Jessica vs. Mexico: Mérida and the Yucatán: "I Lobe You!"

Hola Gringos!

I can't believe my second week here is almost over, its all going so fast! But it looks like our little vacation is officially over: we all just realized how much homework and readings we have to do over the next few weeks, and let me tell you its no small amount. Guess we'll be studying on the beach instead of drinking on it. I'm really falling in love with this city though. There is so much to do and just so much life going on its really hard to focus on anything else.

I especially love the people watching… although most of the time is watching people watching me- and when I say watching I mean staring intensely. I guess you could say I kind of stick out here. The city, and most of Mexico for that matter, is really homogenous. Kind of the exact opposite of Chicago. The fact that I'm white and an American makes me stand out as it is, but once you add the fact that I'm a blonde and taller than half of the population people tend to pay special attention.

When you think of "extra attention," you think of maybe a passing glance or double take, but no. The cultural norm of "don't stare" is obviously an American thing, cause no one here seems to know about it. I mean these people STARE. I can stare back, wave, say hola anything- they just keep staring.

My friend Luke gets a pretty big kick out of it. He is from El Salvador and pretty much blends in here, so he has a different perspective on things. Usually, he's the one who notices and gives me a "Dude, those ladies are staring at you hard core." We spend a lot of time traveling to el centro together or hanging out in out park, so he gets it a lot too. People usually give him weird looks like "What is that Mexican doing with that Gringa? Little kids are the best though- they just stare, smile and giggle.

It is kind of amusing when you can't even walk down the street without people yelling things like "hello pretty lady!" and even "I Lobe You!" (yes Lobe not Love- with expressive hand gestures and everything), but honestly it starting to get a little tiring. When I'm walking with Luke I usually don't get it as bad, since they think I'm with him, but when I'm alone people can get a little overzealous. Usually I just ignore them, but when they start following me down the street or patting at my bag it starts to get to me (don't worry I'm not wandering the streets alone at night or anything, this always happens during the day with a lot of people around).

I have to admit, its really strange being a minority for the first time. The bad part about it is that people know I'm American, and that I don't speak the language that well, and know they can screw me over or mess with me, because there isn't really anything I can do about it. The worst part is knowing I'm being screwed over or messed with and not knowing enough of the language to stand up for myself. Hopefully once I get a little more fluent, which is a long way off, things will get better.

But until then, I guess I'm just going to have to get used to it. I think its high time to playing back- maybe I'll start making faces or doing a little dance… I'll keep you updated.

Until then, enjoy the fotos!