Pt.4 Did as locals do, but tipping remains a mystery

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Merida, Yucatan is my first stop off the beaten path. Way to meet the locals and as the saying goes do in Rome as the Romans do... so I went to the market and had my first local dish. Some tortilla with something that resembled chicken in a broader sense. Since my Spanish is still virtually non-existant, I simply pointed and told the waiter I want that. To which he looked at me like I was the first gringo to set foot onto the New World. Well at least I was the only White around, for sure... But I insited, thinking if locals can eat it, I should give it a try. So I had a dish named "black chicken" and was quite happy with it, and so was my stomach, as it turned out.

But then, no matter how hard you try to mingle with the natives and mimic their behaviour, sometimes it just won't work. When buying some slippers from a typical shop on the market, the salesperson asked me if I was GERMAN for being so ecologically conscious after I refused a free plastic bag. Now that is a sterotype I was not aware of. Isn't a trip like this always also a journey to oneself? Sometimes other people help pointing out details...

Basically I am amazed simply by how friendly these people are in Yucatan. You get smiled at randomly for no or little reason (way to go, Finland) and communication is not a problem no matter how high the language barrier seems, i.e. how poor your Spanish is. Communication is just about two people making to effort (way to go, Finl...). Actually I manged to have a nice animated conversation with this old indigenous lady who spoke even less Spanish than me. Thank you Merida for bringing my smile back!!

The next part is about the mysterious art of tipping: So on one hand there is this taxi driver who proved to be so helpful in getting back my glasses. Well it took one hour extra of his time and made him wait with me in the 35deg heat of the jungle. I was totally dependend on him, he translated for me and for all his help I doubled the fare as tip, which made him smile like it was x-mas. On the other hand, I went to see sightseeing in Merida and got "hit on" by a friendly local who wanted to show me around. Since he was really nice and not pushy I agreed. The tour took a fair two hours and we went to see much of what is worth visiting in the city, plus an almost an hour which he took me to several shops (none of which I asked for), but I had no intention to buy hammocks or a hat for 1000 Pesos. Since we did not agree on a price for his services beforehand, I gave him about the same as I did for the super helpful taxi driver on the previous day. But whereas the taxidriver seemed more than happy with the tip, this fellow demanded twice as much after I handed him the money. Weird logic for me. The most ridiculous thing happened when I asked a local in Cancun for the local bus stop. It took him half a minute to show, then he wanted 5 to 10 Dollars. Erm - sure not.

Another thing to be learned already now: Do not book your accomodation based on your guide book, but use internet recommendations. The first accomodation from the web was brilliant, an Oasis inmidst an otherwise busy and very touristy Cancun. The second one was a Lonely Planet recommndation and turned out to be the shabby outcast stepsister of the first one. Now here, things look clean, but the sticky air of 30 degrees in a 16 bed accomodation is crying out for an AC. The fact that the busy street is just behind a wooden door so the fumes enter the room does not help either. Also those huge fans do not help, instead they add noise to the nuisance and possibly worst of all, they help spreading the virus which most of the people here obviously have contracted.

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Photos

Charming colonial town
Plaza des Armas Merida

Pok na Pok
Traditional Maya ballgame