Those who live in Merida enjoy warm weather year around. In fact, the one complaint that could be made about the weather is that it can get hot…really hot. Some summer days can hover above 95 degrees Fahrenheit so air conditioning in homes and cars is common as are small plunge pools for your home.

Merida is a city chocked full of culture. There are seven institutions of higher learning to include traditional universities, colleges, and technical schools. There are eight or ten museums displaying a variety of items to include traditional and indigenous items.

Often called the White City for the number of colonial structures, all painted white, Merida is a city that loves its art and artists. Hosting around seven or eight active galleries, Merida even has one entire street devoted to original sculptures, the Paseo de Montejo. Each year, the city installs one new original piece from a local artist along with an additional piece from an artist from another country.

Merida is home to the Yucatan Symphony Orchestra. Music lovers can enjoy traditional classical performances along with Jazz and Opera performed at one of the six active theaters.

Expats seeking books in English will be thrilled with the Merida English Library. Not only a resource for thousands of English books, the library also serves as a hub for expats to mix and mingle and often assists with the organization of meetings and functions.

And speaking of language, the Spanish spoken in Merida and the rest of the Yucatan Peninsula, is different from the Spanish spoken in the rest of Mexico. Yucatan Spanish retains a heavy Maya influence, both in the sound and rhythm of speech, as well as the definition of some words and phrases. As the Yucatan Peninsula is separated from the rest of Mexico, the normal blending and melding of a language, without such isolation, has not occurred as it has throughout the rest of Mexico.

By Don Murray
International Living