The Facts of Life

I’ll start off by saying that I really like my host family (whom I will be living with until the end of September). The living conditions are humble when compared to an American home, but nevertheless I am still quite spoiled here.

Every morning I wake up, and my host mother already has a pot of hot water ready for me. What is this pot for, you might ask? Well, I’ll tell you. There isn’t running water here the way we have it in the States. Every house here has what is called a ‘Pila’, which is basically a large stone rectangular structure that has a faucet attached and can hold a large amount of water. This water is used for everything; cooking, cleaning, etc. However, this water is by no means ready to drink. It must be boiled, or a small amount of chlorine must be added. 

Anyways, back to the hot water. The Pila water can be used for bathing, but it’s quite cold. Thus, taking a bucket full of water and mixing in a teapot full of hot water makes it bearable. Since there are no shower faucets, you need to use a bowl to scoop the water out of the bucket and pour it over yourself. Hence the term ‘bucket shower’. 

As I was saying, I’m pretty spoiled. By the time I am finished bathing and getting dressed, my host mom has my breakfast ready for me. The food can be hit or miss, often involving fried plantains or refried beans. When I am done eating I usually sit on my porch and gaze at the mountainous countryside while sipping my coffee. It’s a nice way to start your day.

After I’m done getting ready, I set off to class. When I leave I can lock my door, though my host mother has a second key which she uses while I am gone to clean my room. It seemed a little strange at first that she would go into my room, especially after getting warnings that host families have stolen things in the past. However, my family here is extremely trustworthy and I find it hard to complain that my bed is made, my desk is organized, and my pitcher of drinking water is refilled every day.

Most days I return home for lunch, which again is prepared for me and ready just about when I arrive at the house. Not only is my room clean by this time, but if it was laundry day my host mom has usually finished washing all of my clothes by now as well. I am the only volunteer who has yet to learn to wash clothes by hand (which they say is very tiring), but I’m sure I’ll learn in time when I’m good and ready. I do absolutely everything for myself in the States, so for now I’m going to take advantage of the hospitality. And one more thing: I never have to wash dishes.

There’s no real good way to transition to this topic, so now I’m going to explain the toilet situation. While there is no running water, there is a septic system. In order to get the toilet to ‘flush’, you have to fill a bucket with water (only about a gallon or two), and then hold it up relatively high and pour it into the toilet quickly. This flushes everything away. One thing to keep in mind, however, is that the septic system cannot handle toilet paper the way it does in the States. Every bathroom has a trash barrel next to the toilet for the purpose of collecting used toilet paper. I apologize if this isn’t exactly pleasant to read about, but it’s the way of life here and something that I experience every day. Did I mention that nobody ever really washes their hands?

After a late dinner (7:30PM or so every night), I’m usually just about ready to wind down before bed. It should be noted that it is VERY noisy here at night. There are about nine dogs outside my house that will bark at each other for hours on end (dogs basically roam free around the neighborhoods here). I’ve started to become accustomed to the noise, but on the nights I can’t stand it I usually just listen to music with headphones as I fall asleep.

At about 4 or 5 in the morning the roosters start to crow incessantly (as they run as freely as the dogs here), and I do my best to ignore them until my alarm goes off and my daily routine begins anew.

One final note: I hope I don’t sound like I’m complaining about anything here. I adjusted very quickly to the things that sound a little crazy compared to an American lifestyle, and have been thoroughly enjoying my time here with my host family and fellow volunteers. The only thing I worry about is how things will be in October when I move to my official site, but I have no reason to believe that my next host family won’t be fine.