The last two and a half months of ludicrous work hours have paid off. By the time all the July and straggler June receivables come in in the next week or so, I’ll be in a position to start house hunting!

I found what I thought could be The House on a real estate website and contacted them some weeks ago. They happened to get back to me tonight. Funny timing!

They actually caught me while I was out for dinner. Monday has normally been curry night, but the curry place is taking a break. 🙁 (They did make that a bit easier on me by sharing their recipe for The Best Peas I Have Ever Had.) I decided to take a chance on La Barca de Chelem, the hotel/bar/restaurant a couple of blocks away that I’ve been purposely avoiding all this time (they are way too convenient). But I was in a celebratory mood and had already budgeted the money to eat out.

I showed up just past five, too late for lunch, way too early for dinner, but they said their restaurant is open all day. The menu had a pretty good variety of things with prices being so-so (Yucatán has generally been slightly more expensive than Sinaloa). I was a little annoyed at myself for settling on a burger, but there were onion rings on the menu and the pairing would be nice and I also wanted to know if there’s been a decent burger within walking distance all the time that I’ve been here…

With my order, I requested a beer. Their selection was dismal, so I settled on a Tecate and then went out to the pool area to wait for my food.

My onion rings came out first. I was surprised/pleased that the server made sure I knew this was ranch dressing rather than mayonnaise since I’d declined the latter on my burger. I found the rings a bit doughier than I’d like (I like my onion rings really crispy), but the veggie within was perfectly cooked. This could have been dinner on its own and totally worth the $40.

The phone rang just as I finished up with them and I caught just enough to understand it was a guy from the property management company. I replied, “I understand, but, please, my Spanish is so-so. I’ll need you to speak slowly.” He agreed and then informed me that the house I was interested in isn’t available. However, his tone about that changed when I told him I’m looking for October and would be open to a two-year lease…

But he pushed on and asked me what parts of the city I’m interested in, how many bedrooms I want, what amenities I’m looking for, do I want furnished or not (fridge and stove would be nice), and my budget. This last one was where I knew the guy wasn’t leading me on and would be willing to work with me. This is because I had no idea what the hell a presupuesto is and he took a second to figure out how best to reformulate that with “What price per month do you want to pay?”

We chatted for close to 10 minutes and then he said he’d have a look and send me info on what what he found that could be suitable for me. Sweet! Now, you might be surprised that I’m willing to go with an agent, but I think I prefer going this route. Yes, I will likely pay a bit more than if I was renting directly from an owner, but things will be done by the book. Plus, an agent can do all the leg work for and I can just show up and see what he’s found. There is so much available on the market right now that it’s a bit overwhelming. Once an agent has a clear idea of what I want, the selection pool will get much smaller and I’ll save a lot of time. I thought I’d be able to take public transportation into Mérida ($), but the buses are always full so I have to drive ($$$).

My burger came out just as the conversation ended. The server had brought me my mustard in little packets that he had actually cut open for me. I was very dismayed that the burger was amazing — great bun, real beef with spices (and so juicy!), and real cheese that was brown and crispy on the edges, plus lettuce, tomato, and onion. The fries that came with it weren’t worth touching, though, and I was glad I’d had the onion rings. Thankfully, this burger was $80 so while it would be cheaper than curry ($150), it’s still too expensive to be a regular lunch the way Patti’s incredible $40 burger and fries were on Isla!

Happy and sated, I headed home to do some chores, play with my dog, and begin to dream of the Home that I have finally begun searching for. It’ll be hard to be renter again after so many years of being a homeowner, but it’ll be way better than being a house sitter. Living in other people’s spaces is fun for a while and a great way to travel on the cheap, but you’re never really home and it gets wearing after a time. At least here, I have some of my own furniture and, of course, most of my own personal belongings (including kitchen equipment), so that makes things much easier (there are no words for how much I love my desk!).

I can’t believe we’re a week to August and I only have two full months left here!!! Of course, I’ll be here most of October, but I should have keys by then and soon as internet is set up, I’ll likely work there a few days a week so I can start receiving furniture deliveries and do other tasks to make sure the house is all ready for me by the end of the month.

July was a bit of a rough month and I know I need to get out and start living a bit beyond the walls of this compound. August should be an interesting. The way things are going, I will have to make a real effort to slack a bit because nearly all my clients wish they could keep me busy full-time! It’s really great to be in that sort of position and to be choosing how much money I make in a month (to a point) rather than sitting around waiting and hoping for work to come in. I’ve worked so hard to get to this point and I’m incredible proud of myself.

Well, it’s time to jump in the pool. How spoiled am I? 🙂