The Move

Ok so I got a few questions from a friend and I wanted to answer them on the blog in case I had other readers who were interested in the living situations here.
Since Iv lived here over the last year we have moved twice. We are renting because of a few reasons. First of we didn't and don't want to buy anywhere here until we know where we are happy and think we can raise our family. When I first came I was skeptical because the other areas of Mexico I had been to visit I didn't like and couldn't imagine my family there. We now know we love Tepa and this area of Mexico and most likely will buy here. But we need to wait for the money. Apparently the gov has a program where if you work for a certain amount of time they give you points towards getting a loan for a house. From what I understand we are about 6-9 months from being eligible. When we are we will start looking we are in no rush to buy. I'm a little skiddish after having to give up on my home in the states.
Our first apartment was actually pretty big and very nice. We had a lot of counter space and cabinets in the kitchen, there was a large middle area between the kitchen and the living room where we kept our book shelf and our daughters toys. And the living room was big enough for 2 small and one regular size couch, our computer desk and the TV. The bathroom had a cabinet under the sink and the toilet had a seat on it (yes this is important). We also had the whole roof to ourselves. I must admit this was a lot of space for our little family but it was a nice transition for me from the large 4 bedroom house I had moved from. This apartment was on the third floor and on the edge of town. We liked how quiet it was but being on the edge of town means your next to crops and therefore pooo. Yes the lovely smell of natural fertilizer. There also was nowhere close we could walk to except a tienda which I quickly became friends with the workers. Well this apartment we were paying 2,000p for and we quickly realized on my husbands income that we would burn through our savings very quickly if we didn't find something cheaper. So we started the search. Over and over we would hear, "Its rented out already we just haven't taken the sigh down." And a lot of places just didn't have what we needed like parking space. Finally we found the second apartment we lived in. This one was also on the third floor and on the bottom floor was a bar. But it was only 1600p a month and we knew we could do that. It also had tons of room on the street for parking and was a lot closer to my husbands job. He could now walk to work if we needed him to. It was only 2 blocks for 2 different parks, and within walking distance to just about any type of store I might need. The apartment consisted of one room that was the size of our bedrooms in the other one that had a sink in it with a small set of cabnets, 2 md size bedrooms with large dome shaped doors in each bedroom, a bathroom with no cabinets and no toilet seat, and a tiny laundry area which I had to walk sideways through one area because my hips wouldn't fit. So you can see the good and the bad. That move to be honest was complete hell. My husband wasn't able to get off work so we moved over 3 or 4 days in the evenings. Oh and I was huge prego so just about anything was bad for me at that point especially living with my stuff in 2 houses and in boxes. But we made it and got comfy. It didn't take long for the bar to drive us nutzo. It was one of those bars that plays only old Mexican music and on top of that had a karaoke machine. Oh when we first moved in there was also a tienda on the lower level. this was great because I could run down when the girls were napping. The owner has a son the age of my oldest daughter and a new baby that was born 3 weeks before ours. So we got to know them pretty quick, kids do that. Anyway this store moved around the block and we still kept it as our main tienda.
Soon enough the store owner informed us that he had an apartment for rent above his store. This is the one we just moved into. Its a tiny bit small sq footage wise but is shaped different and is actually more open. I have more counter space, but no cabinets under or above the counter. This is normal here and a lot of people just hang up a curtain type of thing under the counter and use that space for storage. I'm using it for storage but not sure I care to hang a curtain. The roof is ours again for laundry and play time. We do share it with the neighbors but they are a nice couple maybe a little younger than me. This one cost about 1700p and is on the 2nd floor. Yes we are finally coming down in the world. ;) It is only around the block from the other one so we still have the benefit of the parks and stores close by. We are still on a busy road but the traffic doesn't bother me I lived in the city and am use to sleeping through it. The bathroom is a tad bit smaller but the bin we use for the 3yr olds (yes she turns 3 in a couple weeks) bath fits and the bathroom already had a toilet seat. ;) No cabinets but that's ok we already had shelves from the last apartment. So I may be leaving something important out about the apartments and such here in Mexico if you notice as always please comment and add what you know or ask what you want to know.
The major difference her in the living quarters bought or rented is that there is no carpet, hardly any cabinet space, usually no closets, sometimes no toilet seats (but can be bought for like 10p) and usually your laundry area is somewhere open to the outside. Funny I guess I could have just put that last paragraph and not all the other jaz. lol