Shadows

Getting some of the shadows I was hoping for. The afternoon light does nice things. They did the finish coat of stucco on this section yesterday and it is almost dry to an even color. Would make a good paint color I think. The suggestion is to varnish the vent bricks/tiles and leave the natural color

Posada after work

Carne asada, friends and music. We quit work around 2 yesterday and started up the bar-b-que. Hugo brought over a bottle of Tequila, I bought some beer and people started to arrive. Didn't party late as many wanted to spend the evening with family

The workers diet

The workers diet is generally not very good and they eat a lot of it. Chicharron is a favorite and is cooked up every morning in multiple places around Melaque in these large vats. Wednesday is beef day at this Jaluco butcher shop ... along with the usual pork. You usually have to get there before 10am or it will be gone ... or at least the best parts of meat. Chicharrón is mainly skin but also any tender part of the animal ... cooked until it is unrecognizable and crunchy. One kilo of tortillas and a large bottle of Coke makes breakfast.

Carnitas is another breakfast favorite and these stores/restaurants usually close by noon. Carnitas (little meats) is boiled pork that can be ordered as meat only or about 1/4 fat. Carnitas usually come with tortillas and salsa.

The exceptions to this heavy, greasy diet are when one of the workers wife makes something at home and she brings it over. They live just a block away and often there are nice surprises. Still the large bottle of Coke is required.

Virgen de Guadalupe dance in Villa Pinal

I was out at the house today puttering around and our local taco lady came over to say her two girls were dancing in the Virgen de Guadalupe dance just down the street. Went over and was offered a seat (old folks you know) and a glass of juice while we watched.

The best I can say about these things is it's a study of indurance. The music doesn't change much, the dance steps do ... but they do this half hour dance a couple times a day over the celebration ... and will join the big parade tonight in Melaque

Want a shelf, these guys can build it

They are finishing up the bodega/workshop and I wanted a storage shelf around the room. This will also be the safe storage room for valuable stuff when I'm away. I put up a second layer of bricks on the outside walls up to the 2 meter level and this shelf sits on top of the second wall.

Then the re-bar to hold the cement together and the wood supports to hold it up for a day. They used 2" PVC cut in half as a mold for the front cap on the shelf. Very nice work, I'm really impressed

Hugo (Jugo) finishing the cement support

Oscar filling it

Finished shelf

Military giving out Mexican flags

Thursday the military were all over the area giving out Mexican flags but they missed our place. The workers found a couple extras and mounted this one on my tinaco yesterday morning. They found one for Jimmy's place so we both proudly fly the green, white and red.

Sunset from Pinal Villa

We get much prettier sunsets when we have a few clouds but lately there have been none. These are a couple shots from the second floor

Pinal Villa, Melaque Mexico

The Chiticahua are here

Chiticahua is what the migrant workers are called by all the locals, supposedly from the state of Guerrero. They are basically gypsies following the crops and December is chili season - weeding, thinning and picking in a few weeks. Pinal Villa and much of the Melaque area fills up with these people who have little money to pay rent.

Our neighbor two lots away has rented to a large family. His property has water and nothing else. The migrants sleep on the ground and use neighboring lots for their bathroom. Sandy, my Canadian neighbor, mentioned the other day she saw a woman heading for the lot next to me with a roll of toilet paper. Today I and 3 neighbors cleared and burned the lot of all the privacy providing tall grass and brush ... and then the adjoining lot so they didn't just move over a bit.

I feel sorry for the migrants but have no sympathy for land owners that can't provide the most basic facilities to their renters. Dig a frickin' hole and cover it when they leave at least !!

Lot next to mine

The second lot they cleared

Grey water and sewer

The last couple of days has been connecting the grey water from the upstairs laundry to a new fosa (septic) and registro (connection box). Since we don't have sewer in Pinal Villa everyone has septic tanks and it's not a good idea to mix laundry water with bathroom drainage. Also the house is 20 meters long and roof drainage may be an issue next summer. I may install an extra downspout beside the 3 roof drains in front.

Since we may have city sewer some day, the connection box will be used to redirect water to the street. The normal house drainage also has it's own connection box that can be directed to either the street or a separate septic. Both of these systems will meet next to the street in another connection box that the city will hook up to. A bit complicated but it should work well and I shouldn't have to re-engineer anything.

Six guys working on the house today kept me running!

Grey water fosa and registro

Putting a top on it

Connecting the house sewer to the grey water registro