The Fruits of Lots of Labor

KITCHEN BEFORE

It's been almost two weeks of daily work around Casa K. What started out as a few simple things on our wish list has turned into much more involved work. We have had tile workers, albanils, and painters all working outside as well as inside the house. Some days we all eat breakfast in and around the house, some days it is lunch. and some days we go out and leave the house to the workers. Some days there is a lot of talking and laughing, and some days it is more work and less play. On all days there is concrete, sand, paint, and mud tracked through the house. I have learned to get used to it. All days have been filled with lots of work. There has been lots of sharing of tools, buckets, and the coveted one ladder that has been in high demand out in front of the house, in back of the house, and in the house. Everybody managed to willingly wait their turn for the ladder use. I know today alone it went back and forth through the house at least 20 times, carefully passing through the kitchen where Terry and I were working away as the interior painters. And I am not kidding about the 20 times. There have been lots of hugs given for each craftsman's work by fellow workers and by us.
Today I went around the corner and bought tortillas from the tortelleria. All 7 of us here today sat down where ever we could find a place to scrambled eggs, chorizo, onion, refried beans and cheese tacos. It was me that got the kudos this time.
As the workers worked, Terry and I worked along beside them. Once Esad completed the tile job in the kitchen, we took over with scraping walls, preparing for paint, and then doing the actual painting. We painted the kitchen while the other workers used the space to get from the front of the house to the back.

We have all become friends. 

Trinidad, one of the exterior house painters, shared his tips on taping and painting for the best results with us. As we praised Trini, Francisco, and Jose on the work they did to the exterior of the house, they in turn praised us on how well the kitchen turned out.
Today was a big day. The outside painting of the house and grillwork was completed. The kitchen is also complete as of today. And, Carlos and crew have almost completed the stairs and flower box.

Some valuable lessons we have learned are (1) Just because there is somebody coming to do work for you, don't assume they have the tools needed to do the job. A painter may show up empty-handed, but he knows how and is willing to paint. You may need to provide all the supplies, some of the supplies, or they may have all the tools and some of the supplies. (2) All of the supplies is not an option. Each day supplies is brought or you will be asked to go get what is needed, It is generally a little less than what is needed for the day. On the bright side - when a project is complete, you will NOT have any supplies left over. (3) Keep a sense of humor. Take advantage of learning some real-life Spanish. Terry and I have both learned a whole new set of vocabulary words conversing with the workers. (4) If you can't beat 'em join 'em. We found that since we were mostly homebound, it was best to have a project of our own. It took our minds off of going to the beach and lounging around with a cold beer in hand.

But, the day of going to the beach, lounging around, with a cold beer is mighty close!

ESAD WITH HIS FINISHED THE TILE

PAINT ADDED

TRIMMED WITH THE STRIPE...FINISHED!!!

BEFORE...LA CASA DE CREMA

  

FRANCISCO WAS THE QUIETEST OF ALL

ADDING THE FINISHING TOUCHES

JOSE, TRINIDAD & FRANCISCO IN FRONT OF THE BAHIA QUINO COLORED CASA

And this is the Our Lady of Guadalupe tile mosaica that Carlos spent hours driving us around all parts of Merida to track down. It was his determination and friendship, along with Esad's work that got it up on the wall literally within hours of the panters showing up to paint.  Thank you to Sr. Maldonado of Maya Hut who did the fabrication of it.

THE PATIO...A LIGHTER SHADE...MAS CLARO

 

AND YESTERDAY WE SAW THE FIRST PASSER BY THAT MADE THE SIGN OF THE CROSS AS THE LADY WALKED IN FRONT OF THE HOUSE...SO GLAD OUR LADY IS BACK ON THE WALL WHERE SHE HAD ONCE BEEN BEFORE

 

SR. MALDONADO

And as I finish writing this Friday morning, Carlos and his full crew are working on the stairs and flower box project. It won't be long now. Here is how it looks at the moment - 

CARLOS IS NEVER CAMERA SHY

 

A Machete, A Plumb Line, A Level...All a Man Needs

We should have insisted the workers take the day off yesterday. As it turned out, with Sunday following Saturday night not all of them showed up. And, the ones that did show up didn't really have materials and/or tools to do much work. And honestly, we would have loved to have had the day to ourselves to go to the beach have a few Sols ourselves.  

This morning Esad showed up to do tile work but had no tile. One thing we have learned is that the amount of materials needed is often just a little less than what is required to finish out the day's work. Certainly no reason to have more than what you need, right? When Sr. P. showed up with the tile around 12:30, Esad had already gone home. There have been a total of five return trips back to the Talavera store for tile, and we're thinking there will have to be a slight pattern change to make the tile purchased today make it to the end of the project. When I found a broken yellow tile in the pile of sand on the patio I picked it up and put it back in the kitchen. I really think he's going to need that piece.
We met Trini today. Starting tomorrow afternoon, he will begin the exterior painting out front. He showed us some interior painting he has done in houses around the city, and it was beautiful. He showed us stenciling, textured walls, and even large, intricate painted medallions on ceilings. He is quite the artista!
So finally, I had to make a choice on house color. It's called "Bahia Quino". I am loving the name as much as the actual color. Then we threw in a lighter shade for the front patio with everything trimmed in an off-white. We also bought a bright golden yellow color for the kitchen called Holanda. Terry and I will handle that project. Boy, I love outings to the paint store. And, we couldn't carry every thing we needed and didn't think it was enough to ask for delivery, so we get to go back tomorrow. 
This morning I scraped peeling paint in our bedroom, re-sealed the walls, and painted. It didn't take long but I have added painting to my list of things visitors at the casa will be asked to do. It used to be "grab a broom and sweep" because there is always dust, but now it's also "grab a paintbrush and pick a wall" because something always needs painting. It's the concreto, you know.
We took a walk and had brunch earlier at the Maria del Carmen hotel. If you eat there you can also enjoy their pool, so if this work continues much longer we are quite sure we'll have to go back and spend a couple of hours lounging by their pool.
The patio stairs project is going well. The work, the work schedule, and the simple way things get done so beautifully amaze us. Terry is loving the imperfection of the work. Sounds crazy to say that, but it's true. Mr. Right Angle is starting to think more like 82 degrees instead of 90. We think it's awesome that the work has been done with 

a machete, 

a plumb line, 

and a level.

I think the main albañil has been forced to use a handsaw on occasion but he told Terry he used to do all of his cutting with a machete. And, of course there is plenty of concreto, some sticks to hold up the forms, and the wood used to make the forms. Oh, and they have used rebar. And did I mention there is lots of concreto?
The interesting thing is we have a general idea of what we expect this finished project to be, but we really aren't for sure. But, we're pretty sure we will like it and we know for darned sure we'll love when the concreto es completo! 

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In Search of La Virgen de Guadalupe

Yesterday I woke up feeling bitchy - the casa was filled with dust, the work was noisy, and I can only handle so much Mexican music coming from the kitchen. That was, until a rather pretty lady and her 20-something year old mentally-challenged son showed up and wanted to wash the coche parked out front of the house for some food. They were hungry! "No es mi coche" I said. But, I made them each a sandwich, and gave her some cookies and pesos. They ate on the sidewalk then moved on. My bitchiness subsided very quickly as I realized I have absolutely NOTHING to complain about! But that's when I knew for sure I wanted Our Lady of Guadalupe to be part of our casa.

The albañiles, or mason workers, showed up around 8 and went right to work. They started out using the roof of the house as their work site where they are cutting and twisting rebar and building the wooden forms for the stairs and flower box. Terry and I have pretty much hung around the house during all the work, but we had decided we would let the workers be, and we would go for a long overdue walk. 

It was probably a good thing because when we got back, they had hauled numerous bags of rock, concreto, and sand, along with a whole pile of cinder blocks right through the middle of the house. I don't know that I could've watched that. 

Terry had paid Esad for his week's worth of tiling on Friday evening and he had taken Saturday off to spend the day with his familia. We had hoped all the work would  cease today (Sunday) and it would be recognized as a day of rest, but they insisted, and all of them should be here shortly, including Esad to continue the tile work. 

In search of a tile mosaic of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Back to yesterday, Terry and I decided it was a good time to buy a tile mosaic of Our Lady of Guadalupe to inset into the wall of the front patio. From old pictures, we knew the revered patron saint of Mexico and Catholics worldwide had adorned the front patio in the past but had been chipped out of the wall during the previous renovation. Last year I had seen the tile mosaics like we wanted somewhere in Centro. I thought I had seen them somewhere in the Mejorado or San Cristobal areas east of the plaza, but I can never remember exact locations and then I start thinking I just dreamed it all up.  We searched and searched, and stopped and asked at numerous places yesterday. Each time we asked, we would go off where we were told to look, but no luck. The closest we came was finding ceramic versions, but never the tiled versions like we wanted. We did talk to a lot of very helpful people. If any one of them could have produced Our Lady of Guadalupe from behind their counter, they would have. 

We got back home after a long walk with the intentions of eating some lunch and kicking back, but when we mentioned what we were searching for to Carlos, he insisted on loading us up in his Volkswagen Bug and taking us to some places he thought would have them. A couple of places just south of La Ermita had some beautiful ceramic versions, but no azulejos individuales. Poor Carlos, he wanted to find us what we wanted so badly. He took us to at least 12-15 different places. Finally, we told him there was a tile mosaic just like we wanted on the exterior wall of a house just up the calle from us, so we would go knock on the door and ask where they bought it. But, when we got got back home one of the other albañiles told Carlos of a place over on Calle 61 that has them. We made sure they were the versions made with individual tiles. Carlos promised to take us when they open up tomorrow.

Work continued until around 4pm around here. At one point Terry questioned them about the location of the stoop. It was going to go right over the top of one of two drains on the patio. But what do you do if you're an albañi and the drain is in your way? You move it, Silly. With a little chiseling and rearranging of plastic pipe, everybody gets what they want.  

The beginning of the concreto was poured. The albañiles said they were working on Sunday, and by Wednesday we would be up on the second floor patio celebrating. "Arriva! y Cerveza!", one of them said then laughed and laughed at his own choice of words.

Getting the Job Done Mexico-Style - A Post for Men to Read

That's my kitchen sink behind the ladder!

It's Thursday morning. Terry has already completed his Rosetta Stone (ha!) Spanish lesson, is practicing guitar, and the workers have all arrived and are quite busy chiseling, chiseling away. I have visions of a big black hole where my patio used to be, but I have to keep faith they will pull through.  I have taken a shower and checked e-mail and Facebook. I am putting off washing dishes from last night's light dinner because I'm down to washing dishes in the bathroom sink then setting up the drain rack in the shower for them to dry. Have you ever washed dishes in the bathroom? I just makes you feel a tad unsanitary. 

The Tile Project 

I'm not complaining about the dust and the kitchen sink still pulled out of the counter top and shoved behind the tools out on the patio because Esad is hard at work carefully laying each non-square/almost square, hand-made tile on the very not-square counter top surface. Not having anything at true right angles and the natural tendency to want everything straight and lined up is a notion you just have to leave at the border. Esad can handle it. He is a true tile laying artista. Several times Terry and I have gone in and re-arranged the tile the way he has laid it out and each time he puts it back the way he had it previously. The pattern isn't exactly the way we anticipated it, and the colors haven't been lined up exactly the way we anticipated, and the nice, square little illustration I did in my graphics software was really a waste of time. But, we are loving it and have learned to just let Esad do his creative craft.

He had to completely demolish one of the shelves because it had a big crack in the concreto, and he knew it wouldn't last underneath the tile so he just grabbed his hammer and did away with it, then pulled out the old rebar. At some point, maybe today, he will rebuild it, let it cure, then lay the tile.

I still remember when I bought the dining room table and the delivery guys brought it to the casa. They couldn't get it to fit through the front door, and I was in a panic. They raised the table up high above their heads and tried to fit it again....it fit right through!!! Now, that was a time of joy and that's when I realized everybody knows the door opening is wider at the top then it is down at the bottom. But, I digress.

The Stair Building Project

While Esad works alone in the kitchen, Carlos and his crew of two additional workers are busy on the patio. They started out doing what we have referred to as the architectural drawings. That is, they used a Sharpie and drew the incline along with each stair step on the wall. This is the wall where the concreto stairs will be attached. I had also asked for a couple of steps to wrap around a planter box (macetero). So that was drawn on the wall as well. We were astounded at how accurate the measurements were and how it worked out that each step was exactly as it should be. Guess that's why they did it in permanent marker instead of chalk. It sure makes me feel a little stupid when I think back on all those algebra, geometry, and calculus courses I took. I would've used chalk! 

Secondly, Carlos drew up a very nice "contracto" and gave it to Terry. It was very detailed and outlined the work that would be performed, that it would include both materials and workmanship, signed and dated it, and presented it to Terry. After Terry read it, he agreed to it, shook Carlos's hand and off Carlos went to start buying the initial supplies needed. Terry will keep it, I know. He really appreciated Carlos's business acumen. 

Unloading for the day's work

Yesterday work started early, in earnest. We can't escape the noise, but we have had to escape from watching the work. Neither of us can handle the watching of the wall being demolished. It's been chisel, chisel, chisel, and every now and then they hit the end of the crowbar with a hammer to make a bigger hole in the wall. I didn't know rock, cement and cinder blocks were so tough! 

Carlos whipped out his phone and showed me a picture of a macetero they had built somewhere else. He wanted my permission to cover the macetero in native rock like the one in the picture. Of course I agreed and now I'm as excited about the planter as I am the stairs. 

On my way back home from the grocery store yesterday, I was so excited I flagged down the tierra guy that comes around with his donkey and cart and delivers dirt. Then, I thought for a minute and just told him to come back in a week or so. We really don't need any additional sacks of dirt while we're already overloaded with sacks of sand, concreto mix, and everything else that is hauled right through the middle of the house to get to the patio area.

But, my cost for flagging down the tierra guy and then not buying his tierra was the purchase of a couple of soft drinks for him and his compadre at the corner tienda. 

I crumbled...just like that patio wall!  

 

 

Where is Rosetta?

Terry is in pretty thick with Rosetta. They have a very close relationship. He's more religious about studying his Spanish with her than I am. He religiously sets aside time each day for lessons and goes through numbers, vocabulary, grammar and reading books in Spanish with the translator. In addition to his close relationship with Rosetta, he also uses his Kindle for reading Spanish books and uses Think Spanish, Study Spanish, and Berlitz. But he really wants to meet Rosetta out on the streets in Merida. He's always asking me "where in the heck is Rosetta?". He wants to meet up with her and have the perfect conversation with her. The perfect Spanish he studies, with the perfect Spanish words, and with the perfect grammar don't prepare him for socializing and discussing with the real workers and the real ladies and gentlemen living down our real street in real La Ermita. 

If he could only meet up with Rosetta Stone on the street! 

Everybody in La Ermita is friendly enough. We get smiles and greetings all the time. We get lots of questions about where our house is located, where we are from originally, and questions about family. Yesterday we took a late afternoon walk down to the Chedraui for groceries. Late afternoons are a good time to go out because it's when our neighbors are all out socializing. On the way home, we walked by a couple of elderly gentlemen sitting on the curb. They stopped us for a chat. Interestingly, they already knew where our house was here in La Ermita. We were told where to go for fresh seafood, given directions on how to get there, and what time to be there. It was about a 15 minute conversation, but while we picked up on the seafood talk, we still don't know what about half the conversation was truly about. We catch some words of the sentences and nod our heads as we both say "Si, si, si." But, nobody you meet around here ever, never  speaks Spanish like Rosetta. Terry is convinced Rosetta Stone DOES NOT exist past that voice he hears on his computer. Now if you took Rosetta Stone and filled her mouth with marbles you would have not so much what people speak, but what we hear.  I'm pretty sure Terry is in the market for the marble-mouthed edition of Rosetta Stone if anybody knows where to get it.

We've had a lot of discussion with the workers since the construction projects around here are growing in number. It has been the textbook learning experience, ie, we've learned Spanish based on need. We've learned the words for shelf, steep, and a whole number of other words because we've had no choice. Grammar - not so important. Sorry, Rosetta. 

We recently met a new guy in the neighborhood. Ferdi is originally from here but had left 14 years ago and lived in the UK, the Netherlands, Canada, and Chicago. His immediate family is  in Canada. He came back and opened up a small ice cream factory and storefront. We've gone in the back and seen his equipment and where he actually makes the ice cream. We've eaten his very tasty mango ice cream. He knows about the Blue Bell Creamery. And now he has taken a second job where he is gone during the week, and has somebody running the ice cream tienda. How do we know so much about him? He speaks perfect English. We try conversing with him in Spanish, and he talks to us in English. We then just revert back to speaking English...mission unaccomplished.

But, we keep it up. Terry studies and I receive most of my lessons through osmosis while he studies.  And, I do study vocabulary and grammar but just not as religiously. I guess we'll know we're there when other people hear us talking in Spanish and it sounds marble-mouthed to them.

Bombardment of the Senses

Lots going on around here. My senses are on overload right now. It amazes me how living in an opened up house awakens your senses. I smell more. I can smell food cooking, fires burning, and the smell of Mas clothes detergent when somebody stops at our door. I hear more. I hear footsteps of passersby, traffic and horns honking, the young boys skateboarding, buses moving around, and at the moment an ambulance along with the deafening sound of the empleadas de parque grinding up tree limbs they cut in the gardens across the street. (not making this up) Yesterday I heard a vendor walking by the house. I heard his wind chimes.  He had a long string of tinkling wind chimes hanging from a post slung over his shoulder. And the tastes, well, that's a whole blog in of itself.

And Yes, we bought some wind chimes

I see more. The curiosity of what goes on around me keeps me going to the front of the house and peering through the grates of the front patio. I'm amused easily. I watch the ladies come out of church and chat/gossip on their walks home. I surreptitiously watched a young mother get on her bicycle then lean the bicycle over so her daughter of about age 3 could swing her leg over and hop on the back. They pedaled off.

Right now Esad is in the kitchen banging away on the counter tops as he lays tile. It has been slow going since he showed up yesterday to start the project. The counter tops are not square. Nothing in Mexico is ever a perfect right angle. The Talavera tiles are not all the same size. It poses some challenges when tiling. But, he is a true artist and we have given him free reign to lay the tile as he wishes. When I said we wanted an arch above the stove top, he hand drew a perfect arch to indicate where the tile will go. He is taking his time and I know we will be satisfied when he leaves. It will more than likely take at least another 2 days. It's all good but I must say we miss not having use of the sink in the kitchen. Washing dishes in the bathroom sink is for the birds!

Terry left out yesterday to take a walk and came back in the house shortly with a couple of workers following him. They are doing some work in the house next door. This is the same house that they have been periodically working on since before we bought our casa. It is an eternal project evidently. We had gone inside the house one day last week when they invited us to see their work. They had built stairs inside the house that goes up the wall and to a door that leads outside to an upper level patio. Since we need some stairs in our patio going up to the rooftop patio, Terry asked them to come over and take a look. Of course they immediately said they can do it. It's one thing I love about Mexico - the answer is always "Si!". They are supposed to come back today. We aren't sure if they are showing up to start building or what, but we are pretty sure the end result will be stairs. In fact, they just showed up in a truck with sand in the back of it. Is it for our stairs? We'll know shortly whether it is for their job next door or for our stairs! I know all this because I can hear them and see them outside. Lots of work going on, lots of relaxing going on, and lots of senses being bombarded.

Sunday morning we walked the distance of the Sunday bici-ruta then walked over to Santiago and on to the grocery store. Later in the day, Terry mapped out our path to determine how far we walked. It was over 7 miles! We celebrated with cocktails on the patio!

Here are some Sunday walk pictures -