What: The We Pay Your Rent Contest!

How’d you like to have a week or two of free lodging?

From October 15 through the last week of December, CollazoProjects will be paying your rent at our apartment in the heart of Mexico City. Tell us whether you want to stay one week or two, give us your dates, and we’ll pencil you in.

Why?: Two reasons:
1. We’d rather our apartment be used by people who love travel while we’re gone rather than sit around empty.

2. We’re using the contest as an opportunity to raise money for the Voces de Mompox project, an after school program we’re establishing for talented 9th graders in Mompox, Colombia. Contest entrants who make a donation of $100 or more to the Voces de Mompox Fund will be given preference.

How:
To enter the contest, please follow these steps:

1. Send an e-mail to writingjulie@gmail.com with the following information:
-Your full name. Couples are welcome.
-Your e-mail address.
-Your mailing address.
-Your telephone number.
-A short statement (100 words or less are fine) about why you’d like to visit Mexico City and enjoy the apartment rent free.
-Your proposed dates (one or two weeks between October 15 and December 31).
-A note about where you learned about the contest (Twitter? Facebook? A friend?)

2. Make a donation to the Voces de Mompox project. Please visit the home page of our website: www.collazoprojects.com. In the top right hand portion of the page, you will see the ChipIn widget, which allows you to make a secure donation via PayPal.

BOTH STEPS MUST BE COMPLETED BY OCTOBER 5 IN ORDER TO BE ENTERED INTO THE CONTEST.

We will be notify winners on October 6.

About Mexico City:
Perhaps you’ve never considered Mexico City as a travel destination.
You should.
Mexico City, the capital of Mexico, is a city with a dynamic arts and culture scene, endlessly intriguing politics, important social movements, and is a study in cultural contradictions. It’s an ideal departure point for day trips into the heart of Mexico, and you can find lots of resources here on CollazoProjects or on Julie’s travel blog and her local expert guide on Planet Eye.

About the Apartment: Located between the city’s three principal avenues in Colonia Juarez (home, for a time, to Che Guevara, Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and the photographer Tina Modotti), the apartment is a 5 minute walk to a local fruit and vegetable market, a laundromat, an internet cafe, a supermarket, restaurants, cafes, banks, the post office, and a Metro stop.

The apartment is a 2 bedroom (master bedroom has full bed; guest bedroom has twin bed), with a library/office with wifi, a fully equipped kitchen, and a large living and dining room. While we’re on the first floor, there’s an elevator. The building has 24 hour security, and we even have an off-street parking space if you need it.

Questions: E-mail us at writingjulie@gmail.com