Ahh, Merida. The main transportation hub of the western Yucatan, I had high hopes for the place. The bus dropped me off way in the south, and I had no idea where I was, so I wandered for about an hour before I found the travellers salvation, the internet cafe. Ten minutes later I was on my way. I found a hostel on the main square called Hotel Zocola whiched looked clean enough and was inside an old colonial mansion. I wasn't too picky by that point as I had been walking around the city in 30 degree weather with 30 pounds on my back and it was time for a shower. I booked in and found that the female dorm was also the main throughfare for the ladies bathroom. Awesome. I decided to stick around since I had already paid and just lounged for the rest of the day in the common area, which was actually quite gorgeous with vaulted sealings and arches that looked out into a little courtyard. My sleep wasn't great but I met a gal from Britain named Kia and we both decided to tag along on a trip to the seaside town of Progresso that the hostel owner had organized. Turns out he just wanted to show off the new hostel they were building but we went off on our own and found a great little stall in the market that sold some really great battered fish. There was a brief moment of panic when Kia noticed that the menu sign showed the word Delfines which translates to Dolphin, but it turned out that that was the name of the stall, not the fish being served, so I didn't end up eating Flipper after all. The day ended with another somewhat restless night of sleep. I was woken up by a Mexican man crawling into the bunk above me. I poked him awake to alert him that this was the female dorm and he should leave. He replied that he worked there and that the male dorm was full. Awesome.
The charger on the laptop I am using is sparking so I am going to continue this story when there is less fire hazard
