The Beginning

Well, here Sandra and I are at Tres Marias Golf Course in Morelia, Michoacan. We have been in MORELIA for one year now, this June. This blog will share the story of our future home construction. We purchased a lot in July of 2004, after searching Mexico for about 7 summers looking for a retirement community. We decided on Morelia because of the beauty and tranquility of the 16th century colonial city, its size (600,000-not too big nor too small), the mild weather, an international airport, centralized location to many of our favorite places in Mexico, and Tres Marias Residential Golf Course which will offer us many recreational opportunities. After one year living in a rental apartment we have not regretted our decision to live here. The weather is indeed outstanding, many cultural and recreational activities, wonderful central district, great restaurants and food, and we have met some very nice people. The challenges have been my limited Spanish and dealing with the government offices and red tape getting visas, bank accounts, apostle's, translations of documents etc.. I don't think I could have made it on my own. Thank God, Sandra is fluent in Spanish and knows the culture and customs of government offices in Mexico! All in all, the past year has flow by very rapidly and I have learned a lot, especially not to get in a hurry or get frustrated about the way things are done. I have pretty much learned not to compare the way things are done in the United States with life in Mexico. Things are much more laid back here and a type A personality will not do well. Well here's a salute to our move and this blog will now chronicle our house building project.

Happy Days!

Week 1 June 5-June 11, 2006

Our lot before any grading or construction has begun. The first photo was taken from the street below, while the second photo was taken from street level.

Sandra and I returned from a short trip to Guadalajara and were surprised to find that cleaning of our lot and trenching for the foundation had begun. We had been waiting since January for this to happen, but as I have said before things move at their own pace here in Mexico. We have been working closely with our architect, Arturo Vargas, for about 8 months getting the plans prepared and approved by the Tres Marias architecture committee. The lot is 1031 square meters and sits high up above the canyon where the golf course lies. Here is a photo of Sandra walking the lot. As you can see, not many other houses near by. Currently, there is only one house occupied and 5 under construction in our part of the development. We are excited to be one of the first homes and being able to witness the progress of neighboring home construction.

The photos below show the first weeks work digging the foundation for the bottom floor of our house. The lot is slopping, so a retaining wall (muro de contencion) made of rock will arise up out of the trenches to support the first floor.



These photos show views taken from our lot looking down into the canyon toward the golf course and club house. There are tennis courts, handball courts, horse stables, swimming pools, soccer fields, gymnasiums, pro shop and restaurants located near the club house.













Well, after the first week of work Sandra and I are very excited. We have been waiting many months for this work to begin!!