in The Americas Park (
Parque de las Américas) located near central Merida. The park is a social and cultural place for the residents. . History Hall of the Palace of Government of Yucatán. Mérida has served as the
American Capital of Culture in the years 2000 and 2017. As the state and regional capital, Mérida is a cultural center, featuring multiple museums, art galleries, restaurants, movie theatres, and shops. Mérida retains an abundance of colonial buildings and is a cultural center with music and dancing playing an important part in day-to-day life. At the same time it is a modern city with a range of shopping malls, auto dealerships, hotels, restaurants, and leisure facilities. The famous avenue
Paseo de Montejo is lined with original sculpture. Each year, the MACAY Museum in Mérida mounts a new sculpture installation, featuring works from Mexico and one other chosen country. Each exhibit remains for 10 months of the year. In 2007, sculptures on Paseo de Montejo featured works by artists from Mexico and Japan. Mérida and the state of Yucatán have traditionally been isolated from the rest of the country by geography, creating a unique culture. The conquistadors found the Maya culture to be incredibly resilient, and their attempts to eradicate Maya tradition, religion, and culture had only moderate success. The surviving remnants of the Maya culture can be seen every day, in speech, dress, and in both written and oral histories. It is especially apparent in holidays like Hanal Pixan, a Maya/Catholic
Day of the Dead celebration. It falls on November 1 and 2 (one day for adults, and one for children) and is commemorated by elaborate altars dedicated to dead relatives. It is a compromise between the two religions with crucifixes mingled with skull decorations and food sacrifices/offerings.
Múkbil pollo (pronounced/'mykβil pʰoʎoˀ/) is the Maya tamal pie offered to the dead on All Saints' Day, traditionally accompanied by a cup of hot chocolate. Many Yucatecans enjoy eating this on and around the Day of the Dead. And, while complicated to make, they can be purchased and even shipped via air. (
Muk-bil literally means "to put in the ground" or to cook in a
pib, an underground oven). For English speakers or would-be speakers, Mérida has the Mérida English Library, a lending library with an extensive collection of English books, videos, tapes, and children's books. The library is also the site for expatriate meetings, children's storytelling hours, and other cultural events. Mérida is also home to the
Yucatán Symphony Orchestra, which plays regular seasons at the José Peón Contreras Theatre on Calle 60 and features classical music, jazz, and opera.
Food Yucatán food is its own unique style and is very different from what most people consider "Mexican" food. It includes influences from the local Maya cuisine, as well as Caribbean, Mexican, European and Middle Eastern foods. Tropical fruit, such as coconut, pineapple, plum, tamarind and mamey are often used in Yucatán cuisine. '', a Maya meal consisting of pumpkin seed-soaked corn tortillas filled with egg, spices and other seasonings, is an ancient dish of the Yucatán. There are many regional dishes. Some of them are: •
Poc Chuc, a Maya/Yucateco version of boiled/grilled pork •
Salbutes and
Panuchos.
Salbutes are soft, cooked tortillas with lettuce, tomato, turkey and avocado on top.
Panuchos feature fried tortillas filled with black beans, and topped with turkey or chicken, lettuce, avocado and pickled onions.
Habanero chiles accompany most dishes, either in solid or puréed form, along with fresh limes and corn tortillas. •
Queso Relleno is a gourmet dish featuring ground pork inside of a carved
edam cheese ball served with tomato sauce •
Pavo en Relleno Negro (also known locally as
Chimole) is turkey meat stew cooked with a black paste made from roasted chiles, a local version of the
mole de guajalote found throughout Mexico. The meat soaked in the black soup is also served in tacos, sandwiches and even in
panuchos or
salbutes. •
Sopa de Lima is a lime soup with a chicken broth base often accompanied by shredded chicken or turkey and crispy tortilla. •
Papadzules, egg tacos bathed with pumpkin seed sauce and tomatoes. •
Cochinita pibil is a marinated pork dish, by far the most renowned from Yucatán, that is made with achiote. Achiote is a reddish spice with a distinctive flavor and peppery smell. It is also known by the Spanish (Recados) seasoning paste. •
Bul keken (Mayan for "beans and pork") is a traditional black bean and pork soup. The soup is served in the home on Mondays in most Yucatán towns. The soup is usually served with chopped onions, radishes, chiles, and tortillas. This dish is also commonly referred to as
frijol con puerco. •
Brazo de reina (Spanish for "The Queen's Arm") is a traditional tamal dish. A long, flat tamal is topped with ground pumpkin seeds and rolled up like a roll cake. The long roll is then cut into slices. The slices are topped with a tomato sauce and a pumpkin seed garnish. •
Tamales colados is a traditional dish made with pork/chicken, banana leaf, fresh corn masa and achiote paste, seasoned with roasted tomato sauce.
Achiote is a popular spice in the area. It is derived from the hard
annatto seed found in the region. The whole seed is ground together with other spices and formed into a reddish seasoning paste, called
recado rojo. The other ingredients in the paste include cinnamon, allspice berries, cloves,
Mexican oregano, cumin seed, sea salt, mild black peppercorns, apple cider vinegar, and garlic. Hot sauce in Mérida is usually made from the indigenous chiles in the area which include: Chile Xcatik, Chile Seco de Yucatán, and Chile Habanero.
Language and accent The Spanish language spoken in the Yucatán is readily identifiable as different in comparison to the Spanish spoken all over the country, and even to non-native ears. It is heavily influenced by the
Yucatec Maya language, which is spoken by a third of the population of the State of Yucatán. The Mayan language is melodic, filled with ejective consonants (p', k', and t') and "sh" sounds (represented by the letter "x" in the Mayan language). Even though many people speak Mayan, there is much stigma associated with it. It can be seen that elders were associated with higher status with knowledge of the language, but the younger generation saw more negative attitudes with knowledge of the language This was also in direct correlation with the socioeconomic status and their overall placement in society. There is also the idea that one is not speaking in the "correct" manner of legitimate Mayan dialect, which also causes for more differences in the accent and overall language of the area. Due to being enclosed by the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, and being somewhat isolated from the rest of Mexico, Yucatecan Spanish has also preserved many words that are no longer used in many other Spanish-speaking areas of the world. However, over the years with the improvement of transportation and technology with the presence of radio, internet, and TV, many elements of the culture and language of the rest of Mexico are now slowly but consistently permeating the culture. Apart from the Mayan language, which is the mother-tongue of many Yucatecans, students now choose to learn a foreign language such as English, which is taught in most schools. ==Main sights==