This day has been quite comically serendipitous. I have been having some fascinating dreams at night. Last night I dreamt of a whale pushing a cruise ship over after tormenting some cruising kayakers just off the port side of the ship. Back to waking life- I walked down the road from our rental house to the Montessori school to talk to the head teacher before their day began. I took out my notebook to jot a few things down, and what do I see on the cover of my book but the same whale tail that I had been dreaming about! I have had this book for quite some time that a friend gave me before we left Prescott, about 5 years now, so it has been an image I have come across frequently, but it is so funny how those two so readily came together!
I was slightly re-assured with the school, although James and I are leaning towards a Waldorf-inspired home-schooling program. The schooling options around here are pretty limited, and right now we are just feeling that would be the best thing. Wheels are still turning in our heads.
After I returned back to the house, we realized we were supposed to be meeting with a real estate agent to show us some properties. I contacted this guy from a recommendation from the person we are currently renting our house from for this stay. We had set up this morning to meet and he would drive us by some places and give us an orientation to the town. We went to his office- he wasn't there, and no one there had known he was supposed to meet us, and he didn't answer his cell phone. I am not surprised. I have been told by several people so far- Americans and Mexicans- that dealing with a real estate agent here is not a good idea. We told the people at the office we would walk around town a bit and come back. We walked about 1/2 a block, and came across a shop that had some nice "mexican sweaters". You know the kind- the blanket-looking sweaters with a hood, woven cotton. The kids and James each got one. Then James began talking with the woman who runs the store. They got into all sorts of conversation before I realized it, and all of the sudden we were all in the car together with her and her friend to show us properties for sale. This is the best way to make connections here- and I am so thankful that James speaks Spanish! I can understand about 40% of what is being said, but can't speak a word of Spanish when it comes down to it. I want to so badly, but don't have the background to get anything out of my mouth besides "Gracias" and some other basic phrases. AH! But, James was able to make some good connections with several different people today. We saw some properties in Pescadero, which is a town just south of Todos Santos, and came to realize that we don't want to live there, it is just too far from the town we want to be in, too far removed from what we see going on that we like.
So Epi, our new "real estate lady" who owns the crafty store, is going to be helping us out to find some properties in the next couple of days. Apparently she has several friends with properties for sale. We shall see. We still really love the piece of property we have been lusting after in San Sebastian, a "neighborhood area" in Todos Santos, and are hoping to go back to see it again soon. In return for her help to us, we have promised Epi that we will bring her a working sewing machine from the U.S. for her friend that is in great need of one. Apparently affordable sewing machines are very hard to come by in Mexico. By looking at what she sells in her store, she and her friends are quite talented seamstresses as well. She makes all sorts of clothing, hammocks, and embroidered tapestries.
Instead of looking at "terranos" (properties for sale) with an agent today, we ended up looking with a local, and making many connections with an adobe brick maker, and several other local folks who also know many people around here. Things are turning out well!
More updates later, and one more quirky thing about Mexico that I'd forgotten. The propane gas truck driver drives around honking his horn in order to find out who needs gas. It is great! Every other day you hear a truck driving around honking, hoping someone will come out of their house and wave them in to give them more gas! The longer we stay here (we are only on day 3 now) the more we find people telling us what a great place this is- quiet, safe, and tranquil. I like it :)
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