CINE INTERNACIONAL

A new series of international films has started up at the Cineteatro Rosalío Solano.  We'd like to see them all, but the need to stay at home for the endless deliveries of cement, etc. is cramping our cineaste style.  Yesterday, since the workers weren't here, we caught one:  Mahler on the Couch (in German with Spanish subtitles).  The subjects portrayed are:

Mahler, of course

His wife, Alma--the "most beautiful woman in Vienna"--19 years younger than Mahler:

And Sigmund Freud:

Mahler needed to talk to Freud because his wife was having an affair with Walter Gropius:

Freud got Mahler to realize that forbidding Alma to compose or do anything besides help him 

 with his career for the ten years of their marriage was probably not a boon to their relationship.

El sr J and I had different interpretations of the marital situation, which led to interesting conversation on the way home and after. 

EL JARDIN

It looks like we'll have tomatoes earlier than ever before:

The plants all flowering or budding.  This is one of the zebras:

There's a little tomato on this Mexican Midget, but you can't see it here:

Marigolds flank the tomatoes:

Cucumbers are doing well with some stray lettuce plants in their midst:

A row of lettuce of a different variety:

Fennel and rosemary with sunflowers in the background:

My sister gave me some zinnia seeds.  They've sprouted:

We're digging holes for the compost at present:

Last week Trini told me his 26 year-old daughter was in the hospital having an operation to remove a tumor.  Ovarian cancer.  This morning Sergio showed up and said she had died last night.  The funeral service is this morning at 9 in Colón.  We're trying to figure out what to do to show our sympathy.

MAS COCINA

Trini and Sergio were trying to figure out how to install the range hood over the stovetop.  They have it in position, but it seems like they'll have to move the electrical outlet, which is hidden behind the thing:

I may have my own countertop(s) to work on in this kitchen:

The sink on the island:

The dishwasher.  I can't wait:

A semi-circular wooden countertop goes in back of the island, if the carpenter ever shows up:

Paint is going on.  Ceiling white, walls off-white.  This is the first coat of what will be dark red on the inside of the arch and the exposed ends of the counters:

View from the garden, which is full (again) of rubble.  The exterior doors remain unmade:

The planter is built, but not filled in yet.

So we await the herrero/iron monger/door maker, who doesn't work during Holy Week, and the carpenter, who hasn't given us an estimate yet.

EL PISO Y OTRAS COSAS GROSERAS

The kitchen and dining room floor is going in:

This is a better view of the tile:

The base coat of paint in the rooms:

The new steps to the garden:

And then there are the new sewer hookups, the gross part that's hard to talk about and live with:

And hard to walk on:

The new sewer pipe that's going to go through the house to the street while we're in Alabama:

Can't get too far away from sewer construction.

COCINA Y JARDINERA

Trini is proud of his kitchen work.  There will be more talavera tile to complete the rectangle.

A closer view:

The cooktop:

The sink is installed in the counter:

My planter which, according to the architect, needs a layer of black plastic, a layer of stone, a layer of screen wire, and some drainage holes before the dirt goes in:

I'm thinking of planting jasmine and lavender.

PROGRESO EN LA COCINA Y EL PATIO

The old patio has been dug out and a new drain line installed:

I'm getting a planter on the right, so I can plant jasmine to climb up the wall:

There will be a semi-circular wooden countertop at the back of the island, behind the sink and dishwasher, resting on these metal bars that were part of the shipping frame for the mother of all doors:

The cooktop goes on the left-hand end of this countertop:

The wall oven goes on the right-hand end of this countertop:

Trini's hat is just for decoration.

HOODIES Y EL SENDERO NO LUMINOSO

I'd like to mention that several of the workers in the last post were wearing hoodies.  I've started wearing mine every day now in solidarity.  I have several.  Have worn them for years.   Hoodies are a common sight here and you won't get kicked out of the mall for wearing one.   And I don't think anyone will be shot and killed for wearing one.

Meanwhile, things are moving along in the kitchen area.  This wall will house the oven and microwave:

Here is the island, with space for dishwasher and sink: 

And in the back is the counter where the cooktop will reside, with the refrigerator on the far right:

One more step poured today, and the storage area beneath is almost finished:

We need a new drain and sewer line from the back of the house to the front, so the patio stones have been removed to allow a trench to be dug:

El sr J is cleaning up the stones from the patio and using them to build a path (sendero no luminoso) in the garden area: