So it won’t be on an episode of Cribs anytime soon (even the Guatemalan version), but my new apartment is not without it’s perks.  The most important being that it’s near the center (read:  safe) part of the city and it’s still reasonably priced.  It certainly beats the last two places I rented when I lived abroad (The Foreigner’s Ghetto and The Glorified Closet, both in Tokyo), although that’s not really saying much.

Here’s the lowdown:

Rent per month: 163 US dollars

Rent includes:  Furniture, cable TV, WiFi, clean drinking water, a shared kitchen…and a MAID.

I found the apartment after searching through bulletin board listings at different cafes and travel agencies around town.  I’m actually renting a room in a Spanish language school, so sometimes when I walk into the kitchen to make coffee in the morning, I stumble across the random foreigner sitting in the courtyard waiting to meet with their Spanish tutor.  Weirder than the fact that I’m living in a converted classroom, is the fact that the owner of the school, his family and a whole host of other people, are as well.

Who those other people are exactly, I haven’t quite figured out.  I don’t speak enough Spanish to ask them, but my best guess is that they clean the school in return for free room and possibly, board.

Hopefully as I learn more Spanish (I’m taking lessons every day now), I’ll eventually be able to report back with more information.  The owner of the school is also going to put me in touch with some volunteer organizations.  Maybe I’ll end up teaching English again for a few weeks.  That could be interesting…

Reannon Muth

Reannon Muth is a full-time writer, social media consultant and owner and manager of the Taken by the Wind travel blog. Born in Hawaii, Reannon has lived in five countries, at Disney World and on a cruise ship. She currently lives in fabulous Las Vegas.