This unrenovated home on Paseo de Montejo is for sale -- a wonderful opportunity to live in a historic mansion. © John McClelland, 2007

Devil of a good time in Merida, Mexico’s white city

It is pushing midnight on a Thursday, but you’d never know it by the looks of Maternity Park in the central historic district of Merida, Mexico. Cafes on the square are jammed, shops bustling, the streets electric with energetic life. In this open-air setting, young sweethearts sip cocktails and entire families gather for late al […]

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Merida, Yucatan

Merida: the white city of the Yucatan

The early inhabitants of Merida “discovered” a plant that had been a well-known staple to the indigenous Maya of the Yucatan Peninsula: henequen (Agave sisalana). A versatile, spiky, cactus-like bit of green that yielded valuable hemp, it soon earned the name “green gold” (verde de oro) because of the wealth it lavished upon the millionaire hacendados who farmed […]

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The cool patio of the main residence on a henequen hacienda in the Yucatan. © John McClelland, 2007

Mérida

Much of the land comprising Mérida was once dotted with lavish haciendas where the henequen plant was grown. From henequen was produced a fiber called sisal, the main ingredient of twine. Today the picturesque, abandoned main hacienda buildings, recognized as architectural treasures, are being bought, restored and turned into luxury hotels and restaurants. Haciendas generally consisted of a main […]

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Author at Cenote Xlacah. © 2022 Jane Simon Ammeson

Visiting Dzibilchaltún: an ancient city in an ancient land

Once a vast city of 40,000 spread across 8 square miles or so of jungle and meadows, Dzibilchaltún was a long-lived Mayan city, a major player in the salt trade, and the ultimate survivor. Founded around 300 B.C., Dzibilchaltún lasted until the arrival of the Spanish in 1540. An architectural marvel even now, as it […]

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Tourists sit atop the Pyramid of the Moon in Teotihuacan to contemplate the majestic Pyramid of the Sun. This archeological zone is located outside Mexico City. © Rick Meyer, 2001

How does a Temporary Resident get a work permit for online work?

Thilini Wijesinhe  The temporary residency visa does not include work rights unless applied for based on potential work plans in Mexico. However, some temporary residents without work rights decide to work, which requires them to apply for permission to work separately. Usually, the permission to work known as “Permiso Para Trabajar” is obtained based on […]

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Thilini Wijesinhe

Thilini is a financial professional turned freelance writer and remote entrepreneur based in Mérida. Prior to moving to Mexico, she spent over 13 years working in a variety of financial roles in Australia and Sri Lanka. She didn’t want to wait for retirement to be free, so she left her full-time career at 35 to […]

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Lao Gabrielli. Expansión Cromática. © Leigh Thelmadatter 2020

Mexico attracts artists from all over the globe

You are reading part 1 of Foreign artists in Mexico from the Revolution to the present. Part 2 (coming shortly) – Foreign artists influence Mexican culture and vice versa In 1863, French writer and critic Charles Baudelaire did not consider an artist to be “worldly” but rather like a “serf to the soil,” dedicated to […]

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