Hell’s Half Acre

So, after the insane sellers of the “orange” palapa flaked out by simply refusing to respond to our emails, we became very sad and pouted for about a day. That’s when I realized that we really want to do this thing. I’m not sure why but I think the kids are just very happy to simply S T O P and sit for a good long while. I wish it were in Mexico though, as PaaMul is not even close to being in Mexico. I’d much prefer a house in Merida or Morelia or Zacatecas or any town that is Mexico and not an enclave of ex-pat Americans and Canadians who wonder where all the Mexicans came from during the last fire. Um, they LIVE here!? You’re actually in the country of Mexico?! But I digress… But I do that a lot and honestly you should just get used to it. Very few thoughts are followed to a conclusion here.

So we thought and considered and decided that we’d want to build. I’m pretty much on board with anything though truth be told I’d MUCH prefer to be headed down the road and I honestly hope we’re not doing this just because we don’t want to pack up. We considered many many lots and really had a terrible time deciding. The reason we liked the insane-seller-orange-palapa is mainly due to the location and we really couldn’t find a location we liked as much. We settled on two locations we could live with and tried to decide which. We figured we’d take the weekend to decide and start building on Monday (three days ago). Friday night we got an email from a seller that we’d contacted long ago; we loved the site but offered about $10K less than he had paid for it and he’d quickly turned us down after some small negotiations. Well, he was back and accepting our offer. We hadn’t considered this palapa (we’ll call it breezless-white-weird-bodega-palapa) for quite a while and needed time to consider it. So the following day, after the last walk we’d do (more on that later), we checked the place out and thought and considered and honestly decided it was laid our WAY too oddly, constructed with much cheaper materials than the insane-seller-orange-palapa and while the lot was absolutely lovely, it was still priced way too high (our offer) for the work that needed to be done. So we passed and reaffirmed our decision to build.

Sunday, Don Pepe, the owner, happened by and asked us if the insane-seller-orange-palapa owners had contacted us. Weird question from him, but no, they hadn’t. He said he’d emailed them with some particulars but we honestly expected nothing. They’re insane. Certifiable, probably. Within hours of our conversation with Don Pepe, the insane-seller-orange-palapa emailed us, gave us carte blanche and said they’d sign anything we sent them. I have to wonder just what kind of email Don Pepe sent…

So, we’re the proud parents of the insane-seller-orange-palapa. None of the hurricane damage has been fixed but considering it is a zapote wood structure that has weathered two hurricanes (the eye of which passed within 10km), it’s looking pretty damn good. The hurricane season is supposed to be absolutely WICKED for the US and I really wonder what we’re getting ourselves in for, but we’re in. And the kids are estatic. And I’m still vaguely unsettled.