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Published: January 25th 2009
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It has been a long time since I last published on this blog and I am sorry about that. BUT! With this long break, we have some exciting news: we have a new casita.
Let’s back track a little bit. Last week, our great friend Dianne invited us to stay in Casa Luna. One night turned into three turned to one week. Our week in Centro was fantastic. We went to our studio to work during the day, sat on the roof of Casa Luna with beer and guacamole in the afternoons and ate at great restaurants in the evening. We soon started to realize, that we wanted more and more to be in Centro full-time. One night’s dinner at a wonderful Indian restaurant, we shared our feelings with our good friends Macky and Aissa. They said they would keep their eyes open for us as they knew we could not afford the expensive rents that most of the gringos here were charging. (Like $2,000USD a month for a 1 bedroom! That’s more than San Francisco people!!)
The very next morning, I received an email from Macky saying they had found a neat place that might work out for
Don't Forget Me!!
Byron makes sure he is noticed... us but the 2 bedroom in the place for rent might not be ready yet as it was just built. We decided to go check it out anyways.
The casita was very close to the Instituto Allende which instantly made us happy. This meant we were right on the border of Centro, close to Parque Juarez and far enough out of town that all the traffic wouldn’t annoy us. We followed the kind Mexican woman down a long corridor to the last building in a gated-in, garden pathway. We reached a grey building and climbed a set of stairs. I was already thinking that this was going to be a very dark apartment, but to our surprise, we weren’t to the landing of the new casita yet. To our shock, we were going up yet another level in a spiral staircase. This was a good sign. We opened the door and were instantly surprised. The small kitchen was completely tiled in a happy sunflower pattern. And then to our biggest surprise, was the view. A whole wall of windows faced all of San Miguel. The parroquia, Bella Artes…all of it. There was a huge patio with two benches that
were also made of bright Mexican tile…as was the bathroom. The bedrooms were good sized and had a lot of closet space. There was yet another spiral staircase to go up to be on the fourth story with a full view all around us. Macky and Aissa chatted with the landlady, name Delia, while we (mostly me) hmm-ed and haw-ed. “How could we do this when we have another great place with Eleanor,” I thought. I was so afraid that our moving out would really hurt her feelings, which was the last thing we wanted to do. Delia told us that there was another lady who wanted to see the apartment later in the evening and we knew it wasn’t going to last. I was so nervous! I looked at Ronnie with scared eyes, almost pleading for him to make the decision. He looked directly back at me and said, ”Why the hell not?” So we said yes, went to the bank and paid our first month’s rent.
The next day we went to tell Eleanor. It was as if she already knew before we told her and she couldn’t have been more supportive. She could tell something was
Bye Canela...
and all other street dogs that harassed us up as we hadn’t been back in awhile. She also understood that we needed to get the most from our time in Mexico and that living in Centro would help us with our complete experience.
We moved out two days later. I must say it was the easiest move I have ever done as we don’t have any furniture. Only clothes, books and some dried goods.
Our new place did need a bit of love. We are the first tenants after all. There was only one rug, a couple of sheets and one blanket. Four plates, two bowls, four mugs, two beds, two tables and a bench to serve as a couch. We needed to go shopping…and shop we did. We bought a coffee maker, rugs, pots and pans, wastebaskets, pillows, mirrors, blankets and light coverings. It’s not great that we spent this money, but the place feels even more like us now as we were able to decorate it as we wanted. I told Delia that we were buying things for the casita and she said that when we leave, we can either have a garage sale or she would buy the items for the next renter.
It was sort of a good excuse for me to buy some things I have been wanting from the Mercado, so I have been okay with it.
Our first few days here have been full of shopping, organizing and speaking in Spanish to different workmen who come in to do final touches on our place.
Byron loves the patio the best of all. He gets to see all the birds and lay in the sun. We love it too. Every morning so far, we make coffee and sit outside to watch the sun rise and cast dramatic shadows over the city. The patio has become our living room. The other night, we watched a huge firework display, celebrating Ignacio Allende’s birthday. We had the best seats in town. And last night, we couldn't help but slow dance on the patio until some kids nearby started snickering at us.
On Tuesday, we were able to watch the Inauguration over the internet. It is neat to watch it as an expat. Go USA! We stood and sang the national anthem with you... here in Mexico.
We are starting to get into a groove in our new place and
it feels more and more like home every day. The weather is slowly getting warmer and today was the first day I was able to wear my sandles on the cobblestone streets once again.
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Angel
non-member comment
OMG!!
I LOVE your new place!! This sounds like the lift you guys needed for sure! I'm so happy for you!!