Moving to Mexico: A Typical Settling-In Day

Here is a fairly typical day, the Saturday after we moved in, February 25, 2006. We also did a lot of waiting for things to be delivered and set up. Without a phone for delivery men to call, we just had to sit and wait.

On February 25, we got up normal time, and it isn’t 6:30 anymore. Our main task, to get rustico (local hand-made Mexican colonial) furniture for the living area, dining area and bedroom. Because the water heater pilot would not light properly, we took cold showers. So, Task 2 for the day was to call the landlord about the hot water heater.

We also needed to replace the little plastic spigot on the water bottle holder we bought yesterday because they had given me the wrong one. We got the car out of parking lot, which involved me getting the car and Christiane pushing the button for the automatic gate since we do not yet have a remote, and naturally we bottomed out on our way over sidewalk to the street. Need to get higher riding car.

We took Ave. Constituyentes, one of the two or three main east-west streets, that turns into the highway to the town of Celaya. It took us 30 to 40 minutes to get to the State of Guanajuato and the town of Apaseo where they specialize in rustico/colonial furniture. It is called rustico in the city, and called colonial by the folks who make it. We drove through Apaseo to check the scope of the market and then headed back to a concentration of stores (sorry no pictures).

Upon arrival in Apaseo, we called the landlord about the water heater, using our T-mobile cell phone which we can use to call out, but which is an international call for people to call us. After several back and forths, (the owner was gone for the weekend), the office person said to ask another tenant to do it for us, assuming I was just a nervous norteamericano and did not understand how to light a water heater.

At the first store in Apaseo, the guy told us that what he had on display was for people in San Miguel de Allende, thinking we were from there and would be impressed. We aren’t and we weren’t. He showed us furniture catalogs from major manufacturers and said he could make anything in them (the quality would not be the same, of course). And it is true they can make most anything.

We ended up at a store owned by Jose Luis who, unlike the first guy, was nice, was covered in sawdust, and did the best quality work we had seen (best carving, best finishing, best construction). We decided on his sofa, loveseat, armchair, coffee table, dining table, 6 dining chairs, and two bedstands for around $650 US. He did not make bed frames, and suggested his brother next door, who could make one compatible in color and style to his. He took us there, and we asked the brother to make us a queen size frame, which he normally does not make. Most of the furniture still needed to be made or at least finished. We paid half up front, and went back to Jose Luis. We paid him for half his charges and arranged for delivery on Monday, two days hence. All told, we did the basic furnishing of our apartment for under $800, delivered.

We headed back to Qto. over the topes (speed bumps) along with all the trucks, but did not bottom out like we did on the trip out. Really need to get a higher riding car.

After messing with the detours from the upgrade to Constituyentes, which is being widened and turned into limited access, and passing the most modern looking hospital (San Jose) that I have ever seen (looks more like a glass office park in Atlanta), we headed to the northern part of Qto. for lunch and a visit to Home Depot (pretty much the same as in the US, except they play music in the background like a department store).

We had lunch at VIPs, something like Denny’s. We ordered a club sandwich that we would share and without being asked, they split it and the fries that came with it into two portions on separate plates. How often do you see that in the US? Well, maybe you do, but I don’t.

At Home Depot, we got bathroom fixtures, copies of keys to the parking and street entrance to the apartment, lamps, ceiling light fixtures (renters always take them when they leave here), everything except the little plastic anchors you need to attach things to a concrete wall and a carbide tip to drill the hole (back to Home Depot tomorrow).

We wanted a plastic garden table and chairs as a temporary kitchen table and a couple of other things after Home Depot so we headed to Walmart, which I had been avoiding since they are obviously out to do to Mexico what they have done to small town America. We got the table for about the same price as at Home Depot and the chairs for somewhat more than Home Depot! So maybe they won’t succeed down here after all.

Back home, we parked in the street and unloaded, and we left the car there to avoid having to go through the hassle of the parking lot. That was around 3 or 4 PM, and we began cleaning the apartment in anticipation of the furniture arriving on Monday, and the refrigerator and mattress, which we had bought yesterday and which will be delivered on Tues. I took the windows and high stuff (my back you know). C took the floors which still had the scum from the grout on them. We think we are the first to actually live here since the apartment was finished a year ago.

As it started to get late, I started to install the ceiling fixtures, and borrowed a step ladder from Carl and Francis, who are nearly our next door neighbors. I got the fixtures in the dining and living areas done just as it got too dark to do any more, and C met a guy in Casa 3 and asked him about the hot water heater (clearly a blow to my ego, BTW).

Peter is Polish, recently married to Gabriella, who is Mexican, and he ran right over to help. Of course, the heater started right off. Turns out that earlier in the day C had found the shell of a little land snail that had died in the area of the pilot, and the shell had prevented it from lighting. When she removed it, everything worked fine. I had seen it, but dismissed it as some kind of encrustation. Beginners luck, beginners luck.

When Peter found out I was an archaeologist he insisted on showing me a book he had on Mexican archaeology, so we went to his apartment, met Gaby, saw his book, chatted, and had a few beers. We learned about the trash pick up (daily!), where to get water delivered, how to get to Home Depot easily (Peter’s and my favorite place), life generally in Mexico, and soon it was 9:00 PM.

We headed toward the center of town (about three blocks) to find someplace to eat, and congratulated ourselves on a really fun and interesting day. When we entered Plaza de Armas, an estudiantina came at us from the other side, wearing their capes with all the ribbons and buttons, etc., playing guitars and singing. They stopped near us and we were immediately surrounded by a large crowd of family and friends and passers-by from the plaza. The estudiantina was made up only of women, and they sang a few songs with some solos. When they started to leave we all started shouting “otra” (encore), and they did. And we had thought the day was over.

We wandered around the area, and all the restaurants were full, so we checked out the side streets which all week had been empty. Tonight they were full of stalls selling things from handicrafts to opals (Qto. is known for opals) with people everywhere. We ended back at Plaza de Armas and went to what is becoming our regular restaurant for a fancy dinner (cheapest on the square). After another good, if expensive meal, the head waiter shook my hand in front of everyone like I was his old buddy and made a big deal about saying goodbye. C said, “I guess we have been accepted”, and I guess it is beginning.

We walked home in the chilly night air, and immediately went to bed on our air mattress on the floor. Can’t wait till Monday.

Pictures for previous posting.