1. Friends are the best part of Yucatan for me.  When I moved to Merida with Josue Ramos we did not expect to stay more than 6 months. We did not expect to have any friends.  That quickly changed. One of the best things about living here is having old friends come from Paris and New York and bring their friends.  It seems that every year I make a few new friends.  I didn´t have friends growing up rural Texas.  I didn´t like it at the time but it did make me independent. I moved to Paris alone and slowly made friends there.  Some of my New York friends have bought houses in Merida and others often come to visit.  One of the best things about having so many houses is having friends to fill them up.

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I try to stay out of my renters way but sometimes we end up having drinks or dinner and sometimes we end up being friends.  Sometimes you are chatting with a guest from the other side of world and realize you have a close friend in common.  Sometimes you meet a friend of a friend in Morocco and that new friend comes to stay and introduces you to an old friend who lives in Mexico.  That friend of a friend invites you to visit in London and you meet their friends and the whole thing snowballs.   I have a lot of friends for someone who started out with none.

2. Affordable housing.  After spending a decade in Paris sandwiched between a decade in New York it was amazing to arrive in an incredible place with beautiful houses.  Affordable houses like  Ermita de Santa Isabel my first house in Merida.   I have now renovated a dozen houses in Merida for friends and frenemies.   I still have a few irons in the fire.  Personal projects to complete.  The house to build in the country the studio to renovate in town…but I´m in no hurry.

3. Artists. Having started life out as an artist. It´s always fun to meet other artist and there is nothing like beauty and cheap real estate for attracting gays  artists.  …

to be continued…