Casa de Canche

Day two at work: not too shabby, actually.

Did a bang-up job with the international news section, and even found an editorial to serve as our attached document of the day. (From a Mexican newspaper stating that Bush’s appointment of John “dirty hands” Negroponte as the new ambassador to Iraq just proves how nervous Bush is about the situation there.)

I fixed Javier’s Outlook program so he can receive email again. I also deleted 282 spyware / adware files from Quique’s computer so maybe, just maybe, the office’s sluggish internet access (which runs through his desktop) will pick up its currently sluggish pace.

I spent most of the afternoon in a fairly fruitless search for housing. All I’m looking for is a plain one-bedroom apartment with running water (for at least a few hours a day) within walking distance of the office. And I’m willing to walk quite far.

The prices I’ve been quoted so far have been outrageous and out-of-my-range-ous. So far, they have run from roughly Q1000 per month ($125) for the truly far-flung funky places to Q2,500 /mo ($300) for the fully-furnished flats down the street.

So I guess my dream of an Q800 “little bit of heaven in downtown Guatemala City” apartment is about to be dashed on the rocks of real estate reality.

Still, there might be an acceptable compromise… and you’ll never guess where!

Oh… good guess.

Yep, the Edificio el Centro! My old stomping grounds… although I never really did stomp, out of respect for my neighbors below. There’s an apartment on the twelfth floor (which would mean a four-floor “demotion” from my previous nest-on-high) that’s going for Q1300/mo ($160).

Which is still a major chunk of change when one’s salary is only $500 per month. Still, I need to find a place before I drive Javier too crazy, and sleeping in Central Park really isn’t an option (something about those cat-sized rats that give me the willies).

So… I’m going to check out the apartment tomorrow at 11 am. If it’s in decent shape, and facing the right way (I couldn’t live in that building without a view of the National Palace… it would be too tough a reminder of what I used to have)… I might just take it!!!