MERIDA, Mexico -- A man in a white tank top, black drawstring shorts and flip flops drags a beat-up bike from the front room of an abandoned house on a wide boulevard lined with mansions.
For 30 pesos, less than $3, the rusted, one-speed "Cherry"-brand bike is mine for the next two hours.
I pedal along the Paseo Montejo, passing pastel-colored mansions, once the homes of wealthy plantation owners, now the headquarters for banks, insurance companies and car dealerships.
A group of children plays a game of Twister on the sidewalk. Others join an impromptu art class, dipping their fingers into jars of paint set out on card tables in the street.
