I now live in Mitad Del Mundo,( for English speakers), The Middle of the World. I moved from the house in La Pampa that leaked like a sieve and had a landlord that didn't understand that we were renting his house and that made it not his to use when he wanted to come and work in the studio. But that folks is another story for another time.
The new house is between two churches, one is a Christian and the other is Jehovah Witnesses, so on Saturday and Sunday, we get our share of singing at the top of the lung capacity and because most of the women wear only skirts, all the time, I get my share of stares too. I just go into the house and turn on Bob Marley or Bruno Mars to drown them out.
We had a washing machine at the old house, so when we came to look at the house, I questioned the owners wife about where would I put my machine as the house definitely didn't have space inside for it. She replied that there was space just outside the bedroom window and pointed out the drain hole in the wall. Well, we hooked our $400.00 washer up and within 7 days we got a call saying we had to figure out a new drain situation, as the neighbor was getting our soap suds on his lawn. I knew when she pointed to the drain it went over to the neighbors I cannot for the life of me figure out why I didn't point that out to her, but the language difference would have made it a mute point anyway. Now we have a Rube Goldberg set of plastic drain tubing, building blocks, and wooden runways that has a real back woods feel to it when you get to my front door. Talk about classy.
I also asked if the roof leaked and got the reply, "No!" It seems to be the standard reply. Today during the thunder storm, we had a puddle in the kitchen. I was less than surprised, but not alarmed. I got a pot and will call the landlord about the discrepancy before it turns into a third shower.
We also have a pop off spigot in the kitchen. The water pressure at night, when we are sleeping is just the bomb, unfortunately during the day, it is so bad that we have to use the water one person at a time. You know,, don't flush the toilet and expect to get water for a cup of coffee. Don't water the lawn and expect the washer to fill up. That is Ecuador, not just this house, except for at night. If you go at midnight and get a cup of water from the sink, you get a shower from the water that looks like a sprinkler broke when you turn on the water. The water spigot in the kitchen can blow about two feet straight in the air, you can actually catch it but you do have to try to turn the water off before you try jamming it back on with more teflon tape and hope it stays. The landlord will replace that soon too. Manana.
The first month here I was sick so I really didn't leave the house, we left shortly after that for Colombia for our new visas. I was sick after we came back with bad bacteria so I really didn't feel much like exploring, in fact I was rather enjoying not doing anything for once. All good things must end and I got better. The exploration of Mitad was about to begin. We only live one block away from the main street, the bus station, restaurants, shops, and bread stores with cakes and cookies and ... bread.
There are so many great places that I have discovered on my walks, a video store that sells great movies for 2.00 for one or 3 for 5.00. Paper stores for paper towels or toilet paper or paper stores that sell pens and pencils and all offices supplies and school necessities. The street vendors that sell vegetables, clothing, hats, shoes, blankets, rugs, you name it you can probably get it in Mitad. I love it.
We have a store named TIA, which is a very small version of a Target, we bought our DVD player there for 29.95 and have enjoyed watching the movies on a much larger TV screeen versus our IMAC.
I had my hair frosted at the Colombian peluqueria (Hairdresser) with a frosting cap, ouch! I got to hear, Mamita, por favor! No Tocar! I kept telling him, Stop, it hurts,, he kept telling me, Mommy, stop, don't touch. It was an experience I will not repeat and it will take a long time for the broken hairs to grow back, but I will never forget it! I will go to the mall for the next treatment and use the aluminum foil for color streaks.
We rented the old house with furniture, I am glad to report that we now have a living room with a tv and a surround sound speaker system. We have furniture and a coffee table to relax in it too!
We were gifted with a large round table for dining that we still use the plastic lawn chairs with, but that too will get rectified in time.
So you see we are settling in our new neighborhood after all. Why not?
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