This Little Piggy Stayed Home

Today I will try to describe the homes here because the houses are very different from those at home.

As I told you, I am sharing a house with Aurora, the manager of the cafeteria at the Colegio. She is a very nice, middle-aged lady who has 3 grown children and 3 grandchildren. Our relationship has started out very well and I hope it continues to be a good one. She speaks only Spanish so sometimes communication requires a dictionary, but so far, so good!

Our house is a one floor ranch type house located on a corner. There is a small living room/dining room combination, a small kitchen, a tiny bathroom and 2 nice size bedrooms. The house is furnished but I don´t know if the furniture is Aurora´s or if the house came furnished when she rented it.

Typical of the houses in Mexico, there is an enclosed, tiled patio in the back of the house with a "laundry room". This is a room, about 6X4 feet, with a laundry sink and there are clothes lines in the patio. Some houses have the laundry sink in the corner of the patio with no "room" to house the sink. Although some people have a washing machine, most do not and Aurora doesn´t have one.

In the front of the house, there is a tiled patio, enclosed with a wrought iron fence, and large enough to park a car. many people park there, by their houses, although I have noticed that in our neighborhood, many park on the street.

The houses are made of cement, walls and ceiling. The floors are tiled with 12" or maybe 16" tile. Most people do not have rugs on the floor and the floors are very pretty. Think about cement walls...no hanging anything on them unless you have a special anchor, thus most middle to lower income people don´t have much hanging on the walls. Each room has windows and all the windows have iron grating over them. This provides security as well as giving the "Spanish look" to the home that we are used to seeing in pictures. Our living room has large windows in the corner, the kitchen and bathroom have one very small window in each and each bedroom has a very nice size window with sliding glass and screens. There is a sliding glass door to the patio and the front door has a wrought iron door in front of the main door. The wrought iron door serves the purpose of a screen door and a security door, although there is no screen in it.

The living room has a sofa and 2 matching chairs and a TV on a stand. The dining area has a table and 6 chairs. The kitchen has 3 sets of cabinets, a very small sink, stove and a refrigerator. (Think "apartment size stove and fridge!)

My bedroom is a nice size, maybe 10 X 12 feet with a double bed and, what I call, a crendenza. nothing else. no tables, no chairs, no mirror, no nothing! The bedrooms often do not have closets in them so they make-do. This crendenza thing is very long, maybe 8 feet long. It has 3 drawers and under the drawers are 3 doors which open to a shelf. Above the credenza is a bar to hang the clothes on and in front is a curtain to hide the "closet"! You can bet I bought a lot of hangers, both regular and clip on hangers! No hangers are ever in the closet areas so a long time ago I learned to buy them right away!

The bathroom is the real challenge! Tiny, by anyone´s account, there is a rather long shower, (think 3 or 4 feet wide by 6 feet long) and next to the shower is the toilet. You have to crowd next to the toilet to open the door! There IS a toilet paper holder but no towel bars. Where do you put your towel while showering??? Also there is a wastepaper can next to the toilet. For those of you who are not familiar with the plumbing in Mexico, I really won´t go into what is put into the wastecan. But remember not to flush paper!!! Outside the bathroom door is the sink/vanity with a tiny mirror hanging on the wall. There is about 3" of space around the sink. Where do you put your makeup? There is 1 nail in the cement wall and Aurora has a hand towel hanging there. I use my clip hangers to hang my towels and washcloth so they will dry!! The 5:30 AM challenge is to remember to take the towel to the bathroom with you!

At least I have a nice place to live and the neighborhood seems ok. I am still learning how to navigate by taxi there and also by city bus. In time, I will learn all that. I live not too far from the school so will be able to take the school bus (a van) to school and there is a shopping plaza not too far away either. Also Walmart and Sam's are pretty close too so what more can I need??!!

I hope I have drawn a good picture for you of a typical home for the middle class people here in Mexico. The houses are very different and present different challenges for us who are used to so much more.

Hasta luego.