- Jack Kerouac
When I was in New Orleans a week ago, I received a special gift, a sticker that reads, "Be a New Orleanian wherever you are." This weekend that sentiment seemed more true in Mexican than ever before. I am a New Orleanian that has had, for as long as I can remember, been in love with Mexico. It began with the caramel color of a boys' skin and continued to grow as I traveled throughout this magnificent country. Since my trip back to New Orleans in August, I have been a bit obsessed with reinvigorating the sister city agreement between New Orleans and Merida.
My first approach was to test the waters at the New Orleans Yacht Club and Southern Yacht Club where Sailor Girl Lola hangs. It seemed like a natural beginning as we have a magnificent port in Progreso and many marinas that could accommodate the sailing crews. The plan was two-fold, investigate the possibility of navigating a ferry through the channel to the Gulf of Mexico, and inspire races to Progreso. The ferry doesn't look to be promising as the cost alone to move through the channel is outrageous and the travel time is close to 10 hours just to get from the port to the Gulf. There are long term races already in place between the yacht clubs and destinations to the Caribbean side of the Yucatan Peninsula that foster humanitarian aide. The idea of sailing to Progreso isn't appealing to anyone that has made that migratory race part of their lifestyle over the last twenty odd years.
As fate has her own style of showing the way without much of a demand on us, I found myself this weekend sitting on the veranda of a Chuburna beachfront property, enjoying the view, cup of rich coffee and conversation with friends, when a neighbor wandered our way. Eduardo Cervera was responsible for re-initiating the sister city agreement between Merida and New Orleans. Read this last sentence once again. Extraordinary!
Eduardo worked for the Mexican Consulate in the Yucatan and requested the ambassador assignment to New Orleans during Marc Morial's mayorial tenure. He faciliated the agreement between the two cities, brought the esteemed El Ballet Folklorico del Statdo de Yucatan and oversaw the completion of a mural in the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center of New Orleans by Yucatecan artists that outlined the rich history between the two states around hennequin transport. Back in Merida, he was part of the planning and dedication of a park in North Merida to the sisterhood between the two cities. New Orleans delegates of the Morial tenure never made it to Merida. After the Yucatan donated countless dollars to the recovery efforts post-Katrina, and then New Orleans mayor, Ray Nagin, visited in 2009 to resign the sister city agreement during a world trade convention held in Merida. All Nagin fiscal activities were under sever scrutiny at the time and thus his trip was cut short.
Timing seems to have been against Eduardo's efforts. As he recalled fondly the time he lived in New Orleans, he told us the story of his parents journey and countless other Yucatecans, that took ships headed to New Orleans or Havanna for shopping expeditions. The road to Mexico City was often unpassable as hurricanes wiped out bridges crossing small rivers and there was no highway at that time. As I have also discovered in conversations with locals, many families studied English and pursued academic degrees at Tulane. This might explain my early love of Mexico as I grew up six blocks from that campus and my mother studied there. Other notable connections include the diaspora of Aftrican American Orleanians fleeing to the Yucatan after the Civil War, when restrictions on their movements were curtailed by legislation imposed by the Anglo population. Why did they move to the Yucatan? The history between the Yucatan and Louisiana is knotted like a hennequin hammock. I'll leave you to investigate further the role of hennequin, nylon, the Cast Wars and Governor Felipe Carrillo Puerto influences that in part dissolved the ties between the two sister cities. It will be a fascinating research project. Let me know what you find out!
Create the life you want!
The Broad
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As fate has her own style of showing the way without much of a demand on us, I found myself this weekend sitting on the veranda of a Chuburna beachfront property, enjoying the view, cup of rich coffee and conversation with friends, when a neighbor wandered our way. Eduardo Cervera was responsible for re-initiating the sister city agreement between Merida and New Orleans. Read this last sentence once again. Extraordinary!
Eduardo worked for the Mexican Consulate in the Yucatan and requested the ambassador assignment to New Orleans during Marc Morial's mayorial tenure. He faciliated the agreement between the two cities, brought the esteemed El Ballet Folklorico del Statdo de Yucatan and oversaw the completion of a mural in the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center of New Orleans by Yucatecan artists that outlined the rich history between the two states around hennequin transport. Back in Merida, he was part of the planning and dedication of a park in North Merida to the sisterhood between the two cities. New Orleans delegates of the Morial tenure never made it to Merida. After the Yucatan donated countless dollars to the recovery efforts post-Katrina, and then New Orleans mayor, Ray Nagin, visited in 2009 to resign the sister city agreement during a world trade convention held in Merida. All Nagin fiscal activities were under sever scrutiny at the time and thus his trip was cut short.
Timing seems to have been against Eduardo's efforts. As he recalled fondly the time he lived in New Orleans, he told us the story of his parents journey and countless other Yucatecans, that took ships headed to New Orleans or Havanna for shopping expeditions. The road to Mexico City was often unpassable as hurricanes wiped out bridges crossing small rivers and there was no highway at that time. As I have also discovered in conversations with locals, many families studied English and pursued academic degrees at Tulane. This might explain my early love of Mexico as I grew up six blocks from that campus and my mother studied there. Other notable connections include the diaspora of Aftrican American Orleanians fleeing to the Yucatan after the Civil War, when restrictions on their movements were curtailed by legislation imposed by the Anglo population. Why did they move to the Yucatan? The history between the Yucatan and Louisiana is knotted like a hennequin hammock. I'll leave you to investigate further the role of hennequin, nylon, the Cast Wars and Governor Felipe Carrillo Puerto influences that in part dissolved the ties between the two sister cities. It will be a fascinating research project. Let me know what you find out!
Create the life you want!
The Broad
2 comments:
Sounds like the stuff that happens to me all the time,awesome!
As it should be!
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