1st week story

I looked through some of my Guate posts and i see they are a bit on the boring side.

If I could only write like my bro-in-law, Ivan, my posts would be much more exciting.

Here`s a story from my first week here:

I went to a town called Matzatenango, which is not too far from Xela, to meet up with someone i met on the bus my first day here, her sister and her father.

Although Matze is close, distance-wise (30 or so miles), it takes 2+ hours on the chicken bus and it is a differnt climate. Xela is 7,000 or so feet so it is a bit cold now. Matze is lower and in the ¨coastal¨region - but not near the ocean, and it is a fair bit warmer.

Anyway, I spend the afternoon and evening with the family.

After lunch (and mmaybe dinner, too, I forget) but before dancing, we went to the mother`s house. Mom and dad are divorced. Both parents live in the states. Mom comes to Gaute for a month or so each year. The house does not see much activity outside of that month.

And because the house doesn´t have much activity, some things work and some things don´t. one that didn`t included the plumbing. So no showers, no toilet, no sink (inside). There was a sink outside, in which you could wash up a bit.

After a night at the disco (sin padre)we headed back to the (cement) house. We all washed up in the sink outside. I went to my room and the three others went to their room.

at 5:00 or so, i awoke with the need to use a toilet (number 1, thankfully). I know the toilet (wich doesn´t work) is in the room where the others are sleeping. No problem...as a guy, I can take care of biz elsewhere. I go to the back door but it is locked and i don´t have the key. I check the front door. Locked! While I can take care of biz anywhere, I want to be reasonable where i do go.

Next stop, kitchen sink. since there is no working water, i decide to take a look at the plumbing just to see if it is in order. Nope. the pipe below the sink is not connected.

Now we´re reaching Defcon 4+ level. There are no bottles or glasses in the house. What to do? What to do?

I head back to my bedroom to try to get some sort of idea.

The window! Although there are bars, if i stand on my tiptoes, I can take care of biz, right outside the back door of the house in front - right where they hang their laundry out to dry.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

The window opens (thankfully) and there is relief. We`re back to Decon 0.

Moral of the story: Always know where you are going to go when you have to go.

bjm 12/24