Essential Spanish phrases

'How are you?' in Yucatec Maya. Around half a million people in Yucatán speak Maya, and using this once will change how a conversation goes.

A Mexican from outside the peninsula. Half-teasing, half-serious — Yucatán thinks of itself as distinct from the rest of the country and mostly is.

'Little', borrowed from Maya into everyday Yucatecan Spanish. 'Un chan ratito' — just a little while.

A hammock. Yucatecan houses have hooks set into the walls for them, and a great many people genuinely sleep in one because it is cooler than a mattress.

The bank trust a foreigner needs to hold residential property inside the 50 km restricted coastal zone. The Yucatán coast is certainly inside it; whether Mérida itself is remains contested locally.

Hard water and the softener you will end up buying. Limestone aquifer water scales kettles, boilers and washing machines to death.

Pork marinated in achiote and sour orange, wrapped in banana leaf and cooked in a pit. Eaten at breakfast here, not dinner.

The two Yucatecan tortilla snacks — one puffed and soft, one stuffed with beans and crisped. Knowing which you prefer marks you as a resident.

A sinkhole into the limestone aquifer. Yucatán has no rivers at all; the water is entirely underground, which shapes everything from swimming to plumbing.

Yucatán's own state income tax, on top of federal ISR: 5% on gains from selling property and 4.5% on business income. It does not touch rents.

911 for all emergencies; 089 for anonymous crime reports. Both free from any phone anywhere in Mexico.