May is Time to Start Another Garden!

For my family, gardening has progressed from accidental tomato and papaya plants, to our beautiful bougainvilleas and mini rose bush in Playa del Carmen,
to last year's sunflowers here in Canada, and this year to a shared garden and a more complete house-side garden (instead of the usual flower gardens.)

Our elderly neighbour, who can no longer plant her garden alone, as asked me to help her plant and care for her garden, and has offered us the share the vegetables.  Her garden includes:

• tomatoes
• green, red and yellow peppers
• potatoes
• onions
• radishes

 and a few other items I can't remember right now.  Here are some pictures:

In the same flower garden where we planted the sunflowers last year, I planted various items since they all have space between them:

• tomatoes
• sunflowers (which will be tall and rise above the rest)
• string beans (between the tomato plants)
• marigolds (in a well-spaced line right in front)
• cilantro (between the marigolds)
• more potatoes (around the more shaded side of the house)

I don't know if I've crowded too much in, but we'll see.  It's our first experiment.  Weeding won't be a problem since it's all accessible from the front of the flower garden.  The kids helped to plant it again, and were very excited.

Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures of the kids helping, but I'll get pictures of them at harvest time.  Here are some pictures I took of the visible plants later in the evening:

These are the packages from the cilantro and string bean seeds:

I'm looking forward to enjoying fresh vegetables in August and September!

And the rain came ...

Yesterday, there was a huge downpour.  About 2 inches of water covered our basement floor.

In this village, this is normal.  Most people in the older houses just have a sump pump to get rid of the water little by little and let the basement dry out.  They were built with stone foundations, essentially assuming that water would come into the basement, and then drain out.

However, the house we are renting is a newer one (only 40 years old) and the basement is finished, with carpeted floors; it is clearly not supposed to get water in it.

Fortunately, the water did not come up over the carpet, but it was all wet and squishy.

The garage is half the basement, with the driving running down into it.  This is part of the problem.  The eaves troughs also drain into the base of the driveway, or the entrance to the garage.  The main drain is located here, but it clearly does not have the capacity needed.  It was also blocked with leaves and other debris. This means the water all began backing up into the garage, and through there into the basement.  I also suspect that some water came in at other places.

During the strongest point of the downpour, I tried to unclog the main drain, but I couldn't find the right hole (there are 4 and I only found the upper 2, which both lead in rather than out.)  After the rain slowed down, my dad, who had come to help, found it and unclogged it, keeping the basement flooding to a minimum.

We spent hours vacuuming out the rugs.  They are damp right now, and drying little by little.

Apparently, this is the 3rd time in 9 years that this has happened! Hopefully, they get this fixed.

A Beautiful Ghetto

The narrow street where I lived, typical of La Barona

Last week I stayed in Cuernavaca, with my wife's cousins in a community called La Barona.  La Barona is typically considered the worst neighborhood in Cuernavaca - a city about an hour south of Mexico City.  Back in the 70's there was a time that there was a murder every day, taxi's refused to take people there, and the buses stopped at the first traffic circle - pretty much the only way in and only way back out to the rest of the city.

Since then, this neighbourhood has a complete turn-around, and it's now a pleasant & vibrant family community where you can live comfortably with all the basics within walking distance. I've written about this community before - see A Community Turn-Around Story in Cuernavaca.

An important point is that the bad reputation has long outlived the reality.  Sure, basic common sense and care must still be used.  Yes, the community is generally a poor one; but it's not the ghetto it used to be - it's safe, and, in it's own way, picturesque and beautiful.

The community is a labyrinth of tree-lined streets, alleys lined with colorful flowers and roundabouts with playgrounds in the middle, but where you really can't tell which is the "main street" going in and out. It's also very hilly, with nice views of the nearby hills that separate Cuernavaca from Mexico City, and hide the magical village of Tepoztlan.  There are lots of local small shops that sell everything from fruit and freshly baked bread to appliances, computers and cell phones.  Because of the flowers, the trees, the views and, perhaps most of all, the relaxed lifestyle of the people, the many half-built homes, shops covered with graffiti, the unplanned tangled overhead wiring become a lot less unpleasant.

I've been accused before of liking ugly and off-colour places just to be different; but I can guarantee you that this is not the case with La Barona.  My wife and I lived there for 3 months, and every time we go back, we feel more convinced that one day, in the distant future, it could be a good home for our family.  We feel comfortable and at home there.

One of the nicer houses - this was probably built up, little by little

The bad reputation, though, has some advantages:

• It gives the community a very distinct atmosphere of its own; places that are "quaint" because they were planned to be that way often all end up being the same and somewhat boring.  This place is very down to earth, real and practical.
• It keeps the prices low. Rent is low; $100 USD/month gets you a large house that will need a bit of paint but is fine to live in.  Food is cheap (not quite as cheap as the main downtown market, but much better than other places I've seen - in Cuernavaca or anywhere else.  I've written about a similar theme in The Low Cost of Living in Cuernavaca.)

A typical main street, lined with trees

As I said, it's picturesque in its own unique way.  I'll admit quite readily it's not the place for everyone's taste, but that's true of anywhere.  Here are a few pictures with some comments.

A typical sidewalk - not always practical

Small sports complexes and regular transportation do a lot for the community (not to mention the "boutiques!")

A view of the hills in the distance

Another nicer home

An ally way heading downhill, with hills in the distance

A very narrow ally - there are many of these, and many homes have their only access off of a street like this

Valladolid, A Mayan Colonial Town

The Main Church in Valladolid

I spent this New Years in the town of Valladolid, about 2.5 hours inland from here, not far from the ruins of Chichen Itza.  The town is a classic old colonial Mexican town, with beautiful sites to see like old churches and convents.  The town square is also very picturesque.

While central Mexico has a much larger number of charming towns to visit, Valladolid is unique in the fact that it's not only colonial but also Mayan - not Mayan as in having dancers wearing large bird and animal masks and pretending to carry out long dead rituals for American tourists, but Mayan as in Mayan people actually live there.  While Yucatec Spanish (distinct from "normal" Mexican Spanish from the central area) is the most common language, you can also hear Mayan spoken in the streets and homes if you walk around a little.  It's rather un-romantic and quite contrary to the image of "Mayans" given for tourists as some sort of ancient mystics, since these are just common people living in run down colonial homes (small, one-story buildings with ornate facades that haven't been kept up in years - at least out side of the central tourist area), half-built concrete homes or even huts built out of wooden poles. I like both sides of Valladolid.

A older home, in the residential part of town

There's a restaurant in town that serves traditional food for the area, and is located right next to a "cenote" which is a large, natural pool of water at the entrance to the underground cave and water network.  It's beautiful because you can have a view of the cave and water while you eat, and then go for a dip in the water - it's very refreshing.

I also like going to Valladolid because there I can get hand-made sandals with car-tire soles for about $12.  People sell them right out of their workshops, which look similar to the old home pictured in this post.  They last me about 2 years - a good bit longer than most footwear.

This was my second trip to Valladolid, and I plan to go back. It's a nice, relaxing place to visit.

A picturesque colonial street in the town centre

My 2 sons and I walking down into the cenote (baby in my arms)

A view over the water of the cenote

Baby and wife

Our son playing in the pool at the hotel

Our New Kitchen

Recently, we had a new kitchen counter put in, which ended up almost being a complete remodelling of the kitchen.  Before the remodelling, we had a door and a window at the back of the kitchen, a solitary sink and no counter.  The stove, dishes, toaster, etc. were all on various items of furniture.

We had the door and the window removed and filled in with concrete blocks. (All construction here in Mexico is concrete blocks and/or poured concrete.)  The door was moved about 3 feet over to a place where there had been a tall window before.

Then we had a counter built across the entire back and side of the kitchen with a shelf under it, and a space at the end for the stove – all out of concrete, of course.

At this point, before the work had been finished, and before the wall had been sealed off, we were hit by a tropical storm – about 2 weeks ago.  We spent much of one night mopping up water.  (See picture 2 – notice how wet the new blocks in the wall are.)

After the sun had dried up the new wall enough, the person doing the work for us put tiles on the counter and the wall, installed the sink into the counter (along with the tap and drain) and sealed off the wall, finishing everything – the wall and non-tiled parts of the counter – with a grey stucco. (See picture 3)  We also had the floor under the counter raised 2 cm so it could be used for storage.

Finally, we finished the job by painting all the stucco, which we did ourselves with the help of our 3-year-old son. (See pictures 4 and 5, below)

We now have a wonderful new kitchen with plenty of space to work that is not the kitchen table and is easy to keep clean. We also have enough space for all the dishes and dry food underneath.  We chose plain white tiles, with a brown, blue and yellow traditional, Mexican trim. (See picture 1 – above - and 6 & 7 – below)

For another post about home improvements, see:
Another video blog - My new closet - I made part of it!
Renovation, the Canadian Way

Renovation, the Canadian Way

My brother, myself and my dad, hanging drywall

In Mexico, drywall, wooden beams and insulation have nothing to do with house construction or renovation.  Here's a picture of my father, my brother and me working to hang drywall on a ceiling of a room that we're renovating.  My wife, who took the picture was fascinated by all of this stuff, and by seeing me with a drill in my hands doing renovation work; I'm not the do-it-yourself sort when it comes to home renovations, whether the Canadian style or Mexican style, so the rare chance to see me do this stuff was a delight for her.

The Neighborhood I Call Home

Our Newest Park

I live in a new suburban subdivision in Playa del Carmen, which is currently one of Latin America's fastest growing communities. Before I owned this house, I had never lived in this kind of neighbourhood before; I had lived in small towns and villages, old residential neighborhoods in big and medium sized cities, and even a student residential village, but never an new suburban-style development.

Playa del Carmen isn't big enough to really have suburbs, but currently it has a growing number of new, lower-middle class developments in the outlying areas of the city.  I suppose most of them are like mine. This one was still under construction when I moved in, and is now nearing completion.  It has some things I love, and things I hate.  Here they are, randomly switching between "love" and "hate."

I love: the good neighbors I've got to know here.  We've had surprisingly good luck with almost everyone who lives near to us, and some of our closest friends live a couple of blocks a way.

I love: the gossip ring.  While sometimes "gossip" and "nosy" (which are the same word in Spanish) is a bad term or criticism, in my case it's by far the best way to know what's going on, and to get information like where visitors can park their car without bothering anyone, who's sick, who's having a baby, who's going on vacation, etc.  Some of my friends who live a few blocks away have an old lady as a neighbor who can provide any of this information and much more about any given person on the street, and my wife is an admitted addict. No harm has come of it yet, and it allows people to show support when needed.

I hate: very, very, very loud music.  This is a Mexican thing, and not something I'll ever be able to change in any way.  But I really felt that Guns 'n' Roses at 4 am Sunday morning was a little over the top. My neighbor (a teenaged girl who was getting up to do the laundry), was very understanding when I knocked on their door, and kindly turned it low enough so at least the bed stopped vibrating.  I guess it could have been worse ...

I love: our many parks.  Everyone who lives here has 4 small parks within a 5 minute walk.  My son has already distributed these parks to family and friends.  The newest and nicest is his, and the first one, which has been heavily vandalized, is mine.  I guess he figures I can deal with it.

The street I live on

I hate: the vandalism which destroyed  the playground in our first park, which is a 2 minute walk away.  They not only spray-painted, but they removed and broke the stairs, the slide and the swings. There are no gangs or anything around. These are just bored teens. I admit, this neighbourhood would be boring for teens, but really, it would cost 50 cents to go downtown, at lot less than their can of spray paint.  Besides that, I wonder what on earth the parents are doing.  Everyone on that street (which is not mine) seems to know who did it, so the parents must know as well.  I guess they just don't care.


I love:  the fact that no other park in the community has been vandalized.  I think there are 10 in total.  All the others have been left in tact, thank goodness!

I love: the jungle surrounding the community.

I hate: the fact that in a year or two, all that jungle will be gone.  This one's my fault as much as anyone's; I bought a new house that was built in clear-cut virgin jungle (to be fair, though there is no other choice around Playa del Carmen.)  In the capitalist world, the successful sales means that other companies now have stronger motivation to follow suit in the same construction style.

My son at our first park, partially-repaired

I love: the fact that many lower-middle income Mexicans (i.e. earning $10,000 or less) can afford to buy and own their own home, built decently, in a nice community.  These factors were our motivation to buy here.  It's a paradox I can't really work out.  I believe in decent housing for the masses, but I don't believe in destruction of nature.  I haven't seen a reasonable way to balance two, though.  But if they didn't do this, then the people here would just come and cut down the jungle on their own, and live in huts made of thin tree trunks and corrugated fiberglass panels.  So, I guess this is somewhat better.  I hope they can come up with better solutions soon.

I hate: the fact that there is no recycling service.  This is also a rarity in Mexico.  At least near downtown there is a park with a recycling drop-off area.

I love: that there is very little garbage in the streets.  Lower-income Mexican communities, even though almost picturesque in other ways sometimes, are horrendous for lots of litter and even whole bags of garbage strewn all over the place.  So far, people have kept this neighborhood nice and clean.

The jungle across the street - now the "new park" - see picture at the top

I hate: having to take transportation everywhere.  There are 24 hour convenience stores within walking distance, but that's it.  A lot of people have taco shops run out of their living room, so at least there's tasty food available.  Bikes and motorcycles come by selling bread and tamales as well. The next community back (the only one going farther back into the jungle) has a drug store, a butcher and a food store that sells only dry and canned items (for very good prices, mind you.)  There are also a few video stores.  So we aren't entirely lost, but for any major stores, or specific items you may need, there's no choice. Since it's a worker's suburban neighbourhood, there's no need for more, unfortunately.  Everyone drives out in the morning, and picks up what they need on the way home in the afternoon.

I love riding my bike.  The streets are very calm here, and it's relatively safe.  My wife prohibited me from owning a bike in Mexico City.   In Playa del Carmen, I can ride my bike to any part of the city within 30 minutes (I've had practice, though.)  The hot summer days aren't particularly good for this, though.

Well, I could go on for a while. But overall I'm very happy with my neighborhood. #1 for me is the people I know here.  The problems - well no place is perfect.

A Different Kind of Beachfront Town - My Visit to Progreso

One of Progreso's Markets, where I talked to Bill

Being more used to Playa del Carmen and the nearby areas, visiting the town of Progreso was interesting in the sense of seeing a beachfront community that was very different from the upscale, luxury, beachfront "paradise" idea that people prefer over here. Progreso is located on the north shore of the Yucatan Peninsula near Merida.

My impression of the town was defined by two people. One was Bill. Bill is Canadian, about 50 years old, originally from an English speaking town in Quebec, who has been living in Progreso for 15 years. I was crossing a road and noticed a tall, thin man, about 50 years old, clean shaven and dressed in comfortable clothes (neither expensive brand names, nor badly worn or old), and a somewhat broad rimmed cloth hat; when he lifted the hat to wipe the sweat from his brow (which he did often), I saw he had short, light-red hair which matched his light-skinned, freckled complexion. In a town where 99 percent of the people I had seen were Mexican, he stood out, as I'm sure I did, and making eye contact he immediately said hello. He seemed ready to talk, as though we new each other.

Progreso is a still a small Mexican town, and the people – Mexicans and foreigners alike – are welcoming and friendly. Making eye contact with someone on the road is enough to prompt a friendly discussion. It is very relaxed, and everyone seems to have time.

First we talked about where we are from – typical of most Canadians from other parts of the country, when I told him I was from Southern Ontario, he answered with a polite, "Oh yeah," (which really means, "that's too bad.")

Since moving to Progreso, he had been buying old homes and fixing them up to resell. When I asked him what he did for fun, he said that he plays basketball, holding up the jersey he was carrying on his shoulder. Thinking of the Playa del Carmen crowd which tends to hang out according to nationality, I asked if he played with other Canadians or Americans. He said that he plays with a Mexican team. A friendly handshake and a warm smile ended the conversation, and he was off to his basketball game. Absolutely no rush.

While I do like Playa del Carmen, the feelings of the laid-back beachfront community or the procrastinating Mexican town no longer exist. This is both a bad thing and good thing – a bad thing when you want to enjoy that cafe-free lifestyle where nothing really matters, a good thing when you want to get something done, like having your home built, or, in the case of Bill, renovated.

The other person that helped define my the impression of the town was a cafe owner. Just off the town square, there is a cafe which proudly boasts that it was founded in 1895. I knew of places in Toronto that had been founded in the 40s, but had passed through the hands of various owners. This was not the case here. Sitting down with a cup of coffee, I began chatting with the waiter, who, seeing that I was interested in learning something more about this cafe's history, went for the owner, who explained that the cafe has been in her family since its founding.

The Beach Downtown

She then gave me a tour of a series of old paintings and photos depicting the town's history. For each one, she clearly explained where the image was, and how it had changed since then. For someone who loves all kinds of history, this was a real treat. The explanations were also short and concise, but very informative.

"If I weren't working today," she concluded, "I'd take you on a tour of these places myself." And I believe she would have. The Mexicans in this town are very welcoming of foreigners. This lady proved that it's not just money; I had only bought a coffee.

Most business owners, like this lady, were very relaxed, and took time to talk to visitors. Down on the beachfront there was a restaurant/bar where many retired Americans and Canadians hung out. These people were a slightly different style from Bill; they liked to spend their time in the bar, chatting with their old friends rather than play basketball. They were the only people I met who seemed worried that too many "gringos" were showing up to spoil the small Mexican town they had discovered and made their home for the past 20 years. When I sat down for breakfast there, the owner recognized me from the night before (I had had dinner there) and sat down to have a coffee, read a newspaper and chat. He didn't ask if it was OK, or if I minded; for me, it was great, and I assume in that town, it's just how you do things.

One of the old Homes, Ready to Be Renovated!

The town is old and there are a lot of classic stone homes, some falling apart with only a sad facade left half standing as a memory of something that was once beautiful, others fully restored by people like Bill with beautiful woodwork. Most of the town is defined by those typical Mexican one-storey homes with a little wooden door in the middle and large window to one side, colourfully painted, but with the paint peeling off because of humidity. This isn't necessarily a sign of neglect; the humid climate on the Yucatan Peninsula requires re-painting every year, although in some cases, neglect and the epidemic of procrastination are certainly a factor.

There are also some new condos and, along the beachfront outside of town, luxury homes with ultra-modern designs. There's no point in describing these, since they're the same in every beachfront tourist town from the U.S. to Brazil, and don't really define anything distinct about the town. (No complaints about them, I just didn't see anything that stood out as different.)

Both Bill, the lady who owned the cafe, and the restaurant owner all said that starting in November a lot more retirees show up from Canada mostly, and some from the States who live there for only 6-8 months ("snowbirds"). It would be interested in talking to some of these to see people to see what inspired them to choose Progreso as their winter home, and if, like Bill, they hang out with the locals.

The Boardwalk Bench - The Lights of The Town's Long Pier are Vaguely Visible

The town's beach wasn't as soft as the beaches in Playa del Carmen, since it was covered by shells, but I prefer the design of the beachfront area; directly on the beach, there were little thatched roof shades with chairs and tables under them. Next there is a long walkway (a boardwalk or promenade) which had a concrete bench running the entire length of the walkway, about 1 km, perfect for sitting down and relaxing. Then there is a road, and, on the other side of the road, restaurants, stores, hotels, parks, etc; the beach is open and has easy access for everyone. The townspeople as much as the tourists can enjoy it fully. Surprisingly, it was also very clean; some beaches with eating and sitting areas on them end up with a lot of garbage, but not this one.

The people I talked to told me that about twice a week a cruise ship shows up, and the town is full of American and Canadian tourists, apparently so much that you can't even walk down the beach.

Overall, people say there's not much to do in Progreso. Personally, I enjoyed it, though. I love the fact that the people are so welcoming, and will always take time to talk to you. I'm someone who can be entertained by a good conversation much more than by expensive entertainment. The history which is visible throughout the town is also appealing for me. While it obviously can't compare to a place like Mexico City, it has a few more layers than the resort towns over by Cancun.

Another video blog - My new closet - I made part of it!

This my second video blog about a totally different topic - a new closet we had someone build last week.  This weekend we put the woodwork in so it's now usable.  The doors are still missing, but we're very happy with our closet. Check it out in the video!

Raw Construction

  

Painting the Top



Here are some pictures of the process.  My wife did a lot of the painting on the closet itself - I only did the hard-to-reach parts, but she didn't want a picture, since she was a mess! (Look at me! Did I care?) She also moved all the stuff and re-arranged the house after!  Thanks Cecy!

By the way, I haven't been getting any comments; tell me what you think of my new closet.  It's great, isn't it?

 

Part way done





 





Done!















Grandpa's Farm in the Hills – Part 3 – The Homes

This is the third part of a series describing some of the great experiences I had visiting my wife's grandpa's farm. Part 1 was about the trip out to the hills (click here to read), Part 2 was about the food (click here to read.)



Grandpa's Adobe house

 In the valley where my wife's grandpa's farm is located, and the nearby village, virtually all homes are made of adobe. If you don't know what that is, it's a type of brick made of mud, stones some other ingredients. I'm sure a large book could be written about the variations of adobe homes. I've come across at least a complete magazine, and personally seen a dozen variations through various parts of central Mexico.

In the cities, adobe is a luxury for the rich, who pay double or more than the cost of a concrete construction to have the few craftsmen who still know the technique make the bricks and build their home.

In the isolated hills, its the building material for the poor who can't afford to have the luxury of concrete imported from the city.

It's this latter type that is important for Grandpa's farm. His two houses down in the valley that I mentioned in Part 1 were originally small but well-built adobe homes with dirt floors and red clay tile roofs. Arriving to grandpa's home, where he lives alone, we went through a tall, narrow wooden gate, and along a walkway whichh led to his patio, which was a long rectangle of about 2 meters by 10. On one side of the patio was a cistern (the one luxury item he had built out of concrete!) and on the other side were two doors, entering to the bedrooms. At the end was the kitchen.

Visitors are received on the patio, where there are a few wooden chairs, and a short wall wide enough to sit on. Meals are eaten in the kitchen, where in one corner is a table for grinding corn, and also the stove, which has a space for fire below it (the gas stove you see in the picture here is not connected and doesn't work.)



In the Kitchen (the gas stove is just ornamental)



Time has take its toll on the two homes, and now some of the bricks are cracked, and most of them have become quite worn down. Usually a clear sort of varnish is used to protect them, but since the only two men living on the farm are my wife's grandpa and great uncle, who are both getting up there in years, maintenance becomes ever more difficult.



The clay tiles on the roof are held up by a wooden framework. Some of the tiles were also in need of repair. In some parts of the house, paper or other materials are used to section of the living area from "attic." If not, you can see straight up to the clay tiles. Dry corn is also stored in this area. Sometimes roosters stay up there; I remember on my second visit that a rooster woke us up at about 5 am crowing directly above our heads!

Washrooms are any of the fields around the house – whichever one you feel most comfortable going to.



Adobe is comfortable, keeping a house cool during the heat of the day, and warm during the chilly nights. During the day, small, high windows let in some light, and at night candles and gas lamps were the main source of light. (He also had a flashlight which he lent us at night.)



I felt very relaxed in Grandpa's home; the only difficult part for me was at night when he took some blankets out of storage for us; since they hadn't been used in a long time, he shook the dust out – in the bedroom! Since I have allergies, I didn't react too well to this, but I knew his intentions were the best, so I did my best to block the sneezes.



My wife's great aunt, who we visited both times I went to the famr, lives nearby in a house higher up on the hill, closer to the road. Her home had been renovated by a grandson who works in the U.S. It was also adobe, but with pained, plastered walls, nice wooden window frames with shutters (no glass) and a well kept-up roof, fully closed off. This home had electricity, connected from the road, and electric lights. The basic structure was the same, but it had a larger line of bedrooms. One of the bedrooms had a large T.V. The kitchen pictured in Part 2 is in this house.

Up on the hillside next to the town's access road, those who have the money are now building concrete homes with glass windows – as I said above, this is a luxury. The grandson mentioned in the last paragraph, who renovated and paid for the renovation of the great aunt's home, worked in construction in the U.S. and spoke English OK. He complained that he would rather have a concrete home, or even better, one like they build in Texas. This, however, would have cost a fortune in that village, bringing all the materials from a city hours away; even in the city those kinds of materials are not common.



My wife and I have considered building a home in Cuernavaca (1 hr south of Mexico City) with the first floor constructed with stone, and the second out of adobe – we had seen one built this way in a nearby town. When we told her grandpa, uncles and cousins about the plan, they couldn't, for the life of them, understand why someone would pay to have a house made of adobe and stone; you only use these materials when you have no money for something better (according to them.)

We dream of living in an adobe home someday, or even out on her grandpa's farm. I don't think modern life will present an excuse to do this. It's one of those things where we'll just have to make up our mind and do it.

More to come ...

(Pictures will come later tonight)