Yucatan

by

Chiapas Earthquake

Last night, I was woken around 11:45 by what could be nothing else but an earthquake, my first in two years. I knew this was a big one, at least a 7 if not 8-pointer, having experienced one before. But there are no fault lines in Yucatán and there’s never been an earthquake here, at least as per the quick Googling I did. I also checked in with Protección Civil and they didn’t have anything up. So I figured that with Hurricane Irma lighting up seismographs, I must be feeling that.

So I was devastated to wake up to news that Mexico’s worst earthquake in 100 years has decimated the states of Chiapas and nearby Oaxaca.

Chiapas is one of the poorest states in this country and doesn’t have great infrastructure. There have been many deaths and so much damage from this earthquake and the counts can only rise. 🙁 I was talking with a lady the other day who had just come back from San Cristóbal, a city with a small expat population (that is way too BRR for me to consider), who talked to me at great length about the disparities between Chiapas and Yucatán.

Here in Mérida, at least one hotel was evacuated as a precautionary measure.

As far as I can tell, there is no damage to the house here. Last time I experienced an 8-pointer, I was practically on top of the epicentre and my house was damaged. Here, I got the weird rippling sensation all through my body as I laid in bed, but nothing seemed to move in the house. Puppy apparently slept right through it!

While I’m blogging, I might as well answer the question on everyone’s mind — no, Katia is not going to hit us. It’s going just north of us and probably going to slam in Veracruz. 🙁

by

Llaves

I was up super early today to get some work done before going into Mérida. I left around 8:30 and it was just after 9:00 when I pulled into the Galerías, hoping to have access to the Scotiabank there. If not, then I had a few other ATMs to try on my route to the lawyer’s office. The main doors into the mall were closed, but a cleaning guy directed a man also hoping to get to Scotiabank to take a service entrance. I followed and was able to get to the ATM and make my withdrawal.

It was then a very easy drive to the office, which is just a few blocks from the Siqueff restaurant, so I had a pretty good idea of where I was going. Since I was a few minutes early, I walked around the block a bit, found a shop to get a bottle of water, and then returned to the office for exactly 10:00. I was the first one there, but my agent, Paty, quickly showed up and we had a good gab before the owners arrived. I’d met the wife before, but not the husband. He was a bit standoffish, but his handshake was firm, so I wasn’t put off.

We were soon led into an office. First thing was to sign the lease. Mr. Owner suggested that it be read aloud to make sure I understood everything and didn’t feel pressured to read at the speed of lightening. Paty told him I’d gotten an advanced copy and had no questions, so we didn’t need to do that. He quickly scanned it and made the same comment I did — no rent price in it! Why that is was never really explained, but it’s not part of a lease here. I was really glad he had the same reaction as me.

I then had to fill out some more paperwork giving my personal information and copies of my ID. Paty told me not to worry about the bottom section, asking for a CURP (Mexican SIN/SSN) and I was able to proudly say that I have one and provide a copy of the certificate. My preparedness amuses her greatly, but my folder of paperwork has saved me steps so it’s worth lugging around.

Next, I had to pay for October and sign 24 receipts that will be given to me as the rent is paid. Rent goes directly to the owners and they said that it can be paid in many different locations, including Oxxo (Mexican 7-Eleven), which is just a few blocks from the house. I’m still not quite sure how that works, but I know that Oxxo accepts payment for just about anything. Once payment is made, I can send them a message and when they are in the area, they will drop a receipt in the mailbox.

The process was very quick and felt quite informal. My landlady is very warm and as we waited for copies to be made, she was happy to share her favourite shopping spots near the house, including an organic market near the Lebanese bakery that she says sells the best chicken in Mérida.

Paty and the owners were so patient and kind and really made the process easy and gave me confidence in my decision to rent from them. They made sure I fully understood everything and reiterated what they promised will be done before the house is all mine at the start of October. This includes painting the façade and the laundry room (that was not on the original list!), cleaning up the yard, and bringing in a microwave, in addition to emptying out the maid’s room.

Once everything was done, Paty apologised for forgetting to bring keys and suggested I follow her back to her office to pick them up! Followed quite a ride across town (she drives like a demon), but once we passed the Siqueff restaurant I actually knew where I was going so I wasn’t worried about losing her. I then had to drive all the way back to the house, but who’s complaining when I had possession of this beautiful thing?

Here’s my street:

Never mind that it looks a bit rough by NOB standards. It seems common in Mexico for neighbourhoods to be economically diverse. Notice that the house across the street is obviously very nice. Ms. Owner says all the neighbours are great and the neighbourhood is perfectly safe.

Here’s the façade:

There are three garage doors with their own openers, a main person door, and a service entry door.

Moya just fit into the middle bay. Just. I’ll have to figure out which is the easiest one to get in and out of. I think it’s the third, but it’s not covered. 🙁 At any rate, I don’t plan to take the truck out that much…

The entrance is the loveliest part of the house:

I love that flagstone!

Here is a door directly into my office. I don’t appear to have a key for it, so I’ll have to ask if there is one.

Around the corner is a side yard. When I was here last time, the ground cover was bright green, but they applied weedkiller. A gardener will clean it up and then it will be up to me to maintain it. The little window is into my laundry room. Notice the covered terrace area.

I’m so grateful to have this furniture!

Here’s the entrance to the laundry room.

It’s a bit rough, but some elbow grease will make it a very pleasant room to work in. I hope they leave me that ladder!

There’s even as slop sink with a built-in washboard.

Standing in the laundry room looking towards the terrace and the laundry drying area.

Here’s the laundry drying area. There’s no cord, just those racks to hang things from that will be good for big pieces and anything I can put on a hanger. I have a small rack for undies and such. They offered to put up a cord, but it would be too high up to be really comfortable to use. I will do a post later about the tinaco (black container) when I write about the water system. Spoiler: the house water is potable.

View in the other direction. You can see my bedroom window upstairs.

The terrace. I love the doggy prints in the cement! I can see myself here with C&C whooping their butts at canasta! 🙂

Back to the entrance. You can see the far door is the service door.

This is the main person door from the street. There’s a mailbox on the other side (for which I need to remember to ask for a key).

Looking down the service corridor. Those windows are my kitchen and, yes, that’s a dog house at the very end!

Ms. Owner wanted to get rid of this “ugly” bench. 🙁 I think I made it clear that I want it!

Here’s the wall fountain! 😀

We come into the house into the living room. Love the provided furniture, not so much the zebra print cushions. Imagine those couches with bright pink, orange, teal, and/or purple cushions!

The armoires are wonderful. Here’s room to store wine bottles and hang wine glasses:

The house has so little built-in storage that these are really a blessing. The other armoire has a different configuration.

The house has blinds and curtains throughout, another expense saved except where I might want heavier material (bedrooms!).

Looking towards the dining room:

The buffet came from France!

Looking towards the kitchen. I can slide open the doors at the bar or close them. It was my dream to have a kitchen that I could completely hide and this is a real dream. It’s really the only interior part of the house I’m super excited about. 🙂

Looking into the kitchen:

That door goes to the exterior service corridor. The fridge will go by that AC unit.

I get that huge cabinet. The space under the sink is usable as well. Notice the space for the stove with an actual working vent above! Those windows really make the space. I get to keep that table, but it’ll go elsewhere. Imagine a stainless steel table/island in its place! Costco has one that is surprisingly affordable!

Costco also has some stainless steel shelving that I’m eyeing. One will go here most likely.

My only real major issue with the house is the quite gross kitchen sink. They cleaned it up a lot, but it’s still pretty bad. I think I can buff it out and then wax it, but am going to consider paying out of pocket to replace both it and the faucet. To be determined!

I suspect that this door will be open a lot.


The entire house is big dog proof so if I have to bug out for a hurricane or Puppy wants to come visit, there’s room for him.


Here’s the rear courtyard where I expect I’ll eat most of my meals.

It has an RV-like awning that can roll down for extra shade.

Here’s the door to the maid’s quarters. That cement detail is the bathroom window.

I was amused by this souvenir from… Calgary!

The dining room set is really lovely. Hope I will have people to invite for dinner. 🙂

The chairs might be sticky, though, as they are leather or vinyl. At least they’re not fabric!

Now, looking towards my office, the guest quarter, and the maid’s room.

Nice space to fill in front of the stairwell.

And on the other side.

My office:

Lush probably wins about a beer/wine fridge being plugged in under this unit since there is an unfortunate hole that would fit an extension cord.

Surprisingly comfy little recliner and I’ll be glad to have that end table as a bed stand until I can get one!

Now, I’m standing in front of the guest bathroom looking towards the kitchen.

Nice safe stairs up for Bast and Contessa, not that they’ll have any reason to use them. 😉

The guest bathroom. It’s in decent shape, but the hard water has been, well, hard on it.

Lots of stains in the shower. I’m hoping some real elbow grease can help it. Otherwise, I’ll just put in a really cute bathmat!

I really curse the person who invented pedestal sinks.

Here’s the guest bedroom:

So. Much. Storage. Really jealous. Wait ’til you see the master closet.

These are all over the house and are, of course, for hanging hammocks. I really need to learn to sleep in one.

Now, the maid’s room, which will probably look better once all this stuff is gone.

This is the door leading to the rear courtyard. It has a second screened door, so it could be left open for fresh air and light.

Bathroom door and closet, that will probably be used to store cleaning products.

This bathroom actually seems cleaner. It probably wasn’t used as much. I’ll probably use the guest bathroom when I don’t have guests and this one when I do.


The room is surprisingly bright. There is mosquito netting to keep critters out!

Now, let’s head upstairs. Views from the landing:

The upstairs landing is really a bonus space.

Bedroom door:

Master bedroom:

Master closet. Notice the other window for good cross-ventilation.


Bathroom door:


The master closet is probably big enough to be another bedroom. It even has a window and a ceiling fan!


But this is all I get for storage?! No drawers?!

Heading into the master bath. I have been researching clever ways to make pedestal sinks useful.

My shower is in a bit better shape. What’s that in the corner?

I take a gecko as a good sign!

The sink is oddly situated at the other end of the room.

View from the little bedroom window by the closet:

View from the big window:

Looking down from the landing:

I hope you enjoyed this tour of my new house. I look forward to revising it once I start to put my own stamp on it!

by

About to Sign My First Mexican (Yucatecan) Lease

Like she promised, my real estate agent sent me a copy of my lease to peruse before the official signing tomorrow. As expected, it was six legal size pages of bla bla bla that could mostly be summarised in a few sentences.

As a former rental agent and tenant in Canada, I was first struck by what was not in the lease — the monthly rental amount and terms for renewal — and what was considered pertinent, like the owner’s proxy’s person details (age, address) and the exact specifications and location of the house (things I’d expect to see in a legal land description), rather than just an address.

Otherwise, the lease was exactly as I expected, with the standard clauses about having to pay my utilities, returning the house in the condition in which it was received, not subletting, and not turning the house into a meth lab (that clause was more PC than that, but that’s what they mean). I have zero qualms signing that document, although I do have a few questions, like what are the terms, if any, for renewal. The lease says that I have to vacate in two years, but it’d be good to know today if there is zero hope for a renewal or if the owners are also hoping this works out well enough for a renewal.

The other thing we need to clarify is the address, which is super confusing. The address is given as actually being in Colonia Felipe Carrillo Puerto. If I put my address into Google Maps or my GPS using that colonia, I end up right across the city. You can see my colonia at the top left there, but in red at the bottom right is the area that Google and the GPS think is my colonia.

What I’m worried about are silly guests ignoring my instructions and insisting on using just an address, as well as deliveries, but since with the latter, you have to give the nearest intersections and, ideally, a landmark, as well as your postal code I should be fine.

Now, here’s to hoping I actually get access to keys tomorrow so I can go take pictures! I don’t have any other listing ones really worth sharing as a teaser, but here’s part of the master closet. It has its own window so it could actually double as a secondary bedroom as I’m sure there’s enough room in there for a full size mattress and it also has a ceiling fan!

I’ve started to window shop for what I need to move in so I can firm up my budget. A mattress will be new, of course, but since I have a good mattress topper, I can get something on the lower end of the scale. I’m going used for appliances, though. A super cheap placeholder fridge fell through, but it made me realise that I should get a super cheap placeholder fridge for now and upgrade later. I’m also waiting to hear about about a reasonably priced Bosch range. It was immediately evident from the photos that it’s better than even a higher end Mabe because it had cast iron grills, rather than cheap enamelled ones that will wear down and rust. I am not opposed to a Mabe fridge and washer, though.

I really don’t want to buy anything until I actually have access to the house to avoid having to move things twice or worry about storing them in the meantime since the storage room here is pretty small. It’s going to be wonderful to start moving in and see my new home take shape!

Now, I leave you with this curious fact from my lease that surprised me, considering how big the house is. The house lot is about 4,600 square feet, with the house being about 2,600 square feet. My “small” lot at Haven is 5,000 square feet!

by

Summer’s End

It is incredible to be days from September and to not be thinking about packing so I can get on the road or pulling out my cold weather clothes or anticipating any change in my routine. I can focus on other things and expend energy on more productive endeavours.  I love that I’m going to move into my house at the start of November and I can still think about planting a garden. I really think that I’m going to do very well living in a world of perpetual summer.

Plus, there is so much to explore just in the Yucatán peninsula that I’ll be able to keep satisfying my wanderlust. Just as I know that Haven is the perfect-but-for-the-internet-situation place for  me, so too I know that Mérida is the perfect-but-for-the-humidity place for me. I have very few reservations about setting up housekeeping here and committing to Mérida for at least four years. And I am so grateful to have had the years of RVing and snowbirding and the months in Europe behind me as they bolster that confidence that I’m doing the right thing at this stage in my life.

I was supposed to sign the lease tomorrow, but there were scheduling conflicts. After a flurry of hilarious texts, my agent is pretty sure that 10AM Saturday will work with everyone’s schedules and we’re going with that. 6PM tomorrow would have worked as well, but mean driving home in the dark and I really do avoid that whenever possible because my night vision is so terrible. At any rate, it’s not like a few more days will make a huge difference and it eased the work pressure a bit.

Speaking of work, here is a wall of my new office. I thought this rather strange cabinet could be a writing desk, but only just noticed that it’s up on a dais, with no space for a chair. I cannot for the life of me figure out what it’s actually meant to be then…

This room is really big and I’m actually starting to think that it should be the guest room so that I can actually make a guest studio, especially since it has its own exterior door to the parking area. It would be rather a shame for guests to lose their huge closet, but the extra space might make it worthwhile as I could even set up a small kitchenette. At any rate, if I ever get the Airbnb thing going, I’m going to consider it…

 

by

Looking Ahead

This weekend wound up being a good time to catch up on my bookkeeping, set up a budget for the next quarter, and start to work on my projected budget for the start of 2018. There is no doubt that I’ll be able to afford a comfortable life here, but I’m trying to pay down some debt and step up my retirement savings so I wanted to see if there was some fat I could start trimming right now. Absolutely. I have a few calls to make for that tomorrow.

It will be good for me to have a stable (ish) budget for a couple of years to catch up on some things. I’m doing absolutely fine for someone pushing 40 who just spent a decade gallivanting over about a quarter the planet’s land mass and I want to make sure I’m in at least as good a position 10 years from now.

I really didn’t go into this without a lot of thought. Setting up a home again is going to be a big expense and I had to be sure that it’s something I’m ready for again and that this is the right location for it. I definitely am certain on both counts. So that’s one of the reasons I chose to go with more house than I really need — I wanted a place to grow into.

I didn’t want to find myself wanting to move again in a few years, especially since I know I’m going to be in Mérida for at least four years. I really wanted a proper home base where I can receive people, pursue hobbies, and continue to grow my business. If I had continued to snowbird, I would have definitely gone with a much smaller place as I would have had to maintain two homes, but this will be a year-round home for me, something I had started to doubt I would ever have.

While there are a few things I’m not thrilled about with the house, especially the location of my office, there is so much more that I’m looking forward to and I’ve spent probably too much time in the last couple of weeks dreaming of how I’m going to set it up and doing some online window shopping.

The room I’m probably most excited about is the kitchen, which is huge and has great light from two windows. I am going to be able to really get back into cooking here, something that I’ve missed since I’ve stopped living in Miranda full-time and had access to a pantry.

I also know that I’m going to spend a lot of time in the rear courtyard off the dining room. I saw so many homes with uncovered exterior spaces that would have been difficult to make comfortable in the middle of the day.

The laundry room that I discovered on the second visit is such a bonus. I’ll be able to do laundry without there being noise in the house and there is so much space to hang everything outside.

My bedroom is going to be so airy and I’m ridiculously excited to have a closet almost as big as Miranda after squeezing into her tiny wardrobe all these years.

I’m thinking of turning the upstairs landing into my art studio, but I suspect a comfy chair might end up there to turn it into a reading nook. Regardless, it’s so bright and well ventilated that I’m sure it won’t be wasted space.

I really hope that I get keys with my lease on Wednesday so I can take you on a tour of my new digs. In the meantime, here’s a sneak peak! This photo is taken from the centre of the living room (which you enter directly into from the front door). Looking ahead is the staircase to the master suite. To the right, you can see the dining room and the door to the courtyard. Both spaces that you can see here come with really nice furniture!