You enter into the garage with tiled floors. My family owns a white pick up truck, very similar to Tonka! I have had a few opportunities to "jalon" or ride in the back of the pick up truck. From the garage, one door leads to the kitchen, the other door leads to outside. My family is fortunate enough to have an oven! My host mother loves to bake when she has time (which is not often). They also have a refrigerator, stove top, TV, large table, chairs, and lots of flies. They have these sweet fly catchers that hang from the ceiling that zap flies. I am totally worried that this string of dead flies is going to fall on me when I'm eating.
When you walk outside you'll find the "pila" which is a large sink that stores water. Then you have the bathroom which includes a toilet, drain and shower head. It is not uncommon for us not to have water (and when we do it is not hot). This means flushing the toilet with a small bucket of water from the pila. Oh! And never flush toilet paper. Last week the nurses recommended squatting over the toilet seat to avoid diseases...great work out for my thighs; however, I would like to know how to squat when you have number three. I have also mastered the bucket bath! I will explain because, honestly, I didn't really know how to do it before I arrived in Guatemala. You just get a large bucket of water from the pila, take it into the bathroom, or close to the drain, dump a small bucket over your body to get yourself wet, lather up, rinse by getting clean water with the small bucket from the large bucket, repeat as necessary. It is very efficient!
Next you walk up thirteen concrete stairs and enter into the family's room. My family has two king sized beds that the five of them sleep on, a couch, and a TV. Then you walk through a hallway into my bedroom! My bedroom is fabulous! I have a couch, a chair, a stand with five shelves (that fit all of my clothes), a desk where I keep all of my books (PC has given us tons of materials), a king sized bed (no sheets...I sleep on a comforter with a throw blanket, no pillows either, which is not a problem for me...if you know me, you know why!), and I use my backpack as a make shift nightstand. It is quite cozy! I have two windows- one to outside and the other one connects the two rooms (kind of like a drive through window). My brothers are constantly looking through the window to check on me. In order to get to the bathroom I totally have to walk through the room where the whole family sleeps. And I usually wear a head lamp so I can see where I am going.
Outside of my bedroom is another staircase that leads to upstairs. They have a "plancha" which is a wood burning stove, a table, lots of corn, and random storage stuff. Then you walk outside to an INCREDIBLE view! On a clear day you can see the peaks of two volcanoes to your right and the entire town of Sumpango in front of you. It is breath taking. The eight chickens (one died last week) and four doves live out here. We also have another pila where laundry is done. Laundry. Oh my goodness...this is not something I have mastered, yet. I am getting better. It just takes me forever. First you soak your clothes for about fifteen to thirty minutes in water and powdered soap. Then you grab an article of clothing, rub the soap into the article of clothing, use the graded side of the sink to really wash the clothes. This part is hard to describe- you have one hand holding part of the clothing while the other hand is rubbing the clothing against the grades of the sink. My host mother was yelling, "dura, Maggie, dura", which translates, "hard, Maggie, hard". I totally have blisters on my hands. Then you turn the article of clothing inside out, scrub it with barred soap, rub it against the grated side of the sink, then begin to rinse using a small bucket with water from the pila. It's very important to get all of the soap out, which usually requires water and rubbing the article of clothing against the grates in the sink. The first time I did laundry it rained. I thought I might have to re-do it all again, but really, the rain water just helped rinse out any of the soap I didn't get. Next you ring out the water, keep the article of clothing inside out to help avoid fading. Finally, hang the article of clothing upside down by pulling the strings of the rope apart. This is also challenging because the rope is really tight in order for the clothes to stay on the line. I won't go into delicate items, stain removing or bleaching. It is mesmerising watching my host mother do laundry. I hope someday I can be as efficient as her, right now it takes me about an hour and a half to do about ten small articles of clothing.
The photo is of my host mother and I dressed up in the traditional Mayan clothing before the wedding last weekend.
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