my little Mexico house

I have been wanting to write about housing in Merida and our house most of all. When we first arrive to the Yucatan we actually found a temp house online for about 4000 pesos for the month. We wanted a good 30 days to get a feel for where we wanted to live and to look at many houses in the area. Well, of course that wasnt enogh time, because I have been here for 4 months and still dont feel like I know the city. We settled for a house north of "centro" about a 15minute walk, close to a park for the kids and bus lines since my car is still in Puerto Vallarta.Heres what we found...

Rent 3000 pesos a month = 240.00 US dollars.
3 months of rent required to move in
Internet and cable set up 700 pesos a month
3 bedroom
2 bath
ceiling fans
unfurnished-no appliances completely empty

When we looked at the house we were immediatly taken by the cool colorful walls in rustic reds and burnt oranges, funky tile floors and open patio area. All of those cool things blinded us from what we really should have been looking at...heres the scoop. Sometimes our water just doesnt work for a day. The neighbors say it happens to them as well, the pipes are propably all connected from one house to the other who knows. There is no hot water tank. See, now we thought "no problem, we can just have one put in"...but we still havent done that. No hot water tank = no gas. So yes, we all take cold showers. And it is a bit cold here in the mornings and evenings so cold showers SUCK! The house actually stays pretty cool throughout the day so that makes it comfortable. Open air living spaces means double the mosquito population too. We are getting bit daily, I swear there is a mosquito farm under the house or something. Oh, and I have this really really long bowling ally of a hallway I dislike too.So I just rolled out the cons and thought I better stop being so negative...Pros:
We live super close to the kids schools so walking to school is a breeze, the rent is crazy dirt cheep, I already mentioned the colorful walls and tile floors, Love my outdoor patio. Love my lofty area above the kitchen and the colorful walls...oops I already said that.

this is two separate pictures-our kitchen is just beyond the door in the left photo, oh and that wine
bottle on the wall is actually a wall torch with citronella oil in it...Jeff made a couple of these
and placed them around the patio..looks so cool at night. At the end of the hall
where Jeff is ...thats our entrance to the house where the rooms/bathrooms and living room is.

So I guess I have learned allot moving into our first unfurnished place in Mexico and the next house I choose I'll be inspecting every nook and cranny I may even consider paying them to let me sleep in the house for a weekend to see how we "feel" in the house....