Category Archives: Cultural Challenges

Although the electricity was on, the water had been cut due to non-payment. The owner collected my deposit and assured me that she would go on Monday and get that all straightened out. I also needed to go and find out about the internet hook-up that week.

So I headed to Telmex (the only internet company available) and climbed to the fourth floor (I wondered how disabled people would get up those stairs) to talk with someone. I didn’t want a phone line, so I applied for Infinium Puro which was just the internet package. I was a little taken back that I could only get the 8 Mbps option because of the area the house was located in. Downtown had all the fiber optic options and the like, but in Los Girasoles (Sunflowers) where I had rented, only the basic service was available.

My brother assured me it would be enough to teach my classes, so I signed up for a 6-month contract. I gave the woman my Mexican driver’s license, but she wanted my IFE (voter’s registration card) which of course I don’t have. I gave her my permanent residency card and explained what it was. It seemed to be enough ID for her to work with. I filled out some paperwork, and she said everything was good to go. I could pay the internet online or come to the office and pay, but not until the end of the month. It would be about $349 pesos monthly.

I asked about installation and told me she couldn’t be sure which day, but the installers would call me before arrival. Ok, well, I would just have to hope that it would be a time when I was available. The clerk was all in a tither about my online teaching job. She had heard about the company on the TV, but she was amazed that I lived here as everyone wants to move to the US. I’ve heard it all before, but I tried to smile and nod. I really needed that internet set up.

The next step was to start cleaning and painting the little house. There was about a half a bucket of cream paint left from some remolding projects we did in La Yacata, so I hauled that over the little house in The Sunflowers. La Yacata and Los Girasoles are about 1 mile apart, the major difference being Los Girasoles is on the other side of the highway and thus all connected up to Moroleon’s water, sewer, electric and internet services.

Painting proved more of a challenge that I first anticipated. It seemed the walls were made with yeso (plaster), and the paint just wouldn’t stick. I ended up using the half-bucket but didn’t even get the front room done. That was disappointing.  It ended up taking a full 2 weeks to get this itty bitty house painted since the paint would just slide right off.  I spent way more than I wanted to on paint.  I ended up buying a bucket of yellow and a second bucket of cream.  Very frustrating. That promised painting help from my husband never materialized.  My son (as a teenager) moaned and complained every single second we painted.  So I ended up doing most of it myself.

Then there still wasn’t any water. How was I supposed to clean without water? The English teacher across the street again saved the day. She brought me buckets and buckets of water from her house and even stayed to help me clean and paint. And boy did it ever need cleaning! We did what we could that day and left to teach our various afternoon classes.

Saturday morning I got a call from the Telmex installers. I told them I wasn’t at the house but could be there in 10 minutes. It actually took me 5, but who’s counting? They had the internet installed in the back room in less than 30 minutes. I hopped about and did the happy dance. Then the English teacher across the street called the owner to ask about the water. She said she’d call somebody to fix it. Apparently, her brother-in-law works for the water commission. He showed up not 15 minutes later and turned the water on, on his day off no less. I did another little happy dance.

My husband came later that afternoon and changed the front door lock for me. Another unanticipated miracle!  Since I had no idea who last rented the house and how many house keys they had made, it seemed like a sound investment.  I felt like things were progressing nicely if a bit slowly.

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