When Mac and I returned from the US on October 29, we came home to mold. We had a mold problem earlier in the year but the mold was never visible (it was behind a closet that was supposedly fixed), so I was alarmed to actually see the mold on the wall. The Consulate acted quickly to get the landlord's repairmen in to fix the problem. But they couldn't find the problem. The aforementioned closet was pulled out and we found it was covered (and I mean covered) in mold. They started breaking into the concrete floor under where the closet had been to find the leak. They dug down several inches and the concrete several inches down was as wet as the concrete had been on the top. And they couldn't find the leak. So that meant they were going to have to break up the floor and walls (all concrete construction) to find the leak.
Photo of the side and back of the closet insert
As an aside, we took Mac to an allergist while we were home in October because of reactions he's had to nuts. The doctor diagnosed him with asthma in addition to the allergies. I really almost dismissed the diagnosis because I was so confident we didn't live in the moldy, damp conditions he insisted were triggers. So much for my medical degree...
Now by this time, we'd lost the use of two bedrooms due to mold so Mac and I were down to sharing the guest bedroom. This was cozy, but time was ticking. Jimmy and his mom were arriving shortly and as much as I love his mom, four of us in one bed was going to be a little tight.
On Wednesday, November 5, they pulled out the closet and discovered the mold and the house smelled worse than anything I could imagine (and the mold was so bad that it caused your nose and throat to burn). On Thursday, November 6, the post OSHA representative told me the apartment was unfit for humans to live in in the current state, and on Friday, November 7, the Consulate called at 7:30am to tell me to pack enough clothes for a couple weeks because we were moving to a temporary apartment.
So we moved to the temporary apartment which was nice and modern and not moldy but small and a minimum 25-minute commute to Mac's school.
We lived in the apartment for 2 weeks during which time we had a belated quasi-surprise birthday party for Jimmy, Jimmy's stepdad came (and had to sleep on the couch because the guest room was too small for anything but a twin bed), we attended the Marine Ball, Jimmy's mom got sick, we had Mac's birthday party (see the posting for birthday party news - coming soon!), and a moving company moved all our household effects from the old apartment to a new apartment in the same complex as the moldy apartment but in a newer building.
We started sleeping at the new apartment this past Monday. Jimmy, his mom and stepdad left for Paraty and Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday afternoon and they'll return on Monday, by which time the apartment will look more normal so they can feel more at home for their last few days of vacation.
Thankfully the apartment is really lovely. It's big and spacious and we can all breathe. Mac doesn't cough at all over here, which means that I have a HUGE 7-month supply of Zyrtec that it appears we may not need after all.
The best thing of all? We're totally unpacked. There is nary a box to be seen. Christmas decorations are up. It feels like home!
No comments:
Post a Comment