Moving On Up

I have a reputation for moving frequently and filling up the pages of people's address books.  Since 2000, I've lived in 13 different homes in 3 different states.  Here in Mexico, I've lived in 3 different homes in 9 months, and now I'm going to move again.  I’ve enjoyed living in a traditional Mexican house with tall ceilings, a lovely back patio, traditional floor tiles and ample space.  And the newly remodeled bathroom in my bedroom was the best.  On the downside, there were large gaps between the walls and windows, the brick roof was held up by wooden boards with visible sagging (and at times chunks of cement falling to the floor), there were animals living in the ceiling in my bedroom, everytime it rained my living room flooded a little bit, there were termites (which recently returned after a fumigation), the cockroaches were relenteless, and there was a lot of noise on the street outside.  I'm pretty sure I heard someone peeing outside my bedroom window this week, but we can pretend they were just pouring water out of a bottle at 11:30 PM.  

  My sagging, boarded ceiling  

 My beloved modern bathroom (and cushy bathmat).

 Bathroom ventilation tube; there's a mesh screen on the outside to keep animals out but - as you might imagine - I was always ready for anything to come flying out.

 This is what termite damage looks like on a door. 

My door was lovely but had some gaps on the sides and the bottom (which a mouse recently slipped under as I shrieked). 

The house came furnished with 2 beds, 2 dressers, a mini fridge (which had to be defrosted every week), a dining table and chairs, a stove top and some plastic lounge chairs.  The plastic chairs were eventually replaced with a traditional Mexican couch, called an equipale.  The first night it was in the house I laid down to enjoy some comfy reading after a 6-month couch drought.  About 30 minutes in I felt something drop on my head.  I jumped up frantically, shaking my hair and looked up to see 2 cockroaches on the ceiling above me.  I’d like to think that it was a piece of ceiling that fell on my head and not cockroach poo, but I was never able to sit on that couch again without some apprehension. 

 Traditional Mexican sofa. Site of a cockroach "incident."

 I never got the chance to use that fireplace, although that's probably for the best. Chances are something was living in there. 

  My stove and essential lighting tool. 

  I was recently upgraded from a mini fridge to a taller, used fridge which drips a lot of water inside.

 Dish storage; everything is upside down to reduce cockroach contamination.

My new apartment is on the second floor of a 2-story building and the ceilings are a normal height with no visible wood for termites, and no cracks or gaps that would allow the elements or critters to enter.  As soon as I walked in, I felt my shoulders lower as I thought “Ok, I could live here without fear of anything coming out of the ceiling or walls, and not wake up to the sound of the local mechanic working on cars immediately outside my bedroom window every morning.”  The building is set back off the street, has lots of great light, 2-bedrooms with built in closets, kitchen cabinets and shelves with doors, white tile floors, 2 sinks in the kitchen, a lovely modern bathroom and a private balcony.  Most importantly, it costs half as much as my current house and should provide more opportunities to meet people.  My current landlord was not happy to hear that I would be leaving, but ni modo.  Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. 

  Bright and modern apartment.

  I love all the windows (and the existing curtain rods).

  What? Doors on kitchen cabinets. Fancy!

Lush bedroom view.

Built-in closets with ample storage.

  This is a ceiling I can handle! No termites and a lovely traditional style. 

 View from the patio.

It is an unfurnished apartment which means that I will have to purchase the following:

• A refrigerator
• A stove (rented - with a real oven! What? Oh yeah, I'm fancy!)
• A gas tank to connect to the hot water tank
• Lightbulbs (the last renter took almost all of them with her)
• A mirror for the bathroom (I never thought I'd have to buy that)
• A bed and all that other normal furniture you would need

I have a friend coming to visit the week I move in so priority #1 is getting a bed and hot water running in the house.  A coworker said I could borrow a mini-fridge for awhile, and the stove I'm renting from the building manager should arrive soon, so all I need now is 2 plastic chairs (or dare I dream, a couch) and voila - it's practically a castle.  No doubt it will take me awhile to get setup in my new home, and it may be fairly barebones in the furniture department, but I've got a bunch of art to make it feel all homey.  So fear not, visitors are still welcome!  And fingers crossed this is it for the next 18 months - no more moving for me, por favor.