Our Renovations: Mexican Style

 The progress has been amazing, we expect completion June, 2012. 

Oh...sorry.... pretty impressive heh!...but  not our renovation.....ha ha! 


This is the new Museo del Mundo Maya ( Museum of the Maya World) in Merida; 35 minutes from our home. 


OUR RENOVATION:  Not as ambitious as the Museum,  and expected to be completed by April......


Mexican construction materials:  Cement Blocks, with Rebar structures for the corners; plus 3 layers of cement, Rich ( course), Reboko (less course)  and Macilla ( smooth). 

The house has been neglected for many years so mucho reparacion ( repairing) necesario.  














Rudy is the cement mixer... he mixes and carries in buckets on his shoulder to where they are working on the property.  Here he is mixing cemento blanco... white cement. 

Our labour costs for Martine and Rudy at 8.5 hours a day for 4.5 days a week is $5,000 pesos. 


The guys live with the jefe ( boss) Don Lauro and  the $5,000 pesos goes to pay their salary, accommodation and food.  It is not unusual for workers to come in from the local pueblos ( our guys are from  Halachó  )..They work Saturday morning and then take the bus home to their family in the pueblo until Monday night when they return to Don Lauro`s.  


OUR XMAS THANKS TO THE CREW

The rest of the crew is finishing the house above while Martine and Rudy work for us, so we and Chris/Les from Sask., whose house it is, put on a mini-fiesta on Christmas Eve Day for the crew, as is the tradition. 


AQUA DE POZO ( WATER WELL)

 These cement rings are for our Well which ended up being 5 rings  or 12-15 feet deep.  Rudy dug out the sand by hand until he reached water and continued until the water is the depth of the bottom ring.  

Dig...add a ring..Dig some more...

                                                                                                                         add a ring .

Hard on the back 

Heavy, Heavy

YEAH... WE HAVE WATER !!!!!Only took a couple of hours. 

THE NEXT DAY, OUR CONTRACTOR TOLD US WE HAVE "DULCE" SWEET WATER, NOT SALT WATER. 

Estoy pintando ( I am painting) the Bodega before Gord installs the Water System.. softener, filters, ultra-violet light, pressure pumps.  


Pintura            - paint
Pintura Tienda - paint store
Pintando         -  to paint
Pintas             - you paint  
Pintan             - they paint
Pintamos        - we paint 
The challenges of learning Spanish. 


 WORK CONTINUES 

New Windows installed by Julian and Mario Lozano: It is great to have windows and screens throughout the house that slide easily, lock without difficulty and stop wind, sand and bugs from coming in. 

                       Open to the Beach Access

Closing us in for Privacy 

                                    A combination of skillful hands and paciencia ( patience)

Closing in a couple of windows  ..that's an outdoor bar you see behind Gord 

 A new wall with glass blocks along the top in our dining room instead of a window that we never opened cause it faced the beach access. .

New Bamboo Gates 

Plumbing Pipes are delivered... the car is all aluminum, and is 36 yrs. old... 

We buy as much as we can from the local tlapaleria ( hardware store).. Prices are comparative to the bigger stores in Merida and we are supporting the local economy.

     

The first of our new doors.... beautiful craftsmanship by Luis Geraldo..  At Luis's request, Gord will be showing he and his workers how to install European hinges and some other tricks of the trade.    Gord will be the  carpintería de maestro  ( carpentry teacher).                                                                                 

Now that the door is on the new bodega, Gord will set up the sistema de agua ( water system) n it.

They started on our Casita today; polished countertops, reno bathroom, new ventanas  (windows), puerta (door) and tiled floor.  In the meantime, I am collecting and breaking sea shells to add to the cement for the countertops. 

Gord and I will move into the casita when they are ready to work on inside of the house... 

OFF TO SPANISH CLASS

While the work continues, I have started Spanish Class one day a week.  

The view while waiting on the beach road for my ride outside our house.  The weather has been great.. 23-25 degress. Perfect for walks on the beach and for working outside.  

Hasta Luego till our next BLOG. 

 

A Tropical Christmas

Feliz Navidad!.  

A familiar sight in anticipation of Christmas 

Vehicles with pictures of the Virgen de Guadalupe are seen guiding young people who run, walk, ride, roller skate from their community to a local shrine in a neighbouring community.  Often this involves many kilometers.. It is their way of showing love and worship for Our Lady of Guadalupe ( the Virgin Mary)   

Our Lady is officially proclaimed by the Roman Catholic Church as the Patroness of Americas, Empress of Latin America and Protectress of the Unborn Children.

         Local homes are adorned with pictures and alters celebrating the Virgin.

According to Roman Catholic tradition, on December 9, 1531, Juan Diego, a recently converted Aztec indigenous peasant, had a vision of a young woman while he was on a hill in the Tepeyac desert, near Mexico City. 

The shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe is the most visited Catholic pilgrimage destination in the world. 

"The Aztecs…had an elaborate, coherent symbolic system for making sense of their lives. When this was destroyed by the Spaniards, something new was needed to fill the void and make sense of New Spain…the image of Guadalupe served that purpose."^{[41] ( from Wikipedia)}

Nativity Scene in Progreso...the manger is empty until
the Dec.24th candlelight evening procession 
from the nearby church 

Xmas Tree in front of the Municipal Building 

The entrance to one of the many universities in Yucatan...this one is in the Merida Centro.... All decked out with poinsettias and a nativity scene.

Poinsettias are native to Mexico and are referred to as Noches buenas 

The children from the Free English School in Chuburna caroling outside our house... They sing at 5 houses and at each house we make sure there is an audience..so friends get together to enjoy the caroling and send the children off with candies and cookies for their party.  Certainly put us all in the Xmas spirit.

A view thru the gate at the local nursing home in Progreso... very peaceful

Manger in Chuburna 




Children waiting patiently in line

30 degrees at 6:00 pm and Santa arrives to give
Toys to over 600 children... 
Mucho ninos feliz ( many happy children)   






We have had an incredible 2011 and are blessed to have shared 

                    the journey with our family and friends   

        Feliz Navidad, Paz, Salud y Felicidad en 2012

             (Merry Christmas, Peace, Health and Happiness in  2012) 

Dorothy and Gord.

Construction Begins

                     We've had two coconut trees removed with the only tools being;

• bare feet to climb, 
• a machete to cut the fronds, 
• an axe to cut into the trunk and later to cut it up into movable chunks
• a rope to pull the top of the tree over once the trunk is cut midway up 

The trunk wood is used for carving masks and bar stools; the green fronds are used for weaving baskets and hats.. 

With the trees gone, our contractors can begin their work on the ground much more safely.. no bonks on the head by a deadly heavy, milk filled coconut!.   

Construction Begins: To replace our cisterns. 
Locally provided water comes into one cement box and is pumped to another closer to the house; then up to the tinacas ( 2 large black plastic containers on our roof).  Then gravity feeds the water to the bathrooms and kitchen.  Needless to say, we buy our water for drinking.. 100 pesos which is about 80 cents for each big bottle... delivery to the door or buy in the village. 
                   

Rock for the Foundation 

Our contractor Don Lauro and 2  family members have begun to build our "bodega" in which we will set up our Water System...softener, ultra violet, pressure tank...with the ultimate goal of having drinking water and softened water for showers...  YEAH!.

Digging the foundation by hand and then 
chipping the rock to fit like a puzzle with 
cement added to hold it all together. 

Cement blocks arrive 

Rebar for the corners... ..looking pretty rudimentary at first glance for sure. If we hadn't witnessed our contractors successfully building homes for friends from BC and Sask. we would be worried.  

Cement is mixed by hand; rarely by machine.

HOW TO POUR A ROOF 

Mix cement on the ground; 

Shovel into bucket; 

Carry bucket on shoulder up the scaffold; 

Hand to worker on roof who pours and trowels the cement.

Use 3 long slim tree trunks inside to support the roof while drying.

 What Am I Doing While all This is Going ON ??????

Yoga 3 mornings a week and Bible Study Group on Thursdays

 Full Body Massage during a "Girls Day Out: at the beach... we are on a side terrace facing the ocean .  

Gord and I  went to the Local Artisans Show in Merida... these lamps are of paper made from the "Mother- in-Law tongue plant. All the displayers come from the local pueblos, Merida and several are women's cooperatives. 

Watching the local fisherman... the way to stay warm on cool mornings is to cover your entire head...looking like mummies...

These guys were here at 4:00 a.m. laying their nets across a wide stretch of sea in front of our beach houses; then tonight at 5:00 returned to gather them all up.. 

Admiring their balance. Both stand the whole time.  One poles along, stopping for both of them to pull up the meters and meters of net while the boat rocks and rolls. .....no life jackets and unfortunately no fish either!

Buenos Noches...24 degrees = perfect sleeping weather. 
Dorothy and Gord