My husband, Peter, and I were traveling in Mexico when we suddenly found ourselves without a place to stay.Over the years, all our accommodations while traveling have been quirky in one way or another, but they have all been pretty much what we were expecting, and we’ve never had any insurmountable problems.This week, we encountered insurmountable problems. When we arrived at the airport, the caretaker stood us up. That was not a good sign. We found other transportation and, when we finally found the caretaker, we were glad he had not come, as he was in no condition to drive and the car he would have driven didn’t look much better.Things got worse from there. We were going to have guests join us, and the guesthouse was supposed to have two bathrooms. There was just one and it was filthy, along with the rest of the house. There were junked vehicles piled around the property, windows were broken, and everything was covered with a thick coat of dust.“We can’t stay here a month!” I said to Peter. “We can’t stay here at all!” Peter answered. I was relieved we were obviously on the same page.“I want to go back to San Miguel!” Peter said before I had a chance to.We had just left San Miguel de Allende, which we loved. But finding a place to stay—anywhere—was not going to be easy with universities on break and people finally taking vacations. Then I remembered how helpful the residents of San Miguel had been. I asked for help on their Facebook page.Literally within minutes, a man named Jorge said he had a onebedroom apartment in a hotel with a fully equipped kitchen. “I am the owner,” he said. He gave the address. It couldn’t have been in a better location.“This is going to be expensive,” I thought. “How much for an extended stay?” I asked.“30 dollars per day,” he answered. “Housekeeping included.” “Well, that’s not gonna be any good!” I said to Peter. “It will give us a place to land and we can look for something better,” Peter said.We hustled out of town, sending a note to the absentee landlord in Europe, telling her we would be pursuing a refund. “And we’ll get it!” Peter told me, in a tone that he reserves for the rare instances when he gets seriously angry.Late that evening we showed up at “Casa de Los ...
