I entered my veggie chili in yesterday's big chili cook-off fundraiser for the Merida English Library (MEL). The event drew several hundred people, mostly Merida gringos, but also curious Meridianos. Here, I'm showing off my chili aside Lorna Gail, who has run the MEL for many of its ten years of existence. (My chili, one of about 15 vying for the coveted Chili Bowl, won many kind comments and second servings, but alas, no Bowl.)

In addition to its wonderful inventory of English language books, magazines and video, and its provision of a peaceful inner patio perfect for reading, the library is the nexus of gringo social networking here in Merida. It's just down the block from where I live, so I'm there often.

Networking in Merida is a very distant cousin to DC style networking. Thankfully gone is the requisite starter, "So, what do you do?" (hmm... well, I sleep and I play and I eat, sing, wonder, worry, and marvel... but I guess that's not what you want to know, is it...), traded in for the more humanistic, "So, what brought you to Merida?" Everyone has a different story.

On Monday nights, my friend Elsie runs a Spanish-English conversation group. Last week, there were about 40 of us-- Yucatecans and Canadians and Mexican transplants and Americans (though we're all Americans, of course. We estadounidenses really need to come up with a new adjective of nationality, but somehow it's harder in English... United Statesians just doesn't roll off the tounge). Sitting at 4 or 5 per table, we speak in English and Spanish with the objective of cultural-linguistic exchange. This, too, takes place at MEL.