6 months / 24 weeks – Week 1, continued

So this morning I’d like to talk a bit about the title for this series, namely: 6 months / 24 weeks.  When Sam and I were looking for a place and jobs – and btw, I have an interview today for the job I blogged about yesterday that I was hoping to get; wish me luck! – we kind of balked at having to think about signing a lease of any sort.  We knew it would probably be next to impossible to find a place that didn’t require a lease and/or came with all bills paid – though we actually did find one such place in a co-op during our first week here, but we would have had to share a room in their big house and would have paid double what we’re going to end up paying for this little apt. (though when you think about it, by the time we pay for food and utilities, which were all included in the quote at the co-op, it will probably come out to be the same) – so we decided that we would specify the need for a lease of 6 mos. maximum.  

-           A word about the co-op:  we did think about it as a good option, the people being very friendly and the house being centrally located, but at the time, they told us we had to register on their website and be chosen to live there by their board, and it would be weeks before we would be able to move in, if we were chosen at all.  With all that to think about, we decided to keep looking, hoping we’d find something more private and more immediate.

Back to the main story about the title for these posts, when we finally were in the position to really sign a lease, after a whole month of looking and looking for a place, we still hesitated.  So, I told Sam, let’s think of it like this: it’s 6 months, right?  That’s only 24 weeks.  We can do that.  We can decide that each week will represent a new activity and/or goal and/or acquisition.  For example, I want to get a bike.  Sam already has one.  But the bike for me comes after I get a real job.  So this week, my tangible acquisition will be a little end table to put in the corner of the dining area.  Then we can put our coffee and plates on that as we use the table for playing cards or using our laptops.  I saw such a little table at one of the thrift shops we’ve been to and wrote it down.  Now I just have to go back and get it.  Of course the reward system can fail you too.  I had picked out this really neat chess set to get on the day we found out we had the apt. but when we went back to get it, it had been sold.  Such is life.

As for new activities: yesterday I conquered the bus system.  I made a day of it and during the course of my day, I got the call for the interview, which made everything even better.  I parked the van at the station, took 30 minutes to read all the info about the different bus routes / times / fares, and then caught my first bus.  It was a great way to get around without having to do the driving.  I can’t believe how bad some of the streets are here.  We all complain in Mexico about the streets, and those of us from other countries always say how ‘our’ streets are so well-maintained in comparison.  But that turns out to be untrue.  The main avenues here that cross the city are full of holes, uneven stretches, confusing signs, and illogical indications, just like Mexico.  Take the example of trying to find the Light company yesterday.  The address they gave me is on a street that is really named something else.  Crazy! 

However, though the ride to town was everything and more than I could have hoped for in terms of positive and easy and fast, the ride back was the exact opposite.  Woe to those who must use the bus system at 4:30 in the afternoon, from downtown to the north end.  The bus was TOTALLY packed, people squished together standing in the aisles (I had a seat), and the people themselves! Ugh.  The smells of sweat, beer, and other harsher smells permeated the close confines of the bus.  Many of the people spoke loudly and crudely, shouting out things so that we all had to hear their diatribes… a huge black woman sat next to me and muttered, clicked her tongue, sang, and rapped to herself the whole time… it was rather unnerving… I didn’t look at her.  She got off before I did so I had to get up to let her get out, since I was on the aisle and I saw how her arms were covered with black bumps… scary.  This morning I looked in the mirror and my face has these red splotches, I don’t know from what animal or insect.  They don’t hurt or itch, but they are bumps, and I cringe to think she might have had something contagious and I’ve now got it.

Okay, not going to worry about that anymore.  We’re going to check if the apt. has been or should be fumigated.  Or, could be I've had an allergic reaction to the air mattress!

But the goal for me now is of course to get a job.  Leaving now to start the day.

More later.