Welcome to the last issue of the Mérida English Library Newsletter in 2024! As we embrace the festive spirit of the season, We are delighted to extend warm holiday greetings to our wonderful community. December brings with it a multitude of joyful activities at MEL that will surely add to the magic of this special time of year.

Please consider the library will be closed on December 24, 25, 31, and January 1st. You can still return your books through our book return slot located on the lower right side of the entrance door.

 Join Us for December’s House & Garden Tours! 

This December, we invite you to explore the charm and beauty of Mérida with our House & Garden Tours, happening every Wednesday morning—except for December 25. 

Excitingly, on Wednesday, December 4, we’ll host our very first Evening Tour! Experience the magic of Mérida’s homes under the glow of night lights. We’ll meet at Parque de la Ermita at 5:30 PM to begin this unforgettable journey.

Don’t miss this opportunity to see these incredible homes from a new perspective. Be sure to mark your calendars and join us for a December full of stunning tours and festive cheer!

The cost is $400 for MEL members and $500 for non-members. Visit our website for more information, include important information, and reserve your spots online in the MEL Shop. 

MEL’s next Wine Tasting event will take place on Thursday, December 19 from 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM in a newly renovated home located in Centro.  Free flowing melodic breezes, great art, and water music share space with lush landscapes.  Please join us for holiday celebration.

Tickets go on sale to MEL members only at 9:00 AM on Thursday, December 5 online in the MEL Shop.  This members-only presale period is an online-only sale, and ticket purchases are limited to two per library Individual or Family membership number.  Please look here for details.

Any remaining tickets will go on sale without limit on Monday December 9 at 9:00 AM, either online or in person at MEL.  Tickets are $700 for MEL members and $800 for non-members.  The location of the event will be revealed to you after you make your ticket purchase.

 We look forward to seeing you all!

Join fellow amateur writers at MEL for prose and poetry readings.  We’ll gather in the MEL classroom on December 17 starting at 6:15 PM to share ten-minute excerpts of our work.  This is a once-a-month meeting, and the next event will be on January 28.  Visit our website for more information.

All writers living in Mérida's vicinity, regardless of level of experience, are welcome to attend the Writers Group meetings in the classroom at MEL, alternate Wednesdays, including December 4 and December 18, at 11:00 AM.   Come join other enthusiasts for an exchange of ideas.

The Fiction & Friends book club is gaining members and enthusiasm and we’re looking forward to a great high season.  The Friends will discuss The House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea  on December 26 — the definitive Mexican-American immigrant story, a sprawling and deeply felt portrait of a Mexican-American family occasioned by the impending loss of its patriarch, from one of the country's most beloved authors.

Fiction & Friends meets on the last Thursday of each month starting at 10:00 AM.  Please visit our website for more information or to join the club.

Our free lecture series continues:

• December 4: Tom Johnson — The Lienzo de Quauhquechollan: A Curious, Compelling, Captivating Geohistory of 16th Century Mexico and Guatemala. This presentation covers the history of the famous map Quauhquechollan and how it, and other indigenous pictorial maps (lienzos), influenced all of Mexican history, especially the Mexican legal system and land law.

• December 11:  Amy Wright — Serial Mexico: Storytelling across Media from Nationhood to Now. Given recent commemorations of the Mexican Revolution, as well as this year of elections for Mexico and its northern neighbor, we’ll hear about a fascinating figure: lovable, laughable Don Catarino, hero of Mexico's very first national comic strip. He appeared toward the end of the Revolution, in a newspaper that would eventually propose him as the next Mexican President (1921).

• December 18: Alan Futterman — Backstage Shenanigans of Some Famous Orchestral Works. Alan — Music Director of the Bremerton, WA WestSound Symphony — walks you through the backstages of three centuries of concerts to see what really happened before the audience arrived and the curtain rose.  Handel, Brahms, Gershwin, Bernstein, The Beatles - yes, they are all connected!

MEL Talks are held on Wednesdays starting at 7:00 PM and are free and open to the public.  Visit our website for the schedule, and watch past lectures on our YouTube channel.  

Yoga 4 Snowbirds, by Alma Duran, Ph.D. Fridays, 9:30- 10:30 AM Starting January 10th 

Experience these integrative yoga practices in MEL´s well-ventilated, quiet, and welcoming environment to increase your well-being and enjoyment of the warmer south.

Yoga 4 Snowbirds are specially designed sessions that will help you unlock the key to feeling joyful, healthy and energetic- without risky or pretzel-like postures. Each class is different and offers a full-body, safe, mindful, breath-oriented sequence that includes powerfully grounding and strengthening, meditation in motion, breathwork and other complementary somatic explorations.

Participants are encouraged to self-reflection and to make a discovery out of the movements and poses.
Alma Duran is a Level 4 certified Yoga Alliance yoga instructor, author, educator, and holds a PhD
in Cultural Anthropology. She has studied and practice in several European, Asian and American
countries, and has earned nine internationally recognized certifications. Her teaching style is rooted in Viniyoga and tantra, subtle body energetics, Ayurveda, QiGong and Zen Buddhism. She is passionate about using evidence-informed practices with a heart-centered approach. With more than three decades of experience, her therapeutically oriented teachings emphasize that the practice should be adapted to the person- and not the other way around. 

You can register now for 4-consecutive classes for 1,000.00 using your credit card (credit card
usage fees might apply), or you can buy single-class passes for 300 pesos. If you prefer to pay cash
@ MEL, or by direct deposit, please send first a message to Alma to verify space availability.

Any questions? Please e-mail Alma. Once you book a class it is not possible to reschedule or make
refunds, but you are welcome to transfer your spot to a friend.

Since 2012, hats and toys made by a group of crafters have been distributed weekly to children in the cancer unit of O’Horán Hospital. Besides a gorro (brimless hat), each child gets a toy and activity book, crayons or colored pencils.

 If you can knit, crochet, or sew, please join us in the classroom at MEL on the second and fourth Tuesdays, 9:30 - 12:30, from November through March. We have patterns and some materials to share, but please bring your own equipment and supplies if you have them. 

Questions?  Please send an email to the group organizers.

This tenth edition of the Mérida Chili CookOff is set for Sunday, January 12, 2025, from 1:00 to 5:00 pm at Casa de Amistad in Itzminá, Mérida. There will be live music, food and more fun activities! Tickets at $500 each are available at the Mérida English Library during library hours or online in the MEL Shop.   Your ticket grants you admission to the event for the tasting of different chilis. In addition, you'll receive a courtesy drink and a hot dog. A variety of drinks will be available for sale.

This event is a fundraiser for children's charities, organized by the Mérida English Library, the International Women's Club, the Mérida Men's Club, & the Mérida English Rotary Club.

If there is love in your heart and mind, you will always feel like Christmas!

The magic of classical music is arriving at MEL again, this occasion to celebrate the holidays.

The Cuarteto Yucatán, composed by members of the Yucatán Symphony Orchestra, is dedicated to promoting classical and contemporary string quartet repertoire. The Mérida English Library is honored to host this special Holiday Concert for Children & Families on Saturday, December 21 starting at 10 am.

This is a didactic concert, so our guests can enjoy and understand a bit more of this magnificent music.

Get your tickets now! $100 per kid, $150 per adult.

45 min program:

• Concierto de Navidad                             Arcangelo Corelli
• Oración Nocturna, Hansel y Gretel        Engelbert Humperdinck
• Suite de Navidad                                    Alec Rowley
• Suite del Cascanueces                          Piotr Tchaikovsky
• Canción de Navidad                              Mel Torme
• Festival de Navidad, Paseo en Trineo   Leroy  Anderson

Conversaciones con Amigos continues its regular meetings on Mondays until December 16, then we'll take a two-week break. at Conversacioines con Amigos, we gather at the patio of MEL to practice conversation in English and Spanish in a friendly environment from 7 to 9 pm. There is a different suggested topic to address every week and follow-up questions to guide the conversation. This is a program designed for adults only. Meetings will resume on January 13.

We are looking for hosts! Learn more here 

Mónica González, our Taiji instructor, is offering this great practice at the rooftop of MEL during December for 6 sessions. On Tuesdays and Thursdays (3, 5, 10, 12, 17, 19) starting at 9:30 am. Wear comfortable clothing and practice Taiji with us. Register for 6 sessions for $450 pesos only, or try a single class for $100 pesos.

The MEL Santa Ana Gallery Tour is back!

Join us for a unique artistic experience! On the first and third Thursday of the month, starting December 5th, explore the vibrant art scene in Santa Ana with our guided gallery tour.

Discover an array of artistic styles and mediums, and get to know the stories behind the artists and their work. Meet us every Thursday at 9:00 a.m. and get ready to be inspired!

Register here

On Thursdays starting at 7 pm, the group of Alcoholic Anonymous meets at the Mérida English Library, as part of our community activities. 

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

The MEL Holiday Bazaar is almost here!

Visit the Mérida English Library on 𝗦𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟳𝘁𝗵 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝟱:𝟬𝟬 𝗽𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝟵:𝟬𝟬 𝗽𝗺!

It's an evening bazaar! Come and meet the amazing vendors who will have their great work for sale.

Buy your holiday gifts from them!

Enjoy refreshing drinks from our cash bar as you hang out with other visitors

Find handcrafts, jewelry, clothing, accessories, antiques, decoration, books, plants, and more!

𝗦𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟳𝘁𝗵 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝟱:𝟬𝟬 𝗽𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝟵:𝟬𝟬 𝗽𝗺!

Storytime

What time is it?

It’s Storytime! 

The holiday special comes on Saturday, December 14th starting at 10 am. We are reading the classic story from Dr. Seuss “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”. Followed by a set of Christmas Carols and an arts & crafts project. This is part of our holiday activities, and later on, join us for Posada Mexicana.

Posada Mexicana at MEL.

You are invited to join us wearing your best holiday attire, on Saturday, December 14th, starting at 7:00 pm at the door of the library right on street 53 between 66 & 68. After a welcoming speech, we will knock on our neighbors’ doors and sing Christmas Carols in English and Villancicos Navideños in Spanish. We will provide the lyrics so we can all sing along!

The last song will be at MEL’s door, after that we will all enter with joy to the patio of the library where we will have Christmas dinner for sale. Check our Buffet Dinner Menu and feel free to pre-order here: https://meridaenglishlibrary.com/melblog/posada-mexicana-at-mel-2024-

The moment will come to break the piñata and get candies home!

This is a free event open to the public, and we will be receiving donations of canned, non-perishable food for Refettorio Mérida, and pet food for Evolución Animal AC.

This is our way to say thank you for an amazing year full of experiences and great memories with all of you, members of the Mérida English Library.

Wine and Paint at MEL

It’s always lovely to see the face of accomplishment and satisfaction in the participants of our Wine & Paint experiences at MEL. We want to thank our friends Conchita & Ale from Talleres Articrea, art instructors, for making this possible and giving us always a good time with their vibrant energy and love for art.

Come and enjoy this wine and paint!

Saturday, December 21st, 11:30 am in the air-conditioned MEL classroom.

A new session full of nature and the colors of the earth, feel free to celebrate everything beautiful that has happened in your life this year and try to save all those memories in a single bag.

All materials are included and you get to bring your tote bag home with your art creation. Wine will be poured during the art session. Your inner artist will enjoy it!

Register now! Get a special discount in pairs.

Meena Salazar - Alvah and Jim Hanrahan - Mitch Brown - Nic Lavroff - Joan Kershaw - Andreas Aluja Schunerman - Star Siler - Al Sheppard - Viviana Ramos - Tara Carman - Gerardo Quintal - Loretta Cash - Holly Chambers - Fiona Wilmot - Judith Stanford - Kathi Bienz - Susan Outerbridge - Jim Kehoe - Jo Proulx - Liz Gassimi - Greg Casini- Roberta Penton - Sherrel Sands - Bill & Evalynne Engle - Melissa Curley - Ellen Fields - Gail Goggin - Edgar Rivas - Anali Ordaz .

Get it now here