Local Crafts & Craftsmen

We asked a local craftsman to repair a small wooden table which has been in the entranceway of every house we owned.  The piece was a gift from my mom to my wife, so it had sentimental value. The wood was damaged (let’s call it distressed-that’s much more chic) and the lock didn’t work. Still, it was one of only two pieces of furniture we brought with us to Mexico, partially with the intention to have it repaired. We told him to refinish it, add some turquoise highlighting, and build a hutch for the top of it. Voila, as they say.

At the chili cook-off (more to follow on that), we also picked up some fine local knives (very sharp and stylish) as well as a hand-made rug from Oaxaca. Again, excellent craftsmanship.

Then there was the case of some local services we employed. I previously told you the tale of our air conditioner installation and the resulting (unintended) fountain in our carport. When those workmen were done, I also noticed that the indoor portion of the air conditioner was not centered on the wall (who knew you had to request that?), and that there was an extra hole in the wall, since their first attempt at drilling did not succeed. All this from the same gentleman who offered to run a drainage hose from the air conditioner into (the top of) my wife’s bathroom sink.

Here are some workmen cutting a metal rod to fit in our sunscreen. They best embody the local spirit to just “get it

done” without regard to personal safety. If you look closely, you’ll see they are cutting the metal, on my patio, without the hindrance of any eye or flesh protection.

Lastly, we recently bought a new light for our walk-in closet. The small, recessed LED bulb was simply too weak to get dressed by, so we bought a lantern style hanging light which complemented some other lights in our bedroom. This seemed like a simple replacement operation, so I did not supervise it. Silly me. What we have now is a cable running from the old light to the new light. I hadn’t thought of that solution.

So what is the point? I relish the excellent craftsmanship we have encountered, all at a reasonable cost. I don’t blame the other craftsmen for what did not quite turn out. Again, the cost was minimal, and there are always cultural translations to consider.  If anything, I have learned to be exceedingly specific, because if you say “install” it does not mean “replace” and if you don’t say “centered” it will not be so. Just a few more flavors of expat life.