What in the world were we thinking ?

There are days that I wonder what in the world were we thinking ?
We went from a brand new, modern, loft- style apartment, in the middle of a very nice city in the United States, to this 100 year old apartment, in the middle of this very nice city in Argentina.
We like the look of the city, the weather is pretty good and the people are just great !
They are really what makes Buenos Aires such a wonderful place to visit or to live in.


We were so lucky to find an apartment in a building like this, not the architecture so much, although it is exactly what I wanted.
An old French style building with wrought iron balconies and hardwood floors and high , high  ceilings and molding, miles of molding . 

A cage-style elevator, wrought iron and mahogany with antique mirror panels, and marble floors. 

There is a total of 10 apartments in the building , 2 to a floor.
This was a private home at one time, the daughter and son of the man who built it, still live here. This just adds to the feeling we often have of not just living in an apartment in a building, but being a part of a family here. 
From the first day we moved in, they were welcoming and kind. Pedro, the Porter, took care of us right away, with much miming and pointing when he went to the hardware store to stop the leaking faucet that would turn out to be the first of many "water issues" we have had here.


They kiss us hello, they kiss us goodbye, they keep us up on what is going on in the building and a few of the neighbors speak English so they are always making sure we actually do understand what is going on.
I sometimes daydream about  living in another area, in another apartment, but it would mean leaving the neighbors, can I do that ? 


We have had water leaks from the upstairs apartment almost since we moved in. Actually, since the kitchen cabinets were installed... like.. the next day. 
We walked into the apartment and there was a waterfall where my pretty newly painted wall was located, in front of the newly installed wood cabinets .. I scrambled up the ladder with garbage bags and covered everything until someone could fix that pipe  upstairs. 
The plumber came , the pipes were fixed.


Eventually the painter arrived and started the paint job and his young helper was in the dressing room, working on the water stains  .. the ceilings all were spotty and ugly.
The painter is good, he was able to mix the paint to match whatever the original paint color was, things were looking up, we might see the end of this soon ! 
Then that sound! what was that ? the dressing room ceiling fell on the helpers head.
A part of the ceiling that had shown no signs of bother, now lying in little pieces on the floor. The beautiful polished 100 year old wood floor. 
And they just kept working, the poor kid was singing while he worked. I let him only because he got hit on the head.
By the end of the day, the work was pretty much finished, the helper showed no signs of concussion, a good day all in all.


Next was the laundry room... with the added excitement of seeing how 2 grown men would fit into a space that a small woman can barely squeeze in to, while they plaster, paint and hang a new light.
If they manage and do not ruin my washer and dryer, I am sending them off to the Circus, they are being wasted here.


So the painter will return .. if only things stay dry ... what were we thinking ?