You will be met by your Yucatecan families at the airport in Merida. The first night you are on your own to unpack and enjoy the first night of the program. The next morning we will have an orientation at 9 am in the main university building (Calle 57 X 60) and then we will go to the Spanish department and School of Anthropology to make out your class schedule.
Ask your family to show you how to take the bus downtown. I recommend that you buy a street map of Mérida at Dante Bookstore (right in front of the main university building). Find the Facultad de Educación where the Coordinación de Idiomas (CODI) is located (the address is: Calle 41 X 14, Col. Industrial, Merida, Yucatan, 97150) as well as the Facultad de Antropología (Calle 76 No 455-LL, entre 41 y 43). Also find where to take the bus back to your home. Bus service in Merdia is excellent, but you do have to know what bus to get on! Bus fees are a few pesos (about 35 cents), depending on the type: ordinary, "rapido," and "combi." Ordinary buses are large and crowded, but common, "rapidos" are limited seating, cost slightly more, and faster, and "combis" are Volkswagen buses that seat 8. Taxis are a last resort (except at night when the buses stop running), and cost about what they do in the U.S.
Sunday is "Merida en Domingo," a time when the streets are blocked off in the downtown area and people stroll around, listen to music, look at handicrafts, and enjoy the city
Click here to view a map of the city of Merida.
