Being a teenager is complicated anywhere. Doing it in a new country, often in a second language, with a whole new set of friendships to build, asks a lot of a young person. We see that at the Mérida Teens Club all the time, and it is what we sat down to talk about when Stephanie Carmon invited us onto her podcast, What's Happening Yucatán?
We loved spending time with Stephanie, and the best part was that three of our members came along to speak for themselves. If you have ever wondered what it actually feels like to be a teenager in Mérida, their answers say it better than we could.
Stephanie's show is a favorite for people living in the Yucatán, thinking about moving here, or just curious about the place. When she asked if the club would come on, we were glad to say yes.
Jenita Lawal, who co-founded the club, talked with Stephanie about how it started and where it is now. Jenita has lived in Mérida for more than seven years, is a permanent resident of Mexico, and is raising three kids of her own, so she came at it as both a founder and a parent. The best part, though, was that she did not come alone.
The reason the club exists is pretty simple. Every teenager needs a place where they belong.
Mérida pulls together a lot of different worlds. Families move here from abroad, families have lived here for generations, and in between are teens trying to make friends and feel at home in the middle of all of it. What is often missing is a space built just for them, where a kid who grew up here and a kid who arrived last month can end up at the same table and realize how much they have in common.
Filling that gap is what the club is for. We welcome teens ages 13 to 18 from every kind of background, and we try to make connecting feel easy. You do not need to already know anyone, and there are no cliques to crack. You just show up, and you are part of it.
Hearing from the members themselves was the highlight. Bailey, Sebastian, and Cielo talked about what being a teen in this city is actually like: the friendships, the mix of cultures, the moments when they realized they had found people who got them.
What kept coming up was how much these friendships matter to them, and how they carry beyond the meetups into the way these kids see the world and themselves.
A lot of the club happens in the regular stuff. We meet up weekly and monthly, so there is always something on the calendar and always familiar faces when you get there.
Then there are the bigger nights. The Spring Formal is our annual tradition, when everyone dresses up and the whole group celebrates together. Those are the nights where a quick hello from a meetup turns into an actual friendship.
For a family that just moved here, a club like this can be the difference between a teen who feels lost and one who feels at home. For families who have always lived in Mérida, it is a way for their teens to make friends from other countries without going anywhere. Either way, it means a kid has somewhere they are wanted.
If listeners take one thing from the episode, we hope it is that. Mérida is a great place to grow up, and it gets even better when teens have people looking out for them.
You can listen to the whole episode, Bailey, Sebastian, and Cielo included, on Stephanie Carmon's What's Happening Yucatán?
If you have a teen between 13 and 18 who could use a few more friends in Mérida, come find us. Head to www.meridateens.club to learn how to join. There is always room for more.