We finally move in!

We finally get our house tomorrow. Between Pennsylvania this summer, and the last month of temporary housing and travel, we are looking forward to a dresser!!! We have been living out of suitcases for much too long. Alex and Alan are itching for some toys to play with, and we are seriously looking forward to some good knives to cook with. Joe spent most of today working with Senor Cruz to finish getting the house ready. The owner has seriously gone above and beyond for us. He mowed the grass and cut down a bunch of overgrowth. It still needs some TLC, but it looks much better. He painted the entire kitchen, and repaired a bunch of other things that needed to be done. We are excited to get in the house. The place is HUGE. 4 bedrooms plus a covered glass mirador on the top floor. The yard is small but workable, and it has secured parking which was a plus for that neighborhood. The only negative so far is that it only has a washer, so hanging clothes for an entire year may be a challenge. At least the rainy season is almost over, so that is a plus. The house is very "Mexican", but is sparsely furnished, so it leaves us some room to "decorate".

Most of the houses that we looked at had been "decorated", so that is all well and good unless you have a 16 month old boy who would like nothing better than to see some glass break! The house we are currently in has every top shelf of everything covered with the nick nacks we moved. We also had to pay to have one broken window replaced when we discovered that the TV stand had wheels on it, and Alan shoved it backwards into the "Wall of glass". The window was the perfect height for the back of the TV to fit through the 24" x 24" space. He also broke the leg off of the clay lizard, but we managed to glue that back on ourselves. Other than that, some of the plants out back have been pruned and beaten slightly.

We have only been here three weeks, but have seemed to cover the place pretty good. Almost every time we go out somewhere, we see someone we know. Either their lives are as uneventful as ours, or we have met a lot of people in a short time. I am going to start teaching ESL (English as a Second Language) on Sept 9th. It should be a good way to meet the locals, and learn some Spanish as well. It is a volunteer thing, but I think it will be a great experience. I have never taught, and get a bit nervous in front of a lot of people, but if we never challenge ourselves then we will never know. Right now I am with another woman in a class of 20 students. She said that most times several of the other volunteers duck out fast, so I will likely end up with a class of my own, and am on the substitute list. It could be great if I can get a little help for the first few weeks, and then fall into my own class. All the other teachers are over 60, so how bad could I be right??! My only other option was to locate some art supplies and start painting abstract or Mexican landscapes, and selling them at the weekly markets. How bad could they be right??! That is about all the news for now, until later......

Pictures of Alex & Alan having helios (ice cream) on the plaza, and the new "long term" house. Chickens on the neighbors roof, the great view of the mountains (if you can overlook the laundry), and the other neighbors yard and street view from the balcony.