Living in Coyoacan

We are officialy residents of Coyoacan after spending our first night in the apartment. Anna and Jose and I have our bedrooms set up and our clothes put away in our closets (how we missed closets). The entire apartment has floral and stripped cream colored wall paper that we have quickly become attached to. Big windows in each room provide natural light all day long. The kitchen is much smaller than the kitchen in Chimalhuacan, but it has cabinets so there is a lot more storage. I am happy to trade the old kitchen for the new.

The apartment has two baclonies, one off the kitchen and one off of the two main bedrooms. Although its small, we have spent a lot of time on the bedroom balcony already, and Cholula hangs out there checking out the other dogs in the complex.

Our living room and the guest room are still totally empty. This apartment is so much bigger than the last that what felt like a lot of stuff in Chimalhuacan looks like nothing now. We are going to try to find a couch and dining table for the living room soon, and we would like to set up the guest room for anyone who wants to visit.

We have met Edna, the building manager, and Alicia, our downstairs neighbor, who are both shocked by how young we are and treat us like grandmothers. Alicia has a poodle (one of the five poodles I have already seen at the complex) who Cholula met yesterday. We also met the maintence man, Alfredo, who cleans our building and takes our trash for us. Everyone has been friendly and welcoming.

We walked around the center last night, and it was really busy because it was a Saturday night. It was almost all couples and groups of friends strolling with coffee and churros. Anna hadn`t seen Coyoacan on a weekend night before, and she was surprised by how much it changed. I think it will be nice for us to have the center to go to on weekends and have a little more excitment.

I am shocked by how different I feel after just one night in Coyoacan. I feel more like myself than I have since October and I am already enjoying life more. I can walk comfortably down our street and admire how beautiful everything is. I can get the food I want and I have hot water for the shower and a sink in my kitchen. It was a really good choice to move, and I am incedibly excited to learn what this life is really going to turn into. I haven`t been excited about the future for awhile, but I am truly excited now.

-Emma