Should I stay or should I go

It is so hard to find time to write, as much as it is hard to find time for anything else. But it is not the fact that we are dealing with the challenges of Argentina, which are a lot. It is more the fact that I am struggling with my emotions as much as I did after the surgery and while preparing the move.

Clearly, I am in a process of purging emotions from my past and redefining myself after my cancer diagnosis and my breast surgery. This is affecting my present and my ability to make decisions. It feels too much of a challenge to deal with daily things that otherwise would simply be that: things to do. And in the middle of this spiritual / psychological roller coaster, having to drive to three different ATM’s to get cash (under a sun of 95 degrees) because barely anyone takes credit cards (and the one widely accepted is VISA and we have MASTERCARD), simply does not help. That was the case this morning while going food shopping.

These past weeks we have been dealing mainly with deciding whether or not to stay in this house. Here is the dilemma: the house is an old country home built around 1940, nestled in a gorgeous piece of wooded land, with tall, old, bushy trees and a swimming pool. It looks great in photos, and it’s perfect for a summer vacation. It’s half a block from my mom’s house and from the one room house we own, which Zach is using as his office and it is working perfectly fine for him. Location is real good, too, as I can walk to a few small stores to get veggies, meat, eggs, etc. It is a few blocks from the train station, the one restaurant and coffee shop in town, and the town’s green and plaza. Kids can bike everywhere. Martin and Laura and Connie and Jose left theirs bikes here before moving to Colombia so Nico, Luci and I are using them all the time. That is great.

But…

There is a but.

The house has issues. All things that can be dealt with, but we feel that the owners should have done a better job before turning the house to us. There are mosquito screens missing, and the ones in place have holes, the water pump works erratically, which make the supply of water and the maintenance of the pool difficult, bathroom and kitchen sinks have leaks, there are ants (the ones that eat and leave little dusty pieces of woods behind them), and the list is longer but you get the point.

Over the course of January we approached the owners several times with requests, which were reluctantly answered or put on hold for later, so we were not sure how to take it. Is it us that we came with very high standards, or it is them that are trying to escape their responsibilities?

When the time came to pay the rent of February, we were back and forth about what to do: Put pressure and tell them to fix things before paying the rent or keep on waiting. I ended up staying late and wrote a pretty combative email, not my style at all, and sent it before checking with Zach, who had fallen asleep next to me.

I am not sure why I did end up sending it, but the next day, the owner called me and we had a 40 minutes conversation that was not really pretty. Too long to repeat all we said but basically she put the pressure back on me: Don’t like the house and how we respond to issue, then go. But I guess we both tried to understand each other and we listened and apologized for our attitudes and we decided to talk the following day.

At the moment, we did not have any better place to move to. There are many homes for rent in expensive gated neighborhoods, but we do not want to move into a private community. Here in town, there is not much.

But later that afternoon, I saw a neighbor coming into his house and because I had seen that house for rent in a website, I asked him about it. It is only couple of houses from this one, and we saw it and loved it, perfectly functional, but somehow small. Very pretty, but we still decided to give this one a last try.

First, the kids feel a little settled here, and so do we. Second, the views of the trees and the open land of this house are absolutely gorgeous. There is so much potential for a veggie and even fruit garden, and maybe even have a chicken coup! And also, we did not want to give in to our first big challenge, meaning both the house and the relationship with the owner, which is a woman who lives here and moves in some of the circles I might move as well.

So, when we spoke the next day with the owner, this past Thursday, we both seemed more calm and ready to start a new chapter. Her hubby actually came to fix a light and said a plumber will come soon to fix the sinks. They already came to fix the pump, but it still works erratically. We think it has to do with the supply of energy, which has nothing to do with this house or its owners. At night, the demand for powers goes up in the summer, with all the expensive home turning on their air conditioners, and the supply isn’t enough. But that is just a theory.

So, we are here and we will see how it goes from now on. This week, we will focus our attention to the other bit challenge: Trying to buy a car. 

I feel more adventures will come.