last! It's been quite a trip getting here, but it only took us 3 days and 3 hours. I gotta say even from moments before landing i could tell it was two different worlds, and i haven't been disappointed! After a short trip through the more urban region of Merida we arrived in downtown, the vibrant cultural center of all Mexico where we're staying. After meeting Mr.Fernandez the cool older gentleman(and that actually counts for something here) he showed us our great little studio apartment only two blocks from the center of town. We didn't pay much for the whole month and we got everything we could possibly need right off the bat, from maid service once a week to 5 gal jug of clean drinking water(so sweet) and wifi! Needless to say we're pretty escatic with everything so far. And after a night of sound sleep to recharge our batteries from the trip we set out with nowhere particular in mind and wound up wandering around the cultural district for quite a few hours. Now while it really is two different worlds, from the language to the colonial architecture, at the same time so much is similar, because while USA/Mexican cultural histories are extremely varied, it was not long ago that they merged onto basically the same track. Capitalistic free market economics has put its stamp on this cultural center like it has so many others. You can tell simply by walking through and going into shop after shop that although they contain many beautiful wares that are handcrafted, they also contained an array of obviously mass produced wares. And it is a shame to see the wonderful handcrafted wares of an entire people be forced to sell for pennies of profit just to compete with the standard stuff sold everywhere , and who wants to see a wal-mart and mcdonalds on vacation!? But even faced with obvious economic terrorism from the all powerful capitalistic pig god, the people here are warm friendly and respectful, even if they are a little eager to hawk there wares, who can blame them? Alright well there's an free music festival downtown so i gotta jet, for now, but not forever.