I arrived in Leon at 5:30 in the morning. The shuttle driver was waiting. Then he and I were waiting, as a woman named Christine was moving her cat from Alameda to San Miguel and was temporarily delayed at immigration.
When I got to the house in San Miguel there was a message from Victor, my real estate agent, who asked that I call him as soon as possible. However, the message had been left the day before and his office was not yet open. I was exhausted and wanted to sleep but my anxiety level was running a little high. I worried that something had gone sour with the deal.
When I finally reached Victor he explained that the notary republic would not be in his office on Friday so might we be able to close on Thursday? And since the wire can take a day to post, could we send it on Wednesday? This being Tuesday, I called my sister and gave her the scoop. She said she thought we could pull it off and that she would call dad. That is when she told me the amount of money that was in his checking account ready to be wired. Unfortunately, the amount she gave me was about $100,000 short of what was needed. My anxiety began to turn to panic. How was I going to come up with $100,000 and get it to Mexico in two days? If we miss the deadline we could lose our 10% deposit.
After considerable pacing and a short nap and some unpacking, I called my father who had just returned to the house with my sister. They had completed the wire, for the correct amount (he hadn’t informed her about another account) a day early. Fine. Time for a margarita.
Two days later I waited in the reception area of the local notary republic. Also waiting were the sellers who kept engaging me in conversation, stretching the limits of my Spanish. At one point they asked me if I had a wife and children to which I replied that I did not. So the husband responded, “Viva feliz” (a happy life) to which we all laughed. After about 30 minutes of waiting we were ushered into the notary’s office. He sat behind an enormous desk and alternated between talking on his desk phone and his cell phone. Victor (my friend and real estate agent) and his boss were already in the office having just completed another transaction. The notary completed his calls and introductions were made all around. Everyone was seated around the notary’s desk as he translated the sale agreement for me. That concluded I signed the document as did the seller and everyone sat around for another 30 minutes, talking about golf, until copies were made. The seller presented me with a letter that I have to take to the phone company to have the phone number changed to my name. The final deed is supposed to be ready in three to five weeks.
The next day Andrea, Christine and I went out to the property to meet with the tenants. The first thing that I noticed was a crashed plane in the yard, near the back of the property. “Beach,” I said as he opened the door, “I think I would have remembered a crashed plane in the yard. That’s new isn’t it?” Beach went on to explain that a friend had attempted his first solo flight and lost control at take-off, pitch polling off the end of the runway. He survived but was pretty banged up. The plane is being sold for scrap.
The girls wandered the property while Beach and I went over details such as the staff and their salaries, water, electricity and most importantly, when he and Clare will be moving to La Manzanilla. We agreed on a date of October 1. He and Clare are extremely nice and suggested that I come back closer the time so that they can share their ideas as to how they would improve the place given their 1 year experience of living there. I will do so but I don’t know how much of their advice will be useful. After all, they are the ones who painted the stone walls yellow.
I went to the opening of a new restaurant with the gang. There, a 41 year old retired VP from Morgan-Stanley, Kevin, came to our table and regaled us with card tricks. Eric was at the table and asked Kevin if he would come to the ranch the next day and perform the tricks for the ranch children who come every Saturday for English lessons. I invited myself and the next morning Eric and Melanie picked Kevin and I up and drove us out to the ranch. Fifteen children, ranging in age from 3 to about 12, were waiting when we arrived. They were shy at first but quickly gathered round when Kevin pulled out his cards. After an hour they were all hiding coins in the palms of their little hands and making cards disappear. Kevin, having two daughters of his own, knows how to entertain children and by the end of the session he had several children dangling off his arms. I was more interested in the buildings on the ranch. Apart from the main house Eric has his own one bedroom house with an open floor plan. It is the perfect blueprint for a casita on our new property. In addition to ranching, Eric is also in the housing development business and has the construction contacts that I will need.
My head is spinning with lists of things to figure out, or do. Yesterday I waited an hour at the phone company. When I gave them my letter from the seller, asking that the phone be changed to my name, I was told that I needed a copy of the seller’s identification with her signature and a copy of my passport. So, another day, another hour.
Next step, buy a car. This should prove interesting.
Today there was such a thunder storm that I thought that I was going to
Be house bound. The street became a river and the courtyard a mud pit. But within minutes of it stopping, everything was absorbed.
Aaron (the previous tenant) came by the other day to pick up a pan and some mail and I asked him if the courtyard ever flooded and overflowed onto the terrace and he said that it did not. (He showed up when I was naked, just out of the shower and shaving with shaving cream all over my face. I pulled on some shorts and met him at the door still covered with shaving cream.)
I asked Elena to make me some chicken soup and she did a pretty good job except that the whole chicken was just cut up into four big pieces floating in the broth. When she came back the next day I had her remove the bones.
On the home front, Dad is in escrow on the sale of his house. He will move in with my sister until it is prudent for them to join me down in San Miguel. They will probably come after we take possession of the property, some time in October. However, they are anxious and may appear on my doorstep earlier.
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