The centro historico of Merida is divided into neighborhoods called colonias in Yucatan, but referred to as barrios elsewhere in Mexico. Our first house in Merida was in colonia Santa Ana, north of the Plaza Grande, where many norteamericanos now make their homes. We later moved to colonia San Sebastian, south of the Plaza Grande. One attraction of this neighborhood is that it was originally the "Mayan quarter". Today it retains an authentic atmosphere and a Yucateco mestizo charm. Since then, many other gringos have arrived here in SO-ME (our nickname for South Merida), no doubt also drawn by the terrenos (plots of land) for lower prices.

It’s A Wonderful Day in the Neighborhood

Each neighborhood in the centro has a colonial-era church and park. In each church is housed the statue of the patron saint. Once a year on the fiesta day of the saint, the statue is cleaned, given a new wardrobe and carried around the neighborhood in a religious procession called a gremio, complete with a band and the launching of voladores (fireworks) to ward off evil spirits (not to mention stray dogs and unsuspecting tourists). In San Sebastian, the saint is La Virgen de la Asunción, whose holy day is August 15th, when it is said the Virgin Mary ascended to heaven. The tradition in San Sebastian is to conduct a gremio every day, beginning on August 1st until the day before the feast day of the 15th. La Virgen is taken from the church on the first day and spends the night at a different local residence until she is returned to the church on the 14th. That’s 14 gremios in a row, no doubt a record for any colonia in Merida.

The final gremio is called the Gremio de Mestizos and combines the participants of previous gremios with the local high school marching band and visiting dignitaries. In the evening (and every evening after a gremio) the residents and their visiting friends and families come out to enjoy the games and rides at the fería set up in the streets around the church.

This year, our neighbor Doña Guadalupe and family were in charge of picking up La Virgen from her evening residence and delivering her to the Gremio de Mestizos for the procession back to the church. Doña Guadalupe invited us into her home to accompany her group. Inside we met the children and the assembled mestizas wearing traditional huipiles, all serenaded by a three-piece gremio band sitting on the couch, waiting for the foot parade to begin. To help us endure the heat of the day, we were served ice-cold horchata, the popular rice milk drink of Yucatan, fortified with plenty of azucar.

We were told that Doña Guadalupe’s family also had the honor of carrying the new clothes for La Virgen this year: a blue cape, a silver-embroidered white dress and a crocheted-shawl that they had made to add to her wardrobe. From start to finish we were treated like one of the extended family, welcomed in and encouraged to take all the photos and video we wanted.

The gremio that started at Doña Guadalupe’s house wound its way to another neighbor’s home, where La Virgen had been sequestered in the garage that looked out onto the street. Many of the young people shooting off the voladores and carrying La Virgen were wearing playeras (tshirts) that commemorated a friend of theirs who had been tragically killed in a car accident earlier this year. At every door, neighbors came out and watched the procession go by. Often the men were invited to join in by lighting one or two voladores themselves as the gremio went by.

Gremio de Mestizos

At a corner near the church, our neighborhood gremio was met by a drum and bugle corp from the high school (go Panteras!) and more local residents, many carrying one of the forty-something estandartes (standards) of their respective gremios. Each of these beautiful tapestries are different, all of them created and embroidered here in the neighborhood for this traditional event, and some of them dating back to the early 1900′s.

At this same corner, some of the important women and men in the neighborhood boarded four calesas, decorated for the occasion. They chatted and visited, looking like they were having a great time, while the rest of us waited in the hot sun. The band played on and on, but the parade was stalled. More waiting. More sun. We walked to the nearest tendejon for a bottle of water… no, they were all out of water. We settled for a very sweet orange drink that claimed to be 100% juice.

What were we waiting for? It turns out we were waiting for the most important dignitary of the day, Governor of Yucatan, Yvonne Ortega, who not only wanted to show her support for the local residents and Yucatan’s traditions, but who, we were told, has a close relative that lives on the corner near the church. She was sporting one of her now famous Ibonica blouses, a contemporary revisioning of the traditional Mayan huipil. Yet even though the Governor of the State of Yucatan was there, it was still very much a neighborhood event.

The Gremio de Mestizos began parading through the streets, taking the long way around and back to the church. When the procession arrived, everyone entered, following the statue of La Virgen. Those already in the church cheered her arrival. The church officials were there to greet her and a mass was said. The church was packed and sweltering, so we left early… but we did get a chance to catch the last bunch of homemade firecrackers. After La Virgen entered the church, a long sisal string of connected firecrackers, wrapped into the rope at intervals was laid around the church, which if you have ever been there, you know is a very long and wide block. These firecrackers were then lit, setting off a chain reaction of noise and smoke that surrounded the church as we were leaving.

La Fería

Later that night, after a quick dinner of panuchos at the wonderful restaurants behind the church, we walked around the fería, watching the neighbors play futbollito (foosball) and ride on the carnival rides. We were invited to hear two budding rap artists who live across the street, and who claimed they would be performing at 8 PM, but for some reason, their concert never materialized…

Everyone we talked to told us that though THIS was wonderful, the festivities that would happen the next night would be spectacular.

Alas, those festivities never came to pass, but were rained out by the heaviest rain in 25 years from a storm that dropped more water in five hours than fell during all of Hurricane Isidore. And all those statistics do not even begin to communicate the noise and fury of the thunderstorm that shook our stone and cement house like a rogue but harmless earthquake. The dogs and cats cowered, the water flowed and we bemoaned the fact that we would have to wait until next year to see the spectacular finale to San Sebastian’s two weeks of summer fiesta.

Still, we made this video for Doña Guadalupe, and we thought you might like it too…

Want more? Check out our Photo Gallery for photos of the estandartes!

Julian Lopez Escobar, known as “El Juli”, was a child prodigy of the bullring. He began his career at the tender age of six and became the youngest Matador de Toros in history by fifteen. Although born in Spain and trained at the Madrid Academy of Tauromachy, he achieved the status of Matador de Toros in Mexico because he was too young under Spanish law. For this reason, he has often toured the Plazas de Toros of Mexico, and on January 31st, 2003, he came to Monumental Aviles, the bullring in Motul, Yucatan.

We knew nothing of El Juli and very little about bullfighting at the time, but our neighbor Ramon, who as a young man had worked at the Plaza de Toros in Mexico City, encouraged us to go. To help us understand and perhaps even appreciate what La Corrida (bullfighting) was all about, he gave us the book, Or I’ll Dress You In Mourning, which is the biography of "El Cordobes", the most famous torero (bullfighter) of the last century.

La Corrida is one of many Spanish traditions brought to Mexico after the conquest. It is probably the last public ritual animal sacrifice practiced today in the western world. It is pageantry, theatre, sport, metaphor and an acquired taste for very few gringos aficionados. We were captivated by the El Cordobes biography and joined Ramon that day in Motul, bringing our cameras along as always.

About two years later, El Juli suffered a "grave" goring of his right thigh, which is a common cause of fatality in toreros if the femoral artery is cut. He quickly recovered, but over the years, he has had numerous conflicts with his managers and promoters. At one point he sued Shakira over unauthorized use of his performances in a music video. These controversies, and maybe the effects of too early fame and achievement, eclisped El Juli’s star for a time.

On January 31st, 2010, exactly eight years after we saw him, El Juli staged a "triumphant" return to Mexico at the Plaza de Toros Monumental in Mexico City before a crowd of 35,000. Quite by coincidence, while looking for blank tape stock, we "discovered" the video we took that day in 2003. After some editing to conform to YouTube’s 10 minute limit, we are posting it for those few gringos aficionados and Yucatecans who may appreciate it. For anyone else, please do not watch this video nor leave the usual comments. We already know.

El Juli’s Website

So you want to be a torero? Be prepared to be humbled.

El Juli at the Plaza de Toros Monumental, Mexico City, January 31st, 2010.

A brief explanation of La Corrida we wrote for Yucatan Today.

Well, the Daily Show CAME to Merida months ago, but the segment finally aired this week.

Congratulations to all the extranjeros who braved the streets of Merida to participate in the filming, as well as Yucatan Living’s Joseph’s novia (girlfriend), Areli! What a great performance!

Here’s the segment about Americans escaping over the border into Mexico for healthcare:

This video is an introduction to Yucatan produced by Mexico International Real Estate. It’s a photo montage of people, places and events from around the Yucatan Peninsula. Some of our readers may recognize many of the photographs from the Yucatan Living website. That’s because all the photos are from our library, taken over the years by the Working Gringos. The video will be used to open a series of real estate seminars being presented in several major cities across the United States. For more information about the seminars, contact Mitch Keenan at Mexico International Real Estate.

The Yucatan State Fair began on October 29th, 1974. The Mexican President at the time, Luis Echeverria, and Yucatan’s Governor, Carlos Loret de Mola, started an event to provide local cattle dealers with an annual trade show, hoping to give an economic boost to Yucatan’s meat and cattle industry.

That seems to have worked, and the event continued to grow every year into what is now known as Feria Yucatán X’Matkuil (Xmatkuil Yucatan Fair). The fair at X’matkuil (pronounced ish-MOTT-koo-eel, for those who don’t speak Mayan) is the State’s biggest once-a-year public event, next to Carnival. Unlike fairs in the States, which are held in the summer for the warm weather, Yucatan’s fair is held in the late fall, for this is the time of warm days and cooler nights.

Just like most State Fairs, the fair at X’matkuil brings together every aspect of the Yucatan economy under one roof, giving visitors a chance to view and perhaps purchase the products and services of hundreds of local businesses. X’matkuil means "place to make requests to God" in Maya. But it is the name of the fair because it is also the name of the 19th Century Hacienda on whose grounds it is located.

In 1974 when it all started, the fairgrounds covered 25 acres that were almost completely dedicated to cattle judging. As more people (and businesses) wanted a place to sell their products and services (and some enterprising organizer decided maybe there was something more fun to do than look at cows), the area dedicated to the fair grew to reach the more than 120 acres it covers today, including 50 acres just for parking, which never seems to be enough.

In 2007 almost 1,000 vendors took part in the 33rd edition of the State Fair, which lasted from November 9th to December 2nd. If you wanted to buy something at the fair, you had your pick of all types of livestock, many variations of typical Yucatecan clothing and locally-made shoes, locally-gathered honey, locally-grown or processed grocery items, hundreds of different handcrafts, furniture, and more. There was real estate for sale and car dealers promoting their brands, as well as an exhibition of specially tuned-up race cars.

Of course, a large part of the attraction of a State Fair is always the food. X’matkuil is no different. The food court served arrachera, tacos, panuchos, several kinds of mole, nachos, cabrito, tortas and too much more to list. If fast food was what you wanted, there was McDonalds, Burger King, Domino’s Pizza, Pizza Hut, and KFC.

And there is always lots of music. Several venues were scattered around the fairgrounds featuring more than 60 performances by national and international artists; everything from Mexican Mariachi, Panamanian Reggaeton, hardcore Rock and even Argentino Rock, represented by a band called Enanitos Verdes, translation: little green men. Most of the music shows were free except a few headliners performed at the main Palenque stage. If you wanted to hear Juan Gabriel, one of Mexico’s most famous singers, live in concert, it would have set you back $1,200 MXN for a VIP seat. That’s about $110 US and a steep ticket price anywhere, especially in the Yucatan.

And then there were the special shows. The Dolphin Show has been a big draw since it was added a few years ago, and this year a Shark Aquarium (where cameras were not allowed) was also the scene of long lines. We heard from someone who endured the torturous line, that the tankful of nurse sharks wasn’t very spectacular, but the kids from the towns around Merida who had never seen a shark seemed to enjoy them. Speaking of torture, this year’s new hit was an exhibit called "Torture and Capital Punishment Artifacts from the XIV Century", brought from Europe. If lines were any indication, the local crowd couldn’t get enough. And, if the visions of torture didn’t make your toes tingle, there were plenty of amusement rides to make you dizzy, turn you upside down, shake your bones and toss you up into the air.

The prices at the fair have been rising every year, but this year, the people running the fair did something unheard of… they lowered prices! The entrance fee was $10 MXN (under $1 USD) for people over 12 years old, allowing all who entered to wander around and look at the livestock and exhibits to their heart’s content. Food was priced reasonably, and a big lunch for under $5 USD per person was easy to find. They kept the tickets for things like the Dolphin Show at a reasonable $25 MXN. Tickets to mechanical rides that were $25 to $40 pesos last year, were $10, $25, and $30 pesos this year.

To get to the fair at X’matkuil, take Calle 50 from the Centro and keep going straight, todo derecho (straight ahead), a Yucateco’s favorite expression when giving directions, until you get to the Hacienda. Then just keep your eyes open… it will be obvious where to go from there.

Like any State Fair, the Yucatan State Fair can not be described with words alone. It is more of a visceral experience. So, because this website is lacking smell-o-vision and the ability to fax you a panucho for the FULL experiencia, we will do our best to let you know what to expect when you go to the X’matkuil Yucatan State Fair with this short video… enjoy!