This blog will be all about the new house. So many of you have asked what it’s like so I will give you a tour. Lots of pics will follow so allow some time. We live in a very wealthy neighborhood…we’re the poor folks, here, believe me. Our house and the house west of us are both rental houses. Because the economy is struggling here, we were able to rent this house for only $25 more than we were paying previously. American style houses rent for outlandish amounts here and so we were pleased to have found something that we hope will prove to be secure and be made to feel like home.
I will have to take a picture of some of the other houses so you can see the type of neighborhood we’re in but I didn’t want to wait any longer to get the pictures of our house posted, so you’ll have to wait to see those another time. The reason the neighborhood is important is that most of these houses have security cameras, dogs and armed guards. Those are all deterrents and we’re hoping that anyone interested in breaking in will assume this neighborhood is too difficult. One of our neighbors has two very noise-sensitive dogs that alert us to every walker, cat or pig that happens to pass by…we’re not complaining.
The people who lived here before us took the “guts” out of the alarm system here but maybe the appearance of one will make a casual thief think twice. Our yard is surrounded with a concrete wall topped by razor wire. The walk in gate is padlocked and the drive-in gate has two padlocks. All doors and windows have bars with the exterior doors all having padlocks that are designed to be bolt-cutter-proof and pick-proof…for whatever that really means. The wooden doors’ locks aren’t the best but we’re much more secure here than we were in the old house…or at least we believe we are. We’re still in the process of trying to find a night guard who is trustworthy and won’t sleep on the job! A difficult combination, it seems.
The area we live in is about 2 ½ kilometers closer to Managua than we were before. It is what used to be a little community called Ticomo and the residential area we live in is called Lomas de Ticomo…the Hills of Ticomo. It appears to be much quieter than where we were before. We have a beautiful view and are high enough that we get a pretty good breeze…that’s worth the extra money each month, believe me! Our yard has coconut trees, platanos and a reserve water tank! Another added benefit since 24 hour availability of water is so sporadic. The pressure is good early in the morning and late at night with it pretty weak during the day. We just make sure we take showers either very early or very late! And I have already learned to allow an hour to an hour and a half to do a load of wash. The clothesline gets morning to early afternoon sun. We’re still close to the same bus route so we were able to retain Freddy and Margarita. I can’t tell you how much that means to us…they’re an important part of our lives here. Okay…now for the tour...won't you come in?
This is the front of the house. I'm taking the picture from inside the front gates. Jim is taking a break on the porch after having moved some of our plants. I'm sure at that point he was wondering why we couldn't have had a love for stamps or something else small and lightweight...his poor back!
This is our little upper front yard right inside the gates. It is about the only place that has nice grass...the rest of the yard is coarse grass and weeds.
This is looking down at the side yard from the upper yard. The lot is triangular shaped and all of the yard is on one side of the house. This is also wher
e the reserve water tank is located...it's tucked in with the platanos. The concrete wall borders the carport on the other side.These next two photos are of the 
rest of the side yard and the back yard...and a load of laundry utilizing our solar 
dryer! Take a peek over the concrete wall and you'll see the top of an inactive volcano called Cerro Motastepe. It is now a protected area by the government, shadowing the Nejapa Laguna and is one of my favorite sites in Managua.
rest of the side yard and the back yard...and a load of laundry utilizing our solar 
dryer! Take a peek over the concrete wall and you'll see the top of an inactive volcano called Cerro Motastepe. It is now a protected area by the government, shadowing the Nejapa Laguna and is one of my favorite sites in Managua. These pictures are of the side and back of the house...yes, it's true, we have a basement...it's a walk-out basement but it's still a basement. They're not very common here. The picture on the left is from the carp
ort. The one on the right is of our very small deck that is off the kitchen and wraps around to the spare bedroom.
ort. The one on the right is of our very small deck that is off the kitchen and wraps around to the spare bedroom.
Oh, here's our latest acquisition. We've been looking for a small patio set ever since we arrived here in the country, but they're just ridiculously expensive. Now that we're in this house, the deck is so narrow, we didn't think we could find anything that would work for us. We came 
across this set today at a store that carries a little bit of 
everything. It was on sale for $84 American. We were thrilled to find something that would fit and that wasn't over $200 so we didn't hesitate to get it. It's not a heavy duty set by any means, but we will certainly enjoy it. When we got the box home, we discoverd the set had these tags on the chairs! Imagine our surprise. Not so much that it was a Wal-Mart item...we see that name every now and then on items here...nope, the surprise was that we paid only $10 more than we would have paid for it in the States! Jim thinks that was a pretty cheap shipping and handling charge to get it to Nicaragua!
Okay, that's the outside...hope you have a good idea of how the house is laid out. Now, please come inside. Stepping through the front door, you are immediately in the dining room
area. You Right past the dining room table, on the left and just past the carport door, is our little reading nook. That's the fancy name for the only place we could find to put this wicker rocker! To keep up with the false airs, please note the cozy and efficient combination foyer and entry area to the right. Another handy area to tuck a rocker. The little half circle cut out above the rocker looks down on the basement steps...it has a like cut out in the breakfast area. Just past the breakfast table, you step up in to the spacious gourmet kitchen. Not! It's very small compared to the kitchen in the old 
house, but it works. We had to purchase the tall free-standin
g cabinet to have a place to put our food and paper goods. The kitchen actually has more cabinets than do most typical Nicaraugan homes.
across this set today at a store that carries a little bit of 
everything. It was on sale for $84 American. We were thrilled to find something that would fit and that wasn't over $200 so we didn't hesitate to get it. It's not a heavy duty set by any means, but we will certainly enjoy it. When we got the box home, we discoverd the set had these tags on the chairs! Imagine our surprise. Not so much that it was a Wal-Mart item...we see that name every now and then on items here...nope, the surprise was that we paid only $10 more than we would have paid for it in the States! Jim thinks that was a pretty cheap shipping and handling charge to get it to Nicaragua!Okay, that's the outside...hope you have a good idea of how the house is laid out. Now, please come inside. Stepping through the front door, you are immediately in the dining room
area. You Right past the dining room table, on the left and just past the carport door, is our little reading nook. That's the fancy name for the only place we could find to put this wicker rocker! To keep up with the false airs, please note the cozy and efficient combination foyer and entry area to the right. Another handy area to tuck a rocker. The little half circle cut out above the rocker looks down on the basement steps...it has a like cut out in the breakfast area. Just past the breakfast table, you step up in to the spacious gourmet kitchen. Not! It's very small compared to the kitchen in the old 
house, but it works. We had to purchase the tall free-standin
g cabinet to have a place to put our food and paper goods. The kitchen actually has more cabinets than do most typical Nicaraugan homes.Wow! That kitchen looks pretty good in the picture. If you could see it in person, you would notice that the counter top tiles are chipped, cracked and broken in numerous places. The base ca
binets are set on rough finished concrete - no cabinet base, no tile. The faucet is new...because Jim had to replace the old one. It was broken. Th
e shallow stainless sink is rusted in places and is missing strainer baskets on both sinks...sounds simple but those little gems appear to be rare finds here. With all that being said, I'm making it work. It's light a
nd I've got a great view out 
the kitchen window. In just a few short days, I've learned to look past the concrete wall and through the concertina wire...it's a good kitchen. Here's our little breakfast nook...okay, once again, it's about the only the place to put this table. Actually, it's really nice there as it sits in line between the front door and the back and we get a pretty good breeze there.
binets are set on rough finished concrete - no cabinet base, no tile. The faucet is new...because Jim had to replace the old one. It was broken. Th
e shallow stainless sink is rusted in places and is missing strainer baskets on both sinks...sounds simple but those little gems appear to be rare finds here. With all that being said, I'm making it work. It's light a
nd I've got a great view out 
the kitchen window. In just a few short days, I've learned to look past the concrete wall and through the concertina wire...it's a good kitchen. Here's our little breakfast nook...okay, once again, it's about the only the place to put this table. Actually, it's really nice there as it sits in line between the front door and the back and we get a pretty good breeze there.
Back in the dining room, we are now looking in to the living room. It has two entries...one from the dining room area and the other from the bedroom hall. We managed to get the upholstered furniture in there plus a c
ouple of rockers. The tv now sits on the bamboo unit we were previously using for our "media center"...in other words, it used to hold the laptops and our printer. But since that wall is so 
large, we decided to turn it into a tv cabinet. Of course, we have to have the fan - that's standard equipment for just about any room. The end tables are the sleek and stylish action packers that we used to pack our belongings in when we moved to Nicaragua. Oh, yes, please note the spicy, contemporary curtains...they're our shower curtains from the previous house. They really don't look too bad.Now we'll go take a quick look at the two bedrooms we have upstairs. Both have bathrooms attached. There is another small unfinished room downstairs that could be a bedroom 
and 
there's a small maid's bathroom with it. The utility room is down there also. The fourth bedroom is actually only accessible through the outside. It, too, has it's own bathroom. Only the bathrooms upstairs have widow-makers in the showers...hot water. And that's only because we replaced the non-working units that were in there...I won't d
iscuss our landlady here. Suffice
to say that we have different ideas of what "working" means. Jim also has had to repl
ace the "guts" to all four toilets...again, a different viewpoint re: the terms working and functional. And while I'm thinking about it, he also had to caulk the shower as it was leaking. He always has been good at household repairs, but he's really being put to the test this week. Okay...here's our bedroom and bath. You will see a window unit a/c installed in the wall...sounds like a wonderful asset to a house in this climate. It probably is if it works. This one doesn't.
This is the hallway leading to the back bedroom. This actually is my favorite bedroom. It has great light, excellent ventilation and a door that opens out on to the little deck. You can see it from the outside in the pictures above that show the back of the house. It sits directly above the 4th bedroom which I said had to be 
accessed from the outside. It also has its own bathroom and a small closet. There are actually only 2 closets upstairs and 1 closet in the basement. Not a lot of "hidden" storage. This back bedroom is currently acting as our junk/storage/ironing room until we g
et a bookcase and a bed for that room. We will be doing that in the next couple of weeks as we have company coming for Christmas!!!!! And because we d
on't want any of us sleeping on a couch or the floor, we will be making that room much more welcoming than it is right now.
and 
there's a small maid's bathroom with it. The utility room is down there also. The fourth bedroom is actually only accessible through the outside. It, too, has it's own bathroom. Only the bathrooms upstairs have widow-makers in the showers...hot water. And that's only because we replaced the non-working units that were in there...I won't d
iscuss our landlady here. Sufficeto say that we have different ideas of what "working" means. Jim also has had to repl
ace the "guts" to all four toilets...again, a different viewpoint re: the terms working and functional. And while I'm thinking about it, he also had to caulk the shower as it was leaking. He always has been good at household repairs, but he's really being put to the test this week. Okay...here's our bedroom and bath. You will see a window unit a/c installed in the wall...sounds like a wonderful asset to a house in this climate. It probably is if it works. This one doesn't.
This is the hallway leading to the back bedroom. This actually is my favorite bedroom. It has great light, excellent ventilation and a door that opens out on to the little deck. You can see it from the outside in the pictures above that show the back of the house. It sits directly above the 4th bedroom which I said had to be 
accessed from the outside. It also has its own bathroom and a small closet. There are actually only 2 closets upstairs and 1 closet in the basement. Not a lot of "hidden" storage. This back bedroom is currently acting as our junk/storage/ironing room until we g
et a bookcase and a bed for that room. We will be doing that in the next couple of weeks as we have company coming for Christmas!!!!! And because we d
on't want any of us sleeping on a couch or the floor, we will be making that room much more welcoming than it is right now.Well, that's our house. Thanks for coming to take a look....let us know if you would like to see it in person!
1 comment:
you could dress up a back alley and make it inviting! And Poppy can fix anything, anywhere! You two are a God sized combo.
Miss you and glad you are SAFE!
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