Home is the Sailor, Home from the Sea.

We now have a place to hang our hats! Well, not exactly now. On August 15th we should.



We were informed earlier today that we now have a signed contract between Andrea's work and our new landlady Eugenie. She owns a beautiful 5-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath house about a block away from our current temporary furnished housing. It has been in the process of being completely re-done for many months. Such a thing can be a long, drawn-out process in most of the developing world due to a lack of home improvement loans and mortgages. And so for the last 13 or 14 months she has been living in the partially-done place, overseeing workers with the little bit of income she had available for it. She also maintains a home in Spain, where she works as an artist. We like her very much, and she seems to have picked us from several viable offers simultaneously.

Even more so, we like the house. It's a little rough right now, but we see great potential for us to enjoy it. It has a master bedroom for us, and next to it Zoe's bedroom, which is spacious enough. Across the hall from hers is a playroom, which is a little smaller, and may be intended for a live-in domestic, which we do not need. Also across from Zoe's room is a storage room, and likely the laundry area. Then further down the hall are our office and the guest room, which are nice as well.


There is -of course- a kitchen, which has pale yellow tiles on the walls. The counters are being redone in marble or a Corian-like surface that we quite like. The cabinets are being done from scratch. The appliances will be new as well. Outside of the kitchen is a separate entrance with a beautiful view, and inside is a rather large pantry.

Out of the house is lovely as well. It's a fairly large plot of land with decorative gardens in the front, and a good view of the valley below. Then behind the house, we have a retaining wall upon which is the TV satellite dish and a vegetable garden plot, as well as the ubiquitous water tank.

On the side yard we have a flat area which will be a terrace of concrete, some green spaces, and a brick BBQ! I picture this as a space where I can teach Zoe the wonders of riding bikes. Of course, this will have a guard rail.

Below that is a garage, and a little house will go in near the gate so that the guard can have a place to sit for protection from the sun or rain.

All in all, a cozy little place for us. It should be ready around the time our household goods are ready for delivery.