The drywall installation is really going well at the cabin. It has been quite the job for just Britton and Waldemar to do alone, but we’re gettin’ ‘er done. Before we got started we needed to fill any little cavities or crevices that a bee or bat could enter in the walls. We were thinking of using insulation but were having a hard time finding any. Since we won’t have air conditioning or heating at the cabin it wasn’t actually needed for the purpose of keeping in heat or cold, but rather just for keeping the critters out. So we went around and filled each little crevice, crack and hole with expanding foam.
Filling crevices with foam
The next task was to order and then move over the drywall. We can drive the truck about half-way to the cabin. It is definitely a good thing we have 4 wheel drive. In Puerto Rico there is often an opportunity or need to use it. Here at our finca we drive on our grass at least 3 or 4 times a week.
Truck halfway down loaded with drywall
Next, Britton and Waldemar carried over each 2-pack of drywall. That means 30 trips up and down through the jungle from the truck and back, through the tropical gardens, across the sky bridge, up the curving stairs, onto the deck and into the house. That took all of one day.
Just a portion of the drywall
Next was the actual install. This is where you could really start to see the house take shape and what the rooms will really look like. It made the house feel a little smaller but much brighter.
Living room
Kitchen
Nothing is ever as simple or easy as you would like. The order came with the wrong screws and we ran out of tape. So that meant more trips back to Mayaguez. We bought a lot of the materials at a drywall place, but we also made many a stop at Home Depot.
You never know where you will see horses around here. In the Home Depot parking lot
We are getting closer and closer. They are now mudding and taping and then we will paint the walls. After that comes the subfloor! Though there is always something to think about, things are coming together beautifully.
When we’re not working on the house, we have to keep up with the gardening! This is a new white torch ginger
Let’s start with the good news. I got my Puerto Rico driver’s license and I didn’t even have to take any tests! Woohoo!
Bad news: It took three trips to two different offices and almost a full day’s wait.
Mayaguez CESCO (plus lottery tickets sold out front under the Virgin Mary)
First we went to the Mayaguez branch of Obras Publicas/DTOP/CESCO and found the line extending basically out the door. We at least got the paperwork we needed and found out that Colorado still has reciprocity with Puerto Rico so I wouldn’t have to take a practical or written driving exam as long as I had a valid (not expired like was Britton’s case). We thought the line was extremely long considering that once Britton had jumped through all the exam hoops he was able to get his ID within about 1 hour in Aguadilla and there was virtually no line. So we made plans to go to Aguadilla some time later that week rather than wait in a line about 100 people deep that did not seem to be moving at all. Mayaguez is a bigger city than Aguadilla so it would make sense to be a little busier.
Almost to the front of one of many lines in Aguadilla
When the day came to drive up to Aguadilla, we arrived around 10am to an equally long line just to the information desk. We decided to go get the doctor’s exam and stamps first so that everything would be ready to go! The doctor’s exam is just a formality. The woman had me look at the eye chart for about 2 seconds! Just a hoop, quick and easy. Just pay her $28 including the sellos too. We then waited in the information line for about 30 minutes only to be asked where our “turno” ticket was. We didn’t need to take a number last time we came with Britton 6 months ago so we had no idea about this.
We did have everything we needed for a reciprocity license though:
1) Proof of residence (water or electric bill)
2) Original Social Security Card
3) Valid current driver’s license from the state with reciprocity
4) Birth Certificate
5) Doctor’s form
6) $11 in Government stamps (can be purchased many places but we bought them along with the doctor note)
7) Complete filled out one-page information form
Ready with everything
The guy at the registration desk said that since the US is requiring PR to phase in the Real ID program in order to better track people it has caused an increase in people from all over the island to the few offices like Aguadilla that has it. I don’t want or need a Real ID since we have passports so this was a huge headache. (And as an aside, if these are so-called “Real IDs” are all of the others fake according to the government?) All I need is a regular driver’s license.
He said that whereas before (like when Britton was there not long ago) they served maybe 500 people a day, they now are processing about 1000! That is why they instituted this turno number system thing because they can’t do any more than that in a day though probably 2000 try. In addition to more work required by the US, they have fewer staff due to cutbacks from the budget crisis! He said, no joke, that we should have gotten there at 5am in order to get in a line for a number and that by 7am, before the offices even open, they are “sold out.” Then with that number you wait in this line that I had stepped into to “activate” the number so that you could sit and wait for 4-5 hours to be called. What is this locura!?
I think he could see our desperation at having now done this line thing twice and not gone anywhere, so he sort of pulled us aside and said that at 5pm most of the crowd is gone and that if they finish all the backed up cue, that we could possibly slide in. But it would be a risk because they close the doors completely at 7pm. Still, we felt like we had been given a special code to this particular game. The friendly clerk was taking pity on us. They may be overworked, but everyone there was super helpful to us.
So we drove back home to Rincón to wait and stopped in Aguada at our favorite little Pollo al Carbon spot.
At the start of Almuerzo this smoker is filled to the brim with chicken
Yum. Good food beats out the bureaucracy blues.
Here’s a quick video of the spot. I think it’s called Rancho Carbon Express and it’s right on the 115. You will see it billowing out lots of smoke with a bunch of chicken roasting. Straight up inexpensive and delicious Puerto Rican street food.
Finally the time came to once again drive back to Aguadilla. We arrived around 4:30pm. The security guard at the front desk must have been informed about us by the previous person as he was expecting us (we apparently still stand out haha!). He told us it would be a LONG wait, but that we should be served if we stuck around. So we camped out and read.
This is the waiting area AFTER most of the lines had cleared out
About 5:30 I got my photo taken and then moved into a tighter group of the remaining people. By 6:30 I was getting nervous that we would be kicked out and have to return but Britton didn’t think so since they took my photo that day they would probably process it. As each number dinged and my name didn’t appear I still had my doubts. 7:00pm rolls around and the janitorial crew starts sweeping under our feet with the remaining 10 or so people. Finally, “Siguiente” was my call to come forward. The woman asked me in Spanish, “Are you sure you want to get a Puerto Rican license after all this?” Yes it was a long wait, but it must be an even longer day for them! I thanked them for working late in order to process my paperwork. About 10 minutes later my license was printed and I was walked out the door by the security guard who had changed into his street clothes. It was by now 7:30pm. I must have just slid through thanks to these great people. Phew. Thankfully I shouldn’t have to do this again for another 6 years or so!
With my license! We were the last ones in the parking lot! Do I look a little loca? Haha. It was then time for a beer by the beach to celebrate!
Last Monday we attended and I participated in the 2nd Annual Rincón Hot Sauce Contest. It was a pretty rainy day, but cleared up quite a bit toward the evening. I competed with a mango-jalapeño sauce that was somewhat similar to my award winning sauce, Hot Kiss, from last year. I gathered and used the mangos that continue to grow and fall from the huge tree above our cabana.
Some mangos and jalapeños
I also made another cute label. This time the sauce was called Mango Jalapeño Tango.
Britton says they were “salsa” dancing 🙂
Considering the rain and cooler weather there was a pretty decent turnout. We had fun trying all the different salsas. Of course there were some that were just too hot for my taste and took a whole can of beer to wash the burning sensation away!
Set up at the Rincón Balneario
¡Cuidado!
We hung out for quite a while. We even saw our neighbor and his uncle hanging out at the Balneario bar. I had him come over to the event and I think he regretted it. His face turned bright red after eating the burning peanuts. I tried to warn him to only have one peanut but he ate about 3! Pobrecito!
Our neighbor José on the far right turned the color of Britton’s shirt after eating the pique.
Later that evening the psychedelic/rock punk band Blacks en Tela played live and we enjoyed hanging out and hula hooping. About half-way through they tallied all the votes and announced the winners. I won 1st place for best label art and 3rd place for best flavor overall! Not too shabby! (You can find a full list of the winners at this page.)
Jamie, Trina and I were three of the winners and we won these great tie-died shirts
It was also the evening of the summer solstice and we saw a beautiful sunset before the full moon. Overall a fun, fantastic evening. Thanks Frances and Greg for all your hard work in putting this together!
Agua y luz. Water and electricity. When you move into a house, this is what makes it a house and not just a shed or storage area. We recently finished up the electricity installation including the fans and it really makes it feel like home when you can just turn on the lights at night, the fans when it gets hot, or turn on a little music.
Outdoor fans for the front deck
Britton also framed in the last bit of the wall and the bathroom loft area. We are in the home stretch!
Bedroom fan and framed wall
Rafters above the bathroom and closet
To install water at the cabin, Britton connected about 300 feet of 1/2 inch tubing, buried about half of it, crossed the property, affixed it beneath the sky bridge and then connected it to the cabin.
Waterline where it travels under the bridge
Waterline where it connects from the bridge to the cabin
Next up was internal copper water lines which Britton soldered. Thankfully we have plenty of leftover copper pipes that we reused from the old wooden house and so this was fairly inexpensive. Britton has also worked a little with copper piping before and so this went fast. There was one pipe rupture but Britton fixed it pretty quickly.
Bathroom plumbing and wiring are ready!
You could call this the house that Britton built. Almost everything he did himself or with one other helper. There has not been a moment when he was not working hands on. An amazing feat. It can take a little longer when it’s just you and you’re learning as you go, but he has been a champ. He’s done a great job!
We are now on to the next phase. The skin. Drywall should arrive this upcoming week and Britton and Waldemar will begin installation. It’s all coming together and really starting to feel like a house. I can’t wait to move in!
Truck halfway down loaded with drywall
Living room
You never know where you will see horses around here. In the Home Depot parking lot
