Hola Chicos and Chickettes,
Jo and I have moved to Mexico (okay well we're in the process of moving). We got here last Thusday and have done nothing but apartment hunt and sit at the immigration office (it was humorous to see a bunch of white people sitting around waiting to hear their named called so they could get their paper's processed. Jo and I say "thank God for Nintendo DS and Playstation Portable." It gave us something to do while mindlessly waiting to be called).
After the immigration stuff we hit the trail running for apartments. We got a paper and circled all the apartments we thought we would like. The first one we visited was in the center of the city (where I wanted to live). It was okay enough however there was no kitchen and the guy said that maybe, kinda, sorta I could have internet...but he didn't know. We sort of scoped the area and didn't feel entirely safe being there so we looked on. We went to another apartment that we really liked the insides of, but the outside was very ugly. It was also kind of close to a walmart and for those of you who know me well, you know my utter hatred for that Monopoly.
Later on we found a very cozy place that we sort of liked, it was okay but it needed a lot of work (one of the doors was bashed in from the previous neighbors). We thought about getting it because the landlord promised to fix the door but then we found out it was "gang central" so we nixed that area....althought it was next to the arts district where I wanted to be.
We looked at few more here and there but could not really settle on one. Either they were too dirty, unsafe, sneaky looking landlords or the rent was too high. We'd just given up when we thought we would look "one...more...place" and then that's when we found what we will call "home" starting in October.
Here are some shots of our new apartment:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sthig/sets/72157594281866914/
They were all taken by camera phone and that's the best I could do.
We instantly fell in love with this place and told the people "we want it however we wanted to sleep one day on it." We came back the next day positive that we'd be signing a contract by noon. The housekeeper came out and said "okay all you need to do is have a 'fee-ha-door' sign for you and we will sign the contract." I found out that a "fi-ha-door" is a person who will cosign for you. That cosigner must own property in puebla. We have friends down here who own property however we're not comfortable asking and they wouldn't be comfortable giving.
So we thought about a plan and offered "3 months" of rent up front. The answer was "no" so we tried "six months" and the answer was still "no" and so we said "we'll pay 1 year in advance" and he said "that will work as long as you get a signature from a 'fi-ha-door." We were stumped (and frustrated because we saw this apartment slipping away from us). So some friends (native pueblians) listened to our problems. They called for us and talked to the housekeeper. The housekeeper finally agreed that he would let us pay 1 year in advance with NO fi-ha-door now. So Jo and I hit the trail running to collect money from an ATM.
I forgot to tell you that our rent is a whopping 380 a month (for a 2 br, hi-rise). That was around 46,000.00 pesos which turns around to be about 5 american dollars (just kidding, but it is a lot cheaper. Today the peso was 84 cents to the us dollar..so it was like having a 1.12 for each dollar in our pocket). The first bank we went to, we asked an bank officer what we should do. I think it was "hate american" day because he was extremely rude to us. Later on when we went to lunch, the "hate american" day continued as our waitress all but ignored us the whole time we were eating.
In the future, to avoid American Hate, we're going in disugise as "Canadians" to "throw them off gaurd."
So that bank was out, so we went to another bank and I asked for a withdrawal of 46000 pesos. No dice, at most I could get was around 500 dollars. So jo tired her debit card and we got the same. So we tried another bank and got a little more money...and another bank and another and another. I think we hit around 10 banks yesterday. We felt like Bonnie and Clyde....except that in MExico, I guess we'd be called "Bonita Y Senior Manual Ramirez Jaun Clyde" All in all, we got very close to the amount we needed to get out for the year.
We got back to our friends house, called the housekeeper and his wife answered the phone. She said that "no, the only way we could have the place was with a fi-ha-door." We protested saying "but we have all this money!" and she said "not without a fi-ha-door" and my "fi" was about to kick her "ha" through the "door!" Our friends got on the phone and asked to speak to the husband and she said "no" and then they asked to speak to the owners of the place and she said "no." We thought "what a jerk!"
So Maria (Jo's friend) who is a very sexy and fiesty Mexican strapped on her pointy-toed 4" pumps and marched up to the apartment. She was going to give the landlady a "piece of her mind." She banged on the door and when the landlady came out, it was like "instant friends" (I was hoping for a cat-fight...but oh well, there's always reality tv). Come to find out, Maria and the landlady were old friends. After the pleasantries Maria learned that some Germans had owned the apartment before and destroyed it (THOSE DAMN GERMANS!) and they were scared to rent it out to foreigners without some sort of reference. Maria was enough reference for her. Thank Hey-zues.
So today we got the rest of the money, paid the owner...signed the contract (in which Maria and her husband Benny went over with a fine toothed comb and made sure we were not getting ripped off) and now we have a new and beautiful apartment with NO WORRIES of rent for the year! We set up our phone, internet, water, lights and gas today as well...it was very simple and their pricing is unbelievable. The average powerbill runs around 20 bucks a month!
We're here for two more days and we're going hunting for a matress and some basic furniture tomorrow. We found that if you hunt in the right places, you can find good deals on a lot of pieces of furniture (or find it second hand).
Once we get settled in, those of you who are interested in coming to visit...you are invited. Just bring us some ice!!! (Mexico doesn't really have ice readily available...and they drink their milk WARM...ewww)
Best
Scott Y Jo
ps---yes, yes...we know WE KNOW...don't drink the water. (If I had a nickle for everytime someone has told me this)
