Let's see, I mentioned before about washing clothes in the pila. Let me explain further. There are no sinks in most kitchens here. Instead, there is pila closeby. A pila is a large concrete sink that has three compartments. One side is for washing dishes, the other side is for washing clothes, and the middle in where you access the water. And the way you access the water is by filling up a bowl. Primitive. I know. Washing clothes is no easy task. They usually let the clothes soak in a large bucket for a while with soap in it of course. Then, one piece of clothing at a time, each one is scrubbed against the concrete until mom thinks it's sufficient. The rinsing part is difficult. One bucketful of water at a time, the items is rid of the soap. Some families spend hours cleaning clothes. And towels are the worst. It takes me about 45 minutes to wash and rinse 2 towels. It's a lot of work!
But Guatemalans are not scared of work. They are very hard working people. For example, there is a McDonald's here in town. It's a good bathroom stop, so I stop in there a lot. But that McD's is the cleanest I've ever been in. Every time I go in someone is mopping the floors and cleaning the bathrooms. You drop a straw on the ground, and an employee is running to pick that one up and get you another one before you really even know what's happening. The service is amazing. McDonald's in the states could learn something from these guys.
And the bus system. This is an interesting subject. There are no set bus times here. They come and go when they please. And you can get on and off the bus anywhere you want, and I mean anywhere. But every bus has what is called an ayudante. This ayudante is responsible for collecting the bus fare, helping children on and off the bus, helping ladies with large packages, etc. So you get on the bus, usually a packed one. So in the states on a school bus, usually 2 people sit per seat and there are maybe 50 people on the bus. Well here, 3 people sit to every seat. It's terrible to be the last one to sit, cause only 1 butt cheek fits. Talk about an uncomfortable 30 minute ride. And after all the seats are filled with 3 each, they pack people to the back of the bus. I'm quite sure there are usually near 100 people on one bus. I imagine if they could put more people on the roof, where they put storage, they would! So imagine, that you are on this packed bus in the middle and you have to get off. This means squeezing past the other two people in the seat and stuffing yourself through everyone standing in the middle to get to the door. It's quite an interesting experience. And then the ayudante comes through collecting money (yes, he does this in the middle of the ride), and also stuffs himself through the crowd of people. And the roads here are not smooth concrete. It's like boulder stoned roads (you know like cobblestone, only the stones are the size of boulders). Not comfortable at all. Oh, it's an interesting experience. And every bus here is painted wild colors and decorated inside. So at least here's a few insights on my daily life.
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