Things Are Coming Together

Before telling you about the week, I will show you a very unusual project that we had done. We now have a screen door on our bedroom. It was so weird to have a screen door inside, that Aldo wants to take a picture and show it around (what will those immigrants think of next?). This is very practical, however. We now can leave the door to the bedroom open all night, with little chance of those little bloodsuckers (literally) flying in. The last couple of days have been very very hot, and last night was the first night that the bedroom enjoyed cooler temperatures, thanks to the new door. The carpenter who made the laundry cabinets made it out of a very beautiful wood (cedro mara- though I have no idea what it is) and installed it all for $85, US.

Now on to the rest of the week. Monday saw us at the immigration office to get the final papers, before receiving our cedula (national ID card) and receiving residency status. Once we get that card, we will not have to renew residency for another 3 years. We also received the aduana (customs) paper that will allow us to receive our deposit back, once our cedula is issued. All went smooth and we should get an appointment sometime in the next week or so to actually go to the office that issues the cedula, get photos and fingerprinted (again) and receive the official card.

Now, to our laundry room. It was quite a luxury to have a separate laundry room, since most houses have the washer and dryer in a kitchen or 2nd bathroom. And we have finally had the cabinets made and installed. This carpenter did a fine job and used "cedrino" (once again, I have no idea what that is, but it is beautiful) for the cabinets. He did nice raised panel doors and charged anwhere from $150-$330 less than any other estimates we had gotten. In fact, the cabinet maker who made our ill-fated office desk wanted $150 more for that little set of cabinets. While this is not a perfect job, it suits us nicely. I think we will probably use him for the kitchen (thus saving me the expense and frustration of trying to equip myself for cabinet making and doing the jobs myself).


This has been a lovely week for us, starting with the wonderful flamenco night at the local restaurant. Interior painting is underway, as we speak and interior tile may start next week. We enjoy seeing progress, but we long to have the place completed and to ourselves. As we sat our on the deck last night, listening to the sounds of the surf, with the most brilliant display of stars we could imagine and realized that we are actually living here, in our own place by the beach- we were very thankful, indeed.