On December 23rd we woke up and had a great breakfast before starting our very eventful excursion. We drove to Izamal, the Yellow City, which is about 1 hour and 30 minutes from Progreso. Evan had been wanting to return to the Yellow City since our first visit as he had found the ultimate table […]
On December 19th Grammy made the journey all by herself from Calgary to Cancun where we picked her up at the airport. The boys were very excited to travel to the airport but we have been informed now that their ‘butts’ don’t like to drive in the car for 8-10 hours a day! We drove […]
The holiday season is certainly alive and well in Progreso, Yucatan and surrounding cities such as Merida. Our family could not believe the amount of decorations not only displayed by all the towns and cities at this time of year, but also the extent that all the homes went to. It seemed that all the […]
After just starting TaeKwonDo in September in Progreso, Yucatan Evan and Noah both had TaeKwonDo exams in December to see if they were ready to advance a level. The week before the exam both boys had to come to Merida to have a pre-exam for 50pesos each to determine if they were ‘ready’ to take […]
The Alphabet Song Orale, El Alfabeto The Pinata song! Everyone sings this loud and fast when children are hitting the pinata. Here are the words: Dale Dale Dale Here is a uTube Link for Tatiana’s full song version! listen carefully for the chorus, this is what everyone sings and the tune to sing […]
On Friday we had the pleasure of being invited to a “Posada” event at a home in Merida. Evan & Noah go to school with Isabella and Vito and we were invited to their home to experience this very traditional evening. It is an evening of fun, singing, and traditional food. Festivities centered around the […]
Yayyy, today was the long awaited and very much anticipated Christmas Program at the Montessori school in Progreso. Debbie and the teachers have been working for weeks now teaching the children Christmas songs and how to dance to them. This was Evan & Noah’s first ever production and we were very excited to see it […]
We have had several meals at the Yakunah Hotel in Progreso. This restaurant is located on the east side of Progreso past the end of the Malecon on Calle 21 just past the Montessori School and is one block from the beach. Basically you drive east on Calle 21 and go until the road changes […]
We have now stopped to eat at Gran Jirafas in Merida two different times and enjoyed dinners both times. This restaurant is located just off the Paseo de Montejo in Merida north of the new underpass on the right side of the road. Very friendly and accommodating staff and if you need them to, several […]
On Sunday, December 11th we followed through with our decision to attend a bullfight in Merida at the Plaza de Toros. This was a decision the entire family made together to see an event which may not always exist. I know that it is difficult to believe a 5 year old and a 7 year […]
We were meeting friends at Liverpool mall in Merida yesterday and had fifteen minutes to walk around the mall before proceeding downtown. We were quite amazed at the amount of decorations in the mall and were especially impressed by the Swarovski Christmas tree. This tree was completely covered in crystals! It was really quite beautiful […]
On Friday, December 2, 2o11 we attended Progreso’s annual Christmas Tree Lighting festival. More than 2000 people attended this event from the Yucatan. There was a story going on through out the festival “La Gaviota y el Ángel de la Navidad” y la llegada al pesebre del Niño Dios, (english translation: “The Seagull and the […]
We went back to the Yucatan Feria on the last Saturday of the event which is located on 77 acres at Xmatkuil just outside of the city of Merida. This event is massive and we could still go back for yet another day to try to explore everything. This fair took place from November 4 […]
The Feria Yucatán Xmatkuil 2011 is currently in its last week and ran from November 11 and ends on December 4. The 37th annual Yucatán traditional annual fair located outside of Merida is expecting 2,100,000 people who will be able to enjoy more than 2000 artistic and recreational events, and more than 1000 exhibitors who […]
Ok, so I am a week or so behind in posting this event, but it really is worth putting in the Letters From Merida Blog. The first annual Merida Music Festival took place on November 20th, 2011 at Hacienda Dzibikak. This is a “little” Hacienda outside of Uman and is just beautiful! This would be […]
Well we got all ready to go to the festivities in Progreso for the Mexico Revolution Day and we were in for the shock of our lives! While we have always been used to missing festivities here because they are too late and our kids are in bed already, we were all ready for this […]
On the fourteenth of every month Sharon, founder of the Chicxulub Food Bank, gathers her team and goes shopping for all of the items to fill the monthly ‘dispensa’ bag. David & Shirley are her shopping helpers and drive her to Progreso in their Explorer to find all the required items and load them all […]
One night last week, Evan came flying into our room at about 3am screaming about the pain in his tooth. After some tylenol and a bit of sleep we managed to track down a dentist in Progreso who came highly recommended. There are actually quite a few but we ultimately chose Dr. Paola. She is […]
Izamal is the Yucatan’s “magical” town. The Mexican government considers a town to be magical if it is rich in historical tradition, it must be located near tourist sites, accessible by good roads, and above all there must be a sincere attempt by the locals to develop the entire town into a magical place. Izamal […]
The Merida English Library hosted their first annual Costume Party for English children this evening. Start time was 7pm and they had all kinds of snacks ready for the kids and games for all of them. One of the first games they had was a race to see who could create a mummy the fastest […]
Today we went to our first ever pumpkin carving contest! Yayyy, the boys were so excited and could not wait to carve out their pumpkins. After searching for hours on the internet of different items, Evan chose the Dragon and Noah choose a Pug. Of course after Evan had chosen his and it was decided […]
On Saturday, October 29 we went to Merida to see the Dia de los Muertos festivities. The city had all the parks decorated and we went to Plaza Grande in centro to see the funeral procession which went from Santa Lucia park to the Plaza Grande. The restaurant Lyn chose was located right off Calle […]
On Saturday, October 29 we went to Merida to see the Dia de los Muertos festivities. The restaurant Lyn chose was located right off Calle 60 where the procession walked by in the Corazon de Merida (Heart of Merida). Cafe Peon Contreras is one of the restaurants where on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights the […]
It was Evan & Noah’s first big school party today for Halloween. Evan was Link, a character from the video game Zelda. Noah was Kai, a ninja from lego Ninjago. Both of their costumes were made by Modista Gina, a local seamstress who was recommended by Debbie at the school. Lyn just showed her a […]
Today, I took Evan on a little adventure to see the cemetery in Progreso before the ‘Dias de los Muertos’ (Day of the Dead) which is holiday in Mexico focusing on family and friends gathering to pray and remember their loved ones. This is a two day holiday in Mexico celebrated on November 1 & […]
Well, we have made it quite far into the year’s hurricane season and things on the Yucatan coast have been relatively uneventful up until now. But with just over a month left in the 2011 official hurricane season, Rina is currently a Category One Hurricane and expected to hit near Cozumel and Cancun by Thursday. […]
Shortly after arriving in Progreso we kept hearing about a fabulous lady from Canada, Sharon Helgason. She created the Chicxulub food bank in 2005 and is a great woman who is helping people care for their families. You can find more information about the Chicxulub food bank at http://www.chixfoodbank.com/. We had the opportunity to meet […]
Title: Dawn, Kayla & Ian coming for Christmas! Description: Dawn has booked the tickets to come over the holiday season this year! She will be flying in on the 19th of December and the kids will be arriving on the 26th and all staying until January 4th. We are so excited to have them all […]
Evan and Noah are definitely learning more ‘moves’ at their TaeKwonDo. I am not sure they qualify as ‘moves’ but they are definitely learning. It is really quite amazing to watch them at the class, after 6 weeks they are integrating nicely into the class. Andri is a fantastic instructor, he does not know a […]
Right after Holly & Rob arrived with their family we were able to meet up and spend the day catching up on our travel experiences. They are definitely veterans at traveling from Calgary to Progreso and have made the trip several times. We spent the afternoon at La Playa in Chelem, a restaurant owned by […]
Last week we decided we would cook a turkey and have our newly found Canadian friends over for a little Thanksgiving Day turkey Canadian style. Dinner was fabulous and special thanks to everyone for bringing an amazing dish and helping make the day memorable. We were a little worried about cooking the turkey in a […]
On Sunday we were invited to spend the day at the Costa Beach Club in Chelem, which is in the town right next to Progreso. This beach club was perfect for the kids. There is a huge play area, large pool (waist deep for kids), beach area, basketball court, soccer field, palapas with hammock hooks. […]
Title: Grandma & Grandpa Schroeder coming to visit! Description: Debbie & Gunther are coming to visit the grandkids from January 18 to February 13, 2012. YAYYYY! Looking forward to spending time with the parents and taking them on lots of excursions. Told them we found a Caribbean cruise today leaving from Progreso port for only […]
September 16th was Mexico’s Independence Day which is a really big celebration. I actually drove around town on my scooter in the afternoon taking pictures of all the preparations for the big event. We went to La Pinata for dinner with several other families and friends. Of course we were there right when the restaurant […]
We took the boys to try out Tae-Kwon-Do on Tuesday night to see if they would enjoy it. There is a class for beginners on Tuesday’s, Thursday’s and Saturday mornings and the cost per month is 250 pesos ($19.90 CDN) for 12 classes. Evan & Noah really seemed to enjoy it and will be […]
Days after arriving in the Yucatan, we quickly realized that although mangoes were very tasty, very inexpensive, and could be found everywhere we did not know how to properly slice one up. I researched what seemed like a pretty simple task on the internet only to find most people do not really know how to […]
Today was the boys first day of school! Both boys were very excited but actually went to sleep fairly early and woke up in great moods. After a hearty breakfast of pancakes and fresh strawberries they were ready to be on their way, except for the photo shoot I had arranged for them. The pictures […]
So on Saturday we broke down and decided to make a purchase of some transportation in preparation for the upcoming school year which starts on Monday. We bought a very base model Italika xs125 Scooter for $10,449 pesos ($835 CDN) and came with a helmut. After doing a little bit of research and asking around […]
working on this one! You have apparently 15 days from the time of purchase to get plates on your newly purchased motorized vehicle. This could be a true statement or an incorrect statement. We do not believe you have 30 days, we have been unable to get a ‘temporary plate’ at the police station. We […]
Although it is not required, we felt it prudent to acquire a Mexican Drivers License. This along with our FM2 Visa, will provide sufficient identification and hopefully our passports and Canadian ID will not be required to be in our pockets at all times. We do carry photo copies of all our documentation just in […]
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