Some reflections on Mexico

For the last three days I have been in Merida in the Yucatan Peninsula.   Most Americans know the region from Cancun.  I've never been there but I have done a lot of work in the city of Merida and in a couple of other areas.   One of the affiliate universities that I have worked with is called Universidad del Mayab.  It is a superior place.  We were working on building some connections with California colleges and universities.

Over the last dozen or so years we have done a series of projects in the area related to research and governance- bringing together scholars and politicians to discuss best practices. On this trip I had three interviews (TV, Radio and Newspaper).  I also got to meet the Mayor of Merida.  In the last few years a lot of women have entered political life.  The Mayor is an architect named Angelica Araujo Lara.  I was impressed with her command of the issues.   We also had lunch in Progresso - which is a beach town not far from Merida, but missed meeting the mayor there.

I have not been to the Mayab for a couple of years and am impressed by the growth in the place.  They seem to be working hard on making the place a bit larger but also in making it better.  I had the chance to meet with deans of each school and to talk about how to make connections and also with a small group of students who would like to come to California to talk about government.

I stayed in the Fiesta Inn.  One innovation there is a better way to charge for the internet.   They charge $175 pesos for 24 hours usage.  But that 24 hours can be done at any time of your stay.   So I ended up paying about four dollars a day for internet coverage.  That seems like a fair price.  I get really annoyed by American hotels who charge outrageous fees for internet services.

Today I went to an archeological site called Dzibilchaltun (ZIB-ILL-SHAWL-TOON) which means stones with words on it.  The top photo (I did not take either) is of the observatory.  The Mayans were pretty smart about astronomy but interestingly they failed at this site because they could not deal with a three year drought.   The bottom photo is of a Cenote which shows how smart the Mayans were on water - at least until the drought.  I will have some more photos up when I get my own pictures off my camera.   I will also have some more comments on the site.

I also had dinner at a hacienda near Merida - this particular hacienda produced henequen.