Tranquilo - Safety in Yucatan
We're willing to bet that if you've read anything about Mexico in the mainstream media lately, you've read something about either the violence in Oaxaca or murders in Ciudad Juarez or the contested presidential election that left the losing candidate declaring fraud and not recognizing the decision of the election commission. The papers are always happy to print bad news about Mexico.
And if you're like most norteamericanos, these news stories have probably left you feeling uncomfortable about traveling to Mexico and especially about living here. Reading the U.S. State Department's Travel Tips might give you pause for thought, as they warn against crime "in Mexico" and encourage you to register with the embassy whenever you travel to Mexico so they can contact you in an emergency.
But we invite you to imagine that you are a foreigner contemplating a trip to the United States, knowing as much about it as you do about Mexico. You might read headlines about snipers randomly shooting people near the nation's capital, or men locking themselves in classrooms to rape and kill schoolgirls, or drive-by murders between gang members, or mothers drowning their babies. You might read about brutal police tactics using rubber bullets, tear gas and Tasers against peaceful demonstrators. You might read about drug enforcement officers mistakenly breaking into the wrong homes and killing the inhabitants. You would read how business executives become politicians who make laws legalizing corruption and then retire to become lobbyists (or vice-versa). You might also read how a majority of people voted for a presidential candidate who subsequently lost due to questionable election rules and court decisions.
As a U.S. citizen, you might be offended to learn that the country of apple pie and baseball does not seem so wonderful when a foreigner reads about it in the papers. You might want to say, "wait a minute, that's not my country!" As a U.S. citizen you know these incidents - while unfortunate and true - do not affect everyday life for the majority of people. You know that there may be problems, but there is so much more to experience in the U.S. than these stories tell.
We have lived in Mexico for several years, and we know that everyday life here is not affected by the headlines. There is so much more to life in Mexico than the stories told in the newspapers.
We have lived in the heart of a Mexican city, in the Centro Historico, just five blocks from the zocalo, in Merida. This city's population is approaching one million. We live on a busy block that has private homes as well as businesses ranging from dental equipment suppliers to doctor's offices to a printing press. On the corner is a local cantina, La Bar Negrita. On another corner is a tendejon, El Motor Electrico. There is also a bed & breakfast called Hotel Marionetas and a public parking lot.
We have a simple lock on our front door. We leave our interior doors to the patio and back yard open, unless it rains. We park our SUV on the street. We walk to and from our office, the zocalo, Paseo de Montejo, and any other number of places at all times of night and day. When our 16-year old daughter lived here, she would walk to and from a friend's house at night by herself. Now and then, we absent-mindedly forget our purse or wallet in the car. Other times, we have left something valuable in the car, like a camera, while we do our errands around town. We aren't stupid about it... we just aren't paranoid.
We have never been accosted. We have never been robbed. The worst thing that's happened to us is someone "collected" our California license plates. But nobody bothers to take our new Yucatan license plates.
We have been stopped by policemen on occasion for minor traffic "misunderstandings". Most of these were legitimate, while a couple seemed inappropriate, but we were always treated with the utmost respect by those policemen and have never been in a situation here in Yucatan where anyone expected us to pay la mordita (a bribe).
Sure, you can find stories of people who have been robbed. There have been several murders in Merida since we moved here, but these are surprisingly few given Merida's size. There was some violence around one of the local newspaper offices a few months ago involving a home-made bomb. There are often political rallies and demonstrations, almost always peaceful. The most violence we've seen was when the city wanted to change the local bus routes and the workers from the surrounding pueblos arrived at the zocalo armed with stones to protest. A tear gas canister was fired at the crowd, but by midnight the mayor had restored the original routes and the protesters went home. It's not always tidy in Mexico - this isn't Switzerland - but the problems in Mexico that we confront are nothing compared to what U.S. citizens living in big cities accept and live with every day.
Yucatan has something special going on. There's a peaceful co-existence here between people from many different cultures and walks of life that you seldom find in other parts of the world. Yucatecos live and let live. Little has changed and much has changed, producing a culture of tolerance, patience and amable (kindness). Why has Mexico in general and Yucatan in particular developed in this way? Maybe it has to do with the relative isolation this part of the world has endured for many years, but is enjoying now. Maybe it has to do with learning the lessons of their violent history or maybe it's the survival of their indigenous traditions or the ingredients in the food or the dawn of a new Mayan age in the year 2012. Maybe it's because it's really hot here for half the year and nobody can get up the energy to cause trouble. Quien sabe?
Whatever it is, if you are inclined to explore Yucatan, please read those news reports about Mexico with un grano de sal. Remember that Mexico is a very large country and places like Oaxaca and Yucatan are farthar apart than France and England, not just geographically, but culturally as well. Don't take the word of a few journalists wearing gringo-tinted glasses whose job is to write stories that sell papers. Come down to the Yucatan and find out for yourself what life here is really like.
Yucatan and Merida remain as they have been: muy tranquilo.
Want to know more about safety in Mexico? Read this fabulous article by a former television producer who now makes his home in Queretaro.
Comments
k. morgan 18 years ago
My daughter and I spent six days including Christmas in Mexico, and I too found Merida extremely friendly and non-threatening. I speak intermediate level Spanish and have spent time in Venezuela and Ecuador whose cities were dangerous. I did not get the same sense of threatening "vibrations" walking along El Centro's sometimes empty streets. Christmas Eve we chose to go to a neighborhood church, La Capilla de Divina Providencia, where we were made to feel a part of the congregation and were introduced to the people around us. It was such a nice intimate experience that it didn't seem to matter that I was splashed head to toe with standing rain water from a passing car as we walked home. (Most of the other cars had traveled slowly through the water. This was an exception. )I know I'd improve my halting Spanish in Merida because everyone would talk to me.
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Jana 18 years ago
I just wanted to take the time to thank you for writing this article. I will be traveling to Merida to teach in January and will be living there until March. Many Americans have warned me about the problems with safety in Mexico and I am so glad that I found your article. It's incredibly reassuring to know how much you love the city and it makes me much more eager to leave. I can't thank you enough for the difference that your contribution has made.
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Daniel 18 years ago
I agree wholeheartedly. Merida is without question one of the most peaceful and delightful cities I've ever visited. I feel quite safe there. The most "dangerous" thing I've experienced to date has been pestering from an overly zealous street vendor. Compared to New York City, where I lived for many years, Merida is almost a paradise. Virtually everyone I've ever met there has been friendly, helpful, pleasant, and oftentimes charmingly funny. I speak Spanish, which helps, but even without understanding the language I'm sure I would be treated well. I, too, am constantly correcting the mistaken impressions that many foreigners have of Mexico. Parts are dangerous, yes. But not Merida. I plan to continue returning there for many years to come.
Como puedo parar de visitar un lugar con personas tan simpaticas? Pues... no puedo...
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Eduardo Cabrera 18 years ago
There are some explanations about this peaceful co-existence. Some authors suggest some theories which I hope to share soon.
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Marie Garcia 18 years ago
I am leaving Miami, Florida for the reasons we all know, over-crowded everything, not safe, impossible to drive, etc, etc, etc Glad to see this article and know I made a good choice and is the right choice!! See you in a few months :)
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Ray 18 years ago
Very well done. In the many discussions with friends about our plans to move to Merida it constantly comes up about the crime, can't drink the water, etc. People tend to turn a blind eye to the problems in their own city or country. A common comment is why move to Mexico, its a third world country. Well here in Vancouver, Canada we have been under a boil water advisory for two weeks and no end in sight, the power has gone out at my home three times in the last three weeks due to wind first (90 kmh wind) and now snow which last night put the power out for 6 hours. Then the crime, car theft and drugs. Most neighborhoods, especially middle to upper class ones, have marijuana grow ops to the tune of 25% or more. Our little enclave of 60 homes has had 10 raids for grow ops. And we have gang issues too. The final straw, the local police have now decided not to report to the media on many crimes as it paints a negative picture! All of this in a city which isn't much bigger than Merida and supposedly not a third world country. Friends quickly become quiet when reminded of our living conditions. Oh and just so I don't forget, our socialized medicine is a joke. My wife had to wait to find a family doctor for two months and then had to go for an interview for the doctor to decide if they would take my wife on as a patient and is waiting 3 months to get a mammogram. Oldest son has had to wait 18 months for a simple knee surgery. Anyway, thanks for listening and keep up the good work.
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Tim 18 years ago
Of course Mexico is safer! There are not as many lawyers.
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Guylene 18 years ago
You could not have been more correct about Merida. I have traveled there and all over the Yucatan several times in the last 2 years and I felt the safest in Merida. I feel safer there than I do in Brooklyn where I grew up! Also I believe foreigners have an advantage that the Yucatecan people either like having interesting different peaceful people visiting and living in Merida, and having that tourism helps everyone and the tourist that make it to Merida is probably looking for something more that what is spoon fed to them in Cancun. So they communicate with community on a different level. Also what you said was right, it is WAY to hot for most of the year that people just chill out. The lifestyle in the Yucatan is totally different from the lifestyle in Chiapas for sure. It changes with the climate, and the culture.
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Bob Low 18 years ago
Keep the news coming. too many Americans ignore the fact that we in America have people in bed sheets and pointy hats hanging and dragging people behind cars.
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Carlos Daniel Gallegos 18 years ago
Your article is so true. When I went to Monterrey NL for the 1st time by bus in 2000, people here in Texas tried to scare me about the Banditos who robbed buses. But I experienced no such thing. Yes, while there is crime and violence in many of the border towns, much of Mexico is relatively peaceable. In fact, I debate wheather to bring my esposa, Ariadna, 100% Yucateca :-), to live here in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. I feel she is safer in Merida.
On another note: A Brazilian woman in Merida came into the Museo de La Ciudad, where my esposa works. She is dating a US citizen. She was worried about marriage to him in Brazil, and they were not economically able to marry in the US. (US Immigration is so stupid.) So, my wife suggested they marry in Merida in Registro Civil, just as we did. Good news! The US Citizen and the Brazilian are planning to marry in Merida. She asked my wife to be a Testigo at her Boda.
My wife says the Museo may be moving to the Correos in March 2007. There are many Cantinas in that area close to the Correos. She has to walk from the Correos to the Parada de Camiones Minnis 2000, near the present Museo de la Ciudad, at night. She said she feels comfortable about walking to the bus stop at night. That's it for now. Hasta approximo.
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Billie 18 years ago
Ya got it. So glad you wrote this entry. When San Miguel had a rapist on the loose, it seemed that the people in the US were reporting on it as if every gringa in Mexico was in imminent danger of being raped. He raped 4 women before he was caught. Terrible for the women that it happened to, and one of them was a dear friend, but at the same time there was a series of rapes in one apartment complex in Houston and people were still traveling there. You have a great site.
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