I woke up Monday morning ready to go! All weekend I had been looking forward to Monday and a week of action. And because Life likes to give us what we need and not always what we want, I received a call around 9 am letting me know that the crew was going to finish up another job today and that they would see me on Tuesday. I did not like that. So I reached madly for my Morning Pages and it came out that it would be a good idea for me to go be there by myself and also clean up the trash that had been accumulating over the days. I went. For the first time, I was alone there on a weekday. With all the progress that had been made I could start to feel as though I was actually a little bit in the house. It was a powerful feeling. I sat there for a good while, talked to the land, and then picked up beer cans and wayward stuff. I filled a whole bag with it, one by one came a softening, a connecting. Something. A Gift. Later that day I was lucky enough to be able to spend a little time with a gentleman who builds a lot of houses. We walked around and he gave me his suggestions. Another Gift. Tuesday morning, the crew returned and has been doing some great strides in the last two days. Many walls are up, tubes that will lead to the fosa are being laid down and Jorge and I are talking about windows and more detaily things. Yesterday afternoon marked the arrival of the tenaco, the big water reservoir that will sit on the roof and bring water down to the house. It holds a little over 1000 liters and will get its water from the underground aljibe, with the help of a pump. I mentioned doing a mural on it but the looks I got told me that it may not be a good idea. Got that. Last night I decided that I would go to the office of electricity today and see what I can learn. As things move along, I become more aware that we need electricity. I have three leads right now but I feel the need to go straight to the office and see what I can find out. Maybe a miracle? And guess what? No more trash on the ground! That was easy ♥️ Reminding myself that we’ve only really been at it for three weeks and wondering if maybe Jorge is right, we will get it done before the rain comes! Last night the fosa was starting to get lined up with bricks and three walls were going up nicely in the bedroom. I think we may see some window shapes on Monday. A friend suggested I find a way to get light from the South, last night. This had me awake at 2 am wondering how to do that. The South side is another lot, and while it is not yet sold, someone could do as I did and build right up to their property line. This means that if I were to put in a couple of windows, they could end up being bricked in. Hmm… I had read that North facing was best in hot climates, but man I do love natural light. Something to ponder for today and bring up to Jorge tomorrow. I guess I could just buy the land next to mine and plant a huge garden, maybe invite that neighboring cow to come live with us. Yeah… no. So, we’ll see. My guess is as this starts to look more and more like a house I am going to have more and more realizations, new visions, and changes of mind. Thank goodness my team seems to be ok with this. Meanwhile, my friend who lives in my home in Anacortes is sending me photos of spring cleaning and the loveliness of our little cottage. It is both inspiring and confusing. Can I love that little home so much and be building another one? I guess so, huh? One thing that is emerging from seeing these photos is a bit more clarity on the color of the Mexico home. The temptation is to go really bright because hey, this is Mexico. I could paint it bright fushia and there would be nothing weird about it. And yet, something has been whispering at me to not do that. First of all, because I am in the country, near the jungle. I want to be respectful of that and dance with it harmoniously. Not stand out, but more meld. Also, I don’t want to stand out in the neighborhood either, most of the houses being unfinished concrete. So now that I see the colors of my little ATown cottage, I am tempted to go with a muted green, with maybe some dark purple touches. Maybe.
And THEN. Ukraine. As I sit here wondering about paint colors and where my kitchen will be, I am aware that people are losing their homes, fleeing for their lives. There are about to be 1.5 million new refugees in the world. 1.5 million hearts without a home, home being so much more than a house. What to do with that? Try and buy the whole parcel of land and build 50 tiny homes? Would people from Ukraine like living near the Mexican jungle? I don’t think so. I remember school friends in the 70s whose families had moved from Algeria to France and what a shock that was. 50 years later, they are still in shock, deep down in their DNA. I remember my Afghani friends in Greece, then Germany. I read about the population exchange between Turkey and Greece in 1923 and the pain that this idea brought on. There is so much more to giving people houses. Yet it can be a start. I feel helpless, I feel futile. Frivolous. Achy hearted. I ask for guidance and somewhere I ask for forgiveness. I keep going. Until maybe some orders come through to do something else. Things are hopping right now and it’s mighty fun to see! The foundation is built all around the perimeter of the house and this morning, just as I was sitting down to get some work done – a mere 15 minutes away – Jorge sent this photo of the bedroom walls going up! I was planning on keeping my butt on my chair and not going over there until later this afternoon but no way that was going to happen now. Oh.The.Fun. Indeed walls are going up. Friends in the US are asking me why the floor does not go first and I don’t have an answer to this. One thing is for sure: walls are going up and the floor is still a pile of earth. More will be revealed I am pretty certain. So yes, walls! And meanwhile, inspiration has struck after a seed was planted while sitting on my friend’s balcony the other night and I have decided to pivot on the original plan. The initial idea was to build a separate small structure (in Phase 3 which could be a year away) with a studio on the bottom and a small guest room on the top. The new idea is to instead: 1) bring the studio inside the house (Phase 1). This will be easy and I will have some counters built out of concrete as well as a sink put in by the window. 2) build a second story on top of the bedroom part of the “L” and up there create a combination terrace (with half walls), extra bedroom, and small bathroom. With a simple cocinita on the terrace (Phase 3). This will be accessed with a caracol staircase (spiral) from the palapa below and allow a sweet private space for friends and family as well as an extra outdoor area with fresh air and a view of the jungle! No need to build an extra foundation for a separate building, either. In the end, it will be cheaper and better, I am pretty sure. I ran this past Jorge and he liked it. So now we need to add some castillos and rebars to prepare for when we’re ready to make this happen.
The whole pivoting / creating thing is heady and amazing. As I was leaving this morning, the gentleman who has made my 2000 pesos disappear so swiftly was walking over. I walked away. No need to tarnish a beautiful morning. This is not a straight road. I guess few things are. There is much excitement, creativity, disbelief too at the whole thing, in a really joyous way. And then there is fear. Of course. Yesterday morning, bearing a liter of Coca Cola, I arrived to the site and noticed that we still didn’t have a water hose. The Gentleman Who Sleeps Late (and ignores me) was not able to provide the water he promised, I was told. Nor to return the 2000 pesos we paid him in advance. He asked Jorge for two weeks to give him our money back, which is not a great sign. We talked about getting a Tenaco (water reservoir that lives on the roof) sooner than expected in order to have plenty of water around. Anselmo has a lead on a good price for one of these. Juliano who has been working this week and happens to have a house very close offered to make a permanent arrangement by which I could use his water. By the time I left for the day, work was actively underway with Juliano and Jorge tossing heavy blocks at each other and laughing. I returned in the late afternoon after everyone had left and saw that the bedroom and bathroom foundation had been happily grown throughout the day and that we somehow had a hose coming from another neighbor’s place. Good stuff. Pretty soon Irvin (Jose Luis’ son) joined me over there to talk about the new bank account to which I was supposed to make the monthly payments and also the electricity situation. It was my first time seeing him since his dad’s death and I could feel a change in him, something about going at it on his own and taking it seriously. I think he is in his 20s. Well, whereas even the day before he had assured me that we could run a cable from his dad’s property, suddenly it was no longer the case. Reasons were given and while I understood most of them, I intuitively got that words were not going to matter much, nor conversations such as “but, you told me that ____.” Nope. This called for a pivot, and the easier I would pivot, the more flow would come my way. We then talked about water and I mentioned that Julio had offered to share his supply with me. To this, Irvin answered that Juliano did not have much himself as he had been using his for the last three days! Not much surprises me anymore and I am pretty sure I am going to choose to go with a reliable water delivery truck when the time comes. Keep it simple. So as Irvin got ready to leave, I said thank you, it will work out, I am sure. Lila and I stayed there a bit and soaked up the late-day energy. It was quiet, a neighbor down the street burning some leaves or garbage. Completely different energy from the liveliness of the village which I love dearly. Suddenly, I was feeling pre nostalgic for the bustle, the music. Then I freaked myself out a little bit, wondering if I was making a mistake. Would I like living here? Would I feel lonely? Would I be scared? Until more people build on their land (assuming that a lot of the parcels are actually sold) mine will most likely be the only house in that big field. And if all goes well, my house will be the nicest one by far. How will that go? Getting back in the car, the electricity conversation came back to my mind – along with a quiet communication with Life, a knowing that we would somehow make it work. As we crossed the third bend in the river, the one that has water even now as it hasn’t rained in a long time, another car was coming towards us and I recognized a gentleman I met last summer. We stopped and started chatting mid-river, surprised to learn that his family and I were kind of neighbors. He told me that he knew someone in “the commission” and that we would talk about how to get me electricity, that there would be a way. I shook my head and smiled as we got back. Somehow this WOULD work out. I just don’t know how yet. Also, I am still in communication with the man I met a couple of weeks ago who seemed officially, professionally electricity-like 🙂 Meanwhile, I am going to soak up the busyness of the village and know that while I know the gifts I am leaving, there are many yet to unwrap. I celebrated by having a chicken pesto crepe. The night before last, my girlfriend and I had a sleepover at her house to celebrate our two years of falling in love with this place, this life.
We both arrived on the same day in 2020 and while I had a back-to-the-US seven months chapter, she has been here ever since. So we wanted to celebrate this with a sleepover, hot chocolate, dogs, her cat, and all kinds of wonderful stuff, including pondering questions such as “What was your best moment?” “Your hardest.” And then a Disney movie to fall asleep to. I believe I got a coconut from a tree around 11 pm and even though I sure was not drinking, it is somehow a faint memory. Sometimes, we can only hold on to so much richness in one scoop, I think. Anyhoo. Sitting on her big beautiful balcony overlooking the jungle and discussing my building project and her upcoming one it occurred to us that we could take out the measuring tape and see how big her balcony is – then compare that to my plans. I was shocked. As she kept rolling out that tape in order to reach the 7 meters which is the length of my bedroom, this was my first time seeing the proportions “for realsies.” Because my mind mixes feet and meters and really, does not fully compute either one of them, I think I may have overshot my vision and be building something more akin to a casa than a casita. I was speechless for a bit and then all I could say was: hey, this is going to be big! How did that happen? I wondered out loud. That’s when she spoke the words that sent us into peals of laughter: That’s because you drew it on a small piece of paper! And darn it, I think she’s right. So not so much of a casita. A surprise. And trusting that someone took over the feet and meters and that it’s just perfecto. Before heading out for a day of loose ends tidying (I needed to pick up my notary-signed land contract as well as my immigration card) we bought some savory pastries and stopped at the building site. As far as I could tell, there still was no hose but the cement was being mixed with the buckets of water to the sound of music. Jorge was gone for the day so I thought I would hold off and ask him about that later. Morning energy is a beautiful thing is this energy was happening in a beautiful place. Off to a day of errands. I finally have the contract even though we are still chasing the extra document which states that “in case of the owner’s death his children would honor the contract” – pretty prescient of my lawyer). It felt eery walking into the law office where we had all sat so recently, knowing that Jose Luis is gone, and also seeing his signature and photo on the contract. Immigration was not quite as fruitful as I was told that it would be another two weeks before I could receive the card. Meanwhile, I cannot leave the country without losing my residency so that feels weird. Loose ends, loose ends. Returning to the “house” in the late afternoon, it was fun to see the “castillos” up, and also some blocks for the foundation. Of course, we took the opportunity to write some names in the wet cement. I need to add more of them later. Also, a friend is sending me some heart rocks to put under the house! It is starting to look real! It is both going so fast and also I still worry that we won’t get done before the rain comes. But of course, I have to find something to worry about 🙂
So we keep going and let’s see what tomorrow brings! As well as where the heck is this hose? Oh, by bedtime I got a message from Irvin telling me that I needed to make my monthly payments to a new account since Jose Luis’ account is no longer working. My lawyer says that this new account needs to be added to the contract. Loose ends. Catching up on the last few days. A bit of work was done on Saturday morning then off on Sunday and then Monday was a big busy day here, with a relative surprising me and much other stuff tugging at me. On Friday, we had gotten to the point where access water was necessary in order to mix cement. In the afternoon a neighbor had walked over and introduced himself to Jorge, telling him that we could use his water with a hose brought to the site. Jorge came to me with the option and a cost of 2000 pesos which is not nothing (about $100). I wanted to know if this was going to be a permanent arrangement or just while we built. Jorge went back to the gentleman to enquire and I walked over because well… it’s my 2000 pesos and I always want to know what’s going on. Get this: the guy never once looked at me. Most likely because I do not have a penis. It was actually really fun for me to stand there and for all purposes be invisible. I am continually wanting to learn and understand more about how this country works and wow… this was a perfect machismo learning moment. So I stood there, looking at both men, and waited. Once the conversation was over, Jorge and I walked away and Jorge confirmed that this would be just while we built but would be hugely helpful. So we agreed to go for it. We would get a hose connected to his water the next day or Monday and have the convenience of water at our fingertips. After a busy personal day, I finally went over there on Monday night after the crew had finished and it seemed to me that all that had been done was the setting up of a few lines of string. Seemed weird to me but we were blessed with the company of Luna the Puppy and so all was pretty good, really. I saw no hose. As the sun was setting we took a walk past my place and further into the country than I had ever been before. It was so beautiful and made me fall in love with the area even more. Somehow, this feels right. A little crazy, but right. The next morning I came back and asked where the hose was. I was told that “the gentleman did not get up early” and we would most likely hear from him later on. I was not surprised that the answer to my “did we already pay him?” was yes. I am familiar with this chronology. A sweet little lean-to was built to give some shade to what was going to become the cement mixing spot and all we needed was water. Meanwhile, I had told them that I would bring them a speaker so they could work to music and so started to set up the little speaker I had bought the night before. Everyone was excited – maybe me the most – but when we turned it on LOUD it was terrible. Crackly, staticky, no way this was going to accompany the building of my house. So I went home and picked up my tiny speaker, brought it to them, and then headed out to another town to find something better. The crew was in good spirits. When we returned in the late afternoon – equipped with a better speaker – we arrived at the same time as one of the workers’ truck was rolling up the dirt road, two guys in the back laughing and balancing two huge vats of river water. The gentleman was apparently still not awake and so they had decided to take matters into their own hands. There was laughter and energy as Anselmo started to throw buckets of water on the dirt to get it ready to mix. I set up the new speaker and as we got ready to leave, our water-supplying neighbor was walking toward the crew. I made sure to wave and smile and by golly he smiled back. March was up to a good start. |
AuthorI'm white. Archives
August 2022
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