This Week's Update

The weather is cooling down to a more comfortable temperature. We don’t need our air conditioning at night anymore if we run the fans and open the windows and balcony door. This is a good thing because electricity is very expensive in Mexico!

Speaking of air conditioning, we discovered during our drive through Arizona that the car AC was no longer working! We managed with the windows down but it was quite uncomfortable going through the desert with 41C temps and no AC. We just had to deal with it. Last week, we had the four units in our house serviced because other neighbours told us that their units were low on freon (sp?). Sure enough, ours were also low, which makes them work harder to cool the rooms. When the technician was finished, I asked him if he knew anything about car air conditioning. He didn’t have the right equipment but his “friend the mechanic” did. Everyone here has a “friend” or “brother” or “cousin” who can do what you want done!

So, off I went with the AC guy down the highway to his buddy’s shop. He took one look under the hood and told me that there were three holes in whatever part of the car controls the AC. Probably a rock had hit it during the drive. The holes had to be fixed before he could add more freon. He drove me home, took the car back to the shop, removed the unit, welded it back together, added the freon, returned the car in three hours and the entire process cost $90.00 Canadian! I couldn’t believe it!

We now have mirrors in the bathrooms. They are beautiful, beveled and huge. We had our buffet delivered and just love it. I’ve ordered a desk and chair from the same place and it should be here today or tomorrow. We also broke down and hired a handyman to place a roof over our laundry room. We had the best of intentions not to bother this year with a washer or dryer, but it gets tedious running things to the lavandaria all the time, especially towels, which we use a lot because of the pools.

Four houses in our complex finally have phone and internet!! This is quite exciting. Our house is almost at the end of the road and it seems that they are going in order. Monday was a holiday (Revolution Day) so I am being realistic- we probably won’t get done this week…but it IS GOING TO HAPPEN!! I am actually using my neighbour Ann and Jack’s modem now instead of going to the internet café. It is much more convenient.

We took a break on Friday and went to Sayulita beach with Robin, Serge and their three guests (here for a week from Tacoma). We love this beach. It is very popular and lively; lots of people go there to learn to surf because of the low, but constant, long surf. It’s only about a 20-30 minute drive and a really fun day trip.

This week we are hostage in the house once more as we are scheduled to have our water filtration system installed and on Monday Jorge and his crew started building the roof over the laundry. I had to take photos to show you what typical Mexican construction sites look like. Yep, that is now our laundry room! They have promised! to come back Friday to remove the framing and fill the exterior and interior with concrete; then paint. Underneath all that mess are six glass blocks in the roof, which will let in some light but not too much heat. Once these projects are completed I think we will be finished “waiting” except for Telmex (for phone and internet) and they won’t schedule a time. Well, they do but they NEVER keep the appointments. The owners of the houses that do have service were just lucky to be home when the technician showed up unannounced.

The complex is filling up more and more every day. This week alone we have met neighbours next door to the right from Minnesota; two across the street from BC, one in the next block from California, and two on the perimeter from Quebec and Alberta.

Thanks to all of you who keep in touch via email or the blog. We love to hear from you and appreciate you taking the time to think about us!