Tag Archives: La Yacata

November 13, 2015 · 7:00 am

There is still no electricity in La Yacata

There is still no electricity in La Yacata

The electric post

This is the electric post that convinced us to buy in La Yacata instead of someplace else. It stands smack dab in front of the house and has provided not one bit of electricity to our house in the 10 years we have lived here.

I have been down and out lately about the distance we still must cross for electricity in La Yacata. I’ve pretty much given up hope of Moroleon completing the 2 kilometers of posts and wires that would illuminate our streets and our home. Yes, you read that correctly. TWO kilometers separates us from the last viable electric post. It’s just not profitable enough for Moroleon to care that residents in La Yacata have no electricity. (See The Birth of the Revolution)

With the advent of adolescence and the plethora of electronic devices available, my son has also expressed his frustration with the lack of connectivity and recharging options. It goes without saying that no electricity means no home internet either.

My husband seems the only one untroubled by our lack. He uses the truck radio when he wants music and that’s pretty much all he wants. As a result, he’s been less than enthusiastic about my ideas.

the boy who harnessed the wind

My brother sent me The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope (P.S.)some time ago, as inspiration I expect. In it, a 14-year-old boy designed and built a windmill that positively changed the quality of life for his entire village. My husband and the plomero (plumber) up the hill have been promising me a windmill for nearly 10 years now. Every time I bring up other options, my husband counters with the statement that he’s going to make that windmill any day now.

Until that windmill gets built, I’ve been trying to do alternative research on my own. Every prepper website has directions for a DIY solar generator set-up. Well, I’ve come to the sad conclusion that I just can’t do it myself. One issue is my lack of electrical know-how. Of course, there is the plomero (plumber) up the hill who was also a US licensed electrician before deportation. However, he’s not all that reliable these days. His wife left him a few months ago and he’s been on a drinking binge ever since.

Solar water heaters are readily available in our area, but just won't work for us.

Solar water heaters are readily available in our area but just won’t work for us.

Even if we could catch the plomero between binges, there is the lack of materials available in our area. Solar water heaters are readily available–but nothing in the way of solar generators. We do not want a solar water heater because it’s just not feasible for our home setup. In order to have a solar water heater, we would need to elevate the tinacos (water storage containers) at least a floor. However, the local water truck refuses to fill tinacos (water storage containers) that are above the second floor. They say it’s “policy” although I suspect more laziness since the trucks are new and the water shoots out super powered and the pipes would reach…but I’m not in charge of policy. So our tinacos are on the roof of the first floor, which is technically the second floor. And even if we put the tinacos on the roof of the second floor, I would still count it as being on the second floor and not on the non-existing third floor but the water truck dudes disagree. So until such time as policy changes, we use a gas boiler to heat our shower water. Our stove is also gas, so we can cook just dandy without electricity as well.

water delivery

The truck pulls in front of our house and we run a house from the truck to the aljibe and tinacos.

Lacking local solar generator parts options, I tried my hand online. Amazon and Ebay offer kits that we could possibly afford if we sold Myrtle (the vocho) and saved another 6 months, not including shipping. Yet again, there are issues. I will not order from Ebay again and Amazon does not accept Paypal payments.

I even tried contacting a few people that might be “in the know” about such things, but I have yet to hear back from any of them.

This is what I think we need.

This is what I think we need.

What I think we’d be good with is this setup, Go Power! Solar Extreme Complete Solar and Inverter System with 480 Watts of Solar. However, being a newbie means–well that I don’t know if this would be adequate or not.

So for the present, the dream of electricity is just that, a dream. We’ve lived nearly 10 years without it, and realistically in the grand scheme of human history, electricity has only been available to the masses for the blink of an eye, so do we really need it?

Well, yes and no I suppose.

If we had electricity we could recharge our phones, Kindle, portable DVD players and laptops at home. Right now we haul the rechargeables to the school where I work and charge there. We also have the option of plugging the devices into the lighter in the truck or Myrtle, but we have found that overuse of this option is hard on the vehicle batteries.

If we had electricity we could use the blender–but we use the blender now with the AC/DC inverter and the truck battery.

We could turn the lights on and cook now since it gets dark at such an indecent hour with daylight savings time and all. Now we use candles.

The Kindle is an older version that doesn’t have a backlight like this one Kindle–it’d be nice to not read by candlelight and just flick on the bedside lamp.

drumiI

Drumil, the foot-powered clothes washer by

If we had electricity we could use a washer for our dirty clothes. Right now we head to the arroyo (stream) and wash there. Although we may not need electricity for a washer. Yirego is advertising pre-sale for their foot-powered washing machine. Of course, at $239 USD it’s still out of our financial grasp, but perhaps the price will come down in time.

It’s doubtful that even if we had electricity we would use it for a fridge. We’ve become so accustomed to buying fresh meat and produce, in daily portion sizes, that we have very little left over at the end of the day. Anything that won’t be good for the next day, we share out with our chickens, cats, and dog.

We also aren’t much bothered by not having a television. There’s never anything good on anyway. We do like to watch movies but are just fine with our little portable (and rechargeable) DVD player. Unfortunately, our DVD player battery will not charge anymore. Finding parts (in this case a replacement battery) is a nightmare here and buying online with shipping is iffy at best. We recently purchased another DVD player and it’s fine for now, but eventually, the battery will wear out as well. The same issue crops up with my laptop. My battery doesn’t hold a charge. I use it only at my place of work. My son’s laptop is new, so charging and taking it home works just fine, although there is no internet at home. Of course, transporting it might not be an option during the rainy season.

So I suppose I should be more lackadaisical like my husband. Living without electricity is entirely possible, we’ve been doing it for quite some time now. And why should I expect the luxury of electricity and all that it entails when 1 in 7 worldwide lives without access to electricity? For now, it remains a wish, hope, a goal or something along those lines.

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April 17, 2015 · 2:00 am

Harvesting cactus

I love cactus! It has a fresh, green taste that is all its own. And it can be found right in our little community, no trip to the fruteria (greengrocers) necessary. We’ve even planted some cactus in our backyard, however, it will be YEARS before they are big enough to harvest from.

nopal

The nopal (cactus) is one of the fundamental symbols of Mexico.  It is considered la planta de vida (life-giving plant) as it seems to never die.  Fallen pencas (leaves) form new plants, therefore an apt symbol of the life-rebirth cycle found in the most ancient of Mexican myths.full of tunas

According to legend, the first nopal (cactus) grew from Copil‘s heart, son of Malinalxochitl, the moon, and Chimalcuauhtli.  Copil had attempted to murder his uncle Huitzilopochtli, the sun, because he had abandoned his mother.  According to legend, Huitzilopochtli defeated his nephew and removed Copil’s heart, which was later buried. The next day, the first nopal appeared, complete with the thorns of a warrior and flowers that blossomed with the love Copil had shown in defending his mother. This nopal (cactus) was discovered by the wandering Aztecs.  Atop the nopal was an eagle, devouring a serpent, over a lake, the sign the nomads had been waiting for.

flag

To have la cara de nopal (the face of a cactus) is to say that one’s indigenous ancestry is evident.  My husband has a decided cara de nopal and that isn’t a bad thing.

cara de nopal

Yes, I’m pocho (a Mexican who has turned his back on his ancestry usually living in the US) but I haven’t been able to get rid of this cara de nopal (Mexican face).

There is a technique however to harvesting. The pencas (leaves) should be a light green. Older pencas can be eaten, but they tend to have a bitter taste. The penca should be cut at the base, and handled gingerly. It is a cactus after all and there are espinas (thorns).

nopales to harvest

Once a good number have been collected, it’s time to despina (remove the thorns). It isn’t a terribly difficult process and practice makes perfect. The base of the thorn is cut, away from the cutter, and discarded. The outside edge is also skinned off. My husband always does this outside–less clean up involved. And that’s pretty much it. The cactus is ready for cooking.

dethorning cactusdethorning side

Cactus can be cooked as an entire leaf on the comal (griddle) or cut into pieces. It can be boiled or basted in tripa (intestine) juice, which is my favorite manner of preparation. It can be eaten warm or cold, used like a tortilla around cheese–a nopaldilla if you will–eaten as a salad with tomato and chili, or with beans and onions or ..well you get the idea.

boiled nopal

roasted nopal

nopales

A nice size bag of the nopales, tomato, onion and yellow chili mixture can be bought from the corner vendor for 10 pesos. Fast-food at its best!

Cactus also provides fruit in season, tunas (See Picking Tunas), the heart of Copil. Just more evidence that even in the desert, “the Earth provides enough for every man’s need” –Mathama Gandhi.

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June 13, 2014 · 3:35 pm

Buying property — as easy as buying a piece of heaven Part 3

for sale

Lot for sale

My husband decided to go and visit Don R and see if there still was a lien on the lots. Don R said that yes, in fact, he was thinking of contacting us to see if we were still interested in buying. Apparently, C’s girlfriend had come to his house to try and renegotiate the repayment schedule but had insulted Don R’s wife and was in danger of defaulting. Only, the thing was, Don R had developed cataracts and been left blind. He had given his son all his current outstanding loans until such time as he had an operation to improve his vision. He sent my husband to the son with the idea that we could purchase the contract.

So my husband went to see the son. The son said that yes, he had the papers transferring ownership from G to C’s girlfriend and that she had until December to repay the loan. To date, she had only paid $3,000 of the $20,000 loan and interest was accumulating. My husband said he would be willing to make good on the loan, $20,000 plus interest, provided the lot that was next to us became ours. The lot behind it, which was also part of the lien, he would give to C’s girlfriend. So basically, C’s girlfriend would be out of debt and still have one lot to sell or do whatever she wanted with.

The son thought it might be a good deal and made arrangements to contact C’s girlfriend and set up a meeting. Meanwhile, I talked to my sister-in-law T about the deal. I explained the drawbacks and benefits to her and asked if she would go with my husband to the meeting. I knew I couldn’t go and not lose my temper and my husband would need someone there to make sure he didn’t just agree to any old deal. I told her that if we could get the lot for $20,000 or thereabouts, to close the deal, but if it was to be higher than that, no deal.

The meeting was set up a few days later and off they went. They were gone more than 2 hours. They came back without the lot. It seems the girlfriend was not interested in selling less than $45,000, which we weren’t interested in paying. She went on and on about how she wanted to sell in La Yacata because of the mala fama (bad reputation) it had and lack of water, sewer, and electricity. (You can lead a horse to water.) She talked about this as if this would convince my husband to buy the property at the price she wanted. Never mind that he was fully aware of the problems, and enumerated several others with the lot. For instance, not only was there no water, sewer, or electricity, the lot had an outstanding debt of $250 for lawyer’s fees. That lot also had never made a payment for sidewalks, road paving or the pozo (never mind that the pozo was a fraud perpetrated by Chuchi—See Demanda 3). Therefore, the lot did not have a value of the $45,000 she was asking.

C’s girlfriend concluded the meeting by saying that she already had a buyer that was willing to pay $45,000 in payments and that we should take her offer immediately so as not to lose out. That is the type of pressure my husband caves under, but T took hold of his elbow and walked him out.

C’s girlfriend then turned her attention to Don R’s son. My sister-in-law said there were some sparks flying between the two when they took their leave. Perhaps she offered the son some incentive to renegotiate the repayment schedule with her, for whatever it was worth. The lien can not be canceled, nor the lots sold, without the written permission of Don R, blind or not. The son even said as much during the meeting.

And as for this supposed buyer….no shit, Sherlock!  That would be our aborted negotiation with C. The girlfriend didn’t know my husband personally and I had sent T instead of going myself since I am all too readily identifiable. Oh, to be a fly on the wall during the conversation between C and his girlfriend after the meeting!

So, disappointed, we have decided to wait it out. There is still a possibility that in December, the girlfriend will default and the lot will come up for sale. It seems a lame ending to this saga, but whoever said buying a piece of heaven was easy?

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