A note about bathrooms...
oh, man. Those of you in the US, be grateful for your fully equipped, fully functioning bathrooms. There´s nothing to make you feel like a traveller like a foreign bathroom, be it in Europe or latin America. The major thing, aside from the aforementioned water situation, is that the septic systems in Guatemala date back as far as septic systems go, and they are finicky and don´t tolerate paper of any kind. So you have to remember consciously to throw all paper in the trash not the toilet. Try it, it requires the sort of deliberate thought one doesn´t usually associate with using the bathroom.
But then there are the general vagaries of outlets, fans, showers etc. In Lorien´s and my bathroom in Guate city, our shower didn´t work, or I couldn´t figure out how to make it work the first day. Plus the water pressure was close to nonexistent plus the water was barely warm. Washing my hair, lying flat on my back in the tub, with a dribble of lukewarm water coming out of a faucet set so close to the tub you can barely get your hand between them. That´s a good time. But that was a wonderland compared to the bathrooms in Antigua.
We checked into a hotel, got 4 rooms for the 7 of us, all with doors that open to an outdoor courtyard and each of us with a unique bathroom situation. The first universal issue, for Americans, is that they give you one towel per person. One. Want to dry your hands? Use your one towel. Want to wash your face? You have one towel. Geting out of the shower and tracking water all over the bathroom because there´s nothing on the floor but tile? Well, you have your one towel. Washcloth? Sorry. No lo hay. So there´s water on the floor from the showers, the air is humid so nothing dries and then you walk into your bathroom with shoes on and track dirt everywhere. By 10AM you¨re willing to sacrifice your one towel because the floor looks so grotesque and hold out hope for your next towel.
And then there are the outlets. Or lack thereof. None in the bathroom where the only mirror resides and only one in the room. In my room it was right near Lorien´s bed who was sleeping. So I took my hair dryer into Nate´s room and dried my hair looking into the blank reflective screen of his laptop because the mirror was too far away. Necessity and mothers, etc. We spent the rest of the three days roaming between the 4 rooms looking for a free outlet. Pippa´s sleeping, can´t use Bet´s room. Lorien´s sleeping, can´t use my room. Nate´s using his laptop, can´t use Nate´s room. Mom??
Then there are the toilets. Bet and Chris had the most interesting toilet placement. It was overlapped by the sink, i.e. set so close together. So you had to slide in to sit on it and then the sink was in your lap. Better not drop anything or have trouble getting up because youre going to end up in the sink. If you sat on it sideways, you had the shut the door first and then wedge your knees against it and the toilet paper holder, one of the big industrial sized ones that sticks out from the wall about 6 inches, was directly at your back. So it was a contortionist act to get some and then another contortionist act to find the trash can.
Mom and dad´s toilet was so close to the wall the toilet paper holder made you hunch your shoulders and sit at a slight slant. By comparison, Lorien´s and mine was positively roomy. Except that our bathroom door was a straight shot from the front door so you just hoped both were closed when you got out of the shower because otherwise you could be looking into the surprised face of a fellow traveller trying to enjoy his breakfast café in the courtyard.
Oh, and mom and dad´s bathroom light switch was in the shower. ON the shower wall with the water and such. Electrocution, anyone?? And now we´re in a hotel where there are no doorknobs. You have to lock all the doors with a key to get them to stay shut.
But all joking aside, the thing that makes all of this so much better is that our hotel staff have been universally amazing. if it is within their power, they will do their best to make it so. Thus, the water, paper, towels and toilets all just become an amusing story. At least I know I´m going home to my own bathroom where as this is their life, right?
Oh, and we went out last night and visited the Pana Rock Cafe (like Hard Rock, only much different). More about that later…
But then there are the general vagaries of outlets, fans, showers etc. In Lorien´s and my bathroom in Guate city, our shower didn´t work, or I couldn´t figure out how to make it work the first day. Plus the water pressure was close to nonexistent plus the water was barely warm. Washing my hair, lying flat on my back in the tub, with a dribble of lukewarm water coming out of a faucet set so close to the tub you can barely get your hand between them. That´s a good time. But that was a wonderland compared to the bathrooms in Antigua.
We checked into a hotel, got 4 rooms for the 7 of us, all with doors that open to an outdoor courtyard and each of us with a unique bathroom situation. The first universal issue, for Americans, is that they give you one towel per person. One. Want to dry your hands? Use your one towel. Want to wash your face? You have one towel. Geting out of the shower and tracking water all over the bathroom because there´s nothing on the floor but tile? Well, you have your one towel. Washcloth? Sorry. No lo hay. So there´s water on the floor from the showers, the air is humid so nothing dries and then you walk into your bathroom with shoes on and track dirt everywhere. By 10AM you¨re willing to sacrifice your one towel because the floor looks so grotesque and hold out hope for your next towel.
And then there are the outlets. Or lack thereof. None in the bathroom where the only mirror resides and only one in the room. In my room it was right near Lorien´s bed who was sleeping. So I took my hair dryer into Nate´s room and dried my hair looking into the blank reflective screen of his laptop because the mirror was too far away. Necessity and mothers, etc. We spent the rest of the three days roaming between the 4 rooms looking for a free outlet. Pippa´s sleeping, can´t use Bet´s room. Lorien´s sleeping, can´t use my room. Nate´s using his laptop, can´t use Nate´s room. Mom??
Then there are the toilets. Bet and Chris had the most interesting toilet placement. It was overlapped by the sink, i.e. set so close together. So you had to slide in to sit on it and then the sink was in your lap. Better not drop anything or have trouble getting up because youre going to end up in the sink. If you sat on it sideways, you had the shut the door first and then wedge your knees against it and the toilet paper holder, one of the big industrial sized ones that sticks out from the wall about 6 inches, was directly at your back. So it was a contortionist act to get some and then another contortionist act to find the trash can.
Mom and dad´s toilet was so close to the wall the toilet paper holder made you hunch your shoulders and sit at a slight slant. By comparison, Lorien´s and mine was positively roomy. Except that our bathroom door was a straight shot from the front door so you just hoped both were closed when you got out of the shower because otherwise you could be looking into the surprised face of a fellow traveller trying to enjoy his breakfast café in the courtyard.
Oh, and mom and dad´s bathroom light switch was in the shower. ON the shower wall with the water and such. Electrocution, anyone?? And now we´re in a hotel where there are no doorknobs. You have to lock all the doors with a key to get them to stay shut.
But all joking aside, the thing that makes all of this so much better is that our hotel staff have been universally amazing. if it is within their power, they will do their best to make it so. Thus, the water, paper, towels and toilets all just become an amusing story. At least I know I´m going home to my own bathroom where as this is their life, right?
Oh, and we went out last night and visited the Pana Rock Cafe (like Hard Rock, only much different). More about that later…
posted by KBARRETT at 10:37 AM
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