New Spaces

My friend Connie says that I'm picky, kind of like a male princess, because I like things to be inexpensive yet nice and to come easily. Like learning Spanish with the least possible effort and finding nice apartments that only cost a little. Or sitting on my bed writing a blog with a state-of-the-art computer and sun streaming through the windows while record-setting snowstorms hit Ontario. Am I really like that?

As I stood in front of the blue door, I was a bit worried about the impression I'd made the day before on the phone and not knowing the landlord's name. I wondered, is this my apartment on the left here, this small space with the tiny window? As a clairsentient psychic*, I thrive on energetic space. In my ground floor apartments in Toronto and Vancouver I would actually get shudders from feeling the negative energy of people walking or driving by, kind of like drinking a margarita and getting a mouthful of deet. Of course this tended to make me as cranky as a Tim Hortons addict in a long Monday morning lineup. Not a good situation. It also helps to have lots of light and as a moderately severe dyslexic I need organization. (This might sound high-maintenance but as Ron would tell you from the times he's hosted me in Victoria I'm not high-maintenance in the least little tiny bit.)

A stately Welsh-Canadian ex-pat with a beard opened the door, and to my delight introduced himself as Dave and invited me in. I told myself, at least try and make a good impression. I picked up the smallest bags intending to leave them inside the door and quickly come back for the other two. But before I could do that Dave picked the others up and led me into a beautiful walled-in yard with a house on the right and a spiral of moulded concrete stairs ahead of us. As we climbed the steps I was thinking, this doesn't feel right, I do look like a lazy male princess with a porter. The next thing you know I'll be wearing fancy sunglasses and bicycle shorts and running into pedestrians while talking on a cell phone in a silver SUV. I told Dave, I don't know how you ended up with the heavy bags, and he tersely said, it's because you took the light ones. I thought, this is a great start!

Sounding like Sean Connery with his Welsh accent, Dave showed me around the pequeño apartment. I immediately appreciated its intelligent design. A bright kitchen overlooking the yard, a pull-out pantry, a gas fireplace, windows to the patio beside the bed, a stone bathroom, wireless internet and even a local Mexican phone line. Windows almost all round, the patio and a wall as a buffer from the street, and no one above me! I felt like I was in a funky treehouse of energetic freedom.

As Dave headed off to Spanish class I took a walk around the neighborhood. It was flat. Dusty sunny roads, empty lots, and a dry riverbed running perpendicular to the street. Lots of open space. I loved it.

And it turned out that what I'd thought to be diffidence in Dave was simply purposefulness. He and his wife Jo were excellent hosts. When he got back from Spanish class Dave drove me around the neighborhood pointing out the most useful stores. Then a couple of days later after I helped in the garden for about four seconds he and Jo invited me for a beer in the backyard which turned into a dinner of aromatic cheeses, avocado salad, and delicious spiced beef from the Tuesday market. Dave ran to the store to get more beer and we chatted about the neighborhood and places to travel. He and Jo told were off to visit the hot springs for a few days. We discussed the book which I'd been helping my dad prepare for publication, a historical novel that spans two generations. Later Dave and Jo described their experience of buying the house and living in a small room upstairs while the main house was remodeled and discussed the improvements that they were continuing to make, especially in the garden. They'd decided to use less space in the house so that they could maximize the outdoor space. As Dave put it, they realized they didn't need as much indoor space as they thought they did.

Meanwhile, it was as if the whole neighborhood sensed I was new. My next door neighbor, William from southern California, introduced himself and showed me around his house. I found a cafe nearby which had fantastic Americano coffee, friendly gringos, and a beautiful sun-soaked patio. Sharing a table with a woman from New England one crowded day, she told me about an introductory Spanish class which had an expressive and flamboyant professor and was the best class in the university. As I finished my mushroom and cheese omelette I realized that the perfect Spanish class for a dyslexic had just shown up. However it had already been running for a month. In Canada it would be impossible to get in to a university course that late. But this was Mexico. Would they let me in here? Would I even understand a word they were saying? It might be a challenge, but I decided to head down to the university and see if they would let a clueless gringo enroll.

To be continued...


*Clairsentience involves sensing and reading energy and the information it contains.