After spending my first 6 weeks in Ciudad Guzman with a host family I was able to find an apartment. Apartment hunting here required a lot of walking around looking for "Se Renta" (For Rent) signs and showing up to apartment visits with no expectations of what you were going to find…no Zillow websites here to show me pictures of an apartment beforehand! Fortunately, Cassie and I (volunteer in my Peace Corps group who came to Cd. Guzman the same time as me) were searching for apartments at the same time so we were able to tag team a bit and report back to each other what properties were promising and what properties were not so promising. This system is how I happened to find this place, Cassie found it first and told me it had potential and then I took a look at it and BAM, I knew I wanted to live there.
For me, as with a lot of people, the most important thing about an apartment was the location. This place is a perfect location for me, only a 5 minute walk from the downtown area and a leisurely 25 minute walk to the office (considering my office is on the outskirts of town, a 25 minute walk was definitely a win for me). The place was also undergoing renovations including new tile, paint, fridge, stove, and bathroom updates so that was a plus as it would have a fresh look to it. I also have plenty of space (3 bedrooms, living room, kitchen, and bath), it is off the street in a little alleyway so it's quiet, the landlord lives next door so if I have problems I can tell them right away, and Cassie lives in the upstairs apartment so if I ever need to borrow a cup of sugar I'm all set. Anyways, enough about how I found the place here is my new home.
Top Left: Outdoor view, I live in downstairs apartment
Top Right: View of the living area from the front door
Bottom Left: Shoe Mat…One of the great things about living alone is I can walk around without shoes! Everyone in Mexico always wears shoes in the house so when living with my host families I had to wear shoes all the time which I did not like very much, my feet need to breathe! The only drawback to this shoe mat is that now when people come in to visit they feel they need to take their shoes off as well, which is definitely not necessary…I'm not a clean freak, this just helps me keep my shoes organized and if I take my shoes of right when I come in the door my feet can enjoy maximum freedom-from-shoe time.
Bottom Right: View of the alley way I live on that leads to the street
Top Center: Bathroom
Top Right: View of living from the other direction
Bottom: Second spare bedroom, I don't have anything in here
Left: View of the kitchen (galley style)
Top Right: Bedroom view
Bottom Right: Bedroom view
Top Left: My mail wall in my room with all the letters I have received since being in Mexico
Top Right: Ceiling detail in the main room I enjoy, gives my place some 'character' as they say
Bottom Left: Coffee table I bought and painted, the place needed some color
Bottom Right: View of the other side of the kitchen
And that's the tour of where I live. I've been here since mid-July and while living with host families for several months was definitely a valuable and enriching experience, it has been nice to settle in to the place and make it my own a little bit (it was unfurnished so I had to buy all the furniture), cook my own food, and make my own schedule. So far, so good in my new home!
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