The "Formerly-White" City

This is in answer to Malcolms' question on the previous post and since it is something I always write, perhaps I should elaborate on it a little.

All (OK 95% of) the tourist information out there always (94%) refers to Merida as the 'white city'. Does anyone ever question this; wonder why? There are several versions or theories as to why Merida got its' reputation as 'la ciudad blanca'.

The first; that Merida was so devoid of garbage that its' inhabitants dubbed it white, as in clean. If you have lived here for any length of time, this is clearly a joke, as a large majority of Meridas' present inhabitants could care less about the cleanliness of their city. In any city in Mexico you will see people sweeping garbage, leaves etc from their sidewalks... onto the streets and Merida is no exception. One of the most infuriating sights you can witness in Merida is seeing the electric window on a brand new Lincoln smoothly sliding down and from which a hand emerges that carelessly tosses a plastic bag or bottle into the street. Believe me, these are the same people that would never do this when traveling in Houston or Miami.

So, that is one theory behind the 'white city' moniker. Meridanos may have been careful about keeping their city clean, but this is no longer true, unfortunately. So "formerly-white" would be more appropriate.

Another theory: the inhabitants of the city wore white. White guayaberas, white pants, white shoes for the caballeros and white dresses and hipiles for the ladies. This theory I can actually believe in to a degree; there are one or two dapper gentlemen with carefully gelled hair that frequent the historic centro and they wear all white. However, this is a bygone tradition and, as in the case of the 'clean city' no longer justified; therefore, "formerly-white".

I took a Yucatan history course over a few months (once a week) with historian and teacher Jorge Vargas at the Rogers' Hall school and would highly recommend it to anyone who has any interest in history at all. Jorge makes history come alive and his specialty is debunking a lot of common myths and beliefs about Yucatecan history that are taken for granted by most folks. Somehow through my interest in politics and the past, and I think it was during these classes, I learned that the walls around the old Merida (you can see pieces of them here and there) were there not only for defense, but also to keep out the 'Indian' riff raff. Among the Indians (Mayans) the city of Merida became known as the 'white city' because Indians were not allowed into the city alone; if they had to be there, they were to be accompanied by a white person. Again, another theory and no longer the case, as you can see in the first 5 minutes after entering the city. Formerly white again.

Does this help to explain my continuing use of the term?

Getting Your Driving Permit

One of the joys of adolescence is looking forward to the day you can drive the family car and be free of your dependence on parents and friends to get you from A to B. In the formerly white city, this phenomenon means a visit to the Modulo de Licencias which is run by the police people. There is the main branch at the ex-penitentiary where you can also do more complicated paperwork such as changing vehicle ownership and license plate renewal, and the branch in north Merida, located in the parking lot of the Siglo XXI convention center.

The process involves presenting a series of papers, including, but no limited to, proof of address, a notarized letter that specifies parental consent and responsibility in the case of a minor, and official ID. Copies of everything are required. Once the reception guy has seen your papers, you are assigned a turno, which is a number and then you wait for that number to get called.

Once your number is called, you proceed inside where your papers are checked again and then you move on to an eye exam, which is just looking through the little machine and reading out loud the letters that are shown to you.

Next step, blood type. This info appears on your permit or license and is handy in the case of an accident, providing you have your license on you when you smash up the car. If you don't know it, a little prick in the finger and your blood is identified right there and then.

Then, fingerprinting. As you can see in the photo above, it is necessary to post a sign advising people NOT to wipe their fingers on the walls; but rather on a tissue given to you for that purpose. It is a great demonstration of the civic values of the fomerly white citys' citizens that such a sign is even necessary.

After that, a test, which used to be written but is now administered in a separate room by way of a computer program. Here, several policemen mill about and joke with the test-taker in an ambiance of frivolity not to be found in similar situations in places like say, Vancouver.

The fun part after that, providing you pass, is the barralell parking test, which involves another officer watching the future Yucatecan road menace attempt over and over to parallel park between two large plastic drums. This is interesting because a) the barrels are not that far apart, b) you can't necessarily see the barrels depending on your vehicle and c) the parallel parking is done on the LEFT SIDE, a highly unusual situation in most countries that feature vehicular traffic. You can bang into those barrels several times and if you finally get it right, you proceed to pay your fee and you are now licensed to kill on the highways and byways of the Yucatan.