New-ish things in Mérida ― Dec. 2018

I travel to Mérida so often that I rarely write about it. Here are a few items worth mentioning.

Victor at the Palacio de la Música

Link to more photos

There's a new museum of Mexican music, Palacio de la Música. It's underneath a new music school. The museum is free, modern, interactive, mostly bilingual. and quite extensive. There are many exhibits; multiple visits would be necessary just to listen to more of the music clips. The link in the first sentence is to an excellent English introduction.

(part of) Paseo Verde

Paseo Verde, now at least 5 years old, is a 7 kilometer (!) linear park not far from Victor's house. I often see it from the air when landing in Mérida. We walk there frequently.  It includes separate walking and bicycling paths, soccer fields, exercise stations, and more.

La Playita

One long-delayed attraction along Paseo Verde has finally opened a little bit: La Playita, a large childrens' aquatic playground, was supposed to open three years ago. It's finally now open ― for all of three hours a week! There was exactly one family visiting when we passed by Sunday. I trust it will become more popular.

Gran Museo del Mundo Maya

Now several years old, the Gran Museo del Mundo Maya (Mayan World Museum) is definitely worth a visit.

Finally, along Paseo Verde, one house has some striking metal grillework. I suspect the owner is the designer and perhaps the manufacturer.

Left Turns in Juarez

This is just crazy:

Consider the intersection of two busy streets, Ave and Blvd. Both streets have three lanes of traffic in each direction and medians separating the two directions of traffic. On Ave, about 50 yards before the intersection, in both directions, there is a cut through the median where cars can make a U-turn, and there are traffic signals to stop the Ave traffic for U-turners. On both streets, about 100 yards before the intersection, there are signs showing drivers how to make a left turn. The intersection has the expected traffic lights, but no left-turn lights. 

This is the sign for left turns from Ave to Blvd. It tells the driver to be in the leftmost lane, go straight through the intersection, use the U-turn, then get into the rightmost lane and turn right onto Blvd. Whew!

And here is the sign for left turns from Blvd to Ave. Drivers must be in the rightmost lane, turn right onto Ave, then get into the leftmost lane and use the U-turn. Whew again!

Note that unless you're familiar with the intersection, you don't know until you see the sign whether to be in the leftmost or rightmost lane to begin your left turn! What a nightmare for the drivers who don't do this every day.

Visa: more damn delays

We are in never-exciting Juarez, where we expected to finally get Victor's visa. No such luck. 😒

Yesterday, even though I knew it wasn't needed, we had to visit the applicant service center, an appointment they gave us after I selected the interview date. This is for photo and fingerprints, which we already did. They checked and determined that, yes, we had already done that, and they put a small stamp on one paper.  An unnecessary extra day in Juarez and a waste of time. 😡

Today, when Victor went for his interview appointment, they said that his medical exam in May was now too old! I clearly recall the doctor in May telling us that it was important we complete everything within a year or we would have to re-do the exam. But now, they said the medical exam was only good for six months, and we would indeed have to re-do it. Now the conflict between the interview date they sent me mid-summer and my trip to Montreal and Quebec has become even more consequential! 😠

The minor mob scene outside the U.S. Consulate from about 6 am to mid-day every morning.

And despite his new chest X-ray showing the same damn spot that they previously determined was not TB, they have to determine that again! Yes, we have to stay an extra day in Juarez for Victor to give three days of sputum (again), and yes, we have to wait eight weeks for the culture results (again)! As before, that means discarding non-refundable flight tickets, buying new flights, an additional hotel night, and another trip to Juarez later. Not to mention months of delay in getting Victor to the U.S. 😠

This time, I'll make damn sure I don't schedule any travel until they send us the next interview date! When they send the date following a medical delay, it's generally about a month later. As I learned last time, when I have to choose a date, it winds up being many, many months later.

Every delay makes me more furious that they won't give Victor a tourist visa and that they can't handle fiancé  visas at the U.S. consulate in Mérida! 

As another applicant told Victor today, it seems that everything is set up to force applicants to spend more time and money and emotion than they ever expected to or should ever have to. The service centers, medical clinics, hotels and restaurants around the consulate just love this. Quite a racket. 😠

Four spots in SE Asia ― Nov. 2018

 With a demon guardian at the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, Bangkok

Feeding a liger, Bangkok

Merlion, Singapore

Hong Kong cityscape from Victoria Peak

Link to more photos
(View the photos individually to see the captions.)

As I wrote previously, the new interview date for Victor's visa is in December. Because of the delay, I scheduled a trip to Mérida in September, and went looking for another trip we could take later. 

I found this whirlwind introduction to Bangkok, Singapore, Bali and Hong Kong, from a company we've used before. I even got them to adjust the itinerary slightly, putting an elephant ride in place of bamboo rafting in Bangkok.

We had a great time, despite my suitcase being destroyed along the way. Happily, it only rained one afternoon in Singapore.

Getting from Mérida to Bangkok was an ordeal: We left Victor's house at 3 pm Tuesday. At 6 pm, we flew to Mexico City. At 10 pm, we left for Tijuana. After two hours there, we left for our 13.5-hour (!) flight to Shanghai. We had about four hours until our next flight. The damn lines and repetitive (!) checks took more than three of those hours! And we were only making a connection! The flight from Shanghai to Bangkok was 5 hours. When we arrived, it was 4 pm Thursday.

In Bangkok, our first afternoon was free, probably to tackle jet lag. But instead of sleeping, we walked to the Husky Cafe. We got there at 3:15, but we didn't know that you need a ticket, and they allot their last tickets at 3 pm, so we couldn't go in.

In addition to elaborate temples and palaces, we had an evening dinner cruise, a visit to the floating market, the elephant ride and feeding a young liger (both at Chang Puak), and a visit to the River Kwai bridge and its museum. Much like Xochimilcho in Mexico City, I didn't care for the floating market; there was no scenery, just endless vendors vying for your attention.

In Singapore, we connected with an acquaintance who lives there now whom I hadn't seen in eighteen years. We had dinner at one of the food court streets and stopped at Dorothys, a gay bar. The next day's city tour included the merlion, a Taoist temple, the National Orchid Garden, and Little India. Later, we saw the Raffles Hotel on our way to Gardens by the Bay. There, we were visiting the two large conservatories when it started raining. Because of the rain, we never walked the rest of the grounds. After the rain, we tried durian; it wasn't as tasty as I'd heard. 

We only had a short time in Bali, and a good chunk of that was taken up by replacing my ruined suitcase.

Our Garuda Indonesia flight from Bali to Hong Kong was more than ⅔ empty! The most empty seats I've ever seen on a commercial flight. Speedy immigration in Hong Kong, but then a one hour wait for the hotel shuttle!

Our Hong Kong tour began with Victoria Peak. Visibility was good, but hazy in the distance. Stanley Market and vicinity was a bit more interesting than most markets. Our hotel was very near Kowloon Park, so we wandered there, too.

Somehow, the trip back to Mérida wasn't as exhausting as the trip going out.

Suitcase destroyed

On our Asia trip, we flew from Singapore to Bali on Tiger Airlines, operated by Scoot Airlines, and my suitcase was destroyed! 

When the bag was checked in Singapore, it was fine — zipped closed, and with a small combination lock. When it was on the conveyor belt in Bali, the bag had knife cuts, the zipper was cut through, the zipper pulls and combination lock were gone, and the bag was open with contents spilling out. It could not be closed at all; the zipper is completely open and there are no zipper pulls.

I did not see any Scoot/Tiger luggage office. The bag could not be wheeled. We had to use a luggage cart, and it required both of us to lift it onto the cart. We proceeded to the exit. Our Bali guide was there and took some photos of the suitcase. 

I have no money or jewelry or electronics in my luggage, so the would-be thief was disappointed. As far as I can tell, nothing was missing or damaged from the contents. If the bag was open during the flight or even during off-loading, surely some stuff would have disappeared. Since nothing was gone, this must have happened at the Bali airport.

I wrote Scoot Airlines about this. They replied that I had to

report the lost baggage to a member of the Scoot ground services team prior to leaving the airport. Baggage claims cannot be dealt with after you have left the airport.

When I responded that I did not see any member of the Scoot ground services team at the Bali airport Baggage Claim area, they said that the case was already closed. 

Of course, we had to spend a chunk of our time in Bali buying a new suitcase. At the large Matahari (!) department store, I bought a "Jack Nicklaus" bag (fake?) for about $66. It's the first bag I've had with four wheels instead of two (so it rolls alongside instead of being pulled) and with a built-in TSA combination lock for the zipper pulls.

Sloppy math

In response to a glaring error in one sentence of this op-ed, I sent the following letter to the Los Angeles Times (not published):

Teicholz says, "The claims ... have been shown ... to be correct only 0% to 20% of the time." 

Fine. But she then says, "This means that 80% to 100% of the time, they're wrong."

That's completely wrong. It means they might be wrong, but they might be right, too. We can't know.

Autographs ― Édouard Louis

This young gay author from France spoke and signed books at the L.A. Central Library last night. I haven't yet finished reading this book. I also wanted to buy his first book, but they only had this one for sale. His next book, already published in France, also sounds interesting.

I was very impressed with his English. Yes, he has a French accent, but he speaks English fluently and quite rapidly, without pause. I wonder when he began learning English.

He has an unusual definition for a novel. He says the books are entirely factual, but he labels them novels because they are "constructed" and not simply linear histories.

(Index of autographs)

Amending the constitution

The Los Angeles Times recently ran an op-ed piece by Michael Kinsley. The print version was headlined "Leave the electoral college alone." I was puzzled why anyone would say that in California. I was annoyed that he didn't even say why until the very end. I sent this reply (not published):

Finally, in the last paragraph, Kinsley gives his reason to leave the electoral college alone: launching a constitutional amendment might bring on other amendments.

That's the best he can do? Abolishing the electoral college wouldn't call for a constitutional convention, just an amendment. Kinsley would have us never amend the constitution. Pretty stupid.

Fiancé visa on hold

I called back as soon as I could, August 22, to try to get a new interview date. They said they could now report (?!) our missed interview and I should call back in a few days. I called Monday, Aug. 27, while waiting for my connecting flight at the Montréal airport. I could hear them, but they couldn't hear me. I called this morning, Aug. 29, and they said to wait a few more days. They refused to say why, or exactly when, or even how many days it took the last person who got a new interview date. GRRR!

A bit later, I thought I should try the website where I first chose an interview date —  the one that earlier in the summer was simply showing our scheduled Aug. 21 interview. There was a "Continue" button, then a choice for "Missed interview," and a box to explain why. Once I submitted that, I was immediately able to select a new interview date!

On the pop-up calendar, I tried a mid-September date, but it wouldn't click. I tried several times, as well as different dates. October dates were the same. I clicked forward through November. When I got to December, there were clearly dates available. I chose one of the earliest, Dec. 18th. That worked, and we're now set for a new Juárez interview then.

I have no idea why the first available dates were so far in the future. Is it just happenstance, or seasonal, or Trump's State Dept. cuts, or ... ?

So much more needless delay. Now Victor won't be here until next year at the earliest. Sigh.

Montréal and Québec City — August 2018

Panorama of Old Montréal 

(Click the photo to view it larger.)

Group photo in Québec City

My first time visiting Montréal and Québec City. It was this Road Scholar tour. One reason I did this with a tour group was because I don't speak French!

In each city, we began with a tour by a local guide. Our overall leader and the two city guides were excellent.

The tour went well. There was a bit of rain the first full day, but I never used my umbrella. We focused mainly on Old Montréal and Old Québec City. In our free time, I visited Montréal's Gay Village one day and the Botanical Garden and Olympic Park on another day. I also made sure to try peanut butter dumplings in Montréal.

Besides the standard tourist sights, we had private concerts in each city —  an organ concert in Montréal and a chamber music concert in Québec City.

I have four sets of photos:

• Around Montréal and Québec City (6 photos; view them individually to see the captions.)
• Montréal Museum of Fine Arts (6 photos; view the photos individually to see the captions.)
• Montmorency Falls, Québec City
  (5 photos)
• Montréal Botanical Garden (9 photos)

This was my favorite painting at the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts — laugh-out-loud funny. Click the photo to view it larger.

It just so happened that my cousin's daughter Lisa and two of her children were visiting Montréal at the same time! We arranged to tour the Botanical Garden together. Here I am with Lisa and Ben (Emma is taking the photo).