House cleaning

Early yesterday morning (early was 10 am, hey, it’s Mexico) I walked into town to purchase some cleaning supplies.  I bought a bucket, a mop, a broom and some general purpose cleaning liquid.  The total cost was only about $5.00 which surprised me as I was shopping in a “mini-super”.  Mini-supers are very small stores which generally provide only the basics: bread, milk, beer, a few canned goods, paper goods, liquor (in some cases), water, ice, cigarettes and candy.

Just like the US vendors provide signs

There are probably a dozen mini-supers in Aticama and a few specialize in additional items such as deli, produce and meat.  Also, there is competition between some of the stores on the price of beer.  It pays to comparison shop!  When I first arrived I purchased an 8 pack of Pacifico in cans for about $12.00 at the mini-super that is next door to the RV park.  My first trip into Aticama I walked around and priced beer.  I bought a case of 24 cans of Pacifico for 200 pesos ($15.).  I also located a mini-super that sells a case of 24 bottles for only 135 pesos and even though I prefer cans I think at that price I will learn to live with bottles!

Paint by Pacifico on the mini-super Paradaiso

My shopping completed I walked up to the house to do some cleaning.  When I first visited the house, the floor was covered with dust, leaves and droppings that looked like they came from small rats or large mice.  Neighbor Bill talked to one of our neighbors and learned to my relief that the droppings are actually from bats.  Bats don’t present a problem as when the house is semi-occupied they will find a new spot to spend their days.  Bill also told me that at dusk there are hundreds of small bats and many large ones all around the property doing their evening hunting.  As he described them I think the larger ones may be fruit bats.

With the floors cleaned (including the patio), I concentrated on the comojenes (a form of termite).   These little guys start from the ground and work their way up the exterior wall; cross over to an interior wall and continue till they reach the ceiling.  

They make a covered tunnel all along the way that becomes a sort of super- highway.  The first day I was there I demolished a long stretch of the highway but when I returned two days later it had been rebuilt.  Today, I will obliterate the highways from the ground up, spray with some type of poison and then wait to see if they rebuild.  Once they are all gone, it should be easy to keep them away by checking the perimeter walls weekly and nipping it in the bud.  I am also going to do some internet research to see if there are paint additives (or special paints) that will stop the invasion.