This November I was invited to participate in the 7th annual Festival Universitario de Guitarra (Nov. 20-23), which took place in Merida, Mexico, on the Yucatan peninsula. The festival was directed by the wonderful Manuel Rubio who displayed incredible hospitality and collegiality throughout my entire stay.
The flight, Boston – Houston – Merida, was relatively smooth. Immigration was a bit slow, and I made my pickup party wait for an hour. Vince Go and Cristina Perez surprised me at the airport and I was overjoyed to see them. By the time I we got back to the hotel, it was past 10:30 pm. Vince and I went out to a local bar and got a margarita each. We then watched the local youth make a lot of noise while doing tequila shots and taking digital photos of one another. The sound of the bar was intoxicating. Seeing people walking around on the streets so late at night brought back fond memories of Taipei and Siena.
I had to teach a master class next morning, so after our margaritas, we went back to the hotel. The next morning I took a picture of the hotel area. It was humble but beautiful, and the people who ran it were extremely nice.
My first breakfast in Merida consisted of simple scrambled eggs with some vegetables, some hearty rolls and some tea (I know, it looks like dark amber beer). Again, not much, but very homey.
Finally, the Universidad Autonoma de Yucatan was lovely. The inside of the main building was square-shaped with an open-air courtyard that I would relish practicing in every day.
