At first when Sue Harris told us about the little one room apartment with shower and toilet and how small it was and that it was still being worked on, Stephen and I shyed away from it. But trying to find a furnished place for $600 US/month or under in Belmopan was a daunting task. We started out at the El Ray Hotel which we learned about from Hilberto in San Pedro when we stopped in at his family's furniture store. He was from Belmopan, where their furniture is manufactured, and wanted to help us, especially because we were Christian missionaries. He lined us up with Shannon, his relative and owner of El Ray with her husband, Nick. Shannon was so kind to us. Again because we were Christian missionaries, she gave us a discounted rate and because we had so much heavy luggage and there is no elevator in the hotel, we stayed in an updated room on the main floor still at the discounted rate of $35 US/night. After 3 nights there, they moved us into a little house they are renovating, for the same rate! Costs were quickly piling up so we decided to go and visit the one room apartment before we checked out a rental possibility with the mission "In His Will" which is a 30 minute ride outside Belmopan.
We were pleasantly surprised at the size of the room compared to the hotel room with a king-sized bed and barely room to walk around the bed. The room has space for a little table (made from scrap material and covered with a new piece of green linoleum) 2 chairs, a bed-side table with scraps of brown linoleum which were left over from covering the cement floor in the toilet area, along with space for a metal double bed with a bookcase headboard. There is a cold shower, as well as a toilet. No sink. But when you think about it, you don't absolutely need a sink, just a bowl which gathers the cold water and doubles as a sink on the table! It works for us.
As I am writing, the university students below us are blaring their music again. No problemo! I have my trusty earplugs. I wonder what Van Gough had to contend with in his one room Petite Maison? With the brown painted door, the light blue on 2 1/2 walls, medium leaf green on the other walls and shower area, Gloria has a strong sense of Van Gough in southern France in this room. We asked our potential landlady, Alexandra, if there was any chance to have a fridge? She replied, yes, she had one she could loan to us for only the charge of $7.50 US/month for electricity. We knew we would have to buy a hot plate to cook but having a fridge would be a real bonus. We'll take it we said that Sunday afternoon.
So dear Alexandra (pronounced Alehandra) and her husband Leal (which is actually his family and useful for getting some of the little work there is in this city) worked like busy ants. Don't think leaf cutter ants which can strip a tree in a day or so. Think worker ants which can carry many times their weight to supply the needs of the nest. The 2 of them with the help of Alexandra's brother Jimmy finished the apartment (our little nest) in 2 days. We moved in on Wednesday! Bless them!!!
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