Inside and outside

Small miracle: the van fit through the wooden gate-door thingy.
Steam rising from its worn tire treads,
it then rested in our beautiful courtyard.

Like a family of moles (if moles weren't mostly blind and mostly underground), we've dug ourselves into our new house here. We spend a lot of time at home, which is a novelty, and it feels relaxing, mole-cozy. Here are the sights.

The kitchen, already all ready for us. 

The living room,  as we begin to junk it up with our...junk.

Junkification...moving like a sinister vapor
through the kitchen, up the stairs.

Landspeed record for
bedroom customization.

Record holder and Hunger Games fan.

First things first in Oscar's room.

Scout, Beaver, and (in the background)
bottles of BOD aftershave
and showergel.

Nearing completion.

Satisfied inhabitant of a room that
comes with a patio-balcony.

  

The view from the street, as soon as they'd unpacked.

And blame Richard Scarry and Sesame Street: who among us is not susceptible to the charm of a colorful neighborhood with small shops dedicated to work that's...tangible? (I mean, no one is offering "business solutions" or wanting to maximize anything, so far as we understand.) We love walking around and taking it all in.  Here are the sights in our immediate neighborhood (as a formal exercise and to support the statements above, we've limited this tour to to a one-block radius from our house).

Start here: our house, low and orange, near left.

Nice family we met outside
one day.

La hija mayor.

Across the street is the Taller Leñateros: the paper-making workshop.

Beautiful and strange murals on the outside of the taller.

More mural.

A press, I guess.

Molded paper 
(your book can read you, too.)

                        

Huge mural on the back wall of the taller, on a different street. 

A store and small cafe around the corner, operated by or dedicated to 'Mely' (not his/her real name?).

Groceries, wine, liquor; check.

 Farther down the same street is the pediatrician's office.

The front door is a shower door, we discovered.

We have to check this out: the House of Bossa Nova, Jazz, and Soul Music; the House of the Sun and Love; and somehow also the Mayan World.

I like the legs on those hipsters. Crazy!

The colors of some of the houses are wonderful.

Have to be careful not to look directly at that blue
when you're walking past.

Más verde.

The painter's shop is right next door to the climbing gym.

We'll have to peek inside here some day.

The kids have given lots of ink to this in their blogs. 

Building strength, character, and hand calluses.

 This is right across the street from the climbing gym: calling all superñinos and princesas.

I really appreciate that this is not a "child development center"
nor a "preschool" --- it's INFANT PARKING.

 This house sells religious prints and ceramic señoras.

The Last Supper forms the backdrop here.

 Sometimes the stores have no signs (or just very small signs) outside, and they kind of sneak up on you: You're just walking past an open doorway, and POW!

POW!

The walls are expressive. Not that we always really get it.

Mezcal smoothies? Oh, I see now.

Right on.

 Now we've rounded the corner and are back on our own street. Our house is up on the far right in this picture.

We think "Vicky" is a tailor. 

 ...And right across the street is the tortilla shop! A foot-high stack costs less than $1 usd.

They are hiring! This would be a great place to work when it's cold and rainy.

We're loving it.