Merida

Greetings from Merida, Venezuela. I flew from SF to Miami overnight, sat for 5 hours in uncomfortable plastic chairs at Miami airport, flew to Caracas, changed planes and flew for an hour and a half to the university town of Merida. I got in about 6 p.m. after 20 hours or so of traveling. That makes for a long day.
When I got out of the merida airport (about the size of Quincy´s), I decided take the bus from the airport to the center of town for only 25 cents, instead of taking a taxi for $10. From the airport I had reserved a room in a cheap posada. I also knew the bus would drop me off a long 10 blocks or so from the posada. But what the heck. I had my backpack and I was ready.
the moment I stepped off the bus, it began to rain. Unfortunately, not just rain, but RAIN! as in a torrential downpour. Unfortunately, I had forgotten my beloved trusty guatemalan baseball cap in the car while leaving for SFO. I also knew I had a little collapsible umbrella somewhere in the backpack. The good news was I knew I had one. The bad news was that I knew it would take me forever to find it, and only after pulling out all sorts of stuff and junk looking for it. Not a good idea in pouring rain.
I was a little upset. The guidebooks say this is supposed to be the DRY season. Shame on Mother Nature for not reading the guide book!
In addition to rain, the second thing I discovered is that Merida doesn´t have storm sewers. that is, they do have storm drains, but the streets are the storm drains. The 10 blocks I had to walk in the dark were all gently uphill. The street I was walking on quickly became a creek, several inches deep in rushing water.
Fortunately, the sidewalks are raised anywhere from a few inches to a foot and a half above the creek, er....road. The locals know which side of the street has the higher sidewalk, and that´s the side they walk on.
I felt a personal obligation to let the locals know that Merida is a diverse international city. Therefore, I walked on the other side of the narrow street and found out that the cars going down the street at 20 mph throw out quite an impressive spray! Fortunately, the posada accepted what looked like a drowned rat attempting to check in. The first thing I did was hang up my pants, socks, and shoes on the shower rod. Incredibly enough, in the morning, everything was dry. Oh, and needless to say, the rain stopped 5 minutes after I checked in.
Well, this morning the sun is shining and the world looks friendly. Hasta luego.