new boat, bottom left corner
This week marks my fourth month here in Guatemala. Since I was bitten by the travel bug back in 2003, I haven’t spent a lot of four months periods in a same country. There was a round the world trip until 2004, then I lived in Guatemala 2004-2006 but was always exploring the region, going back to Europe, and even took a trip to Argentina, then I was back to Europe living in Barcelona and the UK, where I would go at least every month out of the country, and Morocco in 2010, I went back to France every six weeks or so. In 2011 and 2012, I took a 6 months motorcycle trip to the US and Europe respectively. I know, you are as tired as I am after reading that.
And it feels good to be home. Like I explained last week, it feels even better that this is a paid for home. Anyway, back to the house progress and what has been going on around here.
Looks like the big black car had a white baby
new car
Back to the car, I only owned one for about a year in my life and was happy sharing BF’s car, but it really was a thirsty SUV and we didn’t need that big a car to go grocery shopping and move around here. The plan was to buy either a 4 wheels motorcycle so we could drive around the 90 acres development land, or a small jeep, like a Suzuki Samurai. We got one from 1998 for $3,000. Cars are expensive here due to customs, but this model is very common in the region so we are hoping to save on maintenance. You should see the repair shops in Guatemala, especially in the North, 300 miles away from Guatemala City, they really get creative when spares take time to ship or are simply unavailable.
This is a car parts shop in Morocco, not much different from here.
I was not ready to buy a car just yet. I would prefer to put my cash on the land, then sell some plots, then buy some stuff but once more, I picked my money battles and to make BF happy we got some wheels. And a small boat, that we already had a motor for. The previous owner sold us some stuff, like a wardrobe, that motor and more pieces of furniture, but he left a cattle scale on the land that we sold for the same price, just under $2,000. So the motor was technically free. Again, I didn’t want to drop $1,000 on a boat just now but it is nice to have it and we can go shopping by boat too, there is a mall that has a deck and you can leave your boat there while you are at the supermarket.
Now that we are $3K poorer (I consider a car a sunk cost, not a part of my net worth), we weren’t about to skimp on the house, right? Here is what we got done over the past few weeks.
bathroom is almost finished
The bathroom is almost done. the sink is sitting majestically on a flat lake stone the builders found. Once they got over the fact that we were weird to want to build with stones, something you don’t really do here, they got really found of it and are being darling helping us find some really cool stones. It is more work for them to carry bigger stones but they happily do it to please us.
The rest of the bathroom is ready with the toilet, the shower is to your back, and to the right is a smaller than expected walk in closet that will have further shelving. We also ordered a big mirror for the sink.
The concrete bed everyone hated last time has been covered in white concrete, the bedside tables are also permanent concrete ones. On the floor we put some wooden disks, and the fillings were supposed to be beige, another lost battle of mine, the floor ended up brownish (still drying to get the permanent color)
BF says the Flintstones would happily live here, and the floor looks like their clothes.
The glass door, shower door and mirror will be delivered this week. The shower should close tight enough to be a sauna too.
With a rooftop terrace that takes all the footprint of the room and bath, having a terrace at room level was not a must, nonetheless we built a small one, again, red paint won the fight, the red part would allow us to sit and the lower part to the right is the water evacuation, in case of heavy rain, all the water goes there and is redirected to the lake to avoid landslides.
On the upper floor, we had to close part of the terrace, and used a traditional technique to put wooden sticks in two lines, then fill the space between them with stones.
That part will give privacy to the two bedrooms in the main house.
And that one will give privacy to the neighbor if he decides to build. The top is the skylight from the shower.
Now we just need some steps to go from the terrace to the room downstairs!
I have lost track of the accounts since BF has taken over, we are just over $10K now, which is not to bad for almost two full levels or 40sqm each.
The electricity work is finished too, BF took care of that and did a fantastic job learning about three way switches so we can turn the lights on upstairs and off downstairs.
We also got an AC unit fitted, in case all the stone cave thing is not enough, I don’t like AC, did I really loose three battles in one week??
That is what you get when you spend the whole day blogging and swimming!
I kind of like the bathroom. It looks like it’s one step away from some of the bathrooms I’ve seen in high end restaurants.
thanks!
Bathroom looks great! Also looks like a solid vehicle that will serve you well. If I were you I would have bought the real estate : ) It sounds like he really needed the money or wouldn’t have offered all his stuff?!?
Also, you have to have AC! I’m not surprised you lost that battle.
I get sick with AC, but it is away from my part of the bed, so not complaining too much. I guess the guy had lots of debt to pay off, although he is just an intermediary on the land..
The bathroom looks great! Love it! Good job saying no on the additional real estate. We are real estate junkies as well, so I know how difficult that can be:)
I know! i am still shaking from the craving hehe
Pauline, the house is coming along wonderfully! LOVE that bathroom, and funny about BF’s Flintstones analogy. :-). I am amazed that you are building so cheaply. What a great place!
thanks Laurie, cheap labor helps a lot! I am surprised too though, some things are really cheap. Stone and wood were free which is a big saving.
That bathroom looks great Pauline! I love the sink, it’s so unique and reminds me of something you’d see in a nice high end restaurant or a magazine. Though, I would have to say the AC is a win. 😉
thanks John! AC makes me sick, too cold, too dry, but now I’ll have to win the temperature battles!
Looks great – hopefully the stone will keep it nice and cool throughout the year, so you won’t need to use that AC unit often at all =)
thank you. I expect AC to be really needed 2 weeks per year. Just have to manage it not to become a habit!
Like everyone else I really like the bathroom. I also agree with John that it looks like something you would see in a fancy pants restaurant or a high end spa. Out of curiosity how much for the land?
check your inbox!
Ohhh fancy bathroom! I love seeing the progress of your home. Enjoy your new car!
will do!
I love your bathroom! It looks great.
thank you!
I LOVE the bathroom! So cool!
and bug free, what else? 🙂
Wow, the bathroom looks awesome! My wife and I fantasize of having a similiar bathroom to your with no roof, just an outside bath to enjoy on sunny days. Of course we would have to move to the tropics first, having a bathroom with a foot of snow in it would be pretty rotten. Out of curiosity, what is your neighbor asking for the land by the lake and how large is it?
it was supposed to be open too, over an interior garden, but then we made it a sauna so it had to be sealed. Land details on your inbox!
Ohhhh! I love the sink!!! That’s great that they “got into it” with finding neat rocks for you to use. They are gorgeous.
thank you! yes we are very grateful, at the beginning it was hard to get them to understand the concept…
That bathroom looks awesome! It’s coming along nicely 🙂
Great job! Loving the bathroom. It looks very nice!
I love the bathroom and the stonework is amazing. It’s going to be a beautiful, paid-for home, Pauline! It sounds like you had a good week acquiring things that you needed. 🙂 And I’m sure this week you’ll win 3 arguments!
I hope so, thanks for the good karma!
Sounds and looks really lovely. Well done!
thanks Maria!
Sounds like quite a productive week! I love that bathroom 🙂
thank you!
It seems as though your little piece of paradise is coming along. I really like the bathroom. As far as the concrete bed, if there is a mattress on it then I’d imagine it would be as comfortable as a regular bed. I’d only be concerned with hitting my head on the table.
I wish you luck with your new modes of transportation. I agree that vehicles are sunken costs and not part of net worth.
Knocking my head against the stone or bedside table is a concern, but we are looking for something to put there, at least big pillows!
I can’t imagine not staying in one place for 4 months. The closest I’ve ever come to that is weekend getaways and my stays in the motel. And I couldn’t wait to get out of the motel and back into my own place!
I like going back home too, even though for a few months I had no home at all, I do the extremes, be homeless and travel, then get a home and don’t move at all for a while. Can’t find balance!
That looks like great fun Pauline; being able to unleash your creativity on your home in such a way. Beats my boring magnolia walls any day, and my grey little village. I can’t think of anything more idyllic than spending a day with my iPad and a good book on a boat gently rocking in the tranquility of a lake. If I was as adventurous in my travelling as you, I have to admit I’d be tempted by that lakeside land you say is for sale 🙂
It is a little piece of paradise, and doing things ourselves is great. I have to give credit to BF for most of the creativity!
Your bathroom looks really nice. I have often thought about putting in AC into our house, but the ongoing running costs normally turn me off it.
I would imagine AC as a must in Australia! But probably only inland. We got the unit for under $100 but electric cost should be over the roof. Hopefully it should be needed at most during 2-3 weeks.
Very nice shower room! Congratulations for the car and boat.
Looks amazing mate, when can we come visit lol. I love the bathroom and all the stone, very posh looking. I’m glad things are going well for you and yes it seems you lost some battles this week but it’s ok to do that once in a while… 😉
I am losing so many battles on the construction side the workers are starting to joke about it. I am half amused because I don’t really care that much, half annoyed because it is a macho country and they don’t see much beyond ”what the man say we listen to, what the woman say we don’t give a shit because the man will change it”. Best months to visit are November/December!
That’s not surprising to be honest. Perfect Nov and Dec are two months in Canada that I could see myself tanning and drinking a beer in the hot sun rather than shovelling like I will be. We are getting a massive snow storm!
brrr! I hope it is at least an excuse not to go to work!
You are going to have to make some serious headway with losing 3 battles this week! Love the stone work and how it’s all coming along.
Working on it! the workers are saying ”where pants rule, panties don’t rule” like whatever comes out of my mouth is insignificant since BF has been changing all I asked for lately. Argh!
Awesome update Pauline. Cars are expensive there. I could get the same vehicle for about $1,000, but there are many of them where I am. Thanks for the picture updates.
Wow I wouldn’t have thought that cheap. I am thinking about flying to the US and bringing back a car, it should pay for the awesome overland travel and a bit more. Import taxes are heavy though, especially on old vehicles, I know it makes no sense, that is because they used to import damages vehicles from the US, then barely repair them and put them back on the road, leading to tons of accidents. Now every old vehicle has to pay lots of taxes.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed!
Appropriate car must be consider, suzuki is not bad.