I have listened to and watched our crew the last couple months and after a year of construction they have developed a relationship with the neighbors. Partly because our contractor rents a bathroom from one resident rather than renting a "porta potty" and partly because some of our guys like to mix it up a bit and be friendly with the local residents and receive ribbing in good spirits when work gets messy. It has been interesting listening to them with the local kids especially. Always having fun it seems with the little ones.
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| Casa Pono is taking shape |
We have been under construction for a long time now with deliveries, noise, trucks etc. Now that we are living here, our neighbors seem a bit perplexed having someone looking back at them for the first time ever. Our lot had been empty and essentially a place for people to throw trash, old appliances and for dogs to do their business. Suddenly there are lights, windows, activity and people looking back at them across the street. We have become the focus of their attention in a way as they sit on their doorstep. That said our neighbors have been extremely nice and are always pleasant. Some of our neighbors have lived on the street for 30+ years so I am sure to have a family of outsiders suddenly appear has been an adjustment for them as well. Much of the street's residents are an extended family so they are always moving between houses and yelling to someone a few doors down. We had always heard that the street was noisy and it was not an easy place to live. The street is certainly not quiet but the previous place we lived for 3.5 years was much, much noisier with a large neighborhood behind it. It was mostly festive noise. People having fun or celebrating but certainly noisier than our new home.
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| View from the apartment terrace |
Thursday is choir practice and Sunday morning are services next door. Roosters crowing joined with voices raised in song are a combination that won't hit the Top 40 playlist anytime soon but it is certainly better than someone cranking music at 8am on a Sunday. Our concrete wall is in contact with their concrete wall so we hear everything next door. The church has been very patient with our project. Debris constantly rains down into the church's back yard and they have allowed us to hook into their sewer line until sewage permits are issued once the sewer plant work it completed...when that will happen is anyone's guess.
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| Stuck in our own driveway for two hours. I do not care if you were late for church. NO Parking!! |
Ashley and I like to sit on the apartment patio and be outside and be part of the street but not necessarily be "part" of the street. The neighbors have their lives and it has been interesting to be sitting there watching it. We can see so much of the town drive carts, cars and walk by too. People look at the house, some stop, some yell up to try to sell something, say hello and others are too interested in their devices to care about anything else. It is so much busier than anywhere we have live yet we like this location the most and feel like we are more a part of town than we have been in the past.
Concrete dust is bad but mostly it is the dust from the street that is everywhere. Not surprising this time of year as we all forget when it rained the last time to make the dust bowl around here go away for a handful of months. It gets everywhere. Our car is parked on the street and if it does not get moved every two or three days it gets so dusty that it looks abandoned. The neighbors, and us now, try to rinse the car off every couple days. I even watered my first street the other other day just like a true local. We totally now understand what we once considered a big waste of water.
We finally got internet! It is not news that Sayulita has outgrown it's phone/internet network. There are other options available but we could not connect to any in our location. So, we had our name on the phone company's waitlist. I was pouring pesos into our portable "hot spot" router and my phone to keep connected and get anything done online. I felt totally helpless and so disconnected from the family and the world. Wouldn't have said that 10 years ago. Then one day a friend spoke with a guy who he saw running cable line down the street. He let him know about us and our hopes for getting hooked up with internet. The next day with a few messages and a whole bunch of pesos later we had our internet! Contracts and everything. There is the "waitlist" and then there is they guy on the street who kinda sorta works for the phone company and can hook you up for a price. Connections to the right people and cash will go far. Phone/internet lines are gold here without a doubt since new construction always needs hook ups that do not exist.
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| After 3 months without internet...we are hooked up!! |
That is about it for now from Calle Libertad. Hopefully, the frequency of updates will increase as remaining items get taken care of.
