House name versus actual street address! (Lawrie's quirky preference versus Andy's organized method)

3 houses built at the same time, consecutively numbered

"How did you decide on number 305 for your casa?" I asked Andrew Whitney that question a few years ago. Yumiko and he had just finished building their beautiful home. It is located across from the Isla Mujeres PEMEX station on Prolongación Aeropuerto 
also known as Circunvalacion Aeropuerto. 

"It's on your property tax invoice. It's the number near the end of your address, your dirección." He replied. 

Singing Water - maybe.

"Huh! We've lived here a lot longer than you, and we never knew that." I checked our property tax invoice, and sure enough there it was - #267. I immediately wanted to add our number to the outside of our house, but my sweetie, Lawrie, wasn't having any part of that. He liked the European-style quirkiness of having just a name.
When we originally named our house Casa K'aay Há, we thought we were calling it the Mayan equivalent of Singing Water.  

However, depending on which Maya friend I ask, the name can mean Singing Water, Song Water, or Fish of the Sea! 

A hint for new homeowners: keep your house name simple. It will save you hours of explaining. I picked the name of our casa, but it is difficult to pronounce correctly, and taxi drivers don't typically understand what I am saying. I have learned to say near the basketball dome on Airport Road, in Spanglish. It's simpler.

I think this one has changed to #297

Most of our nearby neighbours originated from Canada or the USA. We are accustomed to a numbering system with odd-numbered houses on one side of the street and even numbers on the other side. The numbers typically radiate out from the centre of the town or city, increasing in numerical value further from the centre. We were required by law to affix our assigned number in a visible location on the outside of the house to assist emergency services, such as police, fire and ambulance, and to ensure that postal employees could find the address. The inevitable happened, and the foreigners started numbering their island casas. 

When I discovered that Andy had figured out the 'real' house number, I emailed four of our nearby friends to ask what they used as an official address. We all live on the east side of the street within a two-block area of each other. Of the four friends, I received four different addresses. One lives on Carretera Perimetral, two live on Circunvalacion Aeropuerto, and another lives on Carretera Garrafon. 

Brent and Dé have the number and a name

Some of us apparently live in the neighbourhood of Colonia Rancho Alegra, while the others don't. 

Along this road, there are several lots numbered 1, 2 or 3 because every time the Manzana number changes – that's the M204 in our address – the lot numbers start over again. 

Casa des Tortugas, Rob & Julie's 

Many of our friends have attempted to number their houses with something recognisable, something that makes sense, and the result is quite interesting: #216 is south of #305, which is south of #20. In other words, if you were driving from the centre of town trying to find a specific number, you would see #20, then #305, then #216. It's a good way to keep everyone guessing!

Chuck and Marcy's house

Other friends have chosen humorous names for their houses in an attempt to be easily located by postal workers, delivery personnel, or emergency services.  

Local folks typically put a plaque with their family name on the house, and that works too. 

On the other hand, the address that we thought was correct is actually the legal description of our property. It is a bit of a mouthful: Lote #3 Circunvalación Aeropuerto Super Manzana 02, Manzana 204 Isla Mujeres QR 77400 México. 

I recently wrote that on our post box because it matches the electricity and water bill. The utility invoices are hand-delivered at the end of the month, and sometimes are inappropriately dropped off at a nearby house. One month, the deliveries were off by two houses up and down the street, necessitating a complicated and laughter-filled swap with friends. Since I added the description to my mail box three months ago, I have been receiving the correct invoices. (Now, I have probably jinxed my success.)

So, what's your address?  It's a simple question that often leads to descriptive directions, similar to we live in Colonia Cañotal next door to so-and-so's house, across from the Mini Super, look for a yellow house with green and white trim. 

It's part of the charm of living in Mexico. 
Cheers, Lynda and The Sparkinator

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