New Years Eve ( noche viejo)

It is the eve of a new year and time to start thinking of new resolutions to make that will soon be broken.  I wonder, seriously, why bother but I guess part of the process is really to reflect on old habits, to have some humility and to try to better ourselves and or to be better to those around us.  So tonight I will throw my good intentions into the universe and proceed with tomorrow with my head held high and a smile on my face and a hello to all that I meet.  Our future is only as bright as each and every one of us is willing to make it. So here is to wishing all a happy new year and many more to follow.

     Plenty of time has passed since I last wrote and a lot has been accomplished on our construction project along with on our personal front.

• Debi’s dad spent the last three weeks with us and left for the U.S. the day before Christmas.
• The fundraiser for the village kids (sounds like a band) was a great success.  This event helps new aspiring artists with paint supplies and lessons.
•    Debi and I started our own painting classes again this winter along with a cooking class on how to make great chili rellenos…Yum! 
• We had a very nice Christmas lunch at one of the local restaurants for all of our workers. 
• And now our good friend Annie is here visiting us for a few weeks.

  We never seem to lack for things to keep us busy and we love it here.  It’s hard to believe that in a few days we will have been in Mexico for 3 months already!  My how time flies when you don’t have to shovel snow!

     The construction continues to move ahead rapidly and is proving to be a very smooth process.  We are extremely happy with our builders and feel we are getting fair pricing on our changes that have been made so far.  We are being very careful to get all our change orders in writing before proceeding so there are no surprises in the end.  This also protects the builders as well as us especially when I have such a poor memory.  We added 2 kitchenettes and 2 built in sofas to the lower bedrooms and added a lot of electrical upgrades to the house.

     The lower level walls are all at full height and the majority of the roughed in plumbing and electric is completed.  Next week or the following the second level floor will be formed and poured….oh boy, pumper trucks and cement trucks one more time!   I have actually had a difficult time sleeping because of my excitement to see what they will accomplish each following day!

In the new year I will post new photos of the house but to end this year I leave you with some pics from my kayak trip in the lagoon the other day.  Enjoy!

8) Two Meters and Counting

       Another 2 weeks has passed and the walls continue to go up..1 meter...2 meters...how exciting.  Our ceiling height is 3 meters which is plenty of headroom for the indoor trampoline...wouldn't that be fun!  Besides being a good height for the trampoline, the tall ceilings provide the space for hot air to rise into.  Most of the columns have been poured now and we love the rounded corners!  Everything is taking shape and it is nice to walk through the rooms and have a good feel for the layout of closets, windows and doors, potential furniture, etc.  Yesterday the builders started to set the wood above the door and window openings, so yes I finally selected a wood....capiri (not sure of the spelling because I was given several choices).  This is an extremely heavy and dense wood that is resistant to bugs and water, very light colored, nonendangered and perfect for what we wanted.  Did I mention extremely heavy....I tried to pick up a 5 foot piece and would bet a couple hundred pounds easily!  I have picked up some good sized logs of oak and ironwood before but no comparison!  Not sure how the workers are going to set all of these but I'm glad it is them and not me.  The wood has to be drilled to provide holes for the rebar to pass through so there are no breaks between the columns and foundation.Once the wood is set in place the final meter of brick can be layed and then the ceiling will be the next big project.
      The electrician began work the other day running conduit in the trabes and columns.  You really have to think way ahead with the electrical wiring when dealing with concrete.  Its not so easy changing your mind on locations of lights and switches when all the wiring is inside a concrete wall!  Its interesting to watch how the electrician has to chisel out channels in the brick for boxes and conduit....not an easy job. 
     The outdoor bathroom and septic tank have not been started yet...that is ok because I love to see all the progress going into the house...and as long as the builders are happy....Wait.. I think thats supposed to be the other way around.  As long as we are happy, the builders are happy...Casa No Problemo right? And really, guys will be guys, given the choice we really would rather water a tree than be confined in a small space.

                   View of the 2 rooms in the lower level....walls at 2.2 meters at this point.

                 Looking from one bedroom patio to the other bedroom patio.

           Forms ready to fill with concrete around window opening.

                 Capiri wood in place over windows and conduit for electric wiring is being set.

                     

7) Where to hang my hammock

      It has been a little over a week since I last wrote and a lot has happened in that time period!  The foundation is now completed and mostly backfilled. That was easy….especially when I missed all the hard work!   After the footers were poured, the workers laid four courses of tabicon on this footer (contratrabe).  Then more rebar was set to form the trabe (bond beam) that ties the bottom of the footer together with the top of the foundation.  All of the columns run from the base of the footers and will tie into the second floor.  The next step is where things really start moving!  The walls are going up! In 2 days the roughed in plumbing was set and 1 meter of tabique was in place.  Wow.. things are happening and I’m already thinking of where to hang my hammock…well.. maybe not that fast. 

      So the next big decision, which I have been working on the last several days, is what type of wood to use above the windows and doors.  I’m feeling a little out of my element here because there are so many types of exotic hardwoods here. Should we use parote, bocote, colebra, verdecillo, tornillo, cocobolo, quayabillo, capyry, guayacan ….ohhhhhh my head is spinning.  Slowly I am working my way through the different types of wood and which types are best for what.  The internet helps a lot (thanks google) but many of the woods have a local name that I just can’t find on the internet.  Next best or maybe best source of info is just ask everyone who lives here their opinion on wood. There really is a lot to consider; the wood needs to be very strong to support weight, be weather resistant, bug resistant, be in contact with concrete, workable, non-endangered and if that’s not enough it has to be the right color!   So after researching and talking, and more talking my search is narrowing down…and the winner is…stay tuned! 

      The other exciting news…not really…is the septic tank arrived this week.  We are now the proud owners of a 3000 liter rotoplas biogestor septic tank! I think this following week this beauty will be installed and work will begin on the outdoor bathroom near the beach.  Once these 2 projects are complete, the workers will no longer have to use the natural facilities currently in place!

            The footers are all backfilled and tabicon is set and ready for the bond beam (trabe)

            The rebar is being formed for the trabes to tie the footer and top of foundation together.  The columns run all the way down and are tied to the footers.

 The plumbing is in place...note the 2 different lines.  One is for black water and the other is for gray water to be used on the plants.

        The first meter of tabique is set...note the next trabe being formed on top of this section of wall.

      So after another very productive week of work things are still running very smoothly and the theme of “no problemo” holds true.

(6) The Cave and Arbol de Hinche Huevos

     Every year we always hear about someone doing a trek up to the caves.  What caves? where are they? are they very big? how is the hike? And so the questions go and it is always the same thing, “one of these days we should go to the caves”.  Well one of these days finally happened and now I have all (some) of the answers to all the questions.

    From Troncones, it is short drive north through the fishing village of Majuhua.  Continue on the well traveled dirt road that leads to Hwy 200 and when you see a cornfield... pull over.  It is the only cornfield on this road so once you see it you are there….if you make it to the higway.. you went way too far.  My intrepid guide asked if we could take my machete because he had forgotten his and mine was in the car.  Why would I happen to have a machete in the car you ask?  Because you never know when you may run across a fresh coconut that needs to be consumed on a hot November day…remember all you snowbound northerners, we are still in the low 90’s.   From the looks of where we were headed my guess was there would be no coconut trees but only dense jungle.   Glad I wore shorts while my guide was wearing jeans….did he forget to mention something to me that might help during our hike.  “No problemo” and so we hiked through the dew soaked field that quickly soaked my tennis shoes and legs.  As we walked through the tall grass all I could think was: “I wonder if there are spiders and snakes, I hate spiders and snakes, maybe I should be carrying the machete”.  Once we crossed the field and entered into the jungle it proved to be a well traveled path.  We climbed a pretty steep uphill, even by Colorado standards, that traversed among towering trees.  I was very surprised to see remnants of several platforms in the trees with an old zip line.  When I asked Blanco (my guide) about them he said it was just some crazy Canadians who hung out there years ago.  The zip lines actually looked in decent shape but the wooden platforms hanging in the trees looked anything but safe.  We hiked a good 45 minutes at a brisk pace and reached the cave.  The cave is enormous!  I guess I had envisioned something much smaller and not nearly so impressive.  We scaled the set rope down into the cave where we could fully take in the size of it all.  However, not having lamps we really could not explore very far, and the intense humidity quickly drove us back up to dryer air.  On the hike back down the hill Blanco pointed out various plants of interest.  Perhaps the most interesting was a tree that he warned against touching.  He said the tree is called “arbol de hinche huevos” and then grabbed himself to make the point more clear.  The translation is “tree of swollen balls” and the story is that’s what happens if you touch it…the tree that is.  Anyway, whether it’s true or not, I kept my distance.

                                      The cornfield

                                     Machete Marty

                                            The platform of death

                                  The cave and Blanco

                           Arroz de leche...the thorns on this plant won't make your balls swell but it will hurt!

Fruit on a Coacoyul tree

(5) Fun In The Sun

     It is such a strange feeling to be on the other side of the building process...to be an observer instead of the builder.  I must admit it is kind of nice, my back doesn't hurt at the end of a long day and yet I still feel alot of satisfaction with all the progress that is being made.  It is also very interesting to watch and learn a new (to me) method of construction.  But there is only so much time I can hang around the job site before other things beckon me to come and explore...
     I did a great mountain bike ride out to the lagoon.   Riding through small fishing villages, great views of the coast, through coconut groves, across rivers...all is good in my world today.  I actually remembered to bring the camara....so as the saying goes "a picture is worth a 1000 words", I leave you with the following images:

(4) The Pour

     Saturday morning I watched as a big white pumper truck rolled past in front of the place we are staying.   Then 15 minutes later I saw a concrete truck go by in the same direction.   "Debi, are you ready?  The concrete is here so... lets go watch!"    When we arrived at our lot the first of 3 concrete trucks was already backed up to the pumper and ready to start.  Great timing because I'm like a  little kid in a candy shop when it comes to watching heavy equipment at work and I didn't want to miss a thing.  The pumper truck's bum swung a good 75' out and above the concrete forms and without hesitation started the pour.  It was a beautiful sight, almost brought tears to my eyes.  I watched as they poured concrete for 2 hours....Debi watched for 15 minutes before she left.  I guess she just doesn't share the same enthusiasm I have for these sorts of things.  Anyway, the crew worked like a well oiled machine putting concrete into all the forms and then leveling everything off in preparation for the tabicon that will complete the foundation walls.  Wow!!!  What a great feeling to actually see something more permanent going in at this point.  It is one thing to see wood forms and rebar in place but to actually have solid concrete really drives home the point that this building is going to happen!

(1) The Beginning

     Once upon a time, in a sleepy little Mexican village, called Troncones, there was a dream.   A dream about a cool ocean breeze, crashing waves, soft white sand, uncrowded beaches.  But this was not your ordinary, "I need a vacation" kind of dream, this was a, I'm awake and can't believe I'm actually living a dream come true.   Well, in this dream there was couple (and two dogs), and this couple had had it up to their waists in snow and needed a change.  A change in climate, a change in altitude, a change in life style.  So the adventure began.......

(3) The Foundation

     We are into November and the weather has been perfect.  Temperatures have dropped to the high 80's to low 90's and it is actually cool in the evenings.   This has been such a nice reprive from the higher temps  and humidity we had been enduring.
     The building process is moving right along....the excavation was completed for the cimentation (foundation) and most of the varillo (rebar) has been set.  The cimentation is a very tedious process with the huge amount of varillo that has to be cut, formed, and all tied together. All of the castillos (columns) have to be hand made and tied into the varillo (rebar) that forms the zapata corrida (footer) and contratrabe (stem wall).  All of our outside corners are rounded so the castillos had to be custom made for these areas.  The easiest way to describe the construction is to basically say it is concrete post and beam filled with brick. We decided on using the tabique (red brick) instead of the tabicon (concrete block) because of its better insulating properties.  The builders are expecting to be ready to pour concrete by the end of the week or the beginning of next week.  Once the foundation is in place things will start moving along pretty fast.  At that point it is a matter of setting tabique (red brick) between the castillos and then everything is tied together with the trabes (bond beams).    The builders will actually use a concrete truck to pour the cimentation so there will be no dry seams.  We are happy that our builders are working hard everyday and are taking the extra step to make sure we have an incredibly strong foundation.  This is a real good thing cuz we are in an earthquake prone area. Our friend Christine told us tales of at least eight minor quakes she has felt in the last 3 years she's been here.
So..in the meantime while our builders are busy getting ready for the pour...Marty and I are busy trying to keep our own foundations in shape. Our day begins waking up and doing a 20-30 minute session of stretching (yoga/pilates) and then off with the doggies on a 3 mile or so walk.  Next we look for the activity du jour. Between mountain biking through the coconut groves, swimming at our friends pool, surfing or scoping new/advanced surfing areas (for the future), kayaking in the lagoon...or shopping trips we manage to keep ourselves pretty busy. Then theres the meal planning...two out of three times that means we have to decide which restaurant is calling us!  We've also made up some wonderful meals ourselves including:  smoothies, french toast, fruit salads,  huge vegetable salads, avocado sandwiches, chicken mole,  fresh lobster, shrimp and fish.... yum!  Now that it's cooler it's going to be alot easier to cook.  Speaking of which, its LUNCH TIME!!  Hasta Luego.

(2) Casa No Problemo!

It is the second week of October and the afternoons are still too warm to do anything except siesta, go to Zihuatanejo to shop in an air conditioned store or find a nice cool shady spot and write a blog site.  What better way to lolaway an afternoon than to write about the trials and tribulations of building in Mexico?  Well maybe hanging by the pool with an ice cold one...but falling asleep before 7 pm every night and an enormous beer gut after 6 months of this is probably not the best idea. So a blog site it is.

It has been a long process to finally get to this point....this point being that the actual construction is about to begin.   Approximately 3 years of working with an architect, talking with numerous builders, expats, dealing with a environmental plan, and of course corruption (it comes in so many forms) and finally we are breaking ground!  Day One started with a meeting between us, our builder and the building inspector, who also happens to be both our accountant and the builders accountant! A man with many hats!  Wish we could have taped the conversation...pretty funny...alot of the words went over our heads but in the end we are pretty sure we understood (something!).  Oh this will be fun! And now they say the key words are ...No Problemo!!! Jose Luis (the main contractor) is not drinking these days so unfortunately we can't really toast to that motto!!  Okay we'll do it with some sparkling water.

The following day we spray painted all the building locations onto the ground (including future ones if we ever have the money to add them)...to visualise where things will lay on the land. The red ants payed little attention to these markings and continued on with their business as usual.  Those little buggers are everywhere! and damn do they hurt when they bite! And we can't forget the anaphlatic shock/allegic reaction they imposed on poor Debi last year.
We stopped by later and all the materials arrived to build the workers hangout.  This bodega is where they will store all the concrete, wood and the workers can go to get out of the sun, where the (young) security guard will sleep..with a fierce dog to scare off potential robbers. They often have a tv setup for the lonely dude!  Photos to come later on that lovely shack....in the mean time....

                                                .... here's a photo of one of our views.  Not too bad and note, there is not a snow flake anywhere in view!