Yesterday we got a Christmas tree. It's a fake one, short, maybe 3 or 4 feet. We put it on one of the blue bins, so it's a tiny bit taller than me. We decorated it last nite, and today I fixed up our stockings- well mine; his was ok...mine just was never the same after Sam chewed it when he was a puppy. But this afternoon I repaired it, put new stuff on it. They both look so cut, no they look great. So of course I took a picture and put it on FB ha ha. But anyway now it feels like Christmas in here.
At the posada the other nite they gave us Pozoli. I forgot to say that. I guess it's the party food, cause Everardo got us invited to a posada with another group, and they served pozoli, too. It's nice and hot, with meat (beef), and some kind of bean I think; and you get a dish with limes, lettuce, chiles, or peppers, so you can add stuff to it. I remember at something in Playa Ventura, pozoli is what everyone was serving. It's funny, the last few days I've been craving churros, and apprently they only make/sell them at nite. It's kinda like a lot of the taco trucks and hot dog stands; they only open at nite- sucks cause I want them in the daytime- and with a cup of coffee. Hot dog stands- isn't that weird? There are alot of hot dog stands here and they all do very well! We've only tried one and didn't like too much, but we'll try another. I actually heard someone talking about a sushi place, so there's another one here somewhere...that will be my new mission, to find it....And keep your fingers crossed that it's good. I mean the fish is so fresh, pls pls let the place be run by someone who knows something about sushi. We did find a Chinese food place and it's run, or at least the cook, is Chinese. It was pretty good and very close to our house.
So things stay interesting. This place is a 24/7 flea market- you can find anything if you're patient. NOt sure if I already mentioned that a guy offered Everardo a house at a flea market ha ha. Well we may have found me a car. We're gonna talk to the guy tomorrow, if he's not gone to Mexicali to pick up another car. These guys buy cars in the states cheap and sell them here. This little fiat is a 94 and the title is Indiana- and it says for export only. There's a place here that will do the importation to make it a Mexican car, so we are going to check out all the paperwork and make sure it's "do-able" and maybe we'll get this little car. It's a stick which I like, and small but does have a backseat so Sam can be my company. He loves going for a ride! Actually he loves going anywhere we go, he just wants to be with us...We also spent the wknd looking for a gym and may have settled on one. This is for Poppi only- the places that have classes, well none of them are going on right now, and I want to do Zumba and the fact is I like my elliptical and singing at the top of my lungs; and that's best at home ha ha. So after looking at some used stuff- and only one was actually what I wanted, and talking on a local forum about one I really liked but it's a 4 hour each way trip to Green Valley Arizona for $95...might as well spend $120 and get the new one we looked at. Yes, kinda cheapy, but it's probly staying here when we move back to the states, or even to another town in Mexico. It doesn't have to do much, so hopefully cheap will not be an issue ha ha.
Oh! The most important thing we bought is a space heater yesterday! This cement house is sooo cold at nite, and cool during the day. Don't need a jacket outside, but need a sweater inside ha ha. It's a gas heater; you put a little propane tank on the back of it and wow- what a difference. Just taking the chill off made so much difference. I keep reading how the only cold months are Dec and Jan, how it's true! Not like the rainy season in Playa Ventura...oh it's only July & Aug...ah ok and June....oh and Sept...and oh part of Oct....I mean at least it was warm even when it rained but we were so sick of it! It was really only a problem the first month when it rained in our bedroom, and under the window sills....Well it rained here one day pretty hard and nothing leaked...so...anyway the heater is nice. We used it last nite in the living room and then on low in the bedroom/bathroom and even today it was just not as cold in here...so warm and Christmasy, yep I feel like hot chocolate again!!
So the house, this house, we are still not completely sure we want to stay here; we still have a problem with the bathroom/shower, not in our bedroom, the one in the hallway. Somehow the trap is wrong or not there so when you flush the toilet the pipe goes thru the shower- it needs to be different- Everardo understands it and can fix it, but doesn't want to do it for free- why should he? The sewer smell comes up thru the shower. So he fixed it somewhat but it needs the correct fix. We went and talked to the guy who used to live here and gave him a telephone bill that came to him, and asked him about the bathroom. He said the smell gets bad when it gets hot. That she knows about it (she-the landlord). She agreed we needed to change the top of the drain; it was actually broken in the middle, but she never copped to any other problem. She does not want to pay for anything. So Everardo's going to talk to her and tell her that he'll fix it, but for a month's rent.
That's the problem with this place- that she does not want to spend a penny. Today was hot in the middle of the day and there was no smell in the house, but I smelled it outside. Just in one spot, but I'm sure I smelled it. So it has to be fixed. The house wasn't painted or fixed in any way. And that's a weird thing too, she emailed me a contract that had some issues, well it was obviously copied from another contract so had bad dates, dollars, etc. I emailed back and told her, and she said she was having trouble with her laptop so would I fix it. I said sure, and made the changes. I also added a list at the end of the condition of the house because some of the wording expressed talked about the condition of the house and the furishings and I couldn't sign it that way. Actually the first lease I was asked to sign was the first day- but I read it and it was an agreement between a real estate agent and a landlord, I pointed that out and didn't want to sign it. I suggested I sign something for 24 hours, the rent & the security deposit so she and I would both be comfortable cause we moved in that day. Then she never brought me another one until 2 weeks later, the morning she left. I walked over there to get the key she was gonna leave with me for her place, and she had a contract for me to sign....it was in Spanish, so I declined to sign. I told her I thought we were developing a nice relationship, but this was business, and I would be a fool to sign something I couldn't read. So she said ok, she would email me one. So that's where that's at. The thing is, I thought I was really clear about wanting month to month but the contract (s) have been for 6 months. We decided at first, well ok cause we hope to be here longer than that- of course that was before we knew about the bathroom problem- so I'm glad it's taken so long to get this contract thing together. And so far, well not signed. I changed it and sent it to her, she said she'd send it back after she opened it. That was about 5 days ago. I think maybe she thinks I changed it and we signed it....but we didn't. Wanted her to review it first.
The first house we saw when we got here suddenly doesn't seem that bad (hmmm). I want to see it again. It had a huge yard and that's a plus for Sam. He's ok here, and I like this place, alot, but the whole bathroom thing....I don't even mind about there being no heat- hey we got hot water and that's a HUGE plus ha ha. Altho I think most people here have hot water. Anyway it was so messy, so dirty I hadn't wanted to even look at it, so I'm not sure what I think of it. If cleaning is all it needs....and of course Everardo wants to negotiate the rent which I think was $250 USD, and I'm up for that! So- we'll see. I think we will at least stay here thru Jan, it won't get too hot, and maybe, just maybe she will foot the bill to fix the bathroom and then we can stay. But of course there's always the issue of people staying in her house- altho I bet that will only be vacationers from Arizona, cause anyone who looks before they come will not rent it for her outrageous price...$3000 pesos. One of the bathrooms doesn't even work and there's no oven (been there done that), just a hot plate - well it looks kinda like a camping stove....anyway we'll see. Weekenders really is no problem for us. So see- interesting eh? ok time for ice cream..
At the posada the other nite they gave us Pozoli. I forgot to say that. I guess it's the party food, cause Everardo got us invited to a posada with another group, and they served pozoli, too. It's nice and hot, with meat (beef), and some kind of bean I think; and you get a dish with limes, lettuce, chiles, or peppers, so you can add stuff to it. I remember at something in Playa Ventura, pozoli is what everyone was serving. It's funny, the last few days I've been craving churros, and apprently they only make/sell them at nite. It's kinda like a lot of the taco trucks and hot dog stands; they only open at nite- sucks cause I want them in the daytime- and with a cup of coffee. Hot dog stands- isn't that weird? There are alot of hot dog stands here and they all do very well! We've only tried one and didn't like too much, but we'll try another. I actually heard someone talking about a sushi place, so there's another one here somewhere...that will be my new mission, to find it....And keep your fingers crossed that it's good. I mean the fish is so fresh, pls pls let the place be run by someone who knows something about sushi. We did find a Chinese food place and it's run, or at least the cook, is Chinese. It was pretty good and very close to our house.
So things stay interesting. This place is a 24/7 flea market- you can find anything if you're patient. NOt sure if I already mentioned that a guy offered Everardo a house at a flea market ha ha. Well we may have found me a car. We're gonna talk to the guy tomorrow, if he's not gone to Mexicali to pick up another car. These guys buy cars in the states cheap and sell them here. This little fiat is a 94 and the title is Indiana- and it says for export only. There's a place here that will do the importation to make it a Mexican car, so we are going to check out all the paperwork and make sure it's "do-able" and maybe we'll get this little car. It's a stick which I like, and small but does have a backseat so Sam can be my company. He loves going for a ride! Actually he loves going anywhere we go, he just wants to be with us...We also spent the wknd looking for a gym and may have settled on one. This is for Poppi only- the places that have classes, well none of them are going on right now, and I want to do Zumba and the fact is I like my elliptical and singing at the top of my lungs; and that's best at home ha ha. So after looking at some used stuff- and only one was actually what I wanted, and talking on a local forum about one I really liked but it's a 4 hour each way trip to Green Valley Arizona for $95...might as well spend $120 and get the new one we looked at. Yes, kinda cheapy, but it's probly staying here when we move back to the states, or even to another town in Mexico. It doesn't have to do much, so hopefully cheap will not be an issue ha ha.
Oh! The most important thing we bought is a space heater yesterday! This cement house is sooo cold at nite, and cool during the day. Don't need a jacket outside, but need a sweater inside ha ha. It's a gas heater; you put a little propane tank on the back of it and wow- what a difference. Just taking the chill off made so much difference. I keep reading how the only cold months are Dec and Jan, how it's true! Not like the rainy season in Playa Ventura...oh it's only July & Aug...ah ok and June....oh and Sept...and oh part of Oct....I mean at least it was warm even when it rained but we were so sick of it! It was really only a problem the first month when it rained in our bedroom, and under the window sills....Well it rained here one day pretty hard and nothing leaked...so...anyway the heater is nice. We used it last nite in the living room and then on low in the bedroom/bathroom and even today it was just not as cold in here...so warm and Christmasy, yep I feel like hot chocolate again!!
So the house, this house, we are still not completely sure we want to stay here; we still have a problem with the bathroom/shower, not in our bedroom, the one in the hallway. Somehow the trap is wrong or not there so when you flush the toilet the pipe goes thru the shower- it needs to be different- Everardo understands it and can fix it, but doesn't want to do it for free- why should he? The sewer smell comes up thru the shower. So he fixed it somewhat but it needs the correct fix. We went and talked to the guy who used to live here and gave him a telephone bill that came to him, and asked him about the bathroom. He said the smell gets bad when it gets hot. That she knows about it (she-the landlord). She agreed we needed to change the top of the drain; it was actually broken in the middle, but she never copped to any other problem. She does not want to pay for anything. So Everardo's going to talk to her and tell her that he'll fix it, but for a month's rent.
That's the problem with this place- that she does not want to spend a penny. Today was hot in the middle of the day and there was no smell in the house, but I smelled it outside. Just in one spot, but I'm sure I smelled it. So it has to be fixed. The house wasn't painted or fixed in any way. And that's a weird thing too, she emailed me a contract that had some issues, well it was obviously copied from another contract so had bad dates, dollars, etc. I emailed back and told her, and she said she was having trouble with her laptop so would I fix it. I said sure, and made the changes. I also added a list at the end of the condition of the house because some of the wording expressed talked about the condition of the house and the furishings and I couldn't sign it that way. Actually the first lease I was asked to sign was the first day- but I read it and it was an agreement between a real estate agent and a landlord, I pointed that out and didn't want to sign it. I suggested I sign something for 24 hours, the rent & the security deposit so she and I would both be comfortable cause we moved in that day. Then she never brought me another one until 2 weeks later, the morning she left. I walked over there to get the key she was gonna leave with me for her place, and she had a contract for me to sign....it was in Spanish, so I declined to sign. I told her I thought we were developing a nice relationship, but this was business, and I would be a fool to sign something I couldn't read. So she said ok, she would email me one. So that's where that's at. The thing is, I thought I was really clear about wanting month to month but the contract (s) have been for 6 months. We decided at first, well ok cause we hope to be here longer than that- of course that was before we knew about the bathroom problem- so I'm glad it's taken so long to get this contract thing together. And so far, well not signed. I changed it and sent it to her, she said she'd send it back after she opened it. That was about 5 days ago. I think maybe she thinks I changed it and we signed it....but we didn't. Wanted her to review it first.
The first house we saw when we got here suddenly doesn't seem that bad (hmmm). I want to see it again. It had a huge yard and that's a plus for Sam. He's ok here, and I like this place, alot, but the whole bathroom thing....I don't even mind about there being no heat- hey we got hot water and that's a HUGE plus ha ha. Altho I think most people here have hot water. Anyway it was so messy, so dirty I hadn't wanted to even look at it, so I'm not sure what I think of it. If cleaning is all it needs....and of course Everardo wants to negotiate the rent which I think was $250 USD, and I'm up for that! So- we'll see. I think we will at least stay here thru Jan, it won't get too hot, and maybe, just maybe she will foot the bill to fix the bathroom and then we can stay. But of course there's always the issue of people staying in her house- altho I bet that will only be vacationers from Arizona, cause anyone who looks before they come will not rent it for her outrageous price...$3000 pesos. One of the bathrooms doesn't even work and there's no oven (been there done that), just a hot plate - well it looks kinda like a camping stove....anyway we'll see. Weekenders really is no problem for us. So see- interesting eh? ok time for ice cream..
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