Coasting

As of last night the water pump is in working condition. Also, it appears that the house hasn't flooded since the advent of the ditch. I learned yesterday morning that I am no longer expected to teach. Apparently enrollment is down. I was just getting used to the idea... The night before I had a nightmare about having a bunch of English students and being and having them run roughshod all over me the way some kids do when you give them the chance.

In a strange way, I'm kind of disappointed. There was a sort of training session at 5:30 last night where we took a class session as mock English students from a girl they have teaching here regularly. I went anyway just to gain a feel for what it's like and to have a little bit of background in case I need to sub or what have you.

Crossing our fingers

Yesterday I again awoke to water under my feet. This time I was pissed. It was the third time in two weeks and nobody had done anything about it. I left for the office prepared to send a nasty letter to the chair of board of directors in San Francisco. When I got there I think I successfully conveyed my attitude because Hilda went straight to her desk and called the landlord. She had to threaten to find another place before he would agree to come do something about it.

At 1:30 I grabbed mike and we headed home. Hilda came at two and it wasn’t until about 2:30 that Don Simeon, the landlord finally showed up. After traipsing half the muddy street in with his boots and kindly depositing it on my wet bedroom floor, he surmised what I’ve been insisting since day one; It’s coming through the #%@! wall. I showed him the trench alongside the house and he set to work clearing it so that the water can run out. I sure hope this works.



While Simeon was checking out the house, the city power died. Thus, we didn’t have an opportunity to troubleshoot the “bomba” that pumps water to our faucets and toilet. According to Mike, one morning after I had left for work it died for good (not the stutter-start thing it seems to like doing every so often). It wouldn’t surprise me. It’s not designed to be unplugged all the time and then plugged back in each time someone needs to take a dump.

Not having any water to do dishes, Mike and I ventured out to get a meal. We happened into an interesting conversation with an Angelino native to Guatemala. He was in town for the seven year anniversary of the death of his mother. It had been a long time since he had returned.

Business as usual

Well, it turns out Stacey and Jessie aren’t much company at all. They spent most of their time cooped up in their room and then promptly disappeared to another town. I woke up the next morning to find the house had flooded again, this time with the cover off the drain. So much for that theory. I think the culprit is this waist-deep ditch alongside the west wall.



It doesn’t look as if it has very good drainage. What perplexes me is how they didn’t catch this before I moved in. It rains literally every day here. I seems likely that it would have flooded at least once during the construction process.

My other housemate has arrived, hopefully this time for good. His name is Mike and he’s fresh from four weeks on Spanish classes in Quetzaltenango. He’s been all over the world. Born in Canada, he spent many of his formative years in New Zealand. His most recent job was as an accountant at a University in Sydney, Australia. Mike is a bit disappointed to find that there isn’t more of a colorful cast of world travelers working here at Enlace, but he’s also excited by the authenticity of this place, noting that we’re almost the only gringos in this town of about 20,000.



Speaking of other gringos, I spoke briefly with an LDS missionary from Denver Colorado who goes by Elder Rennie. He told me that there is evidence to suggest a link between the native peoples of Utah and those associated with the nearby similar-sounding ancient city of Utitlán. Go figure.

A Rude Awakening

I awoke from a nap yesterday at about 7:30. Sitting in bed, I placed my foot on the floor to feel my sock immediately fill with water. Upon turning on the light, I could see a creeping puddle starting from the door and covering from the far corner of my room to about its middle. On further inspection, I discovered about a quarter inch of water covering the entire floor of the other bedroom and a fair amount in the kitchen as well.

Not knowing what to do, I went to a nearby store to call Enlace. They sent Aury, the Enlace staff member who lives closest to me, to meet me and she went with me to take a look. She went and got Hilda and then Aury, her sister, Hilda, her sister, and I all swept a mopped for two hours or so until we had gotten the lion share of the water out of the house and into the drain. Hilda explained to me that I have to take of the cover off the drain when it rains because the few holes it has in it don’t let enough water through. I was skeptic, however, and my suspicions that it was coming from the ground were confirmed when I found that, I couldn’t seem to completely empty the other bedroom of water, that mysteriously seemed to remain wet no matter how much I mopped.

We put towels under the doors and Hilda said she would call the landlady. I guess we’ll see…

On an unrelated note, I don't have internet at my house, so if my posts become infrequent that is why.