Some darker moments...

Oh dear...   I’ve been suffering more sleepless nights and seem to have got into a pattern of waking up in the very early hours, wide awake and feeling uneasy.  This morning was one of the worst. After going to bed at 11pm I was wide awake at 02:30!  Crazy and with no apparent reason.  It is clearly a sub-conscious concern which I know is stupid because the move is an opportunity of a lifetime and I should be embracing it with open arms.  I guess it’s the great number of uncertainties, such as knowing where we’ll be living, the type of area and the actual property, and my poor command of Spanish. A couple of years ago I went to evening classes for twelve months to learn the language, and progressed quite well, but I found that with the lack of constant use it became difficult to remember.  Our fairly regular visits to Spain were helpful and of course our original plan was to move there, an exercise we explored two years ago, but with the sudden strengthening of the Euro we were obliged to put the plan on hold.


 However, when in Spain, it was all too easy to stand behind Mark and let him do the talking, he being fluent but I realise I will have to get to work on the learning again!   Mark has already looked out the grammar books and I’ve found the audio learning pack I used during the evening classes!  Revision will need to start soon and I’ve also now discovered an online programme the BBC have helpfully provided in their website.


People tell me that it will be much easier once I’m living there and I’m sure that will be the case but it remains to be seen. I’ll just have to put aside my normal reservations and nervousness of “getting it wrong”.  Secretly I hope that I might find a nice friendly neighbour who will take me under his/her wing and let me trot along on the odd shopping trip to help me get to grips.


I worry too because I’ve always been one to like my life properly organised according to my own wishes and needs and the fact that we’ll be moving to a property that will have been chosen for us (although I’m hoping that we get the opportunity for input, albeit through details on the internet and photos being sent) is slightly unnerving.  But we’ve been assured that it will have two bedrooms, and will have “food in the cupboard and flowers on the table”.  


Having been a property agent all my life I've trawled the details published by rental agencies in Mexico and they seem to be very sparse on actual detail;  floor plans which we have come to expect as the norm here, seem to be non-existent.  With the help of my trusty Google Language Translator on which I currently have to rely for speed, the details reveal that some properties have a fitted Kitchen (Cocina Integral- although the Mexican idea of a fitted kitchen appears a good deal different from my own) and in oneinstance I even discovered a Cocina para estrenar (apparently brand new). Some are described as Muy bueno (very good) or Excelente, and these are often confirmed by photographs.

For instance, these examples are from one property which appealed to us both, being spacious and well presented, and the school HR department immediately called the agency but were told that it had already been let.  But we’re told they will try to find an equivalent.

Of course there are some that are not so immediately attractive, including one which had this photograph, in a property simply listing a Cocina which left me wondering!  Not sure how we’d cope with a hot water cylinder and a sink.

This early excursion into searching for property has demonstrated two things; first that there are some nice properties around and second, the willingness of the school to do what they can to help us.  The one point, which has become clear, however, is the fact that the cost of accommodation is a lot less than here in Reading!  While the rents being quoted at first sight seem huge at around 10,000 pesos, it equates to only £500 a month!!

We’ve also realised that access to public transport will be essential, at least in the early stages, as we will not have our own independent means of getting around and so we were glad to learn that the Metro line to and from Mexico City centre will be close by and a 45 minute ride will get us there. And apparently the local 'bus services are pretty good too.

I’ve been quarrying well respected Guide Books and although these are excellent for the tourist, they are not that helpful for those, who like us, are planning to live there for any length of time.  However, through one or two very helpful friends, particularly a new found friend Carol, who just happened to be staying with our hosts, Joseph and Humberto, in San Francisco and Berekely last year, when we chatted to them on Skype.  Carol told us she has had a home in Mexico for some time and gave me some useful tips and recommended reading which has proved valuable.  And the wonders of the internet and Google is enabling me to source other material too.  So things are becoming a little clearer in my mind.