NEW APARTMENT

I arrived here last year in the height of the season.  There were almost no apartment for me to choose from.  I took the first decent one that I found.  This year I did not want to make the same mistake so I started looking in July.  To my surprise, there still weren't that many choices.  I wanted to remain in the Zona Romantica (I like the name and that is where all my bars are located).  I also did not want to have to climb several blocks straight up a hill when coming home from the bars.

I wanted a two bedroom so I had an extra room for my office and another room for guests.  Another big requirement for me was a large covered deck or terrace.  I love plants and have really enjoyed sitting on my deck and watching the rain pour down.  I also wanted a Mexican looking place (but not too Mexican).  After a while I realized that I might have to give up on some of my requirements.

A Realtor showed me a very nice place, but it was too far up the hill, then he told me about one he had not yet seen.  It turned out to be the large modern building I pass almost every day going to my gym or my Spanish class.  I had never looked up at the building to see the "For Rent" sign hanging off the building.  I wasn't thrilled with the look, but amazed when I saw the size of the apartments.  There were five available at the time.  Within one week there were only two, so I knew I had to make a decision.  There was only 1500 pesos difference between the one and the two bedroom, but the only two bedroom left was on the top floor which did not have a roof over the deck.  The one bedroom had the same huge living area, so I took it.   From the laundry room through the kitchen, dinning area and living room is forty feet long, plus a fourteen foot terrace. 

I was hoping for a "quiet neighbor".  This one does not have a lot of cross traffic, but the tour buses are loaded and unloaded in front of my building.  The time when they start and finish varies with each person I ask.  Either they do not kow, or they do not want me to know (I assume they do not run all night long).  I am not sure there is a "quiet neighborhood" anyway, as Mexicans are just noisy by nature.

Even furnished, there was plenty of room for my desk and I could bring down my card table and four french chairs, my breakfront and several other pieces of furniture that I have lived with for 35 to 50 years.  Of course I still don't know how successful I will be in getting my "stuff" down here.  The furniture in the apartment is new, and what I call Mexican Modern (truly hideous) so I need something to make it more Mexican and more "me".  I was surprised when I emailed the Mexican Consulate in Santa Ana that they immediately sent me a form to start the process.  Time will tell, nothing is easy in Mexico.  With the FM3 card I am allowed to bring down an entire household duty free.  The duty can be quite high.  Of course I have also been warned that even if the truck passes customs, the "corrupt fedaralis" can stop the truck and demand more money or simple take the goods or the entire truck.  You never know in Mexico.

The first thing I thought I could do was to paint some bright colors on the walls.  I have decided on green, yellow, peach and orange (just about what I have now). I know it sounds more like Bermuda than Mexico, but you will see, it will pull together.  I am still trying out different shades and have yet to settle of which colors I like.  Of course I wanted a "professional painter".  I have painted all my homes, but I have no equipment here.  What a shock when the paint store did not know of a "professional painter".  I think the problem is that every Mexican thinks he can paint.

My favorite bar tender (whom I regard as a close friend) suggested I hire an unemployed friend of his.  I was not crazy about the idea, but figured I could work with him to make sure he was not too messy and it would help him out.  I wanted to know what he charged by the hour.  He did not want to do that, but rather bid on the total job.  Not my plan, but I arrange to meet him at the apartment.  He arrived with another friend and they carefully measured every inch of the place, then took a long time to figure up the price.  It was 8,850 pesos, plus paint (a months salary to most Mexicans)  Keep in mind that it is a two day job (one for two professional painters).  After they picked me up off the floor they dropped it to 7.500 (what I pay for a months rent).  I said I would call them, but told my "bartender buddy" that the price was just to high so I was going to paint it myself.  In truth, I will have the "super" for the building paint the ceilings and laudry room (I don't trust him with the rest of it)  He offered to paint the entire apartment for 2800 pesos.  I know all Mexicans think that they are expected to rip on the "gringo" but if they were a little more reasonable, they would get more work.


The photos are the "before shots".  You will have to wait a while for the finished product as I am leaving for Turrkey a week after I move in.  I will order more equipali (pig skin) furniture and new drapes for the bedroom when I return.  You will also note that I do not have the view I had.  Mostly I just look at the streets, but there is an large abandoned garden directly across the street.  I think I will like it, mainly because it is exactly the location I wanted.

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