Nuevo domicilio

Here it is. My new apartment. Bigger, better and brighter than the last hat stand. Some days you just can't lose. Look at that nice clean tile floor. No more dirty green carpet for this lad.

Not only did I get the bulk of my deposit back from the last place but I had my smoothest visit to the Immigration Office ever when I made the update on my FM3. The apartment administrator took off 250 for paint and cleaning although the place needed a paint job when I arrived and I cleaned up behind behind myself pretty well. I didn't quibble since there was a hole in my bedroom door from the night I locked myself out. I hold them responsible for that since they put locks on some doors without providing keys but who wants to get in an argument when some might say my case was weak. I was glad to get out of there. I took that deposit and dropped it on a new camera.


Hey look. Three wicker swivel barstools

Arthur volunteered his big red truck and Mike showed up ready to pitch in with some heavy lifting. The whole move took less than half an hour. My entire worldly possessions didn't look like much out in the parking lot. A taxi could have taken most of it. We even threw the ten speed in. Mike drove me back to pick up the scooter and the administrator was there on the spot showing another apartment. I gave her the keys. Wahoo. I was gone.
Like the last place, it has a ton of furniture but it's all in better taste and doesn't feel excessive. You can still move around comfortably. I may even move a small work desk under one of the windows. I was afraid to call open house so I had a soft opening with just the regular gang, some semi-regulars and a couple of cool teachers visiting from Oaxaca City. There were maybe ten of us and furniture to spare. Good times.

Hidden behind my boogie board is a bottle opener embedded in the concrete wall. Nice touch.
Wind and light pour through these windows. There is a view. It's nothing panoramic but it's nice to look out and see palm trees and pigeons on the terra cotta roofs. My bedroom window window overlooks a pool.

Because I'm on the top floor I get a real patio. Right now it's still just a laundry area but it has such huge potential. The previous tenants left a barbecue, there will be no trouble hanging a hammock and there's plenty of room left for a little bistro table and a couple of chairs. Breakfast in the sun and dinner under the stars.

Spazz

The days of feeling timid on the scooter seem to be behind me. I have no illusions of being a great rider but, after a couple of- no wait, three- make that four- near disasters, I'm easing off on the throttle a tad. Even people who don't wear helmets themselves have been asking when I'm going to get one. The speedometer needle never reaches past 95 but another teacher, who tried and failed to pass me in her car on the way to work one morning, informed me I'd been doing well over 100. She also advised me to get a helmet and has been reminding me daily ever since.

I do a lot of joy-riding, just tearing along the roads with no particular destination. After splashing around La Bocana one Sunday with Will and Jasmine, I rode around for hours, checking out every little side road. Most of these exist just for scenic lookout points and are well worth the detour. I was going too fast after the steep hill between Entrega and Organo and completely forgot about the ginormous potholes. I hit a crater so hard the bike came to a hard stop. I shook and rattled a bit but I wasn't hurt and neither was the bike. If I'd been on the ten speed, I'd have been over the handle bars and spreading my skin across the asphalt.

My biggest daymares have always been about taking down an innocent bystander. That could have come true coming home around dusk last week. Between UMAR and town, is a split highway with 3 lanes each direction, perfect for ripping along like a rocket. I like to hang my mouth open and let the wind puff out my cheeks with tears pouring across my face. Fun. The only drawback is that the ride is over before Rancid can even finish playing "Some People Like Poison" and it's always way too soon to pull into the apartment block and park. Anyway, I was further to the right than necessary and I didn't notice this cyclist until I was much closer than I should have been. I probably wouldn't have clipped him but it was a solid wakeup call. I like to give cyclists lots more space than he had.

You know you're not a great driver when you almost plow yourself into the back of a parked bus. I was doing the max (maybe 110). I glanced in my mirror to double-check before changing lanes. Yep. Coast was clear. Whoa Nelly! In that quick glance, I'd covered a shocking amount of ground. I was right on top of that bus. I am a bad bad driver.

Worse than the mega-pothole was the big fat wasp that slapped my face and planted a stinger just below my eye at 80 kmh. I managed not to spazz completely and pulled over to the side. I peeled it off my face and its legs were still kicking. Ow. Ow. Ow. I felt like I'd been punched hard but I knew I could still punch the clock on time so I revved up again with a primal scream of frustration and pain that could be heard over the motor.

I had a sense of deja vu. It's been almost a year since the bicycle accident in Korea. Again I was heading to work with a swollen left eye. The damage wasn't as bad as I feared. I punched in and knocked on the medico's door. He gave me a prescription for anti-inflammatories or something. I don't know. By about 2 in the afternoon, it stopped hurting every time I smiled so I just put some ice on it when I got home.

I've been wanting to change apartments for a while now. I've never been quite content with the place but laziness and apathy have me kept me where I am. On days when I should be on the hunt for new digs, I tell myself that the place isn't so bad, in spite of the stupid carpet, the ugly peeling paint from the ceiling leak that took a month for the landlord to fix (the paint and paster may never be replaced), the non-working air conditioner, the toxic moldy cupboard, the ugly furniture. At least it's livable. But it keeps deteriorating and the owners never bother to do anything. This might have gone on indefinitely if it hadn't been for the blackout.

One night the power went out in several buildings for a few hours. Eventually it came back for everyone but me. Even the people above me had it but I went to sleep without a fan.

William thought I might not have paid my power bill. They don't wait too long down here. But I hadn't received a bill. No matter. Sometimes they get lost. OK. I went down to the power company (CFE)on my lunch break. They told me I hadn't been cut off and that the bills hadn't been sent out. I ended up paying a week early. I thought I understood the bulk of what the lady told me but I got Mike and Rowena on the phone to talk to her. When the power went out, the big fuses had had probably blown on the power box. Mike came right over to the apartment and I followed him through downtown traffic to a hardware store.

The first time we were separated in traffic, I was behind a young guy with an identical scooter to my own who said he'd had his for over a year without a single problem. Yay.

Mike installed the new fuses. No luck. A neighbor came by to help. Same result. I called the Residencial Chahue administrator. They would send someone over right. away. Eventually we had to go back to work and nobody had arrived. I stopped at the administrative office to ask about the holdup and the secretary promised me "Una hora mas". That was ominous. The last time I had a promise like that from these people, it was a week later before I saw any action. This time was no different. I was without power for a full six days and nights. A lot of food turned ripe and dangerous. I could rail on but you get the picture.

Some friends have said they liked the old dump and diudn't mind the nasty old carpet but they have never had to wake up to the place. What seems rustic and charming with a few drinks under the belt is just rotten and dirty when you smell it in the morning. The good times some of us have shared there had nothing to do with the locale and everything to do with the company. I know I won't feel sentimental about the mold.



Anyhow, I have a beautiful new apartment to move into tomorrow. It's clean and well maintained and basically the same price as the old one. It's going to be great.

Come and knock on my door

One of the issues that kept me hopping on my free time was the apartment. The first one just wasn't working out. For a lot of reasons. There was a toilet tank that constantly dripped water into a bucket. Every 24 hours that bucket was full. The kitchen sink wouldn't drain. I tried industrial drain cleaners. No good. On Thor's recommendation, I gave Alka Selzter tablets a whirl. That worked a little but the problem wouldn't go away. They spray this town with insecticides but standing water on the coast is still a serious health hazard. People tell me that, yes, you can catch dengue fever twice and it's worse the second time. Worse!!?? That can only mean you die.

I forced myself out of bed last Saturday morning and went looking for a better place. Found one. Quite a few more pesos but what a place. Sure, it has it has flaws but it's a big furnished luxury palace to me. Great features. I have a huge frost free fridge cold enough to keep ice cream. There's a high end gas oven and stove that needs no matches. Gas flares up at the touch of a button that sends an electrical spark with a snap. I am afraid of the oven though. The electric charge doesn't work below and I ended up with my right hand in cold ice for two hours last night after a minor explosion. Whoomp.




The shower! Yow. I have one of those high powered shower heads like they use all over Guatemala only without the scary corroded electric wires. Turn this thing on full blast and you can drown under it. I have a hot water heater and mornings can be chilly but I rarely use it because I need that refreshing jolt to get moving some days. It's a small act of courage to turn the tap but once you're in, you're in. I love my shower.

I had all my stuff moved in after five bicycle trips from the ghetto and spent the afternoon cleaning and arranging what I could. I wanted to get as much done as possible because Mike was coming down from Miahuatlan to do an apartment hunt of his own. I kept hustling, expecting a call any minute, until it was dark and my productivity was in decline. I tried to call him and that's when I figured out I'd given him, and almost everyone else, the wrong number. William picked up and I could hear Mike and Richard in the background. They were just about to knock at the door I woke up behind that morning. It was fantastic. Instant house warming party with good friends and alcohol. Richard even made us all a yummy pasta.

Next day we were off to Arracito, a tiny beach near Tangolunda and a high end condo neighborhood. Great snorkelling. Richard has one of those snorkels that automatically shuts off when you dive. It holds your breath for you. Strange sensation. I saw a nice sized oyster shell at the bottom that now serves as a groovy ashtray. Good weekend. This one is almost over. Yesterday was nap day. I felt the energy depleting all week long. I needed more sleep. I had a fever. Gone. There was a night time Chinese New Year celebration at Arracito I couldn't make. I wondered if I'd be able to sleep after a whole day of napping. At 9 o'clock, I gave it a whirl. I was under in 3 seconds

Everyone agrees the new place has a "Three's Company" vibe. It's so 70s. Makes me want to listen to Peter Frampton and Supertramp. Iv'e been overdue for a haircut for about a month so the apartment really suited me. But I was tired of the 70s hair and finally squeezed in a haircut on Thursday.

This is what happens when you're overtired. You fall asleep while someone cuts your hair and wake up with one of the most conservative cuts of your life. I was out of the sun. A soft cool breeze blew in from the street and I was out like a light. The lady was very meticulous. I probably napped there for a full half hour. Once in a while she would make a noise and my eyes would open. Holy smokes. I thought, "Stop. That's enough. Put some back, would you?" but I didn't say a word and fell right back to sleep. Everytime she took a brush or the buzzer for touchups, I thought,"Ok, that's it." and then the scissors would come out and she was back at it. What could be left? I have very short hair but at least it beats that Sgt. Rock cut I got in Mexico city before leaving for Korea. Plus there was that horrible cut the girl gave me in Panajachel. I think she was trying to give me a faux hawk because you saw that stupid cut everywhere there. So this lady had a lot of damage to undo and probably had to go that far down to get life back to normal.

Phew!

2008 is winding down pleasantly and 2009 is shaping up well but it couldn't possibly be better than today. I'm at Zipolite again until work starts in early January, with only a short interruption of beach bliss to run back to Huatulco and pick up my spanking new visa.

Time slips away like sand between my toes. I barely managed to get up off my beach towel and head back to Huatulco for December 1 to start all the complicated paperwork. Christmas decorations were already up on the streets of Isla Mujeres. A big artificial tree stood empty when I arrived in the Cancun bus station and the lights were flashing before my trip was underway.

No matter how close they look on the map, these two places aren't exactly around the corner from each other. Including station time, I had a 36 hour trip. Brrr. I ended up using my horse-shaped neck pillow for ear muffs.


Finding an apartment was the trickiest detail for the visa application. No apartment, no visa. No one wanted to rent for the month of December because they're all anticipating renting these places by the night for a lot more money. I doubt that will happen. I walked through sub-divisions with obvious vacancies and administrative people just lied to my face. "Todo occupado." It all worked out in the end thanks to Barry, the guy I'll be replacing. I'm simply going to take over his place and use all of his domestic conveniences until he returns in February. It's nice not to have to buy all of those little necessary things like cookware and a coffee machine right away. A little more than a week in Huatulco and everything was prepared that could be for my new beach job for 2009.

It's been frustrating living without a camera. I saw and keep seeing so many beautiful things every day: wildlife; exotic flowers; architectural quirks. Before landing in Zipolite, I took a detour to Oaxaca just to do some camera shopping. I went everywhere in that town and finally settled for another Canon, not the model I would have preferred but the best I could do.

Oaxaca looked absolutely great, much more prosperous than 2006/2007. The streets are repaired. It's always been a great city to buy a good balloon but now more than ever.

There is a bustle. The zocalos are tastefully decorated for Christmas with chrysanthemums on the curbs of all the walkways and garden plots.








Check out these before and after pictures of the same street near Hotel Aurora from different angles.




Miahuetecos has moved to a new improved station. Luckily for me, a young guy was waiting by the old locale to walk arrivals to the new.

Just a quick peek at Miahuatlan from the Miahuatecos station at the pee break. The construction has finally been completed that stayed dormant for about a year. Looks good.

So does the cathedral across the street. I remember it looking a bit rough last time but there isn't a speck of graffiti to be found. As far as I can tell, every window is intact.


I'm seing improvements everywhere around here but the absolute best has to be the traffic lights on the highway crossroad to Pochutla. For years, the old system semed to work. The adjacent military checkpoint must have helped remind people to exercise restraint. Nevertheless, I like the new lights. Red and green. Very Christmassy.

Even this blog is bound to improve now that I have my new camera.