Setting Up House…
Dear Student,
Over the past several days of this program, we’ve addressed the priority agenda items during your first month in your new home overseas.
We’ve walked through installing utilities and arranging for other day-to-day support services… opening an operating account at a local bank… the administration and paperwork related to owning a car (if you decide to invest in one)… and assimilating into your new community and making both local and expat friends…
What else do you need to do during your first few weeks in your new home?
Set up house…
Watching a friend who has recently transplanted himself from San Diego to Panama City go through this process, I’m reminded how many pieces are required to put this puzzle together.
Just as you worked over decades to organize your administrative and financial lives back home, so, too, did you spend years feathering your nest.
I recommended earlier in the program that, as part of the preparations for your move, you downsize as much as possible. Clean out your attic, your basement, your garage, and your shed. Sell the stuff at a yard sale… give it away to family and friends or a local charity… but don’t pack it up and lug it with you to your new home.
At least that’s my strong suggestion.
One benefit of making this move overseas is that it creates an opportunity for a fresh start. You could pack up all the personal and household paraphernalia you’ve accumulated over your lifetime to this point, fit it inside a container, and ship it off to meet you in your new country of residence. I’ve done it.
But I wouldn’t do it again. And I recommend now, as I have earlier in the program, that you think twice before pursuing this strategy yourself. Not only because it can be expensive, but also because it means you show up for your new life saddled with a bunch of junk (no offense) from your old one.
As I said, this is a chance for a clean slate. Why not take it?
If you do, though, arrive on your new scene with only the personal effects you can fit in a few suitcases and carry-ons, you’ll have to acquire the necessary trappings of a home. If you’re renting unfurnished, you’ll need furniture. No matter where you decide to lay your head, you’ll need sheets, towels, dishware, and cooking utensils.
As I mentioned, I’m right now watching a friend from California work through this process. He’s called me more than once at his wit’s end…
“What a day I’ve had. The air conditioner repair guy who was supposed to arrive at 10 a.m. finally showed up at 3:30 p.m. but didn’t have the right tools to fix my unit. He told me he’d be back ‘soon’…”
Or…
“What a day I’ve had. I spent three hours this afternoon in a furniture store picking out a bed, a table and chairs, a sofa, and a few other things. Just as I was about to go to the counter to buy and arrange for delivery, they turned off the lights. I’m not kidding. The whole place went black. The staff all made their way to the front door, where they stood waiting for me. Their workday was over. Closing time. No matter that they had a customer about to place a big order…”
And he’s called with questions…
“Where can I find king-sized sheets?”…
“Do you have a painter you could recommend? I’d really prefer it if my entire apartment weren’t painted the same shade of eggshell.”…
“The furniture in this town is so expensive! Do you know a place to buy nice but affordable area rugs?”…
“Where can I get the best deal on a flat-screen television?”…”Where’s the best place to shop for lighting fixtures?”…”Do you know anyone who could install window blinds on short notice? I don’t have any on my bedroom windows, and the sun in this part of the world seems to rise reliably at 5:30 every morning.”…
Accomplishing the tasks associated with setting up your new household can seem like a great big hassle. Or you can see these getting-settled chores as an opportunity to get to know your new neighborhood and your new neighbors. It helps if you take this sunnier perspective, because, frankly, in some places in the world, finding items like washing machines and dryers, lighting fixtures (which, even when renting, you may be required to supply yourself), refrigerators, and dining room tables and chairs can be a pain in the neck. And expensive, especially if you prefer imported over local—as I do when it comes to washing machines and dryers, for example. In my book, it’s worth nearly any expense to ship Maytag machines from the States to wherever we set up housekeeping. The time and hassle savings over years of use far outweigh the initial investment.
When we made our first international move and took up residence in Waterford, Ireland, we were wholly unprepared for the frustrations and complications of establishing a new household in a new country. We spent weeks running around in circles, trying to find the best places and the best deals on televisions, telephones, appliances, and kitchenware. Whenever I’d complain about our struggles to friends and family back home, they’d respond with silence. How could it be so time-consuming and so much trouble to buy a refrigerator and a TV?
It’s so time-consuming and so much trouble because the language is different (this wasn’t the case, strictly speaking, in Ireland, though we still struggled with lost-in-translation confusions trying to shop for things like bathroom fixtures and cabinetry); because shops in some parts of the world sometimes close for lunch, call it a day by 5 in the afternoon, and aren’t open on weekends; because, in the lands of fiestas and mañanas, deliveries never arrive at the hour or even necessarily on the day they’re promised; and because you’re trying to accomplish a great deal in a consolidated period without any existing infrastructure of support or trusted contacts.
(Unless you’re our friend from San Diego and have our cell phone number on speed dial…)
In some cases, you may be faced with outfitting a bare-walls apartment or house, sometimes including the stove, the oven, the lighting fixtures, even, for example, the doorbell. Back wherever you’re coming from, you have established sources for these things, favorite places where you’ve shopped maybe for years. In your new home, you’re at a loss. As our San Diego friend understands, your best resources are your fellow expats, and this is where any investment you’ve made in joining local expat societies or becoming part of online country groups begins to pay off.
As you work through the process of furnishing and equipping your new home, keep your self-expectations in check. This isn’t a race. Again, use the experience as a chance to get to know your new community. And understand that, wherever you’re setting up your new household, certain things are going to seem unacceptable to you, and some things you’re looking for won’t be available at all. In Ireland, the bath towels, even the most expensive ones, were thin and prickly, so we brought new towels back with us after each visit stateside. In Paris, I could never find a decent floor mop, so I finally bought one of those in the States and flew it across the ocean, as well.
In Latin America, your furniture options can be limited to very high end and local. In Panama City, Managua, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, and Quito, for example, you can find quality antiques and nice reproduction pieces, but the prices can be shockingly high.
Outside these capital cities, your home furnishing options are more limited. The best choice often can be to find a local furniture maker. Beautiful, made-to-order wooden tables, chairs, bookcases, and cabinets can come very cheap in this part of the world. In Ecuador, Colombia, and Nicaragua, for example, whole towns are given over to particular trades such as handmade furniture, with dozens of family craftsmen following centuries-old traditions and techniques that have been handed down for generations.
Beds are a challenge and have become a running joke in our family. Our children have grown accustomed to odd-sized beds dressed with ill-fitting linens. The mattresses we bought in Ireland didn’t quite fit the beds we’d shipped over from the States. The beds we brought with us from Ireland didn’t fit in the bedrooms in the apartment we purchased in Paris. The beds we transported to Panama required custom-made mattresses, and the antique headboard I bought upon arrival in Panama City is today finally, after a series of failed attempts, attached to an appropriately sized frame (though the sheets, from the States, remain too big). My advice: Buy your beds and your bedding locally once you’ve arrived in the country. Don’t try to bring these things with you from elsewhere.
Here’s another tip: When furnishing your new home, try to consolidate household purchases as much as possible. Many shops throughout Latin America, including retail furniture and kitchen stores, will give you a discount (as much as 25%) when you buy in quantity.
Often, though, the most economical source for furniture and appliances is local online buying-and-selling websites. In Panama, for example, the best place to start a search for things like dining tables and televisions is the website Encuentra24 (www.Encuentra24.com); www.mundoanuncio.com is a good source for these kinds of things in most of Latin America. If you don’t mind buying used, you can find great bargains this way, even the contents of whole households being offered at once… and sometimes “for best offer.”
Kathleen Peddicord
Your New Life Overseas Coach
P.S. As I mentioned, your best source of help sourcing everything you need to feather your new nest are fellow expats in your new place of residence. They’ve done what you’re trying to do and generally are delighted to share their hard-won wisdom and little secrets and tricks.
In addition, in two of the world’s top overseas havens at least, we provide another resource that can make your move as turnkey and hassle-free as possible. Unfortunately, again, we’re able to make this service available right now only in Panama and Belize. However, if either of these countries is at the top of your list, the “Circle” membership services we provide in each could be of interest.
As a member of the Panama Circle or the Belize Circle, you have an in-country “members’ liaison” at your full-time disposal, along with an extensive local infrastructure. The idea behind these services is to provide members will full access to our own in-country networks of support, developed over decades of spending time and doing business in these places.
Bottom line, as a Circle member in either Panama or Belize, you, like our friend from San Diego, would have our local cell phone number on speed dial.
If you’re considering either Panama or Belize for your new life overseas, you can read more about how these “Circle” support services work here (Panama Circle) and here (Belize Circle).