How we got here

I discovered Merida while vacationing in Tulum in the winter of 1997 with my friend Anne Ball. When I met Josh in 1998 we immediately started looking for a place to live in Mexico. Our first trip took us from DF to Puebla, Oaxaca, Zijatinejo, Patzcuaro, San Miguel. Oaxaca and San Miguel . It was on another fact finding trip in 1999 that we decided that Merida seemed to be the right combination. A city on the brink, of what we were not sure. Our real estate agents became our first and fast friends. First we met Mitch Keenan who showed us several haciendas like Santa Cruz de Palomeque and Xtephen. We ended up buying a little house on the beach in Chabihau from Mitch and the houe in Ermita from his agent Jen Lytle. But it was the experience of being trapped on a island called Manhattan one September 11th that sent us scurrying through the tunnels as soon as we could pack our bags. We slept on the floor with our dogs for a couple of weeks in October 2001 and then we hired the first couple of guys we met in our neighborhood and started renovations. We've been renovating ever since.

We never thought Merida would grow so fast. It was a sleepy town when we came. We thought all of the gringos were tourist. Most of them were but we met a group of people through Mitch and Jen and the Nafta parties at the Merida English Library (MEL) that had been here for years. There was 1 real estate agent in town for Gringo's and that was Mitch Keenan. Through Mitch we met the newly wed Paula and Don. Through Jen we met the newly wed Josephina and Salvador. And through them we met every one in town. We went to the beach every weekend to escape the dust and rubble. We discovered that not all of the gringo's in town were tourists, some had been here for years.

In 1997 in Tulum I thought how strange it was coming from Paris, via NY, to this land where everyone is always friendly and smiling. After 2 days in Tulum I gave up on trying to contact my business in Paris and I began to relax. After 2 weeks in the Yucatan decided to move here. I gave up Paris and gave the business to my Partner. I stayed in NY and took some courses at NYU. If I had not met Josh I'd probably still be dreaming about living in the Yucatan.