Neighbor Worries
I've been worrying about my neighbor up the street, that I may have offended her. Neighbor relations in Guanajuato can get very tricky. She is not my next-door neighbor, fortunately; she's across the callejon (alley) and up the hill about four houses.
R provides room and board to Spanish-language students. Barry and I, and I alone, have stayed with her for 2 or 3 months, all told, in various visits over six years. The last time I stayed with her, in December, was when I was searching for the house we bought. While with her, I met D, a Canadian woman who is renting a room in R's home long-term while divorcing her husband and re-examining her life. D and I hit it off immediately.
I do like R, too. After my early-morning run most mornings in December, I'd sit in her kitchen drinking coffee and chatting with her while she cut up fruit for breakfast. R is Barry's age (early 60s), divorced, and lives with her single 40-something son. Mexican children live with their parents until they get married, all their lives if they don't marry.
D has a car down here. She told us if we wanted to go to Leon, the nearby city where people often shop because prices are lower, or other places, feel free to ask. So this week when I found out I had to go back to San Miguel (1 1/4 hours away) to pick up my residential visa, I wanted to ask her for a ride. But this week here has been so overwhelming with house details that I avoided going over or calling because I had the sense that I would, to be courteous, need to visit with R first rather than just ask for D. I just didn't have the time or energy to visit with R. I'm pretty sure D has a cell phone, so I can hopefully in the future reach her directly, but I don't know it.
One day, getting more and more anxious about my impending deadline to pick up the visa (a deadline, I later learned, that was not as rigid as I had made it!), I picked up the phone and called R's, and without saying who I was or greeting her, asked for D.
"Is this Louisa?" R asked. "Yes," I said.
"D is in Leon today."
"I'm sorry I haven't been over to see you, I've been overwhelmed with the house," I said.
"I'm here when you have the time," she said.
I still feel uneasy.
R provides room and board to Spanish-language students. Barry and I, and I alone, have stayed with her for 2 or 3 months, all told, in various visits over six years. The last time I stayed with her, in December, was when I was searching for the house we bought. While with her, I met D, a Canadian woman who is renting a room in R's home long-term while divorcing her husband and re-examining her life. D and I hit it off immediately.
I do like R, too. After my early-morning run most mornings in December, I'd sit in her kitchen drinking coffee and chatting with her while she cut up fruit for breakfast. R is Barry's age (early 60s), divorced, and lives with her single 40-something son. Mexican children live with their parents until they get married, all their lives if they don't marry.
D has a car down here. She told us if we wanted to go to Leon, the nearby city where people often shop because prices are lower, or other places, feel free to ask. So this week when I found out I had to go back to San Miguel (1 1/4 hours away) to pick up my residential visa, I wanted to ask her for a ride. But this week here has been so overwhelming with house details that I avoided going over or calling because I had the sense that I would, to be courteous, need to visit with R first rather than just ask for D. I just didn't have the time or energy to visit with R. I'm pretty sure D has a cell phone, so I can hopefully in the future reach her directly, but I don't know it.
One day, getting more and more anxious about my impending deadline to pick up the visa (a deadline, I later learned, that was not as rigid as I had made it!), I picked up the phone and called R's, and without saying who I was or greeting her, asked for D.
"Is this Louisa?" R asked. "Yes," I said.
"D is in Leon today."
"I'm sorry I haven't been over to see you, I've been overwhelmed with the house," I said.
"I'm here when you have the time," she said.
I still feel uneasy.
posted by Louisa at 6:35 PM
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