Welcome to this month’s Library Newsletter!  In Mérida, October arrives with warm days, rainy afternoons, and the joyful spirit of celebration. Between the playful spookiness of Halloween 👻 and the heartfelt traditions of Día de Muertos 💀, this season is all about stories, memories, and community.

Here at the Library, our doors are wide open with more stories than ever and a calendar full of events for all ages.Step inside, discover what’s waiting for you, and let the stories carry you into the season. 

PLEASE NOTE THE LIBRARY WILL BE CLOSED ON SATURDAY NOVEMBER 1 FOR DIA DE LOS MUERTOS.

The MEL Wine Tastings Return for a New Season!

MEL’s Wine Tastings open the 2025 - 26 season on Thursday October 16 at the popular and well-known Casa de las Torres, located in Barrio La Ermita Mérida Centro.  Delightful evening music will be provided by DJ Ritmo from Chicago.  Our wine selections will be provided by sommelier Ansony Ramirez and creative new tapas will be prepared by chef Marcos Menezes.  MEL looks forward to your participation in our newly re-designed and exciting wine tasting events this season, often including art and music!

The committee is happy to announce that admission prices remain the same this season despite rising costs.  Tickets for MEL Members are now on sale online in the MEL Shop.  Members may purchase two tickets at MX$700 each per Family or Individual membership number.  Please visit our website for information about our ticket sales policies.

Tickets go on sale without restriction both online and in person at MEL at 9:00 AM on Monday October 6.  Tickets for non-members are MX$800 each.  Please note that tickets are NOT AVAILABLE at the door of the event, so make sure to buy yours in advance.

These Wine Tasting events often sell out, and you can guarantee your spot in all six tastings by purchasing a season pass.  Read more about this valuable offer here.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

Trova is the most Yucatecan of all music styles, and musician Jorge Canto will present an eight-week, hands-on workshop that explores all the intricacies and history of this fascinating genre.  The main objective of this workshop is for the guitar student to become familiar with and learn to play the five most important rhythms of Yucatecan Trova, and develop their capacity for musical appreciation, singing, and instrumental performance  Each ninety-minute class will include conversation about the history of Trova including a review of the most important trovadores of Yucatán, and a practice session where you will put your new knowledge to use.  The class will make extensive use of audio and video recordings and sheet music will be provided.  Participants will need to bring a guitar, and a basic or intermediate skill is expected. 

The workshop will be held in the classroom at the Mérida English Library on Monday mornings, starting at 10:00 AM on October 20.   The cost for this eight-session workshop is MX$2,000, and you can register in-person at MEL or online in the MEL Shop.  Registration will be limited to allow an intimate setting.

Bring your guitar and be ready to immerse yourself in this music that is highly loved by Yucatecans!

Read more about Jorge Canto and this workshop on the MEL website.

Join us for a special night of Bingo on Saturday October 18 starting at 7:00 PM, as Oktoberfest arrives at MEL.  Enjoy all the traditional MEL Bingo Night Activities, plus a special menu provided by members of the International Women’s Club.  They’ll serve sausages, hot German potato salad, Rotkohl (German red cabbage) and apple strudel all for $300.  Also expect our usual cash bar offerings.

Proceeds from this meal will help fund the Gorro Group’s weekly visits and gifts to children with cancer at the O’Horan Hospital.  They supply the children and their families with activity and story books, Hot Wheels cars, crayons and colored pencils, plus money to fund the purchase of vital prescriptions.  You’ll also be helping buy the yarn the Gorro Group uses to make hats and toys for each child.  Come join us and support this worthwhile cause!

Buy your Bingo Booklet and your Oktoberfest Dinner online in the MEL Shop.

You can feel it in the air… the MEL Spooky Bazaar is here!

Save the date: Saturday, October 25th from 5 pm to 9 pm on the patio of the Mérida English Library. As part of the Halloween Weekend at MEL activities, the bazaar gathers the work of artisans, creators, visual artists, perfect for presents, all inspired in the season. The products for sale during the bazaar are good-quality, handmade pieces. Handcrafts, jewelry, decoration, clothing, accessories, desserts, snacks and drinks from our cash bar. 

Multiple fun spooky activities are scheduled during the event for the enjoyment of all. Halloween costumes are strongly encouraged. Share the invitation to all your friends; the more the merrier.

Do you want to sell your products at the MEL Spooky Bazaar?

Contact us at outreach@meridaenglishlibrary.com 

This is a fundraising event in benefit of the Mérida English Library.

Calling all Homeowners!

The Original MEL House & Garden Tour returns in November, and plans are underway to create an enjoyable experience for all who attend.  If you have a home in centro (including Santiago, Santa Ana, Mejorada, La Ermita, San Sebastian, and surrounding neighborhoods) then we need you!  Including your home on the tour is the easiest way to support MEL programs, and only requires about 90 minutes of your time on a Wednesday morning.

A team of people led by Ana Cristina Alaluf and Alfonso Lopez will be running the tour this year.  Please contact them at tours@meridaenglishlibrary.com if you have any questions or if you want to discuss the logistics of including your home on the tour.  You’ll be glad you did!

Tickets for the 2025-26 season will go on sale on October 15 at MEL or online in the MEL Shop.

As we finished September with a very fun edition of Storytime, we have great plans for October! Join us on October 11 to read a story from the book The Great Book of Mayan Legends with a great arts and crafts project. Free entrance, registration is required online.

As part of our Halloween Weekend at MEL, we invite you to enjoy the Quartet String Concert for Kids, performed by Cuarteto Yucatán, on October 25th. This is a didactic concert for families where we will listen to live chamber spooky music, while we learn about the instruments and the musicians. Tickets are available on our website. Limited seating.

MEL Storytime takes place every other Saturday at the patio of the Mérida English Library at 10:00 am. 

Robert Ash is with Lakeside Medical Group (LMG), a managed health care program that offers expats free or low-cost emergency and urgent care treatment at their in-network medical facilities throughout Mexico, including Star Médica. They work primarily with Medicare Advantage plans. This is a presentation intended for retirees and virtual nomads about how they can use their existing health insurance through Lakeside Medical Group´s program to enjoy emergency and urgent care coverage at participating hospitals.

This presentation, like their service, is free, and will be held on Wednesday October 29 at 9:30 AM in MEL’s air-conditioned classroom.  The short talk will be followed by a Q&A session.  While this session is intended to be informational in nature, be aware the LMG is a provider of managed care and Robert will be discussing coverage through their program.  This presentation is hosted by the Mérida English Library but this does not imply an endorsement of these LMG-provided services by the library, the library staff or volunteers. 

Find more information, including an application for membership and contact details, on their website.

Embark on a journey of balance and harmony with tai chi classes!  Tai chi improves your coordination, alignment, breathing, coordination, concentration, and memory. Join Mónica González to explore the Wiquinxi style that imitates the movements of five animals, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9:30 – 10:30 AM.  Classes are $100 per session or you can purchase eight sessions for the reduced price of $600.  Visit the MEL Shop to reserve your spots.

Richard Poe is a classically trained, fourth generation Pilates teacher.  He is skilled in working with a variety of populations; clients recovering from severe injury, novice and advanced students and athletes.  Students should only bring a mat; a Pilates–specific mat is preferred but not required.

Join Richie at MEL on Fridays 11:00 am – 12:00 in our air-conditioned classroom.  Register online in the MEL Shop for a single session for $200 or take advantage of a special $700 monthly fee.

Our Open Mic Night group will gather on Tuesday, October 21, from 6:15 to 8:00 PM.   If you’re a writer or lover of literature, don’t miss this opportunity to share your work and connect with fellow creatives!

The Mérida Writers Group meets in our classroom every-other-week, including October 8 and October 22.  This is an opportunity for writers of all levels and genres to share their work.  Join them starting at 11:00 AM.

Ready to write? Three weeks remain in the Poetry Writing Workshop with Olya! This fun and informal workshop of imaginative prompts and collaborative discovery will help spark your creative genius. Just bring your pen, paper, and love of words!  All collections will receive feedback from the instructor at the end of the workshop.

This course is free and open to all levels and meets on Wednesdays through October 22 at 9:30 AM. Join your classmates on the second floor terrace at MEL.

Read more and register at https://meridaenglishlibrary.com/melblog/poetry-workshop-2025.

Our Fiction and Friends book club meets on the last Thursday of each month, including October 30 starting at 10:00 AM.  Please visit our website for more information or to join.

The Climate Solutions Group will meet on Saturday October 18 at 11:30 AM in our classroom. In this group, we learn, grow, and build a community of people concerned about preparing for climate change. These meetings are open to the public – we look forward to seeing you there!

On Monday evenings we meet at MEL to practice English and Spanish during Conversaciones con Amigos. This is a language exchange program.

We open the doors at 6:45 pm. We start the practice at 7 with a suggested topic, though you can talk about anything you wish as long as you avoid controversial topics. We finish at 9:00 pm. Program designed for adults only. Free for members, $20 pesos for non-members.

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 2nd and 4th Tuesdays, 9:30 - 12:30, from October 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 Marie Barchus, Marianne Kehoe, or Irma O'Meara.

The kick-off of Spanish classes at MEL was great! And there’s a place for you to be part of the students who are already learning this fascinating language. Even though we started in September, you can still join the groups on Wednesdays and Fridays: level 1 Beginners at 4 pm, level 2 Basic Intermediate at 5:00 pm, and level 3 Intermedio at 6:00 pm. 

We meet in the air conditioned classroom of the Mérida English Library. Register now online or in person and live the experience with teacher Alfonso, language instructor. Learn more about our classes here.

AA holds their regular weekly sessions in English at MEL every Thursday starting at 7:00 PM.  Visit our website for more information.

Help Wanted! 

The Library Collections Committee (LCC) is always in need of volunteers to bring books to MEL from the US. If you are planning a visit north, and have room in your return luggage for anywhere between two and 200 books, please send an email to Marianne Kehoe kehoedds@gmail.com. We appreciate your support in this valuable service.  

Christmas Card Making Workshop 

MEL and the International Women’s Club of Mérida are joining forces to create holiday cards for Yucatán Giving Outreach (YGO) and the organizations they support. Together, we can help bring a smile to those who need it most during this special season.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7TH 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM

The cards will already be stamped, your part is to add color and decorations! 

All supplies will be provided.

Can’t join us on December 7th?
No worries! You can pick up card packets at the Library office to complete at home and still be part of this wonderful initiative.

Christine Angeles - Ashton Plymale - Tim and Marsha Weaver - George McClellan - Nigel Cundale - John Magnussun - Audrey Egan - Kristine Ellingson - Erin Scott - Belle McDonnell - Mark Plymale - Bill French - Annie Eckles - Adrianna Durán - William Gilbert - Linda O’Donnel - Jeremie Tucker - Alan Worline - Jim and Marianne Kehoe - Fiona Cougheour - Caithlyn Hewelyn 

Do not miss it, click HERE download it now!