Stories of hooking up phone service in San Blas, Mexico.
I didn't know how to go about getting phone and internet service so off I rode on my bike down to Stoner's Surf Camp........ A good place to start. I talked to Pompis and Fransisco and learned I had to go to the Government building which is located in the town square. Same place where they celebrate. The phone company people, Company name Telmex, are only there Tuesdays from 10am to 12 noon.
The government building is a two story structure overlooking the town square. No entry doors or metal detection but rather an archway type entrance leading to an open air atrium/courtyard and a couple of guys with machine guns of course. On the far side of the courtyard I saw a table was set up in the middle of the hallway and three ladies sat behind this table. A line was formed to one side and I noticed new telephones in the box on the table. I also noticed everyone in line had what looked like a computer generated invoice or phone bill.
I decided to stand in line and noticed it appeared that people were paying their phone bill here. I got in line.... waited for my turn. The lady in the middle is Cuban and has lived in San Blas for 24 years. Ironically, she also lived in Winter Haven, Florida years ago. She spoke excellent English. Because we already have a telephone and because we already have a wireless internet base station, there is no installation cost. They're running a special.
The house we are living in has never had phone service or lines installed. As a result, the phone company had to run the lines to the house. I was told we will have phone & internet within 20 days and that the lady, who's name is Judy, will come to the house that morning or the day before to let us know that's the day it's scheduled to be connected. I learned that the other two ladies come from the city once a week,only for two hours, and everyone in San Blas who has a phone and or internet has to go to this table once a month to pay their bill or sign up for phone service and/or internet. As I watched, they would take the bill and the money and write in a lined, spiral notebook, like for school, the person's name, their phone number and how much they paid.
Very primitive bookkeeping, though I would guess the info is also entered into a computer database at some point since the phone bill is computerized. I found it all very charming and spent quite a bit of time speaking with Judy. It's what I love about San Blas....simple, easy and it works.
I didn't know how to go about getting phone and internet service so off I rode on my bike down to Stoner's Surf Camp........ A good place to start. I talked to Pompis and Fransisco and learned I had to go to the Government building which is located in the town square. Same place where they celebrate. The phone company people, Company name Telmex, are only there Tuesdays from 10am to 12 noon.
The government building is a two story structure overlooking the town square. No entry doors or metal detection but rather an archway type entrance leading to an open air atrium/courtyard and a couple of guys with machine guns of course. On the far side of the courtyard I saw a table was set up in the middle of the hallway and three ladies sat behind this table. A line was formed to one side and I noticed new telephones in the box on the table. I also noticed everyone in line had what looked like a computer generated invoice or phone bill.
I decided to stand in line and noticed it appeared that people were paying their phone bill here. I got in line.... waited for my turn. The lady in the middle is Cuban and has lived in San Blas for 24 years. Ironically, she also lived in Winter Haven, Florida years ago. She spoke excellent English. Because we already have a telephone and because we already have a wireless internet base station, there is no installation cost. They're running a special.
The house we are living in has never had phone service or lines installed. As a result, the phone company had to run the lines to the house. I was told we will have phone & internet within 20 days and that the lady, who's name is Judy, will come to the house that morning or the day before to let us know that's the day it's scheduled to be connected. I learned that the other two ladies come from the city once a week,only for two hours, and everyone in San Blas who has a phone and or internet has to go to this table once a month to pay their bill or sign up for phone service and/or internet. As I watched, they would take the bill and the money and write in a lined, spiral notebook, like for school, the person's name, their phone number and how much they paid.
Very primitive bookkeeping, though I would guess the info is also entered into a computer database at some point since the phone bill is computerized. I found it all very charming and spent quite a bit of time speaking with Judy. It's what I love about San Blas....simple, easy and it works.
So .. with housing Rent, Electric, Propane, Cable, Water, Telephone and Internet, our monthly expenses here are less than $300. We're on budget!
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